For those of you who have checked out the pizzabase youtube channel, you will have seen Mark Gill from Little Creatures Brewery sharing his hints and tips to making the perfect pizza base. And for those of you that have visited Little Creatures in Fremantle WA, you will have tasted one of the many delicious pizza creations!

And lucky for us Mark is sharing one of his favourite pizza recipes, Harissa Spiced Lamb with Eggplant and Fetta – The Harissa Spice is such a versatile spice that can be used to add a little ‘kick’ to any red meat, especially lamb.

And while you are sharing this tasty pizza with friends and family why not enjoy a Little Creatures Pilsner Beer recommended by Mark Gill as the perfect beer ‘companion’ to this pizza recipe because “the beer compliments the pizza with its crisp clean flavours and will not take away from the spicy lamb taste”

Enjoy!

Harissa Spiced Lamb, Eggplant and Feta Pizza

INGREDIENTS

• Pizza Dough – Follow the easiest pizza dough recipe which can be found by clicking here
• 200gm of lamb fillets
• One eggplant
• 50g Cows Feta Cheese
• Harissa Spice
• 1 medium red chilli
• ½ tsp ground cumin
• ½ tsp ground caraway seeds
• 2 cloves garlic or 1 tsp minced garlic
• ½ cup fresh coriander
• 1 tsp tomato paste
• ¼ tsp salt
• 100ml olive oil

METHOD

1. Preheat oven to 250°c
2. Place all harissa spice ingredients in a blender and puree to a smooth paste.
3. Coat the lamb fillets in the harissa spice and marinate in the fridge for a minimum of 6 hours.
4. Cook the lamb in a fry pan in a little olive oil for about 5 minutes or until medium rare.
5. Allow the lamb to cool then slice into thin pieces.
6. 6.Slice the eggplant into 4mm thickness, salt and stand for 10 minutes to allow to sweat. Rinse and pat dry. Grill or panfry eggplant on both sides for 2-3 minutes. Cool and slice into strips.
7. Crumble 50gm cows feta cheese,
8. Roll pizza balls into round 5mm thickness base and place onto baking tray or pizza slide. Tip: sprinkle fine semolina over the tray or slide to make it easier to to slide the base off into the oven.
9. Par-cook the base in a hot oven, until the base just starts to brown.
10. Remove the base from the oven and spread crushed peeled tomatoes onto base and top with Spicy Harissa Lamb and Eggplant. Return to oven for approximately 5-7 minutes or until cooked.
11. Sprinkle with feta cheese and serve.

Mark Gill recommends a Little Creatures Pilsner Beer “this beer complements the pizza with its crisp clean flavours and will not take away the spicy lamb taste”

Check out www.youtube.com/thepizzabase to see Mark Gills how to videos as well as others videos featuring chefs from all over making their favourite pizza.

The ‘Win a Mediterranean Woodfired Oven‘ competition is now over and the winner has been drawn … congratulations Craigls! We have posted Craigls favourite pizza recipe, Roasted Pumpkin and Asparagas, Rocket and Fetta on the blog for you all to try – it looks delicious!

Thank you to all the forum members who entered. You can find all the recipes under the ‘My Favourite Pizza Recipe’ forum. Why not try a couple of the recipes posted and share your pizza experience with the forum.

ROASTED PUMPKIN PIZZA with ASPARAGUS, ROCKET & GOATS FETTA

I make this one a lot to keep my vego friends happy when having a pizza party, but invariably the carnivores end up devouring it also!

My pizza dough recipe is slightly different to the one posted on this site. I use….

- 1 kg strong bread/pizza flour

- 1 tbs salt

- 2 x 7gm sachets dry yeast

- 1 tbs honey

- 4 tbs olive oil

- 650ml luke warm water

Add honey, olive oil and yeast to the water, stir well and let stand for 5 mins or until a generous foam appears on top of water.

Sift flour and salt into a large bowl.

Make a well in flour and slowly pour in water/yeast mixture.

Using a spoon gradually bring in more flour from the sides swirling into the liquid. Keep mixing till the dough comes together, tip onto bench and knead by hand. Let rest, covered in a warm spot till dough ball doubles in size.

Knead again and roll into balls. I make mine 200gms.

Makes 6-8 pizza dough balls and freezes really well.

ROAST PUMPKIN

- ¼ Jap Pumpkin thinly sliced

- 1 tbs dried Italian herbs

- 1 tsp ground fennel

- 1 tsp ground cumin

- ½ tsp ground coriander

- ½ tsp chilli flakes

- Olive oil

Mix herbs, spices and enough oil to make a loose paste. Toss pumpkin through mixture until well coated. Roast in a Moderate oven until soft.

This can be done up to a day ahead and kept in the fridge.

THE PIZZA!

Take 1 pizza base and spread with pesto (store bought is fine)

Arrange a layer of your roast pumpkin

Then arrange trimmed and blanched Asparagus Spears

Crumble Goat’s Fetta over the top (Meredith Dairy is suburb)

Sprinkle a handful of Pine Nuts… & into the oven.

Drizzle a little olive oil over some Rocket and scatter over the pizza when it’s cooked. Garnish with fresh Mint leaves.

Story keywords: pizza recipe, pizza dough, pizza base, pizza recipes, make pizza

ROASTED PUMPKIN PIZZA with ASPARAGUS, ROCKET & GOATS FETTA

I make this one a lot to keep my vego friends happy when having a pizza party, but invariably the carnivores end up devouring it also!

My dough recipe is slightly different to the one posted on this site. I use….

1 kg strong bread/pizza flour

1 tbs salt

2 x 7gm sachets dry yeast

1 tbs honey

4 tbs olive oil

650ml luke warm water

Add honey, olive oil and yeast to the water, stir well and let stand for 5 mins or until a generous foam appears on top of water.

Sift flour and salt into a large bowl.

Make a well in flour and slowly pour in water/yeast mixture.

Using a spoon gradually bring in more flour from the sides swirling into the liquid. Keep mixing till the dough comes together, tip onto bench and knead by hand. Let rest, covered in a warm spot till dough ball doubles in size.

Knead again and roll into balls. I make mine 200gms.

Makes 6-8 pizza dough balls and freezes really well.

ROAST PUMPKIN

¼ Jap Pumpkin thinly sliced

1 tbs dried Italian herbs

1 tsp ground fennel

1 tsp ground cumin

½ tsp ground coriander

½ tsp chilli flakes

Olive oil

Mix herbs, spices and enough oil to make a loose paste. Toss pumpkin through mixture until well coated. Roast in a Moderate oven until soft.

This can be done up to a day ahead and kept in the fridge.

THE PIZZA!

Take 1 pizza base and spread with pesto (store bought is fine)

Arrange a layer of your roast pumpkin

Then arrange trimmed and blanched Asparagus Spears

Crumble Goat’s Fetta over the top (Meredith Dairy is suburb)

Sprinkle a handful of Pine Nuts… & into the oven.

Drizzle a little olive oil over some Rocket and scatter over the pizza when it’s cooked. Garnish with fresh Mint leaves.

ROASTED PUMPKIN PIZZA with ASPARAGUS, ROCKET & FETTA

source craigls

I make this one a lot to keep my vego friends happy when having a pizza party, but invariably the carnivores end up devouring it also!

My dough recipe is slightly different to the one posted on this site. I use….

1 kg strong bread/pizza flour

1 tbs salt

2 x 7gm sachets dry yeast

1 tbs honey

4 tbs olive oil

650ml luke warm water

Add honey, olive oil and yeast to the water, stir well and let stand for 5 mins or until a generous foam appears on top of water.

Sift flour and salt into a large bowl.

Make a well in flour and slowly pour in water/yeast mixture.

Using a spoon gradually bring in more flour from the sides swirling into the liquid. Keep mixing till the dough comes together, tip onto bench and knead by hand. Let rest, covered in a warm spot till dough ball doubles in size.

Knead again and roll into balls. I make mine 200gms.

Makes 6-8 pizza dough balls and freezes really well.

ROAST PUMPKIN

¼ Jap Pumpkin thinly sliced

1 tbs dried Italian herbs

1 tsp ground fennel

1 tsp ground cumin

½ tsp ground coriander

½ tsp chilli flakes

Olive oil

Mix herbs, spices and enough oil to make a loose paste. Toss pumpkin through mixture until well coated. Roast in a Moderate oven until soft.

This can be done up to a day ahead and kept in the fridge.

THE PIZZA!

Take 1 pizza base and spread with pesto (store bought is fine)

Arrange a layer of your roast pumpkin

Then arrange trimmed and blanched Asparagus Spears

Crumble Goat’s Fetta over the top (Meredith Dairy is suburb)

Sprinkle a handful of Pine Nuts… & into the oven.

Drizzle a little olive oil over some Rocket and scatter over the pizza when it’s cooked. Garnish with fresh Mint leaves.

Do you make pizza?

Just by sharing your favourite pizza recipe in the win a woodfired oven forum you will go into the draw to win an Amalfi Mediterranean Woodfired Oven! Click the link on the right for entry details and T&C’s.

And for some inspiration check out the new ‘my favourite pizza’ videos just loaded onto www.youtube.com/thepizzabase. Featuring John Lanzafame, World Pizza Champion making his favourite pizza recipe and showing you how he makes pizza dough!

GOOD LUCK!!

2. Meanwhile, put the balsamic vinegar and sugar in a small saucepan and simmer over low heat until reduced by two-thirds. Remove from the heat and set aside.

3. Place a pizza stone or heavy-based oven tray in the oven and preheat to 250c

4. Lightly dust your workbench with semolina, then roll out the dough to about 30cm round, place on a pizza tray and prick all over with a fork.

5. Spread the pizza sauce over the pizza base (View the Pizza Base Recipe);INSERT INTO `wp_posts` VALUES ( then scatter with parsley, mozzarella, mushrooms and ham in that order. Tear the taleggio into small pieces and scatter of the top, then place the pizza on preheated stone or tray and bake for 5-6 minutes, or until the base in golden and crisp.

6. Remove from the oven, drizzle with the reduced balsamic vinegar and serve.

Source: Pizza modo mio John Lanzafame

We have had a few queries of late by people asking about what the difference is between Italian TIPO 00 Flour and Australian Bread and Pizza Flours’. So before we fire up the woodfired oven and get stuck into making pizza dough over Christmas, we thought now would be as a good a time as any to try and explain the differences as we know them.

The Australians and the Italians use different terms to describe their flours, which can lead to confusion. Here in Australia we’re used to seeing gluten content expressed as a % on flour packs, the Italians however, don’t communicate gluten levels, they use Tipo 0 and Tipo 00 to describe how finely the flour is milled. Importantly the gluten levels in Tipo 00 flour can range from 6% – 12.5%. All to do with the difference in wheat grown in Europe vs Australia.

There is a common misunderstanding here in Australia that Tipo 00 is a pizza flour or at least suitable for making pizza dough. The Italians make several Tipo 00 flours; for pastry, 5% – 7% gluten, for pasta and noodles, 9% – 9.5% and pizzas 11.5% – 12.5%. Most Tipo 00 flours here in Australia are for pasta and noodles, and do not have high enough gluten (or protein) levels for making great pizza dough.

So you may ask, why does pizza dough need high protein flour?

Well, great pizza dough comes from using a flour with a protein level of 12%. The high gluten level in the flour gives the dough a good elasticity and robustness. Gluten is the key to great pizza dough, it forms strands which bind together like a web during the mixing and kneading process. Air bubbles are trapped in this web and expand during cooking allowing the pizza dough to rise. During baking the stretched gluten becomes rigid as the moisture evaporates from the heat of the oven, and sets the pizza dough structure.

The lower the protein level the lower the gluten level therefore the dough will not likely holds its shape as well or rise as well.

Interestingly Tipo 00 also has a lower ash count i.e. contains less bran and germ and is a much whiter flour in comparison to a bread and pizza flour. The bran that is contained in the bread and pizza flour contributes to crust colour.

So if you are using Tipo 00 flour and are disappointed with the results, or are curious to see the difference email thebase@anchorfoods.com.au and we would be happy to send you a packet of high protein Bread and Pizza Plain Flour to try. Be quick, we only have 50 packets to give away.

So, we thought we would try these recipes and have decided our favourite of the three is the Grilled Eggplant Pizza. The secret to this recipe is make sure your eggplant is nice and thin and grilled with some good olive oil and sea salt.

Have a go at making Guy Grossi’s Grilled Eggplant Pizza and let us know what you think by leaving a comment on the blog or in the forum

This recipe will make about 4 pizzas. Adjust depending on how many pizzas you are making.

Ingredients

4 Pizza dough balls, made using the easiest pizza dough recipe

300g mozzarella, thinly sliced

Sea salt

Ground black pepper

1 medium sized eggplant, thinly sliced (about 1cm)

Handful of rocket

Good quality tomato sauce

Method

1.Start by slightly oiling the eggplant and sprinkle with sea salt and place on grill until just cooked through. Place on absorbent paper

2.Spread a thin layer of the tomato sauce over the base

3.Cover with mozzarella slices, season with salt and pepper

4.Place base on a preheated pizza stone, into a preheated hot oven until cheese just starts to melt

5.Remove from oven and scatter eggplant over base

6.Continue to cook until the base is crispy and brown

7.Remove from oven and scatter with rocket

8.Enjoy!

NOTE: If cooking in a woodfired oven, add the eggplant at the beginning with the cheese and cook the pizza until the eggplant starts to brown

Your Pizza Recipe

You can go fancy pants and marry a light thin crust with smoked salmon and a gentle sprinkling of caviar. You can be screaming at the football on TV, icy cold beer in one hand, piping hot pizza laden down with chorizo and meatballs in the other. Or you can turn a family dinner into the Cheese Pulling Olympics as you compete to see whose slice can make the longest mozzarella strings.

Check out our yummy pizza recipes.

Your Pizza Base

Of course the base is the foundation of any great pizza. There are many schools of thought on the subject – thick, thin, doughy, crunchy… We are not here to convert, just enlighten. Whatever style you favour, it is worth seeking out high protein pizza flour for your pizza dough. The flour’s higher gluten content will reward you with pliable elastic pizza dough that captures more air bubbles, resulting in a base with a richer texture and satisfying crunch.

How to make pizza.

Pizza Blog and Video

Visit often to read our updated pizza blog on all things pizza by our pizza experts and enthusiasts. Here we will also post a new ‘My Favourite Pizza’ recipe from cooks and celebrities around Australia every month.  Visit www.youtube/thepizzabase to see the clips.

Share your Pizza Ideas

If you share our passion for the world’s most perfect food, we want to share your pizza recipes, photos and anecdotes. We hope you make some delicious discoveries exploring this site and in turn, share some of your pizza wisdom with the world.

Share your pizza recipe in our pizza forum.