It’s the time of the year when the weather is very bipolar. It rains in the morning and the whole atmosphere becomes dark and gloomy and then in the afternoon, the sun is shining so bright it’s hard to believe it rained, except for the mud on the ground and vice versa. One moment you want to take a warm hearty soup and another moment you are yearning for a cold drink.

I am probably not the only one but have you ever thought of paring pie and pizza? It saves time, honestly. I was browsing the other day and I realized that to make a perfect pizza crust is close to impossible for me at the moment. On the other hand, pie dough is so easy to make, seriously! And so a radical idea came to me and I was thinking why not make a pie crust pizza?

I am digressing! Have you ever heard of termite mushrooms? They are these tiny mushrooms found on termite hills that are full of character and a distinct flavor. I remember when I was young, after it rained, I would be sent out to soggy termite hills to collect these little things. Usually, these termite hills also harbor snakes. So the collectors have to tread softly. The fun part of it was actually getting to eat them after laboring collecting them, removing the mud, thoroughly washing and cooking them.
I did not know they were called termite mushrooms until recently when I actually had to cook them. I, clearly, have a lot to learn!

So it all started when we had bought the dried version of the mushrooms and had eaten them repeatedly as soup three times (will share the recipe soon). I had cheese and pie dough (ha!) readily available and there was a handful of the dried mushrooms left and so termite mushroom pizza was made. While doing this, I justified my decision with saying “pizza always has mushrooms”. I know you are wondering what pizza has to do with the bipolar weather. The thing is, you can always whip up an easy pizza in those gloomy moments, before the sun comes out

What you will need:

Pie dough
2C. Baking flour
½ C. Margarine (blue band)/ Butter
1/2 C. Cold water
½ Tsp. Sugar
½ Tsp. Salt
Toppings
½ C./ a handful of dried termite mushrooms,
3 medium tomatoes, chopped
1 Medium onion, thinly sliced, lengthwise
1 Small green pepper, chopped
½ C. Cheese, grated
2 Garlic cloves, crushed and chopped
3 Tbsp. Cooking oil
Salt

Method

Soak the termite mushrooms for 30 minutes in slightly salty water.

Pie dough
Sift flour in a bowl. Add salt and sugar. Mix well. Add margarine and using your hands mix it in the flour until the mixture becomes coarse. Next add the water, a tablespoon at a time, while mixing. Keep adding little water until a firm dough is formed. It should not be very wet and should not stick to your hands so much (you may need more or less water). After you have formed the dough, put it back in the bowl and keep it refrigerated for 15 minutes. After 15 minutes, remove from the refrigerator and, on a floured surface, cut the dough into two equal parts. Using a floured rolling pin or a glass bottle, roll the dough out till it is large enough (think chapatti size). Roll the second part of the dough too. After rolling them, put them back in the refrigerator for 5 minutes.

Toppings
Heat the oil in a pan. Add the tomatoes and garlic and cover the pan. Check occasionally to see if they are soft. Once soft, remove from fire and let them cool.
Drain the mushrooms.
Remove one crust from the refrigerator and put it on a cookie sheet of your oven or a metallic tray.
Keep the other half of all the toppings for the second crust.
Using a spoon, spread half of the fried tomato mix on the crust. Next add the termite mushrooms. Next add the green pepper. Next add the onions and finally the grated cheese.
Bake in an oven until the crust starts to brown a little and the cheese had completely melted. This can take an approximation of 15 to 20 minutes depending on the oven you are using. I use an oven toaster.
Remove from the oven and let the pizza cool.
Serve on a gloomy day… or really any day you feel like having easy homemade pizza!
The result is a light crusted but flaky pizza.

Now that I’m thinking about it, does this make it a tart? Just wondering.

Have a great week

🙂

Sophie

PS: Use fully ripe tomatoes to avoid sourness.