Eat Your Greens!

When I was younger, it was always “6 more spoonfuls.” Getting any kid to eat their greens has always seemed to be a bit of a mission for parents and so this pizza aims to take some of that stress away whilst still ensuring that nutritional hit is met! I recently discovered kale for myself after holding a healthy dose scepticism about its well-documented ‘superfood’ status for quite some time. I don’t necessarily buy into such media attention, but it tastes delicious (especially as a homemade pesto!) – and that’s good enough for me.

To make the kale pesto:

In a food processor, add 50g parmesan cheese, 50g pine nuts, 150ml olive oil and a generous handful of kale. Simply blitz the ingredients together and you’re good to go – it’s as simple as that! As this recipe only calls for 3 tbsp, you also have a ready-made dinner for tomorrow! Just add this to some pasta for a fresh take on another Italian classic.

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

Ingredients:

250g mascarpone cheese

3 tbsp kale pesto

120g asparagus

120g peas

½ cucumber

Method:

1.      Due to the ingredients that go into this topping, this pizza is best served cold. Therefore, when the bases have finished proving, they can be immediately baked in 210°C heat for 10 minutes.

2.      Once cooked, remove the bases from the oven and allow to cool – a perfect time to prepare the topping.

3.      Remove the woody ends of the asparagus and chop the stalks into 3. Add these, along with the peas, to some boiling water on the hob and cook until tender.

4.      Using a potato peeler, cut the cucumber into ribbons.

5.      Add 3 tbsp of your kale pesto to the mascarpone and mix together. This can then be evenly spread over your cool bases. To this, sprinkle over your veg and finish off with your cucumber ribbons.

6.      Buon appetito!

Halloween-Inspired Pizza

OK, so Halloween is still a couple of months away but I was looking through some photos I’d taken on my phone and came across one of my fiancé carving out his first ever pumpkin (deprived childhood – I know)! So this got me thinking about recipes for my next pizza and I came up with this one – not pumpkin-based, but butternut squash is always a pretty good substitute!

 

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

Ingredients:

500g butternut squash

400g ricotta cheese

2 handfuls pecans, roughly chopped

Sprinkling of sage to top it all off

Method:

1.      This is a very easy pizza to make – all the prep that’s needed is a careful (and I do mean careful) chopping up of the butternut squash. I love the flavour of them but they’re just so tough to cut into I’m quite often put off buying them. For this recipe though, the perseverance is well worth the effort – the smaller the pieces, the better!

2.      When the bases have finished proving, take them out of the oven and turn the heat up to 210°C.

3.      Spread the ricotta over the bases and add your diced butternut squash with a generous sprinkling of sage.

4.      Bake in the oven for 10 minutes.

5.      Once baked, add the chopped nuts – I find pecans tend to burn very easily in the oven so I’ve learnt to always add them when all the cooking has been done!

6.      Buon appetito!

A Modern Margarita

So history recalls how the traditional margarita was born in 1889 when the Neapolitan pizzamaker Raffaele Esposito created a pizza garnished with tomatoes, mozzarella, and basil to mirror the colours of the Italian flag in honour of the Queen consort. Its popularity has ensured the recipe has survived centuries and as delicious as it is, I do feel its high time we spiced it up a little with a few tweaks here and there…

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

Ingredients:

1kg carrots

2 tsp paprika

400g spinach leaves

250g mozzarella balls

340g antipasti jar of roasted peppers

Method:

1. While the bases are proving in the oven, the purée can be prepared.
2. First of all, peel and chop the carrots. Boil them until tender and drain.
3. They can then be puréed using a juicer or handheld blitzer. Stir in 2 tsp of paprika in order to give it a deep red colour (and a bit of a kick!)
4. Remove the bases and turn the heat up to 210°C. While the oven is getting up to temperature the spinach can be wilted. Tip the leaves into a saucepan with a dash of boiling water and cover with the lid. Over a low hob, heat the spinach until wilted and then drain using a colander. Try to remove as much liquid as possible to avoid a soggy bottom… Not something deemed fit for a Queen, I’m sure you’ll agree.
5. Now it’s time to assemble! Spread over your carrot and paprika purée, then add the spinach.
6. Repeat the process with the roasted peppers and finish off with the mozzarella.
7. Bake in the oven for 10 minutes and serve immediately.
8. Buon appetito!

Egg and Cress Pizza

Morbid thinking I know, but if ever I was on death row, my last meal would be, without doubt, a traditional afternoon tea! There’s nothing I don’t enjoy about this three-tiered slice of heaven: from the beautifully crafted cakes (which are masterpieces in their own right), to the generous sized-scones served with gloopy cream and jam. And the staple of any high tea should be the dainty selection of finger sandwiches all washed down with a brew of your choosing! So this is my homage to the best culinary invention to date, and a nod to my favourite sandwich filling. N.B. Only to be enjoyed with a cuppa… obviously.

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

Ingredients:

300g egg mayonnaise

200g spinach leaves

Sprinkling of cress

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 wilt the spinach. Tip the leaves into a saucepan with a dash of boiling water and cover with the lid. Over a low hob, heat the spinach until wilted and then drain using a colander. Try to remove as much liquid as possible to avoid a soggy bottom…
4. When the bases have been baked, remove from the oven and leave to cool.
5. Now the egg mayonnaise can be spread over and topped with the wilted spinach and a sprinkling of cress. Less delicate that a finger sandwich maybe, but no less delicious!
6. Buon appetito!

“These are a few of my favourite things…”

The Sound of Music is a classic and one of my favourite films of all times! The simple mix of romantic storylines set against a backdrop of Nazi invasion across Europe, mixed effortlessly with beautiful melodies makes it impossible not to enjoy. So, going against my recent blog posts which attempt to combine new flavours and textures, I’m taking my cooking back to its humble roots and presenting a recipe of every-day ingredients that my family loves to eat – hope you enjoy.

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

Ingredients:

180g of garlic and herb soft cheese

1 leek

300g of mushrooms

6 rashers of bacon

Method:

1.      As the bases come to the end of their time proving, the bacon and veg can be prepared. Start of by cleaning the mushrooms, chopping them finely. Wash the leek, and again, slice into small pieces.

2.      Under a grill – or however you prefer to cook your bacon – let the rashers turn a delicious sizzling deep pink. Leave to cool slightly so these can be cut into small strips – I find scissors work best!

3.      When the bases have finished proving, take them out.

4.      As the oven warms up to 210°C, spread the soft cheese over the bases – a nice change from tomato I’ve found!

5.      Next add the bacon, followed by the mushrooms and leek.

6.      Bake in the oven for 10 minutes before enjoying!

7.      Buon appetito!

Thyme to Relax

In our ever busy lives, it can be difficult to avoid making mealtimes samey and uninspiring. Recipes seem to be getting more complicated and taking up more precious time in the evening to prepare. Therefore, I have decided to try to combat such issues with this particular pizza! The herbs add an extra twist to the punchy flavour of the goat’s cheese, while all the prep that is required is the frying of a few mushrooms. So sit back, and take some thyme to relax… ;)

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

Ingredients:

3 tbsp tomato purée

Sprinkling of oregano

Sprinkling of thyme

300g of mushrooms

100g of goat’s cheese

2 handfuls of sundried tomatoes

10 cherry tomatoes, cut in half

Method:

1.      When the bases have finished proving, take them out and let the oven warm up to 210°C.

2.      Clean the mushrooms and slice before frying them in a saucepan.

3.      Spread the tomato purée over the bases and sprinkle over the oregano, then add the fried mushrooms.

4.      Dot over the two types of tomatoes, then finish off by crumbling over the goat’s cheese and adding a generous sprinkling of thyme. And it’s as simple as that!

5.      Bake in the oven for 10 minutes and then serve.

6.      Buon appetito!

The Pink Pizza

I wouldn’t say I was a particularly girly girl – I’ve never been obsessed by make-up or boy bands… In fact, I’ve always been a bit of a tomboy. Mum could never get me in a dress and I was always out doing some sport in one form or another! I enjoyed spending time with dad though on little building projects in the garage – on one occasion we even made a wooden kart I could speed down our road in! The only typically girly thing that I did like was the colour pink – so here’s a recipe for the prettiest-looking pizza out there!

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

Ingredients:

300g beetroot, pickled in sweet malt vinegar

150g haloumi

100g hazelnuts

100g honey-roasted, wafer-thin ham

Method:

1. This pizza is one of the simplest and quickest of all my recipes to make. So I recommend that you don’t start preparing the topping until the bases have finished proving and they have been taken out of the oven. Whilst the oven warms up to 210°C, complete steps 2-4.
2. Using a liquidiser (or if you’re like me and have a hand-held blitzer – perfect for soups!), reduce the beetroot to a pulp and then spread this over the bases. I find beetroot is a nice alternative to the traditional tomato purée – and gives a lovely deep pink colour of course!
3. Next, tear pieces of ham and sprinkle these on top, followed by the haloumi.
4.  Dot over the hazelnuts.
5. Bake in the oven for 10 minutes, which is just enough time for the haloumi and hazelnuts to be toasted perfection.
6. Serve immediately and buon appetito!

Pesto Pizza

Pesto. Food of the Gods. I love the stuff! So much so that pesto pasta has become one of my all-time favourite dishes and is probably the one I’m best known for making (aside from pizzas of course!). The ease and simplicity combined with its deliciousness mean I make it at least once a fortnight. It goes in sandwiches, pastry tarts, salads, you name it! Which got me thinking… high time it went on one of my pizzas!

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

To make the pesto:

In a food processor, blitz together 150ml olive oil, 50g parmesan cheese, 50g pine nuts and a handful of basil leaves – it couldn’t be simpler! Then again, supermarket jars of the stuff run a pretty close second…

Other ingredients:

6tbsp tomato purée

200g chicken strips

260g green beans

20 cherry tomatoes

Method:

1. Towards the end of the proving time for the bases, fry the chicken until cooked. Discard the ends of the green beans and cut the veg into smaller, more bitesize pieces. Boil these until tender.
2. When the bases have finished, take them out and turn the oven up to 210°C.
3. Top the bases with the tomato purée, adding the chicken and beans.
4. Cut the cherry tomatoes in half and pop these on top also so that they become nicely roasted in the oven.
5. Bake the pizzas for 10 minutes.
6. Before serving spatter over your (hopefully homemade!) pesto as the crowning glory!
7. Buon appetito!

The Love Pizza

As I sit down with my fiancé at the weekend to plan out some more details for our wedding, I realise how lucky I am to be surrounded by love. The love of my ever supportive family. The love of my wonderful friends. And, of course, the love of the man sitting next to me carefully working out the order and timings of our reception playlist. As Hugh Grant so rightly quotes in Love Actually: “If you look for it, I've got a sneaky feeling you'll find that love actually is all around”.

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

Ingredients:

6tbsp tomato purée

200g chicken strips

150g feta cheese

2 handfuls artichokes hearts antipasti

2 handfuls sundried tomatoes

Drizzling of red pesto

Method:

1.      When the bases have finished proving, take them out and turn the oven up to 210°C.

2.      While the oven is heating up, fry the chicken until cooked.

3.      Top the bases with the tomato purée and then add the chicken.

4.      Dot over the artichoke hearts and sundried tomatoes.

5.      Crumble over the feta cheese and bake in the oven for 10 minutes.

6.      Before serving, drizzle over the red pesto – in my opinion the more generous, the better!

7.      Buon appetito!

Gary’s Protein-Packed Pizza

Now, my brother-in-law, Gary, LOVES pizza so it was only right that I dedicated one of my recipes to him. Like the rest of the family he’s big into his sport, but particularly cycling. If he’s not out beating a personal best, he’s either building a bike from scratch or tinkering with the mechanics of it – I don’t know anyone who knows more about the inner workings than he does! As with anyone serious about sporting performance, Gary is also big into his nutrition and so this recipe is packed full of protein to help speed up the recovery of those leggies! This one’s for you Big Bro J

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

Ingredients:

6 tbsp tomato purée

2 160g cans of tuna, 1 for each pizza

1 red onion

1 400g can of five bean salad

100g cheddar cheese, grated

Method:

1.      This is a simple pizza to make as there’s not much preparation needed because most of the ingredients come in a can! All that can really be done is to slice the red onion and fry in a saucepan until tender.

2.      When the bases have finished proving, take them out and turn the oven up to 210°C so it has time to heat up.

3.      Spread the tomato purée over the bases and then the red onion.

4.      Drain the tuna and add this to the pizza as well.

5.      Do the same with the can of five bean salad.

6.      Sprinkle over the grated cheddar and pop in the oven for 10 minutes.

7.      Buon appetito!