Pizza Doughnuts

You know it’s doughnut week right? Yup, seven days to cram as many fried treats into your gob as possible. Oh, and it started yesterday, so you’ve possibly got a whole days worth of doughnut eating action to catch up on.

I had intended to make a fresh batch of doughnuts today but a hangover addled brain meant I completely cocked up my sponge type starter by forgetting to put flour in altogether. With no time to start afresh for a batch today, I started another for tomorrow whilst thinking about other ways I could put my frothy milky yeasty concoction to good use. My first thought was pizza fritta, something I’ve meaning to make for ages, but without a functioning grill to finish them off I hesitated and was reminded of the other thing I’ve had in my head for a while… Of course, the obvious solution is pizza dougnuts, they are also far more appropriate for the themed week and the perfect snack to nibble with a Negroni whilst pretending to be on holiday in sunnier climes.

A warning, these are obviously designed to scorch your mouth, the molten tomato and cheese is a bugger for the greedy little cook, so let them cool a smidge before devouring.

Also, I lost half my batch to over zealous filling, turning them into soggy sticky useless balls. You really only need a teaspoon of sauce, with a slice or cube of mozzarella and don’t scrimp on the basil, it really elevates the flavour, adding a level of herbal aromatics that lifts the snack beyond the simply stodgy.

Makes 6 small doughnuts

100ml milk

Sachet fast action yeast

Pinch of sugar

125g ’00′ flour

Good quality chopped tomatoes

Half a ball mozzarella

Basil leaves

Seasoning

Stir yeast and sugar into warmed milk, leave for around 15 minutes for it to activate, it should be frothy. Stir into the flour with a pinch of salt until all is combined, knead briefly, return to a bowl, cover and leave for around an hour to rise.

Knead the dough again lightly then split into 6 equal sized balls. Flatten the balls and stretch in rounds then dot on a teaspoon of chopped tomatoes, slice of mozzarella, and a couple of fresh basil leaves. Pull the edges together and seal carefully.

Lower into a fryer preheated to 180 degrees and cook for a couple of minutes until golden.

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