I’ve had a rather busy weekend, this past weekend, mostly filled with books. I’m doing an Advanced Cardiac Life Support course, and it’s taken a lot of my time, the studying in preparation. And the actual course is running through 3 days, so I might not get a chance to cook and blog much this week.
Anyway, in between the studying and sleeping this past weekend, I managed to squeeze in some Food network channel. I came across an Italian cook show, and the lady was making pizza and pasta. She made it look so easy, that I had to try it. I’ve also been so successful with flour lately, I cant help but want to push the boundaries. So I’m trying pizza tonight.
I might as well continue with my recent Italian streak. And I need carbs for brain power!
But more honestly I’m making pizza for my husband, he’s been very supportive in taking the reigns and looking after our son while I’ve been studying. And he loves pizza! He loves it so much that when we met he had it about 3 to 4 times a week, and when we started dating I used to run on the beach in the mornings and he would join me. In that summer he lost a lot of weight. But gained it back in winter, and it was mostly from the pizza, I’m convinced.
So a year after we got married, he was given 2 choices; come run with me/ do any form of exercise or no pizza for the whole year. So it was no pizza for the whole year! I know he cheated a few times but he was mostly good. Because of eliminating pizza and no other behavioral change, he lost between 8-10 kg in a year and its still off, one year later. The point was to show him how unhealthy pizza is. I wasn’t being an evil wife! Not on purpose anyways:).
So dinner tonight health aside: homemade pizza: smoked ham, chorizo, mushroom and basil on ricotta cheese topped with parmesan, for me and my son. My husband loves the Mexicana so he’ll be having an ostrich mince with green chilli, tomato and coriander pizza.
This is going to be quite an adventure, that can go in either extreme; perfectly good or extremely horrible. And there’s an unfortunately high possibility of ending up eating 2 minute noodles for dinner.
Wish me luck!
What do you need? Makes 2 pizzas
- The base- 250g wheat flour, 5g yeast, 1/2 tsp salt, 2 tbs sugar, 2 tbs olive oil.
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The toppings- ham, chorizo, ricotta, parmesan, ostrich mince, chilli, mushrooms, yellow and red pepper, spring onions, coriander, tomato, onion, garlic
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Red wine, beef stock cube, cinnamòn, coriander powder, salt & pepper.
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The sauce- tomato paste, tomato purée, salt, pepper, oregano
What to do?
- The pizza dough- in a small jug/cup mix 5g of yeast, 125 ml of cold tap water and 2 tbs of sugar. Leave to stand for 5 min, and it starts to bubble a bit.
In a bowl, add the flour, salt and olive oil. Then mix in the yeast mixture and combine. Pour onto a clean floured surface.
Start kneading. Until it feels soft and smooth on your hands, after about 5-7 min. Then put back into a bowl, cover with a damp cloth and place in a warm place. Which is my oven( switched off) in my cold kitchen.
When it’s doubled in size, put back onto the floured surface and cut the dough intro half. Take one half and stretch out using your hands into a circle, then start rolling out into a thin round dough. Cut it to form a circle, it need not be perfectly round. Make the dough edges a few centimeters from the edge of the pan. Remember the pan needs to be greased before you place the rolled out pizza dough.
The sauce- in a blender, mix 1/2 tomato purée tin, 1/2 tsp tomato paste, pinch of salt, pepper, 1/2 tsp of oregano and mix it. Done!
The mince filling- in a hot pot with olive oil, brown chopped onions, then add 1 tsp garlic, chopped 1 green chili, then the ostrich mince. Cook for 2 min, then add 1/4 cup of red wine, 1 beef stock cube and continue cooking. In 5 min, season with salt, pepper, 1/2 tsp of cinnamon and coriander powder. In about 2 more min, take off stove. Make sure it doesn’t have a runny sauce.
On your dough placed on the greased pan, smear the tomato sauce in a circular motion, then your toppings. I’m starting with the diced ricotta, then the diced ham, sliced chorizo sausage, mushrooms and top with basil leaves. I don’t want my pizza to be too cheesy but if you love cheese, you can add more.
Pop into a preheated, maximum temperature oven for 5-8 min. Then remove, sprinkle with Parmesan cheese, drizzle with olive oil, cut into slices and serve warm.
Look how thin and crispy the pizza base is!
Same process with the ostrich mince pizza: layer; dough, tomato sauce, cheddar cheese, ostrich mince, spring onion, fresh coriander, top with fresh cherry tomatoes and sprinkle with Parmesan cheese. Pop into oven for 5-8 min, then out, sprinkle more parmesan, cut into slices and serve warm.
And Bon Appetito!! :).
