Territorials Deep Dish
The curds have it
Next up in my series of British Territorial Cheese recipes – in support of Neal’s Yard Dairy’s EAT THEM OR LOSE THEM campaign – is an example of why pizzas need not always have red sauce. It’s Territorials Deep Dish: a low-effort dinner that requires a little bit of patience but is very relaxed to put together. The dough proves overnight for a deep and complex flavour and is topped the next day with a winning combination of summer’s sweetest peppers and Britain’s greatest cheeses. I hope you will try it.
Sometimes I think the name ‘British Territorials’ can sound a little bit army-like, a little severe. But, when these one-of-a-kind cheeses are at risk of going extinct if we don’t eat more of them, maybe it’s time we Stand Up and Pay Attention? So I’ve gone ahead and named this recipe Territorials Deep Dish, in the hope you might do a double-take and make it.
Territorial cheeses are really only called so because they’re named after the regions and places they come from. Lancashire, Cheshire, Wensleydale and Caerphilly are the most famous, alongside other Dales cheeses like Swaledale and Cotherstone (from Teesdale). Territorials (especially Kirkham’s Lancashire and Cotherstone) have a decent moisture content as cheeses go, so when melted in this pizza recipe they offer a real chewiness towards the crust that gives mozzarella a run for its money.
Because the cheese goes crispy at the pizza’s edge, as well as gooey in the centre, you get two different flavour pay-offs, mellow and buttery and punchy and sharp. The combination of sweet roasted peppers and sharp, acidic cheese is always a good one. With slow-cooked onions added to the mix and a hit of chilli, we have a satisfying meal that only needs a simple side salad to complete it.
I know this pizza isn’t strictly a deep dish (of the Chicago variety) because it doesn’t have the tomato sauce on top, but when the cheese is this good I think it’s a shame, and frankly wrong, to overpower it with a richly overwhelming sauce.