
Halloween is coming up in a couple of weeks so I thought I'd get our black pizza recipe out to you now so you have time to get the ingredients together - see below. I had an excellent day at the Crop to Crust conference last weekend. It was fascinating to learn more about British growing, milling and baking and really good to catch up with so many familiar faces including John Letts (who's new harvest is now in stock – I know many have been waiting). |
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I’d like to say thanks to Jon Cook from Foster’s Mill for organising such a great event. I particularly enjoyed Vanessa’s bread swap - there were some really interesting breads being exchanged, and the short trip in the classic buses to the lunch was unexpected! | ||||||
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I’ve still got some basil growing in my porch and some tomatoes in the greenhouse so I’m going to make the most of it this week before the last of it has to come in. Vanessa has used crushed tinned tomatoes on the base but suggests that you can use something more sophisticated uch as a fermented tomato sauce (we'll tell you about that another time). | ||||||
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Most enjoy a good pizza and my family is no exception. It’s weekend food (good with wine in my case), delicious and everyone gets involved when it comes to putting the toppings on. This pizza however is slightly different...this an Italian style pizza and it is black. It’s quite dramatic, and visually very different. I can’t say that it tastes wildly different, but the added charcoal gives it a different texture and the colour really is spectacular.
A note to professional bakers There is something of a legal anomaly here. Bread sold commercially may not have any colouring in it according to EU law. Other bakes, biscuits, cakes, pizzas – you name it – are fine as is any bake sold commercially that is not called “bread”. A conversation with Trading Standards suggested that the restrictions on what can be in bread preclude carbon or any other colours and the indication was that the current legislation is out of date. Anyway, just something for you pros be aware of! |
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The powdered carbon, made from vegetables, is a natural food colouring and although there are claims on the Internet about it helping digestion, I think that in such small amounts it is highly unlikely to have much effect so I ignore that aspect and use it just as a striking colour. I used Gilchester’s flour because it is full of flavour. I like my pizza bases to be as interesting as the toppings. Occasionally I will add a small amount of chopped fresh oregano to the base or chopped rosemary just to add extra aroma, but feel free to play. I also highly recommend baking it on a stone. I know that it is tempting to pop it on a metal tin tray, but trust me that a pizza stone will give you that wonderfully chewy stone baked texture that makes all the difference.
You can also make this dough early and put it in the fridge overnight or longer to develop more flavour so that it is ready to roll out but remember to give it enough time to come back to room temperature before rolling out so that it is nice and lively. Of course you could just use it right away. I’ve left the garnish up to you. I tend to dig about in the fridge to use up leftovers when I make pizzas...think olives, mozzarella, salami, rocket, peppers, mushrooms and blue cheese, ham, basil, rosemary, chillies...Think flavour! |
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Recipe: BLACK PIZZA |
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featured products
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![]() CARBON / CHARCOAL POWDER | £4.75 Carbon Powder (Farina di Carbone) is a popular vegetable-based fine black powder for striking, black bakes such as pizza bases or stripy pasta. ![]() |
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![]() A large round pizza stone (15" or 45cm diameter and 1cm thick) with its own removable rack, made from the same Superstone as all of our Sassafras products, this stone is excellent for pizzas, breads and biscuits. ![]() |
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![]() Pelia Extra-Virgin Olive Oil | £7.88 Pelia Extra-Virgin olive oil is a very fresh and grassy olive oil with a very delicate flavour and a smooth aftertaste that doesn’t burn the throat. ![]() |
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![]() Gilchester Organic Pizza and Ciabatta Flour | £7.88 This blend of Gilchester Organic classic white and semolina flour was created for a creamy-coloured elastic dough for authentic Italian breads like ciabattas and pizzas. ![]() |
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![]() Do you have a sourdough question for Vanessa? Send it to us and the best ones will appear in our next postbag edition and receive a dough whisk. |
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![]() Suggestion Box Are we missing something? An usual flour, a particular tin, or a special piece of equipment you’d like to see on our shelves? Let us know and if we decide to stock it, you will receive the very first one of the item you suggest. |
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Don’t forget to take a look at our sale lines. |
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