I am a little obsessed with wild pepper pizzas (located in West Wnd and once upon a time also in Auchenflower). The thin crust is what makes them so good.  The jalapeno pizza is by far my favourite (even though it is just a starter) but even when we asked nicely, they wouldn’t give us the pizza base recipe (not that I blame them), so Josh has been trying for a while now to replicate the thin crust.  This one was a Byron creation – I think this is as close as we will get!

If anyone has any suggestions… please feel free to comment.

ps. if you do go to wild pepper pizza, you also have to try the pesto lamb!

ingredients for pizza base

* makes 4 thin crust pizzas in 32cm round tray

500g plain flour sifted
200ml water
1/2 tablespoon sea salt
10g fresh yeast
15ml olive oil

ingredients for jalapeno pizza topping

* enough for 1 pizza
3 cloves garlic, crushed
jar of sliced jalapenos (but you won’t need all of them)
200g parmesan, grated
some olive oil for base

method for pizza dough

Mix yeast with lukewarm water in a bowl and leave to foam for approximately 10 minutes.  In another, large bowl, mix the flour with the salt and make a well in the centre.  Once the yeast is ready, pour the yeast mix and olive oil into the well. Combine with hands until it comes together to form one mass and then turn out onto a clean surface. Knead for about 10 minutes or until the dough is smooth (almost velvety) and elastic.

Place the dough back in a bowl, cover with a tea towel and leave it in a warm place for about an hour, or until the dough has doubled in size.  We put ours on trays in an oven (turned off).

Preheat the oven to 200°c and prepare your pizza trays with oil and/or flour.

Once the dough has risen, turn it back out onto a lightly floured surface and knock it down until it has returned to its original size.  Divide dough into 4 bits (if using a traditional pizza tray) and roll 1 out with a rolling pin (or in our case, improvise with a bottle of wine!) Until it is about 2-3mm thick all over and is the correct size for your tray – you may need to lift off the bench a few times and re-flour the surface to ensure it doesn’t stick.

Place in the pizza tray and cover with your choice of toppings (or mine… jalapenos & lots of parmesan!)

Place in the oven for about 10 minutes, or until cheese is melted and crust is golden.

method for jalapeno pizza

Follow the above recipe for the pizza dough.  Once bases are ready in their trays, brush a little olive oil on base and spread with crushed garlic.   Cover with a handful of sliced jalapenos (or to taste) and sprinkle with parmesan cheese to the edges.

Place in the oven as per instructions above.

notes

some other pizza toppings I love are:

* crushed garlic & olive oil on the base / pan fried thin slices of sweet potato (done with a little olive oil and salt) / thinly sliced fennel / grated parmesan.

* tomato base / basil leaves / slices of tomato / slices of buffalo mozzarella laid  over the tomato slices / drizzle of balsamic vinegar / sprinkle of grated mozzarella – props to mark ryan for this one!

* tomato base / roast pumpkin with chilli & rosemary / pinenuts / goats feta / sprinkle of grated mozzarella.