For Grandpa :)

I’ll always have fond memories of my Grandpa. He was one of the cleverest people I will ever come across, and yet he was practical too. Good with his hands, he was always making something – or making me laugh with one of his practical jokes! Most men as they age slow down. Not Grandpa though – if his driving was anything to go by, he was definitely speeding up! I often think about going up to Norfolk to visit him and Grandma in their little bungalow, welcomed by the staple first night meal of crab and spaghetti followed by orange jelly for desert. So this one’s just for Grandpa and all the childhood fun we had together J

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

Ingredients:

180g cream cheese

1x 170g tin of white crab meat

1x orange, peeled and cut into segments

125g asparagus

Dusting of chilli flakes

Method:

1. When the bases have finished proving in the oven, remove and turn the heat up to 210°C.
2. Snap the end off of the asparagus and cut them into smaller, more bitesize pieces. Boil in a pan until tender and drain.
3. Spread the cream cheese over the bases.
4. Drain the crab meat from the tin and add this to the bases as well.
5. Peel and segment the orange and place the pieces on top, followed by the asparagus.
6. Bake in the oven for 10 minutes.
7. As an optional extra, dust with chilli flakes before serving.
8. Buon appetito!

91 years young!

Hopefully I’ve inherited my grandma’s longevity genes – this week she turns 91! For the past 10 years, since my grandpa passed away, she’s been living at home with us. It wasn’t until very recently that she had to be moved into a home permanently. Before this happened though, I would quite often make her tea for her – creature of habits that we are, this never strayed too far from a ham/cheese and pickle sandwich and a (rather large) slice of cake... When you reach your tenth decade though who really cares about calorie counting?! ;) so this pizza is for you Olive – or Fanny Adams as you are affectionately known in our household J

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

Ingredients:

6 tbsp of tomato purée

Strips of wafer-thin ham

100g cheddar cheese, grated

2 handfuls of pitted, green olives (or whichever variety you prefer)

Dollops of sandwich pickle

Method:

1. When the bases have finished proving, remove them from the oven and turn the heat up to 210°C.
2. This pizza is as easy as making a sandwich. Simply spread over the tomato purée and lay over the strips of ham until covered. Cover with the grated cheddar cheese.
3. Dot over the olives and dollop on the pickle.
4. Bake in the oven for 10 minutes.
5. Buon appetito!... and if you’re anything like my grandma, finish with a big slice of cake for dessert!

The 6 Nations!

February – the month of rotten weather and over-commercialised love! Nevertheless, for rugby fans across Europe, there is something we can look forward to! The 6 Nations kicks off and provides much needed escapism from the doom and gloom of winter! Every weekend, we pitch ourselves against our greatest rivals to be crowned champion and England got off to a good start in their quest to retain the title. And so this pizza pays tribute to all 6 nations involved in this exciting tournament: England, Scotland, Wales, Ireland, France and Italy.

Ingredients:

For England: Mushy peas

For Scotland: 80g smoked salmon

For Wales: 1 Leek

For Ireland: Soda bread croutons

For France: 100g brie

...and for Italy: well the entire pizza of course!

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

Method:

1. When the bases have finished proving, remove them from the oven and turn the heat up to 210°C.
2. Begin by getting a couple of slices of soda bread and cutting into cubes. Put on a baking tray and drizzle with oil. Put in the warming oven to toast.
3. Next, make the mushy peas. Boil 120g of peas until cooked and then add to a food processor along with a knob of butter and splash of milk. Blitz and then spread over the pizza bases.
4. Chop and fry the leek and add this, along with some chunks of brie.
5. Remove the croutons from the oven and replace with the pizza bases. Bake for 10 minutes.
6. When these have finished, add the salmon and croutons.
7. Enjoy a TV dinner in front of the rugby!
8. Buon appetito!

Happy Chinese New Year!

I had a lovely day on Sunday – me and mum went up to London to do some shopping J it was a grey day but we were having a wonderful time nevertheless! For most of the day we were in our own little world filled with tea stops and treats – it wasn’t until we were rushing back for the train home that I noticed a lot of roads were becoming cordoned off by the police. Sceptical me thought there must be some protest going on, until it dawned on me that the unusually high number of red dragons and golden lanterns decorating the streets must mean it’s the Chinese New Year! So let’s celebrate! Here’s a pizza befitting of such an occasion J

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

Ingredients:

130g pre-prepared aromatic hoisin duck (found in supermarkets)

Handful of grated cucumber

4 spring onions, sliced

Grated zest of one orange

Method:

1. This pizza recipe couldn’t be simpler – perfect to make for your Chinese New Year party! As all my methods start off, take the bases out the oven once they’ve finished proving and turn the heat up to 210°C.
2. Open the packet of the pre-prepared duck and mix with the hoisin sauce. Spread this over the bases and bake in the oven for 10 minutes.
3. Whilst these are in the oven, prepare the other ingredients: grate the cucumber, slice the spring onion and zest the orange.
4. When the pizza is out of the oven, top them with these extra ingredients and serve immediately.
5. Buon appetito!