As long as you have the ingredients handy, this great Stephanie Alexander snack can be whipped up in no time. Homemade tomato sauce is best but if you don’t have any, a commercial tomato pizza or pasta sauce (not ketchup!) will do very well.
When buying black olives to use for a pizza topping or a pasta sauce, avoid any that are already sliced into rings and jet-black in colour. These olives have been chemically treated to turn them black and are very soft and quite unpleasant. Note, too, that the mature firm yellow mozzarella is intended here, not the fresh white mozzarella sold in brine.
Serves: 2
Ingredients
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- 1 Turkish bread roll
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- 1⁄4 cup extra-virgin olive oil
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- 1 clove garlic
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- 1⁄2 cup fresh tomato sauce
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- 6 anchovy fillets
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- 8 black olives, stoned and chopped
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- 1 cup grated mozzarella
Method
Preheat the oven to 220°C (200°C fan-forced). Split the Turkish bread lengthwise and brush each cut side with half of the oil. Peel the garlic and cut it in half lengthwise. Rub the cut garlic over the bread, then smear the tomato sauce generously over the bread and add the anchovy fillets, olives and plenty of mozzarella. Drizzle with the rest of the olive oil. Transfer to a baking tray and bake for 15 minutes.
Be careful when removing these little pizzas from the oven. They will be very hot!
Recipe taken from The Cook’s Apprentice by Stephanie Alexander.
The Cook’s Apprentice is the essential teaching cookbook for the younger cook who’s just starting out. This wonderful book is full to the brim with everything new foodies need to know to become relaxed and confident in the kitchen.
Arranged alphabetically, The Cook’s Apprentice includes 56 ingredient chapters – from Apples to Zucchini – and more than 300 achievable recipes ranging from classics every cook will want to try to exciting new dishes that reflect our diverse nation. Stephanie takes you into her kitchen as she explains more than 100 important techniques in straightforward language, discusses the kitchen tools she likes to use, and describes ingredients you might not know: How do I whisk eggs to soft peaks? What does it mean to ‘make a well’ in dry ingredients? Why should I roast spices? How do I prepare fresh chillies safely? What is ‘resting meat’ and why should I do it? How do I prepare a mango? What flavours work well together? What is fresh mozzarella? How do I say ‘quinoa’?
The Cook’s Apprentice gives all you new cooks the inspiration you need for a lifetime of enjoyment in the kitchen.
You can purchase The Cook’s Apprentice at penguin.com.au Penguin Books.
Also read: Quick Margherita Pizza