Silverbeet and sardine pizza
Canned seafoods are quite the thing lately, aren’t they? Although the French (who pioneered sardine canning in the early 1800s), Spanish and Portuguese have known for quite some time that fish in a can is fab. While you can drop serious coin on boujee canned fish brands, you can also pick up a 100g tin of sardines for a few of bucks at the supermarket and that’s a very serviceable option for a no-fuss pizza recipe like this one. Canned sardines are brilliant on toast so it stands to reason they’d be great on pizza and they are indeed excellent in this Italian sweet-savoury situation with earthy silverbeet, raisins and parmesan. We’re not aiming for chewy sourdough perfection with the dough here BTW, but rather that slapped-together simplicity that’s so appropriate for an easy, economical, no-fuss dinner. So don’t expect the Real Neapolitan Pizza Association to come knocking with accolades when you pull this from the oven so sozz about that. But look, It really is delicious. And if you have a better dough recipe or want to use a purchased one, then go for it.
SERVES 4
2 tsp instant dried yeast
large pinch sugar
300g (2⅓ cups) plain flour
115g (¾ cup) wholemeal flour
2 tsp sea salt flakes
2½ tbsp extra virgin olive oil
Topping
1 bunch silverbeet (about 800g)
3 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
1 large onion, finely chopped
6 garlic cloves, thinly sliced
85g (⅔ cup) raisins, chopped
150g (1½ cups) finely grated parmesan or pecorino
2 x 106g cans sardines in olive oil drained
dried chilli flakes, to taste
Pour 60ml (¼ cup) lukewarm water into the bowl of an electric mixer. Sprinkle over the sugar and yeast then stand in a draught-free place for 8-10 minutes until foamy. Add the flours, salt, extra virgin olive oil and 250ml (1 cup) lukewarm water. Using the paddle attachment, mix on slow speed until a coarse dough forms. Switch to the dough hook, then knead on medium speed for 7 minutes or until smooth and elastic. Alternatively, mix and knead by hand on a lightly floured surface; the dough is quite wet however, so be careful not to add too much extra flour or the crusts will be tough.
Place the dough in a large, lightly oiled bowl, turn to coat, then cover the bowl with plastic wrap. Stand in a draught-free place for 1½ hours or until doubled in bulk.
While the dough is rising, prepare the topping. Strip the leaves from the silverbeet stems, saving 4-5 stems; discard the remaining stems. Coarsely chop the leaves, then finely chop the stems, keeping the chopped stems separate. Heat the extra virgin olive oil in a large, deep frying pan over medium heat, Add the stems, onion, a few pinches of sea salt, then cook, stirring often, for 8 minutes or until softened. Add the garlic and cook, stirring for another 2 minutes or until the garlic is softened, then add the raisins and silverbeet leaves. Cook, turning the leaves with tongs, for 3-4 minutes or until the leaves are wilted. Season with salt and pepper, then remove from the heat and cool slightly,
Using your fist, deflate the dough. Meanwhile, preheat the oven to 220˚C, or as high as it will go. Lightly oil 2 x 30cm pizza trays. Divide the dough in half. On a lightly floured surface, roll each piece out to a 30cm circle, then transfer to the pizza trays. Scatter each with a quarter of the parmesan, then scatter over the silverbeet mixture and the remaining parmesan. Top with the sardines. Season with dried chilli flakes to taste, then bake for 20 minutes or until the bases are crisp and golden. Serve hot.
