A wholemeal in one.

I think, on average I make some kind of bread at least once a week.  I made a bit of a booboo in the supermarket earlier this week when I attempted to refuel the flour situation in our cupboard.  I managed to buy wholemeal flour instead of regular white.  Now this in itself is not an epic failure, but its difficult to make flatbreads and pizza with.

Last night my hunger overcame me, and I really needed to eat something, so I checked the fridge situation:  olives, pancetta, rocket and cheese.  This screamed pizza at me, but armed with only wholemeal flour I winced at the prospect.

A few more grumbles from my stomach got the brain working - surely a wholemeal pizza base would work, wouldn't it?

Let's get a few things out the way first though.  I am rather pedantic about my pizza:

• Pizza should never, ever have any kind of stuffed crust.
• The crust should never be "deep-pan", it should be thin, crispy and light.
• Pineapple should be contraindicated as far as pizza is concerned.
• There are no decent pizza take-away companies.  I do, however, like a pizza express.
• Toppings should be minimal.  8 toppings on a pizza is quite frankly a mess.
• A decent tomato sauce makes, or breaks a pizza.

I do have one unanswered question though.  Everyone knows mozzarella is the standard issue cheese for pizza, but should one use buffalo mozzarella?  One antagonist school of thought hypothesizes that buffalo mozzarella is too watery and will make your pizza soggy.  Another protagonist school of thought seems to think that pizza should _only_ be made with buffalo mozzarella.  I am undecided.

Anyway, I made a wholemeal flour pizza base and it turned out rather well.

 
Ok, I made the perimeter crust a bit too thick, but apart from that it was actually quite tasty.  Admittedly the base is a little denser than if I used white flour, but it actually tasted of something.

The below recipe can be used with either white, or wholemeal flour - I will leave that decision to your very good discretion:

•   Around 400g of flour will make a pizza for 2 (or one hungry person).
•   I don't bother sieving it.  Straight into a bowl add some finely ground sea salt (about half a tsp).
•   About 150ml of warm water should be combined with 3/4 tsp of easy to use yeast granules.  Add them to the mix. 
•   I stir the dough using one index finger, trying to replicate a dough hook attachment.  When it forms into a ball add a few good glugs of decent extra virgin olive oil.  You need to use your nonce here to evaluate how much water is needed.  The dough should not be sticky, more silky and soft.  Too dry and then you won't be able to manipulate it.
•   Lightly flour a work surface and kneed the dough for around 10 minutes until it is light and pliable (if you are using wholemeal the dough might be not quite as stretchy).
•   Turn it into a ball and put it back in the bowl.  Clingfilm the top (or a damp teacloth will suffice).  Leave to prove somewhere warm for 45-60 mins.
•   By this time it should have nearly doubled in size.  Knock it down, on a floured surface and roll-out (our use your knuckles to stretch if you feel a bit tasty) into your desired pizza shape and thickness.

I served this pizza with a rocket salad dressed with olive oil and a perky cider vinegar dressing.