In my house, we have homemade pizza every week. My kids will only eat pizza with chorizo, but my husband and I like to switch up our toppings every now and then – whether to suit the season or just to indulge in whatever we're in the mood for.

Tomato sauce bases are always great, but sometimes I like to make the extra effort and use a white sauce, or bechamel, for the base of my pizza. It works really well for a potato pizza (which is a great option for this time of year with new potatoes!) or, in this case, for a mushroom pizza with fresh goat's cheese.

Woodland Mushroom Pizza

Serves 8-10

Ingredients:

For the pizza dough:

  • 1 packet (10g) dry active yeast
  • 1 Tbsp honey
  • 300ml warm water
  • 1 Tbsp good quality olive or rapeseed oil
  • 2 tsp salt
  • 500g strong flour

    • For the garlic bechamel:

  • 3 Tbsp butter
  • 30g plain flour
  • 300ml full fat milk
  • 1 heaped tsp Dijon mustard
  • 1 garlic clove, finely grated
  • 2 tsp salt

    • For the pizza:

  • 4 heaping Tbsp St Tola goat's cheese
  • 200g grated mozzarella
  • Mixed wild and button mushrooms, seared in a hot pan
  • Fresh thyme
  • Fried egg (optional)

    • Woodland mushroom pizza.

    Directions

    1 Make the pizza dough: in a large mixing bowl, combine the yeast, honey and warm water. Let sit for 5 to 10 minutes, to activate the yeast.

    2 Add the olive oil, flour and salt and mix roughly with your hands. If the dough is very sticky add a bit more flour, but the end result will be a bit sticky. I don't knead pizza dough very much – I just mix it in the bowl with my hands for one to two minutes.

    3 Let the dough rise for 1.5 hours, covered in a clean dish towel. In the meantime, make the bechamel sauce: in a saucepan (over medium high heat), melt the butter. Add the flour and mix to make a roux, cooking this mixture for one minute (to take the taste of raw flour away). Add the milk and whisk well to incorporate the roux.

    Continue whisking constantly until the mixture comes to a boil and thickens. Remove from the heat. Add the salt, garlic and Dijon and mix. Let cool slightly.

    4 In a smoking hot pan, sear off the sliced mushrooms in a bit of olive oil. Season with salt after searing and set aside.

    5 Make the pizza (the dough will make four pizzas): preheat your oven to 220C. Divide the dough into four portions and, on a well floured surface, use a rolling pin to roll out the dough to your preferred thinness. Place the rolled out dough onto a perforated pizza pan. Spread the dough with bechamel, then add the mozzarella.

    Dot the goat's cheese evenly over the top and then add the seared mushrooms. Bake in a preheated oven for 15 to 20 minutes (depending on the thinness of your crust), until the crust is golden brown and the cheese is bubbly.

    6 Fry an egg sunny side up to top each pizza (if preferred). Sprinkle the pizza with fresh thyme before serving.