Posting two similar recipes in quick succession isn’t something that I’d usually indulge in, but time has been short recently and pizzas are awfully quick and simple to make; particularly when using pre-prepared dough. While on the subject of dough, a couple of you weren’t sure how the quality of it would be affected by being frozen for a few days. It seems that all fears of any dough-damage were entirely misplaced, as it produced a base of exactly the same quality. However, one must ensure that the dough has completely thawed before use. Indeed, I would suggest that one ought really to remove it from any chilled environment overnight before using it for pizza. Those of you who suggested that such an act would degrade the dough ought to feel ashamed. I wasn’t aware that faith in my instruction had waned quite that much!

In my last pizza post it was suggested that tomato-based pizzas aren’t necessarily worth blogging about since everyone knows how to make them. Clearly, I have remained steadfast in my convictions and have produced a delicious pesto-based specimen. As most of you will know, the flavours found atop this pizza are essentially the constituent parts of the classic caprese salad and this creation does a great job of showcasing the combination. One important thing to remember when making this pizza is not to over-do the amount of mozzarella; you’d be surprised at how much it can overwhelm a dish. It really is a case of less-is-more.

Now, as you know, I’m not much of an anecdotal blogger, but here’s a good one for you. Yesterday evening, five prime physical specimens and I took to the football pitch for a game of six-aside football. Unfortunately, my previous claim that all of us were prime physical specimens is easily refuted and we lost by a stunning margin. Indeed, when I tell you that our side got absolutely destroyed by a team which scored, on average, 1.04 goals per minute over a 26 minute match, you’ll soon work out that we lost 27-0. Now, I’m not unfit by any stretch of the imagination – I’ve just returned from circuits – but, we had no idea how to play against a more than competent side that had been going for six years; we had been playing together for 5 minutes. Anyway, I thought that anecdote would go rather well with this delicious pizza.

Pesto, Tomato and Mozzarella Pizza

Serves 2-4

Ingredients:

• 1 ball of dough, preferably homemade

• 2 tbsp basil pesto, see here for more info

• 6-7 cherry tomatoes, halved

• 60g mozzarella cheese

Method:

1. Pre-heat the oven to 220C. Stretch the dough out into a pizza base and spread it with pesto.

2. Add the cherry tomatoes and mozzarella and bake for around 10-15 minutes, until golden and hard underneath. Enjoy with a salad, the one depicted is composed entirely of watercress.

Cost: As mentioned previously, the dough for this pizza should set one back around 15-20p, which is very cheap. However, due to the lack of mushrooms this pizza ought to come in a little under the last. Indeed, the entire creation should set one back no more than £1.30, which is an absolute steal!