It’s very difficult to not like pizza, and it is even more difficult to not like Sally Clarke’s oven dried tomato and basil pizza. With ripe cherry tomatoes and flavourful herbs like thyme and basil we have no doubt that this is a recipe that you and the little ones will enjoy. Simple and easy to cook, you can even let the kiddies help you make the dough.

Serves 4

Cooking time: 2 hours and 40 mins

What You’ll Need:

• 500g ripe tomatoes, either cherry or plum
• Maldon salt and pepper
• 90ml olive oil
• 1tsp chopped thyme leaves
• 1 clove garlic, crushed to a cream with salt
• 4 large onions, peeled and finely sliced
• 1 bunch of basil, small tips reserved for garnish, larger leaves roughly chopped

 Pizza Dough

• 10g fresh yeast or 5g dried yeast
• Approximately 135 ml warm water
• 200g spelt flour
• 40ml olive oil
• A pinch of salt
• 20ml milk

 What To Do:

• Preheat the oven to 150 °C/300°F/gas mark 2.

• Cut the cherry tomatoes in half or the plum tomatoes in sixths or eighths and place on a baking sheet, skin-side down. Sprinkle with salt and pepper. Cook in the oven for 1 ½ hours or until they have started to shrivel and dry.

• To make the dough, mix the yeast and warm water until smooth and then add this to the remaining dough ingredients, either mixing and kneading by hand until smooth or using a mixing machine with the dough-hook attachment on the slowest speed. It will take 10-15 minutes for the dough to become smooth and soft to the touch. Place in a lightly oiled bowl, cover with cling film and leave to rise in a warm place for at least 1 hour.

• Meanwhile, in a heavy-based pan heat the olive oil with the thyme and garlic until it begins to sizzle. Add the onions and stir over a high heat until they start to caramelize and turn golden. This may take up to 10 minutes. Season and turn the contents into a colander to drain and cool. Preheat the oven to 190°C/375°F/gas mark 5.

• Remove the dough from the bowl and knead gently again until smooth. Roll the pizza dough to a disc approximately 25cm in diameter and place on a lightly oiled baking sheet. Spread the onions over it, leaving 2cm uncovered around the edge. With a fish slice or palette knife carefully dislodge the tomatoes from the tray and scatter them on top, skin-side down. Cover with cling film and leave in a warm draught-free place to rise for 15-20 minutes. The dough should look slightly risen and soft when ready to bake.

• Place on the middle shelf. Bake for 15 minutes and sprinkle with the chopped basil. Return to the oven and bake for a further 5-10 minutes or until the crust is risen and golden. Slide on to a cooling rack if serving cold of serve straight from the oven garnished with basil sprigs.

Recipe from www.greatbritishspeltrecipes.com – Sharpham Park’s Great British Spelt Recipes campaign with Bowel Cancer UK

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