FLOWER POT KITCHEN: LO-DOUGH GLUTEN FREE WOOD FIRED PIZZA

18 Nov 2018

LO-DOUGH GLUTEN FREE WOOD FIRED PIZZA

Pizza is so Back on the Menu !!!

There is good reason why wood fired pizza’s are some of the best you can eat, the flavour that comes from cooking with open flame is unbeatable. This awesome gluten free, carb free Lo-Dough wrap is unbelievably versatile, so good that even my husband is converted, something I did not expect. Cooking In a wood fired oven just adds a whole other level of flavour, it wasn’t that long ago that everyone cooked over wood fires. The fast wood fired cooking and high temperatures give you a mouthwatering crisp gorgeous oak smoked licked pizza.

I make my Italian five families Marinara recipe base tomato sauce with the most gorgeous full of sunshine flavour DOP San Marzano tomatoes, these are grown on the slopes opposite Mount Vesuves in Valle del Samo Italy. Simple toppings of DOP di bufala campagna mozzarella and fresh basil leaves makes for a magnificent Margarita pizza, however the calling for some pepperoni was just to strong on this occasion!

Pizza...Pizza...Pizza

Ingredients

(makes 4 pizzas)

Lo-Dough

4 Lo-Dough wraps

San Marzano Marinara Sauce

1 large tin DOP san Marzano tomatoes

100 ml olive oil

1 onion finely chopped

1 clove garlic grated

1/2 red pepper finely chopped

1/4 glass of quality dry white wine

1/4 glass quality dry red wine

1/2 tsp Himalayan sea salt

1 tsp oregano

1/4 tsp thyme

1/4 tsp paprika

Toppings

1 ball fresh di bufala campagna mozzarella

20 fresh basil leaves

Or personal choice of toppings...

100g pepperoni

100g Italian fennel sausage

My Five Families Marinara

Heat the olive oil and gentle sauté the onions, garlic and red pepper for 10 minutes, add the rest of the ingredients and leave to a barely gently simmer for a couple of hours if you can, blitz to a smooth consistency and add more seasoning if required.

Cooking In A Wood Fired Oven

Fire up your wood oven at least 1-2hrs before you are ready to cook. I like to have white glowing embers that only need a couple of logs periodically thrown on so that I can roughly control the temperature around 400 - 450 degrees Celsius. I never cook straight away after throwing on a new log but as soon as the flames lower after five minutes or so then I gage how far to place the pizza in the oven, less flames then the pizza can go all the way in, hot fresh flames then cook your pizza nearer the oven door, position in the oven is how you can control the cooking heat.

If your cooking in a oven with a pizza stone pre heat your oven to its highest setting with the pizza stone in the oven for at least 45 minutes before your ready to cook. The pizza should cook within 8 minutes, turn 180 degrees half way through the cooking time.

Don’t overload the pizza base with toppings for a truly magnificent pizza less is more, just make more pizzas.

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LIFE MY PASSION

Welcome to my daily life of cooking, one winters day many years ago my family and I were all inspired by a back to back rainy day of River Cottage this got us to stop talking about and start actually doing, suddenly three weeks later eight vegetable beds were dug, greenhouse erected and our first vegetables were propagating, this was the start to raising and growing our own food, our fabulous son Oscar changed our path in life which lead us to sell our small thriving restaurant of 10 yrs and to start our new life (Terrifying!) a life of the self sufficient in touch with nature and seasons, taking a step back and looking forward to a slower change of pace and making the most of every moment.

My passion for cooking was stronger than ever and having time at home with Oscar I found I had a new direction and I was no longer striving for perfection, I was suddenly very passionate for the enjoyment of the other side of food, something I had not realised, being the Chef/Cook and every other duty of your own small restaurant made me see that I never actually took time to cook what I wanted!

So there I was muddy boots and hands digging deep in more than one sense and I found myself transported back in time to where everyone grew some of their own food, it is a wonderful world with a real sense of achievement and loss, Slugs Snails and Caterpillars! But thats another story! Childhood memories of summers when I lived with my grand parents reminded me of so much that I had learnt about the make do and mend generation that I had forgotten.

Now as a family we love our free wild food days where we gather what nature has provided, have gone from being mini mini garden urban small holders, who did raised pigs at home because we could not wait to find land and supporting ourselves from our garden to now owning a very small farm that allows us to grow more vegetables for the whole of our family and neighbours, raise our own gorgeous Gloucestershire Old Spot pigs, (Sausages!) and pets! Dorset Down sheep, chickens for eggs and pet goats! Suddenly having large quantities of produce started to wake up the Cook in me!

The Cook was awake that part of me that wants to cook for the masses and I found myself setting up Flowerpot Kitchen, a Farmers Market Stall, I wanted to use our honest raised meats and make old fashioned pork pies, rabbit pies and game pies from the local game keeper along with old fashioned techniques and the best hot water crust pastry. This in turn grew to a small cottage industry from home weekly supplying three farm shops and a deli along with also attending three farmers markets A few years later there came a time when my son Oscar's health changed and it was an easy decision to stop.

I still hold the occasional pop up 40 seater restaurant or gourmet lunch which we do for local charities for the love of sharing food and to remind that Cook in me why I love our go slower self sufficient life!

So here I am sitting amoung the vegetables watching the chickens loving that every season nature teaches me something new and that nature is in charge! She has taught me to just go with it and grow. Give it a try from a tray of salad on your windowsill to a few tomato plants it all counts.