Recipe: How to make blackberry, gorgonzola and walnut pizza

This recipe makes wonderful use of blackberries, one of our favourite seasonal British ingredients.

It does require a little forethought, however: the dough is based on 'biga', a type of Italian dough, which is made in two stages, the first of which involves leaving it overnight.

Don't let that put you off, however: you can make the dough in big batches and freeze it for use at a later date. And once you've got your dough, the whole thing can be put together in less than 15 minutes – that's according to food writer Rosie Birkett, who put the recipe together for Driscoll's Sweet Blackberries.

https://youtu.be/-jPdXBeCQiM

Ingredients (serves 2-4)

For the Biga

• 75g spelt flour
• 75g plain white flour
• 1/2 tsp fast action yeast
• 1/2 tsp sugar

For the final dough

• 150g spelt flour
• 125g wholemeal flour
• 1 tsp fast action yeast
• 2 tbsp olive oil

For the topping

• 50g blackberries
• 1 garlic clove, crushed
• 75g crème fraiche
• 50g soft gorgonzola, plus extra for crumbling over
• 1/2 red onion, sliced
• 2 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
• a handful of walnuts
• 100g kale or chicory - I like to use the frilly green and purple, stems removed
• 2 sprigs of thyme, leaves picked

Method

• Make the biga the night before. In a bowl, combine the two flours, yeast and sugar. Slowly add 150ml lukewarm water, stirring to create a thick batter-like dough. Cover with a plastic carrier bag or dry tea towel and leave in a warm place overnight

• For the second stage, add the flours, yeast and olive oil along with 1 tsp salt to the biga, then gradually mix in enough water to make a soft wet dough that still holds its shape (we used around 200ml-220ml water).
• Cover and leave to rise for 2-4 hours or until tripled in size, being careful that it doesn’t over prove and collapse on itself
• Once the dough has risen, knock it back in the bowl then tip out onto a heavily floured surface. Knead in the flour until the dough stops sticking to your hands, it should be very soft and springy but not so wet that it sticks to the surface.
• Divide into 2 balls. Freeze one to use later, and use the other to make either two small or one large pizza rolled out with a floured rolling pin to approx. 1 cm thick.
• Heat the oven to 210C/190C fan/gas mark 6 1/2. Transfer the base to an oiled baking sheet. Prove this for a further five minutes while you get the topping ready.
• Beat the crème fraiche, garlic and gorgonzola together to make the base. Spread it across the pizza dough.
• Toss the kale and red onion in a bowl with olive oil, salt and pepper. Add this to the top of the pizza base along with the blackberries, extra gorgonzola and walnuts, drizzle with olive oil and season with thyme.
• Bake for 10-15 mins, until the base is puffed and golden.