Friday Night Fever

Many moons ago (well about 10 years anyway), Friday 5pm meant drinks at our desks in the PR firm I worked for, before launching ourselves out into the night and all the promise of a London weekend.

As I write I can almost hear lipstick being slicked on lips, hair being put up, pulled out, put up again, and drinks being clinked as the nations' young come together to celebrate the end of the working week and the down time that is ahead of them.

How life has changed.

Friday 5pm, chez moi, often means tired children, tired Mummy, and the thought of getting up at the same time tomorrow and doing it all over again. Now don't get me wrong, I adore my children and I wouldn't want it any other way, but I do sometimes feel like I am caught in my own, rather messy, groundhog day.

This Friday to shake things up a bit, and inspired by my friend Ceri who throws a regular Friday Night Disco, when she, her husband and children enjoy a bit of a boogie before bed - I decided to have a pizza night with the girls.

In the spirit of Ceri's disco, we played some cheesy 80's hits and the odd Disney classic to please the younger cooks, whilst creating our masterpieces. I recently purchased some mini victoria sponge tins for making pizzas in (inspired by a trip to Pizza Express when I watched the girls' pizzas being made in something which, it transpires, is called a black iron pizza pan.) The new tins worked brilliantly, the girls punched down their dough into them and the end product came out looking like pizzas, not like road kill, which is often the case when making free form pizzas with young children.

And so, children happy, fed and in bed, I'm feeling a bit like it really is Friday night,  and I can settle down with a glass of something that isn't Ribena and wait for my poor tired husband to come home (actually not that poor and tired as he was away covering a story last night and got to stay in a Hotel Du Vin. No sympathy really.) Happy weekend all.


Little Pizzas

For 4 small pizzas (about 6 inch diameter)

250g white flour (strong white bread flour is best)
1/2 of a 7g sachet of fast action yeast
1/4 pint warm water
1 tsp caster sugar
1 tsp salt


1. Weigh out the flour together and get your child to tip it into a large bowl.
2. Add the salt to the flour.
3. Measure out hot water from the tap.
4. Get your child to tip the yeast into the water, stir.
5. Now let them do the same with the sugar into the water, and stir.
6. Now get your child to 'dig' a well in the middle of the flour, and then pour in the yeast/water mix, and show them how to stir it all together.
7. Bring the dough into a ball, and then let your child knead it for a while, until they get bored (mine lasted about 2 minutes and then wanted to go and watch Octonoughts.)
8. Finish off the kneading yourself, or put it into a mixer with a dough hook and let it do the work for you. About 10 minutes should do the job.

Now leave the dough to rise for 20 minutes somewhere warmish.

Meanwhile, prepare your toppings.


We used

which is much too good to use for pizza really, its the most delicious mozarella I have ever tasted outside of Italy 

And a selection of these.
The children only topped their pizzas with olives, and couldn't be tempted to try sundried tomatoes and artichokes.

You know what you and yours like, so just make sure you've got lots of different bits for them to choose from.


I make my own pizza sauce by frying 1 clove of garlic over a very low heat, then adding a tin of chopped tomatoes, and some basil, and simmering for about 20 minutes, then blitzing with a hand held mixer. You only want to use the merest scraping of tomato sauce on your pizzas, so save the rest for pasta, or for topping chicken or fish.

Once you have assembled your pizzas, cook at 220C for about 10 minutes.