HOME-MADE PIZZA
WITH VEGGIE FACES
  • Description:

    Here’s a toddler recipe to keep little bellies full and hands busy. They can decorate these pizzas themselves and pack in four of their five-a-day.

  • Ingredients:

    For the pizza dough:
    150 g spelt flour
    350 g white flour
    1 ½ tsp. dried fast action yeast
    ½ tsp. salt
    1 tbsp. olive oil

    For the tomato sauce:
    1 can chopped tomatoes
    1 small garlic clove
    pinch of dried thyme

    For the toppings:
    160 g grated cheddar and mozzarella cheese
    1 red pepper (cut into strips)
    1 yellow pepper (cut into strips)
    1 courgette (slices)
    1 punnet of cherry tomatoes (halved)
    1 handful of pitted olives
    1 can salt-free sweetcorn (drained)

  • Method:

    1. For the dough, add both flours into a large bowl, then stir in the yeast and salt.
    2. With your hands, make a well and pour in 400 ml warm water and the olive oil and mix with a wooden spoon until you have a soft, fairly wet dough.
    3. Give dough a light knead in the bowl to bring together and then turn onto a lightly floured surface. Knead for 5 minutes until dough is smooth.
    4. Cover with a tea towel and set aside for the dough to rise.
    5. For the sauce, blitz tomatoes, garlic and thyme with a little seasoning in a food processor or using hand blender.
    6. Preheat oven to 220 °C or 240 °C with fan.  
    7. Prepare toppings so your kids can decorate their own pizzas.
    8. Once the dough has risen, give it a little knead in the bowl and then separate into four balls.
    9. Roll two balls into wide circles with a rolling pin on a floured surface. Ensure the dough is thin as it will rise in the oven. Transfer onto two floured baking sheets or pizza trays.
    10. Spread sauce over each base with a spoon and ensure a smooth finish.
    11. Scatter cheese. You are now ready to start making the faces.
    12. Once you are done decorating, bake in oven for 10 – 15 mins until crisp. Swop the pizzas to a lower shelf halfway through to avoid burning the toppings.
    13. Repeat for the second two pizzas or freeze the balls of dough in two separate freezer bags. You can also freeze any remaining sauce in a sealed container.

    Serving suggestion:
    Replace any of the toppings mentioned with your own favourites. Be mindful of ingredients you do choose as they will need to cook through in the amount of oven time given, since the dough cooks fairly quickly.