Sourdough Pizza from Bisbrooke Artisans
Over the last few months, just before lockdown began, the Bisbrooke Artisans began experimenting with making their famous sourdough into pizza bases. Some lucky locals in the villages around them were drafted in as taste testers. That product has now developed into a take-home sourdough pizza kit, which you can pick up for £6.50.
The Boy and I taste tested it last night. Now I’ll be the first to say that I abhor most food ‘kits’ because inevitably they are slightly insulting to your intelligence and your pocket. Like the chocolate truffle kit I saw, which was chocolate and some cocoa powder branded up as an exciting yet simple activity. Just add cream! Well yes, of course you just fucking add cream – that’s all truffles are, chocolate and cream, maybe rolled in cocoa powder when it’s set. I find it a bit disingenuous that the customer is paying more for the fancy box AND you have to provide your own cream in a two ingredient situation. Just buy a bar of chocolate, it does the same job. I appreciate cream is a fresh ingredient, but still, it annoys me. It’s probably just a post-partum thing, I don’t know. Don’t @ me.
But anyway, I find this kit slightly less triggering for two reasons – 1. everything I need to make a pizza is in the kit, so I don’t have to rush back to the shop when I realise I’ve forgotten something. 2. the sourdough base is something that I couldn’t make at home, so the kit offers me a component that I would otherwise not have access to.
Obviously you can add whatever toppings you like to the basic Margherita kit – we have a nice basil plant at the moment so some went on there, but otherwise we decided to try it as is, to get the full flavour. Of course it is just a matter of moments to construct and cook the pizza as the base is already cooked and the sauce and mozzarella are ready to go.
I was quite surprised that the base was pre-cooked but on reflection I don’t know how they could get dough to you at home and guarantee good results so it makes sense. The benefit is that you can keep the whole lot in the fridge or even freezer until you’re ready to use it.
As it is pre-cooked I recommend getting your oven really hot so you can blast the toppings without overcooking the base. We loved the flavour and the crunch though. The sourdough adds a little extra interest, it has been fermented for 48 hours, and we thought the tomato sauce was lovely too. As you can see we banged out some homefries and salad and the pizza comfortably fed two of us. Would be lovely cut into smaller pieces to eat with the family in front of the telly too.
Leicester folk can contact Bisbrooke Artisans for collection at 11.45am from Queens Road each Friday – call 07850231135 for more info, details on meal specials and loaves or to find out more about Rutland stockists.
We were gifted the kit for the purpose of review but my opinion is an honest response to trying it.
