How To Cook A Pizza In The Alfa Pizza Oven

Cook a delicious pizza in under 4 minutes with the Alfa wood-fired pizza oven

This video, featuring Richard Holden the Gourmet BBQ chef, shows you how to cook a simple Ham and Cheese Pizza on the Alfa Pizza Oven. Make sure the Alfa is pre-heated using kiln dried hardwood logs, it needs to be around 400C. We have also cooked exactly the same pizza on a charcoal BBQ using the Weber Pizza Stone to compare the results from two different methods, and I have to say the pizza cooked on the Alfa was absolutely sublime.

 Roll your pizza dough until fairly thin then spread on your tomato sauce; Richard has made his own from passata, dried Mediterranean herbs, salt, ground black pepper, a little olive oil and some brown sugar. Make sure you don’t spread the sauce too close to the edge otherwise it will flow off and stick the pizza to the bottom of the oven. You can top the pizza with anything you like, just make sure any meat you use is cooked as the pizza is only in the oven for 3 – 4 minutes and this is not sufficient time to cook raw meat. We have done a simple ham and cheese pizza but used really good quality ingredients to elevate it to another level. We have used Serrano ham and buffalo mozzarella and added some olives and fresh basil leaves, and finally a little drizzle of olive oil.

Half way through the cooking process, about 2 minutes, turn the pizza round so that all sides have faced the fire. Before eating drizzle with a little bit more olive oil so when you bite into it you don’t burn the roof of your mouth. This oven is not only for cooking pizza but can be used to cook the Sunday roast, gorgeous home-baked bread, cakes; once you have a bit of practice you could cook almost anything in this oven. And it is a fantastic, stylish source of heat on a chilly evening.

If you have any questions about this dish or anything else BBQ related just call in to The Barbecue Shop located within our store here at Ambleside. Otherwise get in touch via the comments box at the end of any blog article or through facebook or twitter.

Pizza sauce:

• Passata
• Dried oregano or mixed dried Mediterranean herbs
• Dash of olive oil
• Teasp brown sugar
• Salt
• Ground black pepper

Pizza dough:

• 2teasp fast acting dried yeast
• 1teasp sugar
• 350g (12 ½oz) plain flour
• 1teasp salt
• 200ml (6 ¾fl oz) warm water
• 1 – 2tbsp olive oil

1. Mix yeast, flour, sugar and salt in a large bowl.
2. Make a well in the centre, add warm water and olive oil.
3. Knead the dough lightly on a floured surface until smooth.
4. Put into a clean bowl, cover and leave to rise in a warm place until doubled in size.
5. Divide the dough in two.
6. Roll out to a circle on a floured surface; or you can use semolina for a really crisp bottom.
7. Keep turning 90 degrees, leave the edges thicker than the centre otherwise the topping runs off.

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