Asparagus and goat’s cheese pizza

A homemade pizza tastes so much nicer than shop-bought and is incredibly easy. This recipe from Swedish chef Leila Lindholm is delicious for a midweek supper, and the trick to a soggy-free base is to go easy on the sauce.

Preparation time

15 minutes (plus time for rising)

Cooking time

35 minutes

Ingredients (serves 6-8)

• 15g fresh yeast
• 300ml lukewarm water
• 2 tsp sugar
• 1 tsp sea salt
• 2 tbsp olive oil
• 75g durum
• wheat flour
• 350-400g strong bread flour '
• 2 garlic cloves, peeled and chopped
• 5 ripe tomatoes, diced
• 1 tbsp butter
• 1 tbsp clear honey
• 1 tsp white wine vinegar
• Sea salt
• Freshly ground black pepper
• 1 bunch green asparagus spears
• 250g goat’s cheese
• 250g buffalo mozzarella
• 100g black olives, stoned
• 5 sprigs fresh rosemary, chopped
• Olive oil

Method

Step 1: To make the dough, crumble the yeast in a bowl and dissolve in water. Add sugar, salt and olive oil. Add both flours a little at a time, and knead the dough by hand. Cover with a cloth and leave to rise for 45 minutes, when it has doubled in size. Preheat the oven to 250°C. Divide the dough into four and roll each one out thinly on a floured surface.

Step 2: To make the sauce, melt butter in a pan and fry the garlic. Add honey and tomatoes and cook for 20 minutes until the sauce has thickened. Season with vinegar, salt and black pepper.

Step 3: Boil the asparagus spears for 2 minutes. Cool in ice water then cut into bite-size pieces.

Step 4: Spread each base with a thin layer of sauce. Top with crumbled goat’s cheese and torn mozzarella. Add olives, asparagus and rosemary then season with black pepper. Bake in the middle of the oven for 5-10 minutes.

From One More Slice by Leila Lindholm (£19.99, New Holland Publishers)