Honey Roasted Parsnip and Cashew Pizza

Now, considering I have dedicated this blog to my love of pizzas, I wouldn't blame you if thought being heathy wasn't high on my list of priorities... But you'd be wrong. The right nutrition and regular exercise are very important to me - I just also happen to think that everything in moderation can be good for you! And that includes pizza. If you believe the hype, root vegetables are one of the best food groups out there thanks to their ability to boost your vitamins, not to mention your beta. 

The trouble is, I don't like them very much so I came up with this pizza. Get your nutritional brownie points, without all the suffering!

To make the base for this pizza, please click here.

For the carrot purée base:

300g carrots

3 tsp olive oil

Other ingredients:

1 parsnip

1/2 tsp cinnamon

Drizzling of honey

125g mozzarella pearls

175g honey roasted cashews (luckily these can be bought already roasted)

Method:

1. While the bases are proving in the oven, the topping can be prepared.
2. First of all, peel and chop the carrots. Boil them until tender and drain.
3. My dad is a huge fan of homemade smoothies, so much so, that the gentle whirring of the juicer has become normality at breakfast. It's thanks to him that I decided to step away from the traditional tomato base and experiment with other flavours. Blitz the boiled carrots with 3 tsp of olive oil to help slacken the purée.
4. Peel and chop the parsnip and transfer into a saucepan. Over a medium heat, fry the chucks in a drizzling of honey and oil, as well as 1/2 tsp of cinnamon.
5. Remove the dough from the oven and turn the heat up to 210°C.
6. Spread the purée and dot all over, the parsnips, mozzarella and cashews.
7. When the oven has reached the required temperature, cook the pizzas for 10 minutes.
8. Buon appetito! 

A Pizza for Simon

“Food is love.” This is a motto I will forever associate with my mum and something which, as I’ve grown up, I have even taken on as a personal mantra! There are few things which are as satisfying as preparing a meal for your nearest and dearest and seeing the smiles light up their faces. What better way to show them you care? It’s also a little phrase I say whenever I serve up some form of baked goods to my fiancé, Simon. So, in tribute to him, I have combined two of his favourite things: a hog roast and sweet potatoes to create this topping recipe.

To make the base for this pizza, please click here.

Ingredients:

6 tbsp tomato purée

1 slow cooked boneless pork joint

3 sweet potatoes

2 generous handfuls raw spinach

60g cheddar cheese

Drizzling BBQ sauce

Method:

1. While the bases are proving, peel and chop the sweet potatoes into bitesize chunks and fry them in oil until they are only slightly underdone (as they’ll be topping our pizza base which has to be baked, this ensures they won’t be overdone and mushy).
2.  As a veggie, I’m not confident at cooking meat! Luckily for me, the local supermarket does a handy Tex Mex-style pulled port shoulder joint, accompanied with BBQ sauce which takes just 4 minutes in the microwave. Cook the joint to the required specifications.
3. When the bases have finished proving and you’ve taken them out, turn the oven to 210°C. We can now top our bases while this heats up to temperature.
4.  Spread the tomato purée over the two bases so that they are covered and then top with the sweet potato chunks.
5. Bake in the oven for 10 minutes and turn on the grill so it can heat up.
6. When the pizzas are out of the oven, top with the pork and spinach. Grate the cheddar on top and place under the grill until the cheese starts to bubble.
7. Drizzle over the BBQ sauce and buon appetito!

Middle-Eastern Inspired Pizza

I have always been a big fan of hummus and turned to my trusty sandwich-filler for inspiration for this recipe. Until recently, I never appreciated just how easy it was to make my own and flavour it with a whole host of different things from paprika to pesto! If this isn’t something you want to try though, there’s nothing wrong with the off-the-shelf dips.

To make the hummus you’ll need:

400g can of chickpeas

3 tbsp of olive oil

1 tsp water

All that’s needed is a blitz in a food processor et voilà, homemade hummus in less than 5 minutes!

Other ingredients:

2 packets of Granose falafel mix

100g feta cheese

100g of crinkled beetroot, cut into strips

80g pomegranate seeds to top

2 handfuls of rocket to top

This recipe is enough to top two thin crust bases, so just half it if you’re only making one.

Method

1. While the bases are proving in the oven, make the hummus according to the instructions above.
2.  I’m yet to be brave enough to make my own falafel from scratch so I use Granose’s mix which only takes about 10 minutes to make 12 perfect falafel balls. The instructions on the pack are easy to follow but there are loads of different varieties out there though so experiment and see which one you like best!
3.  When the bases have finished proving, whack the oven up to 210°C so it can warm up while you’re topping your pizzas.
4. Spread half your hummus on one base, and half on the other.
5.  Cut each falafel ball in two and as above, distribute half on one pizza and half on the other.
6. Next, crumble the feta on top and add your beetroot.
7. Put in the oven for 10 minutes.
8. Before serving, sprinkle over the pomegranate seeds and rocket.
9.  Buon appetito!

Chorizo, Mozzarella and Rhubarb Pizza

For as long as I can remember, my dad has grown rhubarb in our garden. He enjoys stewing it and then putting it on his cereal in the mornings. This year was a bumper year, however, and our freezers soon became filled with bags of it (much to the annoyance of mum!). I was tasked with coming up with novel ways to use it up – we’ve had rhubarb chutney, rhubarb chicken curry, rhubarb cake... and of course the only way to ever end a traditional British Sunday lunch, apple and rhubarb crumble! The penny then dropped and I was excited to incorporate it into a new pizza recipe. As scrummy and as quick as it is, I’m on a rhubarb-free diet for a while, so might wait a while before cooking it again...

To make the base for this pizza, please click here.

To make the stewed rhubarb you’ll need:

750g of rhubarb, cut into chunks

100g caster sugar

2 tbsp water

Pop the ingredients in a pan and allow to them to simmer gently for about 10 minutes, until the rhubarb has become tender and the sugary sauce has thickened. Then, remove from the heat and allow to cool slightly. This will make more rhubarb than is required so live like Dad and try the leftovers on your bran flakes tomorrow morning!

Other ingredients:

3 tbsp tomato purée

125g mini mozzarella pearls

60g sliced chorizo

Method:

1.      When the bases have finished proving and you’ve taken them out, turn the oven to 210°C.

2.      Mix 3 very generous spoonfuls of the rhubarb with 3 tbsp of tomato purée and spread evenly over the two pizza bases.

3.      Dot the mozzarella and chorizo on top and bake for 10 minutes.

4.      Buon appetito!

Bonfire Night Pizza

Without a doubt, one of my favourite nights of the year is Bonfire Night and I have many fond memories of kitting up in my wellies and woollies, ready to brave the elements of a typical November evening. So what better way to pay tribute than to encapsulate the smells and tastes in a pizza topping! For this creation, I have taken inspiration from the traditional toffee apple which every kid would look forward to sampling – but have added a bit of sophistication (and made it slightly more healthy!)

To make the base for this pizza, please click here.

Ingredients:

290g apple chutney

2 apples

100g hazelnuts

125g butternut squash

100g brie

Method:

1. When the bases have finished proving and you’ve taken them out, turn the oven to 210°C. We can now top our bases while this heats up to temperature.
2. Spread the apple chutney (or whatever flavour you prefer) evenly over the two bases.
3. Although I love the flavour of butternut squash, I can be put off using it in my cooking because it can be such an effort to peel and cut up! Thankfully, it seems I’m not the only one and supermarkets have now started selling pre-prepared pieces for those of us who are just too busy or downright lazy! I like to use the curly ribbons – not only because they are so much prettier than the chunks, but also because they are so small that they don’t need any pre-cooking before being added to the pizza. If you do plump for the chunks though, just bear in mind that they will need to be softened before going in the ovens on the pizzas – otherwise you risk serving up some overly crunchy veg! Whatever version you chose, sprinkle your squash onto your pizzas.
4.  Peel the two apples and cut into eighths, then distribute the pieces onto the pizzas as well.
5. Lightly toast the hazelnuts in a frying pan over a low heat on the hob and sprinkle over the squash and apples.
6. Cut the brie up and add to finish off your pizzas.
7.  Put in the oven for 10 minutes.
8. Buon appetito!

Asian-Inspired Pizza

Years ago, if someone said “sushi”, my stomach would instantly turn at the thought of eating my way through a serving of raw fish. Maybe I’ve grown up, maybe my palate has matured, but now I can’t get enough of it! My love of this Japanese cuisine led me to create this recipe – perfect for some al fresco dining on a warm summer’s evening.

To make the base for this pizza, please click here.

Ingredients:

1 mashed avocado

60g smoked salmon cut into strips

¼ of a cucumber cut into ribbons using a potato peeler

A couple of pinches of sesame seeds

A sprinkling of soy sauce

Method:

1. When the bases have finished proving and you’ve taken them out, turn the oven to 210°C.
2. This pizza recipe is slightly different as I’ve found that with the toppings I’m using, it’s actually better cold. When the oven has reached the required temperature, bake the bases (with no topping) for 10 minutes and leave to cool.
3. Mash an avocado in a bowl with a fork. I have now discovered the joy of using frozen avocados - no longer do I have to spend what seems like an age, meticulously squeezing all the avocados in the supermarket seeing which ones are ripe enough to cook with! All I do is defrost them in the fridge the night before and they’re ready to go!
4. Spread the mashed avocado over the two bases.
5. Cut the smoked salmon into strips and sprinkle on top.
6. Cut the cucumber with the potato peeler and add to the pizzas.
7. Sprinkle over the sesame seeds and soy sauce.
8. Buon appetito!

Welcome to my Blog!

In my house, Saturday night has always been pizza night. However, growing up, I remember the greasiness and over-enthusiastic seasoning of shop-bought pizzas wasn’t something any of us particularly looked forward to. But no one ever fancied cooking so we just stuck with it.

All this changed though on the day of my Master’s graduation when my parents surprised me with a bread maker. As congratulations presents go, it’s probably not the most conventional but I can’t tell you how excited I was! I’d recently got into baking and couldn’t wait to try out all the different loaves. Flicking through the recipe booklet that came with it, I discovered the recipes didn’t stop at bread – there were methods for cakes, compotes, jams... and pizza bases.

To make two thin crust pizzas (or one deep-pan style base), all you need is:

½ tsp dried yeast

300g strong white flour

1 tsp salt

1 tbsp olive oil

170ml water

Put all the ingredients in the bread maker and after just 45 minutes, you have dough that’s ready to shape. All that’s left to do is to let them prove in the oven at 40°C for 20 minutes and then it’s time to get creative with the toppings! All pizzas mentioned in this blog are then baked for 10 minutes at 210°C (fan oven).

If you don’t have a bread maker to do all the hard work for you, then it’s possible to make the bases by hand (or for the less adventurous, there’s always the local supermarket). My bread maker has revolutionised Saturday nights - gone are the days of the disappointing sludge that left me and my family feeling bloating and heavy. In this blog I’ve put together a few of my favourite recipes – I hope you enjoy them as much as we do.