johnr's Pizza recipe

The Occasional Pizza

This combination of Chorizo and fresh thyme works really well. It's fun to assemble, and as it uses half of most ingredients and the bases come in pairs, you can save the kit for another one in the fridge.

It's nice to make the base yourself. I do once in a while (usually as a bonus when making bread) but for once I concede that the commercial product is quite OK. In fact, I've lately taken to using "long-life" bases, which are vacuum-sealed (not chilled) and claim to be Italian. A tip: if you find the edge of your pizza bakes unpleasantly hard, next time try brushing some water round the edge before cooking.

Ingredients

Use organic if available - complain if not!

1 medium (9") thin pizza base
120g Chorizo Sausage, cut into chunks [note: quality varies, beware inferior versions which are full of gristle]
75g Tomato purée (unsalted)
60g Mozzarella cheese, thinly sliced
Half a small onion, chopped
Half a medium green pepper, cut into small squares
2 cloves of garlic, finely chopped
A few leaves of basil, chopped
A few sprigs of thyme, chopped (minus any woody stems)
Olive oil

Method

Prepare the ingredients as above, then preheat your oven to 200°C, Gas Mark 6, placing a baking sheet on the bottom shelf to catch the inevitable drips. Assemble the pizza: put the base on a large plate, paint with olive oil (use a pastry brush) and cover with a uniform layer of tomato purée, going as close to the edge as you dare. Lay the slices of mozzarella on top of the tomato. Mix together the chopped garlic and herbs, and sprinkle on. Distribute the chorizo, then fill in the gaps with the onion and green pepper. On no account add any seasoning.

Carefully lift your creation from its plate, wipe round the edge to minimise drips, and place directly onto a high shelf in the oven. Bake for 16 minutes, then deftly remove with a fish slice onto a preheated plate.

Wine: The vibrant, assertive flavours of this meal demand a robust red wine. A young Blackberry is ideal; failing that, a good old-style Chianti will do :-)