24 hour pizza dough (v)

I’ve long read about slow proving of dough – where you leave it to rise slowly in a cool environment – but until now I’d never done it. However the imminent expiry of a pack of quorn pepperoni inspired me to try it out. I mean, how else would I have been able to put home made pizza on the table by 6pm when I don’t get home from work until 5.15pm?! The dough was a triumph. Chewy and tasty and easy to work with. I’ll definitely be doing this again.

The dough recipe below makes a LOT of pizza but as I planned to eat it up over the next few days for lunch this wasn’t an issue. If you don’t want to feed the 5000, or be eating it for days afterwards, either freeze the dough you don’t use or make a half recipe.  

For 4-5 pizzas you need

1kg plain flour (don’t worry about it being strong or 00 or whatever, bog standard plain flour is just fine)

14g dried yeast, the sort you don’t need to reactivate in water first

1 tsp salt

1 tbsp sugar

600 ml water

4 tbsp olive oil

Place everything into the mixing bowl of a food mixer with a dough hook and leave the machine to knead for about 10 mins or until the dough has become elastic and pliable. Alternatively work out your frustrations by mixing by hand.

Turn the dough into an oiled bowl (I just use the kenwood bowl to save on washing up!) and cover with oiled cling film. Leave in the fridge for 12-48 hours until you need to use it. When you’re ready to use it, knock back gently and then cut off and shape the dough you need. If you want to freeze the dough, cut into portions and wrap and freeze. Leave to defrost thoroughly before using.

Shape into pizzas and top with whatever you fancy. Bake in a hot oven for 20 mins or so until risen, crispy and delicious.

'Chicken' Noodle Soup (v)

An unbelievably quick and easy recipe, perfect for warming and cheering you up after a long working day.

For 3-4 people you need

3 nests noodles (egg if not vegan, rice or soba otherwise)

Veggies of your choice: I usually use 1-2 carrots, thinly sliced, ½ cup frozen peas, ½ cup frozen sweetcorn, chinese leaf shredded

1 onion, sliced

3-4 cloves garlic, sliced

2 inch piece of ginger, finely grated

Fresh coriander, roughly chopped

50ml soya sauce

1.5 litres veggie stock

Either some quorn chicken chunks, tofu cubes, marinated tofu strips etc

To serve: hot chili sauce (Econa is my fave!); sesame oil, soya sauce

Place everything in a large pan and cover with the stock. Bring to the boil and simmer for 3-4 mins until the protein element is hot, the noodles are cooked and the veggies are al dente. Serve topped with the chilli sauce, chili flakes, chopped coriander and anything else you fancy J