Italian

Mushroom Pizza with Spelt Dough - Pizza di farro con funghi

2/23/2014 04:23:00 PM

Mushroom pizza with spelt dough
(Tomato, salami, mushroom and onion pizza in the background!)

So, I love doughs made from spelt flour. I love the nutty, wholesome taste it gives breads and doughs. Apparently spelt flour is higher in crude fibre, protein and fat than regular wheat flour, as well as being rich in minerals and vitamins, but I must admit I only care about the taste. At uni I'd always grab a spelt tahini roll from the co-op for lunch, or often eat spelt bread toast for breakfast. However, it's only recently that I've started baking with it myself - thanks to Whole-Grain Mornings I went on a shopping spree through the health food store and now have both plain and wholegrain spelt flours in the pantry.

On Friday night I was at a bit of a loss for what to cook - then I thought: PIZZA! When I got home from work, I knocked up a spelt dough, and went out to buy the toppings while it was rising. Then all I had to do was stretch out the dough, chuck the toppings on and bake it. Hooray! Fresh pizza.

Let's have a look at the dough. I used a mixture of wholegrain spelt flour and regular wheat flour, because I was worried it might get a bit tough. (It turned out well - yay!)

Risen spelt dough

I used that colomba technique I told you about a few years back - stretching the dough out with my fingertips and folding it over to create little pockets of air in the dough. Having less gluten than regular wheat flour, spelt flour dough isn't as stretchy so you won't get loads of big bubbles (see my previous pizza post!) - so it's up to you if you want to bother with this process, or simply roll it out with no folding and pressing.

Ball of dough

Here is the dough all pressed out...

Pressing it out

Folding it over...

The first fold

... and folding it closed.

Folded closed

From here you press it out once more and then fold over, before rolling it out into a big rectangle (or circle, or whatever shape your baking trays happen to be!)

Spelt dough

For the topping, I marinated sliced mushrooms with with olive oil, garlic, lemon zest and thyme (essentially this is the sauce from Nigella's linguine with lemon, garlic and thyme mushrooms).

Mushroom topping

And there was cheese. Lots of cheese.

Mozzarella - Scamorza Bianca from Cuore Blu

Mushroom Pizza with Spelt Dough

Yum town. Perfect Friday night treat! The dough was hearty and crunchy, almost a little biscuity. And even though I used standard button mushrooms, the mushroom flavour was wonderful and strong. If you have any truffle oil, now would be the time to use it.

Mushroom and Spelt Pizza
Dough adapted from Nigella's Pizza Casareccia (How to be a Domestic Goddess), topping adapted from Nigella's Linguine with Lemon, Garlic and Thyme Mushrooms (Nigella Express)

Ingredients
For the dough
150 grams wholegrain spelt flour
100 grams plain flour
1 heaped teaspoon dried yeast
1/2 teaspoon salt
150 millilitres warm water
2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil

For the topping
200 grams sliced mushrooms (button, chestnut, brown, or a mixture)
2 sprigs fresh thyme
3 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
Zest of half a lemon
1 clove of garlic, crushed
150 grams mozzarella cheese, grated
50 grams Parmesan cheese, grated
Method
To make the dough, combine both flours, yeast and salt in the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the dough hook. Add the water and olive oil and stir to combine. Once the dough has come together, knead for 3-5 minutes or until smooth. Cover with clingwrap and rest the dough in a warm spot for an hour or until it has doubled in size.
Preheat the oven to 220C.
For the topping, stir together all the ingredients apart from the cheese and set aside.
Punch the dough down to expel the air. Knead gently and divide into two pieces.
Starting with the first piece of dough, press out flat with your fingertips, so that it is covered in little indentations. Fold the dough over in thirds like a business letter, then press out again. Fold and press out one more time. Roll out thinly and place on a lined baking tray.
Repeat the pressing-and-folding process with the second piece of dough, roll out thinly and place on a second lined baking tray.
Sprinkle the dough with the grated mozzarella, grated Parmesan, and the mushrooms.
Bake for 20-25 minutes, or until the dough is cooked through and the cheese is melted and golden. Swap the trays around halfway through if necessary.
Slice into chunky pieces to serve.
Serves 2 generously or 4 less so

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4 comments

  1. That sounds like a great pizza. I also use spelt flour from time to time, but have never tried it in pizza. As to the topping with the mushrooms, that sounds really great, better than just placing the mushrooms on the pizza. I also find the use of scamorza very good. All in all it sounds like a recipe to try next time, when it's pizza time ... and I see scamorza while shopping.

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  2. Gosh, we have the same kinds of thoughts Sarah! We made spelt flour pizza casareccia on Saturday with my daughter! Admittedly, she wouldn't go to the shop so I could make the base with half white flour too- that's why it was all Wholemeal spelt!
    We ended up over cooking it unfortunately. I wish I'd put it in raw with the toppings on top!

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  3. I should really give spelt pizza doughs a go. Yours looks fantastic and thinking about it, I've really enjoyed the spelt items that I've tried :)

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  4. We've never cooked with spelt before! We make our own pizza bases and bread all the time, but always with standard wholemeal, rather than spelt. It might be worth a try!

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