3 cheese pizza with basil

Home grown ingredients gives a leg up to this humble pizza

With pizza being a regular feature on our dining table, there is no reason to post the 'obvious' . Except that my pot of basil, which I have almost given up for good, rejuvenated in the rain lately from an almost barren pot of soil. After pinching back the leaves to encourage more growth, what better ways to 'recyle' the most succulent parts of the plant than to make a 3 cheese pizza with LOTS of basil leaves.

Hand made pizza and home grown basil. Dinner can't be any better than that !

 A little note though: the dough was  kneaded with a bread machine . The entire process, including the first rise,  took 1.5 hours, just right for a light siesta. After the final assembly, I did not bake it immediately but kept it in the fridge to prevent the dough from rising  too quickly. That was another 1 hour of weekend jog before the baking. Lengthy process , yes. Sweat ?  I am embarrassed to say, none at all. My point is : with proper planning, pizza making can be an easy weekend project with huge impact.

Pizza base :

1 t fine sugar

1 t dried yeast

110 ml tepid water

225g bread flour

Pinch of salt

3 T olive oil

Ingredients :

2 cups mozarella cheese, shredded

1/4 cup blue cheese

1/2 cup mature cheddar

1 cup basil leaves

1 T pizza sauce

Hardware :

1 pizza pan with perforated surface.

Method :

Mix dry ingredients well. Add liquid component and knead for 20 minutes. I used a bread machine for this job.

Let it rise for 60 minutes.

Preheat oven to 240C.

On a flour top, roll the dough to the size of a pizza pan. I spun the dough on the back of my knuckles and achieved quite a handsome looking pizza.

Spread pizza sauce.

Sprinkle mozarella, blue cheese and cheddar in this order.

Sprinkle basil leaves.

Bake for 12-15 minutes. I baked mine for 14 minutes, because it was left in the fridge after assembly to allow an hour's running session. If your pizza is not chilled, work from 12 minutes onwards.

Cut pizza to wedges with the rocking motion of a knife, on a cutting board. Transfer pizza back to the pizza pan. Put in on an elevated surface and serve directly from pan.