March 25, 2021

Leek + Barkham Blue pizza bianca

This recipe features in the March edition of Hampshire Life magazine with wine matches from The knackered Mother’s Wine Club.

Years ago, I helped my parents build a wood-fired oven from clay in their garden in France. To this day, no visit is complete without a pizza party. I love being able to try out a dozen different topping combinations, with everyone standing round, digging in and voting for their favourite.

This month’s recipe is last summer’s winner and an ideal vehicle for end-of-season leeks. The trick to perfect pizza in a domestic kitchen is to replicate the fierce heat of the wood oven. By building the pizza directly onto a preheated cast iron slab, pizza stone or frying pan, you give the underside a headstart. After a few minutes in a hot oven, the base will have cooked through while the cheeses are still perfectly molten on top.

Leek + Barkham Blue pizza bianca

Serves 2

½ tsp easy blend dried yeast
200 g strong white bread flour
1 tbsp olive oil
2 tbsp butter
1 large leek, thinly sliced
¼ tsp nutmeg, freshly grated
¼ tsp white pepper, freshly ground
½ tsp Dijon mustard
2 tbsp crème fraiche
½ buffalo mozzarella, torn into small pieces
75 g Barkham Blue, broken into small pieces

Stir the yeast into the flour in a large mixing bowl. Stir the olive oil and ½ tsp fine sea salt into 140 ml of warm water, then stir the liquid into the flour. Bring it all together with your hands and knead on an oiled worksurface for 5 minutes or until it forms a smooth elastic dough.
Return the dough to the mixing bowl, cover with a dry tea towel and leave in a warm place for 1 hour or until doubled in size.
Meanwhile, heat the butter in a frying pan and fry the leeks over a low heat for 10 minutes or until soft and sweet. Season to taste with nutmeg, salt and white pepper, then leave to cool completely. Stir the mustard into the crème fraiche and set aside.
Preheat the oven to its highest setting and put a cast iron baking stone or oven-proof frying pan on the hob to heat.
Roll out the dough into a large circle that doesn’t exceed the size of your pan. Transfer it to the heated iron, then quickly spread the top with the mustard crème fraiche. Scatter over the leeks, untangling them as you go, then dot the top with mozzarella and Barkham Blue.
Transfer the pan to the oven and bake for 6 minutes or until the cheese is bubbling and the crust is nicely browned. Serve immediately.