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!

Post-Christmas Detox

Christmas has to be one of the most special times of the year! All the family comes together to exchange gifts, play games and eat enough food to feed a small army. But sadly, as soon as it arrives, it quickly passes again until next year – the only lingering thing is the tightness felt when trying to do the top button up on my trousers… And so this pizza is designed to help kick-start that healthy-eating regime you’ve promised to stick to come New Year – shouldn’t be too difficult with recipes like this!

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

Ingredients:

Leftover beetroot relish

4 carrots, grated

100g cheese, grated

Method:

1. When the bases have finished proving, take them out of the oven and turn the heat up to 210°C.
2. Now as well as being a detox for the body, this pizza can also be a detox for your kitchen cupboards. I’m using up things that have been left over from the festivities.
3. So the beetroot relish was shop bought and used to go with our teatime crackers and cheese on Christmas Day. Spread this over the bases.
4. Next, grate the carrots on top, followed by the cheese. Here. I’m using double Gloucester with onion and chive – bit of a change from the ordinary cheddar!
5. Bake in the oven for 10 minutes.
6. Buon appetito!

 

Goodbye and good riddance, 2016!

A year many will remember and perhaps not for the most cheerful of reasons. Celebrity deaths one after the other, countless terrorist atrocities across the world, a heart-breaking Brexit and now Trump... What is the world coming to? Not usually a fan of New Year, on this occasion I will be more than happy to welcome in 2017 and say goodbye to a year of tragedy! And for comfort food with which to stuff our faces and forget our woes? – a pizza only Trump would not want to be served... As the Mexicans would say “provecho!”

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

Ingredients:

1 red onion, diced

170g minced beef

1x 400g can chopped tomatoes

1x 400g can kidney beans

100g grated cheese

Cinnamon and paprika to taste

Method:

1. When the bases have finished proving, take them out the oven and heat it to 210°C.
2. Meanwhile, fry the red onion and minced beef, then add the chopped tomatoes.
3. Season with cinnamon and paprika – although this seems like an odd combination, trust me – the sweetness and spice really do complement one another J
4. Drain the kidney beans and stir through before taking the mixture off the heat.
5. Add to the bases and then grate over the cheese.
6. Bake in the oven for 10 minutes.
7. Bon appetito! – or provecho!

Say cheeeeeeeese!

I can’t take credit for this recipe (or the photo for that matter!) – this is all thanks to Mamma Johannes! One weekend a little while ago, I must admit that I ashamedly neglected my pizza-making duties. But what resulted was something of pure delicious genius! Forget you gourmet Quattro Formaggio – it’s all about the trio here. Cheddar, mozzarella, Boursin – simple. Guaranteed to satisfy even the fussiest of eaters, this pizza is not only a family favourite, it’s a chef’s delight when time is against you.

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

Ingredients:

6 tbsp tomato purée

125g mini mozzarella pears

100g Boursin cheese, crumbled

100g cheddar, grated

2 handfuls of cherry tomatoes, cut in half

Method:

1. Once the bases have finished proving, then take them out of the oven and turn the heat up to 210°C.
2. Unlike a lot of my other recipes, this is so simple to follow and a doddle to make! All that you need to do is spread the purée over the bases, add the cheese and dot over your halved cherry tomatoes! And that’s it! After all, don’t they say: “enjoy the simple things in life”...?
3. Bake in the oven for 10 minutes and buon appetito!

An Aussie’s BBQ pizza!

Visiting Australia is at the very top of my bucket list. Perhaps it’s because I grew up watching Neighbours every weekday afternoon with my sister – or maybe it’s simply down to the hours of glorious sunshine they always seem to be bathed in. Whatever the reason, I can’t wait to sample their laidback lifestyle, carefree culture and year-long summery cuisine! Living in England, BBQs are that rare treat happening once a year (twice – if you’re lucky), during our two-week long summer. So this pizza is my temporary stop-gap before I get to taste that Aussie barbie for real.

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

Ingredients:

2 sweet potato

200g cooked and peeled prawns

1x 435g can of pineapple chunks

2 handfuls of desiccated coconut

Method:

1. When the bases have finished proving, take them out the oven and turn the heat up to 210°C.
2. While the oven is heating up, you can prepare the sweet potatoes. Peel and dice them, then boil until tender. Next, mash them - adding a little olive oil to help slacken the mixture.
3. Spread this over the two bases.
4. Add the prawns and pineapple and then bake in the oven for 10 minutes.
5. Before serving, sprinkle over the desiccated coconut.
6. Buon appetito! 

Aubergine is the new kale...

First it was goji berries, next it was acai and then along came kale. Superfoods seem to come and go like reality TV stars - talk about having their 15 minutes of fame or what! Now it seems the health-kick of the moment is that old favourite, the aubergine! Unlike its predecessors, most people will have actually heard of it though and be able to identify in their local supermarket. So here's to a superfood that is actually pronounceable, affordable and not likely to disappear from shelves when the next edible superhero takes over to save all of humanity!

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

To make the broccoli pesto:

1 head of broccoli

50g parmesan cheese

50g pine nuts

150ml olive oil

This veggie twist on an Italian classic compliments the aubergine perfectly, both in colour and taste! It's simple to make - all you have to do is boil the broccoli until tender and then blitz with the other ingredients in a food processor.

Other ingredients you will need:

1 aubergine, diced

1x 400g can of black eyed peas

Handful of raisins

Method:

1. When the bases have finished proving, take them out the oven and allow it to heat up to 210°C.
2. Make the broccoli pesto according to the instructions above and spread over the bases.
3. Drain the can of black eyed peas and add these on top, followed by the aubergine after you have lightly fried it for a few minutes.
4. Bake in the oven for 10 minutes.
5. Sprinkle over some raisins to give it an exotic twist. I find that by doing this step after baking, the raisins keep their juiciness and don't go hard.
6. Buon appetito!

A comforting pizza for Autumnal evenings...

If you say the word ‘autumn’, what images spring to mind? Perhaps the changing colours of leaves, cosy evenings inside – perhaps even Halloween? For me though, it has to be memories of picking blackberries with my dad. It became somewhat a tradition. There was a lovely little spot we used to go to where blackberries grew in abundance. On a Sunday we’d fill our boots (metaphorically of course) and take our efforts home to mum who would use them to make my favourite dessert – a traditional crumble! Such an important part of my childhood needed to be remembered and so this recipe is homage to those very special Sundays I shared with my parents.

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

Ingredients:

150g blackberries

170g minced beef

100g cheddar cheese

Sprinkling of rosemary

Method:

1. When the bases have finished proving, take them out the oven and turn the heat up to 210°C.
2. Whilst the oven is warming up, the topping can be prepared. First, blitz the blackberries using a liquidiser and then fry the mince until brown.
3. Spread your blackberry purée onto the bases and top with the mince.
4. Grate over the cheddar cheese, followed by a sprinkling of rosemary.
5. Bake in the oven for 10 minutes.
6. Buon appetito!

“Well that’s just peachy!”

As I come up with more and more recipes for this blog, I have discovered a lot about my style of cooking and the ingredients to which I tend to gravitate. I’m definitely one for experimenting – I don’t like to be stifled by the rigidity and rules of a recipe (hypocrite you might say considering the nature of these posts!) Where’s the fun in not knowing exactly how a dish might turn out?! I’m also a fan of Mediterranean flavours, as well as combining unusual food together to create something unexpected. So this recipe could be considered typical of me and the food I like to cook – enjoy.

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

Ingredients:

140g cream cheese

1x 410g can of peach slices

75g wafer thin ham

2 handfuls of pistachio nuts

Generous drizzling of honey

Method:

1. When the bases have finished proving and you've taken them out, turn the oven to 210°C.
2. As with some of my other bakes, I prefer to eat this one cold - however, if you do want to eat it hot, it can always go in the microwave for a couple of minutes before serving. So, when the oven has reached the required temperature, bake the bases for 10 minutes without any toppings. Remove and leave to cool down.
3. Spread over the cream cheese and dot over your peach slices.
4. Tear the ham into strips - for that more rustic look! - and add this as well.
5. Sprinkle over your pistachio nuts and finish off with a generous helping of honey.
6. Buon appetito!

Sophisticated Strawberries

This is a combination I’ve wanted to try out for ages! Ever since I saw a contestant on ‘Masterchef’ produce a dessert incorporating strawberries and basil in a sorbet, I can’t deny I’ve been intrigued. I mean; I love strawberries, and I love basil – but do the two really work together?! Well folks, I can – with first-hand experience – categorically say that they do! It’s like a match made in heaven. And when you combine them with some balsamic, you get a recipe worthy of a pizza blog post!

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

Ingredients:

140g cream cheese

420g can of strawberries

Balsamic vinegar

Handful basil leaves

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 from most of my other ones 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.
3. This leaves enough time to marinate the strawberries in the balsamic vinegar. Drain away any syrup that may have been accompanying the strawberries and put them in a bowl. Pour over the balsamic vinegar so that the strawberries are nicely covered.
4. When the bases have been baked, remove from the oven and leave to cool.
5. Meanwhile, chop your basil and mix it into the cream cheese – this can then be spread over the bases.
6. Drain and half the strawberries, then dot around on the top.
7. Buon appetito!