London 2012 Pizza!

The summer of 2012 was very special for me and for one reason in particular – the Olympics came to London. I’ve recently been thinking back on my time as a volunteer Games Maker as this weekend, I met up with a few of my old colleagues who were also there. We reminisced about our fond memories for the Paralympics where for 2 weeks; we got to be part of an amazing atmosphere in the greatest city on Earth! It was also where I would meet my future husband J also a fellow Games Maker; we were clearly very attractive in our Orange and Purple uniforms! And so this pizza flies the flag for that beautiful colour combination!

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

Ingredients:

250g mascarpone cheese

2x red onion

2 handfuls of chopped, dried apricots

2 chicken breasts, cut into chunks

Drizzling of honey

Method:

1. When the bases have finished proving in the oven, remove them and turn the heat up to 210°C.
2. Start by slicing the red onion and frying with the chicken chunks.
3. Spread over the mascarpone cheese, and top with the fried onion and chicken.
4. Bake in the oven for 10 minutes.
5. Before serving, sprinkle over the dried apricots and drizzle over a generous helping of honey.
6. Buon appetito!

Let it snow, let it snow, let it snow...

Come every winter when I was a kid, I used to pray for snow so that I could get a day off school and go sledging with my friends. I remember the feeling of getting utterly frozen to the core and only eventually giving in and returning home when my fingers were actually burning with pain! Now though, the story is quite different. Now I commute. Now I pray it never snows. Alas, the weather forecast is predicting it for the end of the week. So to cheer myself up I’ve created a pizza recipe that provides me with the warming thoughts of those hot chocolates given to me after a hard morning of sliding down those snow-covered hills!

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

Ingredients:

250g mascarpone cheese

Strips of ham

Drizzling of dark chocolate

Sprinkling of chilli flakes

Method:

1. When the bases have finished proving, remove them from the oven and turn the heat up to 210°C.
2. Spread the mascarpone over the bases, recreating that heavenly image of freshly fallen snow.
3. Top with the ham and sprinkle over the chilli flakes to help warm you up.
4. Bake in the oven for 10 minutes.
5. Before serving, and if you’re brave, drizzle over some melted dark chocolate. Because, at the end of the day, chocolate fixes everything.
6. Buon appetito!

My Jen-Do Pizza!

So as the title of this blog post suggests, it's part 1 (of 3!) of my Hen-Do (or Jen-Do as I've taken to calling it). To celebrate my upcoming nuptials, I'm off to Barcelona with my family for a long weekend!! We haven't had a holiday together in over 4 years and so I thought it was high-time the Johannes treated themselves to some Spanish sun! Not sure the temperatures will be blistering in January but we're still all very excited nevertheless! And here is my homage to some Spanish cuisine... although I won't be labelling it a paella - we all saw what trouble that caused Jamie Oliver...

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

Ingredients:

6 tbsp tomato purée
Slices of chorizo
2 handfuls of cooked, peeled prawns
1x 285g jar of roasted peppers
3 eggs

Method:

1. When the bases have finished proving, remove them from the oven and turn the heat up to 210°C. This is a very simple recipe to follow as most of the ingredients have already been pre-prepared for you... 
2. The majority of the effort comes here. In a pan of boiling water, place the eggs for 10 minutes. Cool them in cold water until you can peel the shell and then cut each one in half.
3. Next, simply spread the tomato purée over the bases and on top, lay the slices of chorizo - the number is dependent on your tastes - in my opinion, the more the merrier!
4. Scatter the prawns, followed by the roasted peppers.
5. Arrange the boiled egg quarters around the pizza so that no slice will be without!
6. Bake in the oven for 10 minutes.
7. Buon appetito!

A salad for those who love carbs...

Now don't get me wrong, I love a salad. Caesar, Cobb, Garden... you name it, I'll probably like it! Problem is, they're never very filling! If I'm out at a restaurant and I order one for my main, my smugness over choosing the healthy option is soon overshadowed by a growling hunger later on in the evening! Therefore I have decided to combine two culinary feats so that you too can still feel proud for choosing a Waldorf salad - but also cunning for knowing that it will fill you up for longer!

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

Ingredients:

2 sticks of celery
A bunch of grapes
A handful of lettuce leaves
A sprinkling of nuts of your choice, chopped
Mayonnaise in which to toss the salad

Method:

1. Bake the bases in the oven for 10 minutes at 210°C and then leave to cool. Because you'll be topping them with a salad, it's best they aren't piping hot to save runny mayonnaise!
2. Meanwhile, the salad itself can be made. It's so simple, all that's required is a mix of all the ingredients in a bowl with the mayonnaise - et voilà!
3. Top the bases with the salad and there you have it - a pizza fit for a health-conscious, carb-loving foodie!
4. Buon appetito!