IT’S called elbow grease for a reason. Within five minutes of pummelling – excuse me, kneading – the weighty lump of dough in front of me, I had broken into a profuse sweat. My palms were clammy and unbecoming beads of perspiration had begun trailing down my arms, making their steady towards, yes, my elbow.

But I had nothing to show for it. My wrestling match with our pizza-to-be had barely made a dent and the gluten lay woefully under-stretched. I could have given up the towel but I didn’t dare to. If I had learnt anything in my ten minutes as an apprentice pizzaiola courtesy of my mentor for the day, Magnolia Brasserie’s head chef Ben Bullen, it was that, one: the success or failure of a pizza rests solely on the quality of the dough; two: dough won’t knead itself.

“The dough has to be perfect, if not there’s no point trying – no topping will save it,” says Ben, putting me out of my misery and swooshing in to pound and press the dough into a perfectly smooth and springy sphere. “It’s all in the shoulder. You need to push the dough with the palm of your left hand if you're right-handed or the other way round if you're left-handed and turn the dough with the other hand to guide you. You want it soft as a baby's bottom.”

Since taking over the tired carvery at Sudbury House Hotel and transforming it into a slick and spacious no-fuss eatery with an eclectic menu of pub classic – and pizzas - Ben has been keen to showcase his unique take on the Italian staple, hence today’s enlightening if laborious (through no fault of his own) masterclass.

Crispy thin (I would later find out it takes even more elbow grease but also a feather-light touch to roll out a suitably fine specimen) and topped with inventive ingredients, not least today's pickled fennel laid out on the counter waiting to be liberally sprinkled over the dough, his pizzettas are miles from the greasy, often heavy variety peddled in sub-par trattorias as the real thing or scoffed in late-night takeaway binges.

And that’s just the point. Never one for dense crust, he concocted his own ‘concept zettas’, reminiscent of an Alsatian flammeküeche with distinctly Italian and Mediterranean flavours.

“I think people have lost sight of what pizzas are,” he shrugs. “They see it as doughy fast food, that you eat after a few beers but that’s not what they should be. The problem is a lot of people make them with bread flour which is why they’re so dense and doughy. That’s a big mistake.”

Unlike the hotel’s fine-dining eatery, Restaurant 56 on the other end of the complex – headed by his childhood friend Andrew Scott - Ben’s fare is homespun, pared back, ‘just like grandma would rustle up’. But that does not mean she shies away from the odd curve-ball flavour combo if the dishes of smoked mozzarella, crunchy marinated cauliflower and harissa mayonnaise on the kitchen worktop are anything to go by.

Ben got his first job at his "local", Whately Hall Hotel in Banbury, while at training at college. After graduation, he totted up stints at Jesmonds of Highworth and The Feathers in Woodstock before joining the team at the Michelin-starred Mallory Court. There he worked under the direction of his long-time friend and on-and-off colleague Andrew Scott. After a spell as sous chef at Gee’s in Oxford he was persuaded by Andrew, who had just taken over as executive chef at Sudbury House’s revamped Restaurant 56 to head up the soon-to-launch Magnolia Brasserie.

After dabbling with award-baiting cuisine and plodding away in high-pressure upmarket kitchens, Ben is confident he has finally found his “niche” at the Brasserie.

“Before this I was trying to find my niche,” explains the 31-year-old. “I’ve done fine-dining, pubs, hotels and restaurants and I realised I enjoy cooking food like this, things you can cook at home but wouldn’t necessarily. For me it has to be approachable, that’s the beauty behind it. But you can play around with the flavours a bit too. It’s clean, fresh and done properly.”

Seeing through my obvious ploy to leave him to do all the handiwork by studiously burying my nose in my notebook, he gets down to business: time to roll out the pizza. This, it turns out, makes kneading look like child’s play.

The key is rolling it within an each of its life, until practically see-through. This requires the perfect balance of “roughness and delicacy” according to Ben. But don’t even think about slyly plugging holes and tears by dabbing dollops of passata in strategic places. Not only will the deceit be revealed when the sauce leaks all over the wood-burning oven but it may actually start a fire in there. A word to the wise.

“With pizzas like these you can’t get away with anything,” reasons Ben. “If you cheat you’re not doing it right.”

To my surprise, pizza tossing is not on the agenda.

“They’re so thin they don’t need it, you only need to toss it to stretch it when the dough is thick.”

The dough suitably translucent, comes the fun part: "throwing on the ingredients". And Ben really means it. I am instructed to tear off chunks of smoked mozzarella, help myself to a handful of fennel and anchovies and lob the lot at the pizza.

“Getting your hands dirty and getting to know your food, that’s what it’s all about.”

Then, it is straight in the oven.

Well, not quite. Ben’s wafer-thin USP has one mighty drawback: his pizzas are especially hard to slide off the counter, onto a paddle and into the oven. Push too hard and you will irreparably rip your masterpiece, not hard enough and it will never come off the worktop.

Heated at 290C, this baby only needs just two minutes to cook but must be turned every few seconds to make sure it is done evenly.

Crisp to perfection and bursting with flavour (who knew saffron fennel and anchovies were a match made in heaven) our pizza was as close to the stodgy stuffed-crust monstrosities of takeaways as lamb cutlets are to a kebab.

Tucking in certainly put the arduous minutes of whacking gluten into shape in perspective.

That being said, I wouldn’t get roped into kneading again in a hurry.

The Magnolia Brasserie is based at Sudbury House Hotel, 56 London Street, Faringdon, SN7 7AA. To book call 01367 241272. Alternatively go to www.sudburyhouse.co.uk.

Ben Bullen's Fennel and Anchovy Pizza Bianco

Ingredients

15g salt

10g sugar

5g yeast

1.2kg of 00 flour

75ml milk

50ml liquid cream

50ml olive oil

Pickled or marinated fennel

Mozzarella

Burrata

Anchovies

Pot of creme fraiche

Fresh dill

Method

Blend or hand mix the salt, sugar, yeast and flour. Then mix the milk, 50ml of cream and olive oil in a separate bowl. Pour the liquid slowly on the flour mix and blend thoroughly.

Knead the dough until smooth and soft. Leave it to cold prove in the fridge for 12 hours. Divide the dough into 100g portions.

Roll out one of the portions until nearly see-through and add the toppings: creme fraiche for the base, grated mozzarella, fennel, anchovies, burrata and fresh dill.

Season and drizzle with olive oil.

Lift onto a tray and cook in the oven at the highest possible temperature (around 250C) for two minutes. Serve and enjoy.