A baking stone is a brilliant bit of kit. It encourages tarts, loaves and flatbreads to crisp perfectly on the bottom. My own, a thick clay disc – round, heavy, blackened from years of overflowing mozzarella and burned-on flour – is an essential in my kitchen. To be without it would be to risk a return to the soggy-bottomed tart or the underbaked loaf.
Cookware shops usually have a selection of baking stones. Go for the biggest your oven will take. Your new house guest will take up little space. You can slide it inside a cupboard or perhaps beside the oven. I rarely remove mine from its home on the bottom shelf of the oven, where it warms gradually, holding the heat even when the door is open.
Your hot rock doesn’t have to be made-for-purpose: a large quarry tile will do, and can be picked up for very little. It’s worth remembering that they are brittle when hot.
A metal baking sheet will also do the job. If yours has raised edges, turn it upside down. Even a thin metal sheet, left to warm in the oven, will help your tart cases and crusts crisp just that little bit more effectively.I use my stone when I’m making pastry cases, bread, pizza and flatbreads, but not for biscuits, which don’t need that extra heat from below and can become too crisp. No one wants a burned bottom to their chocolate-chip cookies.
Loaves, pizza and flatbreads are most successful when baked directly on the hot stone. Tart cases, especially those being “baked blind”, are best on a baking sheet placed flat on the heated stone.
This week I made polenta bases, using ground cornmeal in place of flour to give a crisp base to molten mozzarella and taleggio. I don’t really like to call this particular cheese-and-vegetable-topped flatbread pizza, but it is not something I intend to lose any sleep over.
I tried both sorts of popular ground maize: the coarse-textured “bramata” that requires half an hour of gentle stirring to get it thoroughly cooked, and the instant, finely ground version that purists like to dismiss. There was, frankly, little difference in this instance. Both crisped up nicely, and both were a suitable alternative for those who want or need something gluten-free.
You may like to make the bases thinner than I did, in which case you could get two instead of three out of each batch. But these are a good place to start. Nicely satisfying and, when baked on a stone, appetisingly crisp, too. Never again do you need to hear the words “soggy bottom”.
Dolcelatte and salami polenta pizza
I used coarse polenta for this, which requires a much longer cooking time than the “instant”. Either would be suitable for this recipe. I find stirring coarse polenta for half an hour or longer rather soothing.
Serves 2
water 750ml
polenta bramata (coarse) 120g
butter or olive oil a little
For the topping:
mozzarella 125g
dolcelatte 125g
salami Milano 60g, finely sliced
thyme leaves 1 tsp
Pour the water into a deep pan and bring to the boil. Salt the water then rain in the polenta. Keep the heat moderately high and stir almost constantly for a good half hour. Make sure you protect your hands and arms – the molten polenta tends to erupt furiously. (If you can’t wait use the instant version below.) Let the polenta thicken to a porridge-like consistency.
Place a piece of baking parchment, measuring at least 24 x 32cm on a metal baking sheet then lightly butter or oil it. Pour the polenta on to the paper, pushing it into a rectangle about 28 x 18cm, and set aside until firm. Set the oven at 240C/gas mark 9. When the polenta is firm, brush lightly with melted butter or oil, then bake for 25-30 minutes until lightly crisp. Remove and set aside.
Break the mozzarella and dolcelatte into small pieces. Scatter the cheese over the surface of the cornmeal polenta, then tuck the slices of salami among them. Scatter with thyme leaves, season with coarse black pepper, then bake for 15 minutes or so, until the cheese has melted. Scoop up any cheese that oozes over the edges and serve.
Courgette, taleggio, polenta and basil pizza
Makes 2, roughly 22cm in diameter
water 750ml
fine polenta 120ml
butter or olive oil a little
courgettes 250g
olive oil 50ml
taleggio 100g
basil leaves 10
radish sprouts a handful
Preheat the oven to 240C/gas mark 9. Bring the water to the boil in a deep saucepan. Salt the water generously then add the polenta, in a steady stream. Keep the heat high, stir regularly, let the polenta thicken to a porridge-like consistency. Protect your hands and arms with an oven glove as the polenta will start bubbling ferociously.
Tip the polenta out on to two lightly oiled or buttered baking sheets, and pull into rounds. Leave for 15 minutes or so until set, then brush lightly with butter or oil and bake for 25-30 minutes or until lightly crisped.
Thinly slice the courgette (a little thicker than a pound coin). Put them in a small bowl, add the olive oil, and leave for a good 20 minutes.
Slice the taleggio and lay the pieces closely together on the surface of the polenta. Add the courgettes, salt and black pepper and a little of the olive oil the courgettes have been softening in. Bake for 15-20 minutes.
Shred the basil leaves and toss with the radish sprouts. As the pizza comes from the oven, scatter the basil and sprouts over the top and serve.
Email Nigel at nigel.slater@observer.co.uk
Follow Nigel on Twitter @NigelSlater
