Naan Pizza with Tandoori Mushrooms

Who doesn’t like pizza?! I actually have trust issues with people who claim not to like pizza. I know of someone who insists that pizza is like a posh cheese sandwich. Needless to say we don’t get along very well.

I have eaten a lot of pizza around London- Franco Manca, Homeslice, Pizza Pilgrims, Yard Sale, Bunga Bunga and the one from Naples that has recently opened up in Stoke Newington, L’Antica Pizzeria da Michele. They are all pretty good.  However, the Indian in me sometimes craves for something a little more desi. I actually miss the flavours from Domino’s in India- their spicy chicken fiesta & peppy paneer. Trust us Indians to put more cheese on top of a very cheesy pizza. In our defense we do consider paneer like a vegetable. In all fairness it does have a lower fat content compared to a lot of the other cheeses. I wonder if my husband’s Italian grandmother will be scandalised with our version of the cinque pizze di formaggi.

Anyway, I am going to be good and use only 3 cheeses for my homemade pizza using Naan as the base. Turns out that Naan dough is quite versatile. It makes a great pizza base, breakfast buns and if the dough is a couple of days old, you can roll it out and make delicious cinnamon swirls. Not to worry I will be posting recipes for it all soon.

Word of caution, this recipe takes a bit of time as you have to make your own dough and wait for it rise but the results are extremely satisfying. I would recommend making this on a weekend when you don’t have much going on.

There are many naan recipes on the Internet and after experimenting with a few different ones; I have decided that Gordon Ramsay’s recipe works perfectly for me every time.  He adds yogurt, sugar and ghee to the dough that gives the bread its classic tangy sweetness along with the beautiful elasticity. Happiness for me is tearing into a warm buttery naan and dipping it into butter chicken.

Step 1- Make the dough

Ingredients:

• 175 ml lukewarm milk
• 1 teaspoon caster sugar
• I tablespoon dried yeast
• 450 gms plain flour
• ½ teaspoon fine sea salt
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• 2 tablespoon natural set yogurt (Use the full fat, you only live once. The more compelling argument is that it’s comparatively healthier as it does not contain the added sugar like the low fat version)
• 2 tablespoon of melted ghee
• Toasted Sesame seeds & Nigella seeds for sprinkling (optional)

Method:

Get your yeast going by adding it a bowl of milk and sugar and stirring it well. Set aside for 20 minutes till it gets all frothy.

I usually use my cake mixer with hook attachment to make the dough as its quick, easy and less messy. But if you haven’t got one then I am sure you will find the process of mixing by hand very therapeutic. Stiff the flour, salt and baking powder into a bowl big enough for the job. Add yogurt, ghee and the frothy yeast mixture to the dry ingredients. Mix everything to form a soft ball of dough.

Tip the dough on a heavily floured surfed and knead till smooth. I love this bit as it gives me a good workout. Forget kickboxing, this will give you the best biceps and triceps in town. I tend to keep kneading even after the dough is smooth as this really helps with the elasticity of the bread.

Place the dough in an oversized bowl and cover with a damp cloth or cling film. Leave to rise in a warm place for about an hour or until the dough has doubled in size.

If you just want plain naan to dip in your curry, then preheat the oven to 220ºC/Fan or 200ºC/Gas. They usually bake in 4-5 minutes. Leave the oven tray in there to heat up. Make tiny balls from the dough and roll them out to any shape you fancy. Being a humble home cook I am unable to make a clean round shape or the classic teardrop shape and just end up with flat-breads that look like maps of various non-existent countries. But it still tastes good and that’s all that matters. As Julia Child once said “…you‘re alone in the kitchen. Who’s going to know?” And obviously if you love butter as much as Julia Child or me just drop a knob on the warm naan and watch it melt!

 

Step 2- Prep the Pizza Toppings

Ingredients:

• 65g of Biber Salcasi (Turkish red pepper paste, available in mild & spicy)
• 125g Gruyere
• 125g Edam
• 100g Cornish Yarg (This is my favourite British cheese. I like the one wrapped in wild garlic)
• 250g of mushrooms (roughly sliced)
• 2 teaspoons of Tandoor spice mix
• Coriander leaves to garnish
• Mint leaves to garnish
• 2 green chillies finely chopped (Optional. I like to de-seed & run my chillies under cold water before chopping, as I love the fragrance but not the heat)

Method:

Marinate the mushrooms in Tandoor spice mix whilst waiting for the dough to rise. You can drizzle a bit of oil to help the spices stick to the mushroom.

Grate the hard cheeses and chop the Cornish yarg into small chunks. As much as I love mozzarella, there is a reason I have not used it in this recipe. The soft moist texture and the milky flavour of mozzarella do not work well with the subtle sweet milky flavour of the naan. Strongly hard cheeses will create a contrast and balance the flavours of this dish. Whereas the small melted chunks of yarg will provide bursts of flavour as you bite into the pizza. Now obviously you do not have to use all three cheeses but this is supposed to a cheesy weekend treat.

Step 3- Bake that Pizza

Preheat  oven to 220ºC/Fan or 200ºC/Gas. Leave the oven tray in there to heat up. Roll out the dough to about half centimetre in thickness. You could roll it out thicker if you want a pan pizza effect. Poke holes in the base of with a fork as naan has a tendency to fluff up in the oven. Spread the pepper paste on the base. Sprinkle it with grated cheese, marinated mushroom slices, chopped chillies & chunks of Cornish yarg. Bake in hot oven for about 6-8 minutes. Do keep a close eye on your pizza as naan cooks really quickly in about 5 minutes but I tend to wait a minute or two longer for the cheese to get bubbly.

Remove from oven and decorate with coriander and mint leaves before biting into your first slice.

Confessions of a foodaholic- I sometimes make the pizza a bit smaller so I can roll it up and eat it like a wrap. Nothing like enjoying the stringiness of warm melted cheese! 

TOP TIPS:

• Naan has very sticky dough, there for always oil the bowl you use for proving or storage.
• Don’t forget to flour the surfaces generously when rolling out the dough to avoid it sticking to the surface.
• Always remember to pre-heat your oven trays to prevent the pizza base from going soggy
• The dough also has a tendency to dry out quickly so cover unused dough in cling film.
• Unused dough can be stored in the fridge for up to 3-4 days in an airtight container. So you can make the dough over the weekend and enjoy warm naans for at least half a week.

DESI DICTIONARY:

Desi: A loose term, for the people, cultures and products of the Indian sub continent

Ghee: Term for clarified butter from the south east Asian sub continent

Naan: A type of leavened flat- bread traditionally cooked in a clay oven

Paneer: A type of fresh unsalted white milk curd cheese with a dense crumbly texture used traditionally in south east Asian cooking