Homemade Pizza!

Pizza is something I usually reserve for the weekends - it takes a little while to prepare so it's best made with plenty of time to hand - but it can be enjoyable to make too. I put the radio or tv on while I knead the dough, grill the peppers and prepare the mozzarella.. This recipe serves four - but I quite like splitting it between three people as it allows each person a very generous slab. Perfect eaten outside on a summery day, with drinks to hand.

Ingredients:

1 400g packet of Ciabatta mix: follow instructions on pack

3 mixed peppers (the red, orange and yellow ones if possible)

1 tin of good chopped tomatoes

1 small red onion

a generous hunk of mozzarella - I use two of the smallish packets or one large bag

a handful of olives (as always I use the kalamata variety)

Olive oil - a swig used to grill the peppers and a couple of swigs to line the pizza tray with

Salt, pepper and dried oregano

Fresh basil to garnish

This is so easy to make that it hardly merits explaining. A pack of ciabatta mix works really well and should have basic, easy-to-follow instructions on the back: in this case, I simply add 350ml of warm water to the mix, knead for about ten minutes before leaving to rise in a warm place, with a tea towel lain over the bowl. Put your peppers, halved, onto a tray, rub some oil over them and grill them until the skins are completely charred and can be easily removed.

Chop all of your ingredients accordingly while the dough is rising; generously coat your chosen tray in olive oil. When it has risen, simply spread it out onto and up the sides of the tray (to form a crust); I use a very large tray so that I can spread the dough as thinly as possible. When it cooks it will practically double in size, so allow for some room. Season your dough with pepper, salt and a shake of dried oregano, before adding your chopped tomatoes (I run the tomatoes through a sieve beforehand to get most of the juices out). Throw on your grilled peppers (sliced however you like), mozzarella, olives and onion and put in the oven (pre-heated at about 200c) for fifteen minutes or until golden brown. Toss on some basil leaves and serve with a big crunchy salad and cold beers!