Posts Tagged With: pizza

No-Knead Pizza Dough

Posted on August 12, 2015 by leroy watson

Roasted Med Veg Pizza with Toasted Peanut Pesto and White Bean Puree

A super easy way to make pizza or flatbread dough and the best thing is that it sits happily in your fridge for days, waiting patiently to be used. No knead, a few stirs with a trusty wooden spoon and the flour’s gluten develops in the fridge and leaving it this way makes for a full flavoured dough.

Making pizza is always a load of fun, especially when kids are thrown into the mix. Jane’s niece and nephew were visiting this week so we had to get some pizzas in the oven! Jane and I don’t eat much white flour at all, but pizza night is our one exception. I like a whole wheat base, or other flour, but a white flour base just seems like a treat and traditional. After visiting the south of Italy last year, I don’t think Jane and I’s approach to pizza and pasta will ever be the same. We now have very regular Italian feasts and making your own pizza bases is superbly simple. We have used plain, all purpose flour here, but finer ground flours like strong/ bread flour or even ’00’ flour would be interesting. ’00’ especially makes for a pizza base with more texture, a bit more chewy.

I love the way that flavour develops in dough when left for a time, of course sourdough bread is amazing and its that patient build up to a fantastic bread that really makes it a special food, a cooking process that is riddle with magic and mystery. Yeast is just a very interesting thing! Given the right care and attention, it works wonders on our humble ground grains.

Vegan toppings are super healthy and we always try to get as many veggies on our pizza as possible. The pizza we made last night has toasted peanut pesto (very similar to the recipe in Peace & Parsnips) and white bean puree on for added richness. It also has a layer of reduced tomato passata, roasted Mediterranean vegetables and red onion. Overall, a highly OTT and delicious affair that left all around the table (vegans and non vegans) commenting how tasty pizza can be when cheese-less. I ate Marinara (just tomato sauce and the occasional, single basil leaf) in Italy for over two weeks and never got sick of it. I think I’ve always appreciated the base as much as the toppings!? We are not huge fans of vegan cheeses, other than the homemade variety. We are ever open minded however. We’d love to think that one day, some clever sort will invent a cheese that melts like a dream and is also full of healthy plant power. Otherwise, we’ll stick happily to nut and bean based cheese-like happiness.

Have you ever tried a pizza with a cauliflower base? Its not exactly traditional, but a delicious alternative to flour if you are gluten free or looking for something that radiates good health. We may get a recipe together soon and pop it on the BHK. In fact, we’re turning into a right pair of dough balls this week. We’re going baking mad. With loaves and cakes all over the place. I have just made a chocolate and coconut loaf that I’d love to share here soon. Chocolate toast! We’ve been lathering it with our neighbours home grown raspberry jam. We only managed a handful of raspberries this year from our juvenile bush. What a difference the length of a garden makes, Dawn’s razzers are rampant!

comment Pizza dough ready for action and a random niece (lovely Martha)

The Bits – 4 medium pizza bases
325ml water (lukewarm)
1 1/2 teas yeast
2 teas salt
1/2 tablespoon brown rice syrup (or sugar)
85ml olive oil
475g unbleached all-purpose flour

Extra flour and oil (for finishing the bases)

The dough proves and matures nicely in the fridge adding good flavour and texture

Do It

Sprinkle the yeast into the warm water, stir and set aside for a few minutes.

Add all dry ingredients to a container, mix with a wooden spoon/ spatula. Gradually pour in the water, mixing all the time. Then pour in the olive oil, mixing as you go. The dough with now be taking shape, give it a few more good stirs. Cover loosely with oiled cling film and leave to prove in a warm place for 2 hours. Then cover again with cling film, loosely, and pop the dough into the fridge. Use the next day. This dough keeps nicely for 10-12 days in a fridge, you can use it little by little. We have made double the quantity, meaning you’re sorted for pizza or flatbreads for over a week. Very convenient.

Best to bring the dough out of the fridge an hour before you need it, let it get back to room temperature. You can scoop some out with a spoon if you’re not using the full amount. Maybe you’re just looking for a couple of quick flatbreads?

On a cool, well floured surface, knock the dough back by kneading it a few times. You will need to sprinkle extra flour over here. Sticky is good and will make a pizza base with great texture. Once the dough is knocked back, cut into pieces. One decent pizza base is about the size of a apple. Wipe your surface down and lightly oil a piece of baking parchment (makes things a lot easier). Rub some oil into your hands and begin to form the dough into your desired pizza shape. Do this by stretching the dough with your finger tips and the heel of your hand. I like my pizza thin crust, meaning roughly 1/2-1cm depth. Use more oil on your hands if its sticking.

Gently lift the parchment onto a baking tray and set aside for 15 minutes before adding your toppings. You may need to stretch out the dough again at this stage, it might shrink a little. Bake in a very hot over (220oC+ fan) for roughly 8-10 minutes. You may like to swap it around 2/3 of the way through cooking depending on your oven (one side can cook quicker than the other). You know your oven! The all have their own little characteristics.

Vegan Pizza!!!!!!

Serve

This dough is highly versatile and can be rolled out into thin or thick flatbreads, depending on what you’re eating. Just remember to leave it for 10-15 minutes before putting it into the oven for the yeast to wake up and do its thing.

Foodie Fact

There is really very little good to say nutritionally about white flour in general, other than stock up on nice healthy toppings (go vegan!) and then enjoy the deliciousness. Maybe pencil in a few extra push ups or lengths of the pool (see below)….

Swimming off all that pizza down at Dinas Dinlle

Categories: Baking, photography, Recipes, Vegan | Tags: bread, dough, flatbread, flour, homemade, italy, pizza, recipe, vegetarian | 1 Comment

Italian Flava! Holiday Snaps of Napoli and the Amalfi Coast

Posted on July 20, 2014 by leroy watson

ITALIA! What a place! Pizza, scenery, pasta, wonderful people, gelato (for Jane), stunning scenery, espresso, incredible history….so much, a country filled with endless passion for life and bellies filled with wonderful culinary creations. Here we have just a few of our holiday snaps from June’s trip to Southern Italy.

Jane's first gelato (she was a little pleased) - Napoli

Jane’s first gelato (Pistachio flavour) – Downtown Napoli

We started off in Napoli, hiring a car and camping for most of the time. We rarely spent two nights in one place as the allure of the open road and the fascinating sights just kept us rolling deeper and deeper into Campania. Napoli reminds me alot of Latin America, a real vibrancy and chaos, it can be scruffy and awe inspiring in the same alleyway, it is a hive of creativity, is crammed full of ancient historical sights and offers all the opportunity to feast like a greedy baron.

Pizza is the mainstay of things and the Marinara (just tomato sauce, a little garlic and a drizzle of olive oil, so called because the fishermen used to eat it) took dough discs to a whole new level in my eyes. The wine was local, with a vast array of indigenous grape varieties and generally, delicious. Apart from eating and sipping coffee with jumpers tied around our necks, we walked the cities old town, took in as many museums, cathedrals, underground grotto’s, gelaterias (Jane) and Greek sculptures as our mortal legs could manage. Napoli is my new favourite city at a canter.

On the road lunch - Graveyard, somewhere in the Cilento National Park, Campania

On the road lunch, Italy=best produce ever! – In an old graveyard, somewhere in the Cilento National Park, Campania

The spectacular Duomo Cathedral – Napoli

After Napoli, and the utterly mental driving conditions (most of the cars bear the scars of the outrageously tight roads and kamikaze scooters), we drove south past Mount Versuvius (the once mighty eruptor) and headed to the Amalfi coast, a place constantly banged on about as being rather pleasant. Well it was in a fashion, if you are of the manicured tourist variety. We are not. So camped in forests when we could and only ventured into the pretty towns for dinner, which was almost always, fresh, local, seasonal, made my mama and utterly delicious. We generally found things quite cheap, making our breakfast and lunch on roadsides and picnic benches along the way with some of the best fruit and veg I have ever encountered. Believe the hype! Italian lemons, plums, tomatoes, olives……the list goes on, are touched with something intangible and utterly magnificent. Food here is a way of life, a cornerstone of culture…..I have heard this all before, but to witness it first hand and even better, to taste the fruits of this fascination and tradition, made me feel like the luckiest muncher on the Med.

Temple of Poseidon – The Ancient City of Paestum (600BC!), Campania

Camping by churches seemed to work well - Cilento National Park, Campania

Camping by abandoned churches works well – Near Morigerati, Cilento National Park, Campania

We found some beautiful camp spots and used disused churchyards regularly. Almost painfully romantic and with the added bonus of clean water springs to do the washing up and for the occasional bathe. The weather was sweltering, so we rose early with the sun and generally bedded down under clear night skies, sparkling with stars and fireflies.

The awesome Hercules - National Museum, Napoli

The ancient and mighty Faranese Hercules 3AD (roughly 12 metres tall!) – National Museum, Napoli

Packing up one of our favourite campspots – Overlooking Positano, Amalfi Coast

Stunning villages abound! – Morigerati, Cilento National Park

The national park, Cilento was a real highlight. The second largest in all of Italy, with little villages on crags, waterfalls, endless forests and some stunning mountainous peaks, far too much to explore in the little time we had. There seemed to be no one there and the towns were always sleepy and friendly, generally the opposite of the Amalfi coast towns which were packed full of tourists and establishments fixed to empty their pockets of silver. We discovered a few gems on what is a dramatically beautiful, steep slope, but generally the Amalfi is a little overrated. Its a big world, many coastlines, why should we all gather in one place? I have to admire the marketing job done by the tourism folk, Sorrento for example is heaving with Americans who have flown all this way to the Med to see a sanitised version of what is surely, one of the worlds most stunning areas. And, it was 45 euros for a dorm bed! 45 euros for a wonky bunk!!!!!!

Making salads on bins - A little medieval village, somewhere in the Cilento National Park

Roadside salads – A little medieval village, somewhere in the Cilento National Park

Stunning nature – Cilento National Park

Jane just before another amazing dinner - Campania

Jane just before another amazing dinner – Castellabate, Campania

We spent a week in Cilento National Park, driving the crumbling roads and marvelling at the sheer natural beauty of the place. It seemed impossible to escape the ancient past as we randomly came across site after site filled with magnificent ruins of towns and temples, the most impressive of which were (of course) Pompei and Paestum. Some of the details that have survived are stunning, it feels like you’re looking directly into the lives of the people who lived more than 2000 years ago. We know their names, how much they earned and where they worked, the Gods they worshiped, what they did for giggles and even their favourite snack bars! These incredibly preserved relics give colour and texture to the ancient world and open fascinating windows into how our forefathers and mothers would have passed their lives. It wasn’t all good, being a gladiator fighting lions seemed like a raw deal but I have to say, in the most part, they seemed to live well and in a highly advanced, organised and cosmopolitan way.

Another lunch stop, abandon churches again (always with handy fresh water springs for washing up!) – Cilento National Park, Campania

Italian beaches are strange and normally filled with sun loungers, costing an exorbitant amount of euros to perch on. It is the only place in the world I have visited where beaches are private and fenced off! You need to buy a Cappucino to take a dip in the ocean! What a strange approach. Due to this, we only spent 20 minutes on the beach, it all seemed a little hectic and the opposite of relaxing.

Temple of Isis, Pompeii

The best pizza in town (gypsy guitarists just out of picture) – Di Mateos, Napoli

There are a few famous and touristy pizza restaurants in Napoli, but we were assured by locals that Di Mateos was the best. Located on Via Tribuani, one of the main streets in the old town, it is always packed full and has a real buzz about it. It was, without any peer, the best pizza I ever met. Add to that the band of gypsy’s (not the Jimi Hendrix lot) playing as we went in and you have the full package. You cannot beat the sound of a well strummed mandolin and some toothless yelping. It stirs the appetite and soul.

Our favourite dinner spot, in a cave! – Nochelle, Amalfi

After all that driving, we landed in Pompeii, not a bad little town considering the daily influx of tourist coaches. We camped there in a little family ran site and walked the 20 metres to the main gates. Italy really impressed me in the fact that corporations don’t seem to have taken hold. Family ran joints, hotels, cafes, restaurants etc seem to be very much the done thing and it adds so much variety and authenticity to towns. You get to meet the real locals, eat their food, hear their gossip and understand a little about what is actually going on. Places ran by people who genuinely care about what they’re doing which makes all the difference. I hear this does not extend to Italian politics, but that’s a whole different blog……

Last but certainly not least, antipasti and pasta! – Mama made it, Morigerati, Campania

So Italy is nice, very highly reccomended by the B.H.K. There seems so much to rave about but its the warmth and intensity of the locals which will stay with me. Prego!!!! I think Jane and I would go back now, if we weren’t tending to tomatoes and reveling in the unpredictable beauty of a Welsh summer in full swing.

Categories: Travel | Tags: amalfi, camping, Cilento National Park, food, history, italy, napoli, nature, pasta, photography, pizza, pompei, travel | 8 Comments

Asparagus, Lemon & Pesto Pizza

Posted on May 3, 2013 by leroy watson

I love May, full of birthdays (my sister and I’s) and the green spears of asparagus decide to make a brief appearance. Surely one of the finest vegetables with a flavour like no other.

I’ve always found asparagus season intriguing, it’s so short and makes the availability of British asparagus so appealing. You are forced to save up all of your asparagus recipes for this one little window of the year and then POW! Asparagus begins to appear on everything. So to celebrate this asparagus-fest, we popped ours on a pizza, there is something special about the flavours of asparagus that lends it to Italian cuisine.

It’s not often that we get a pizza on the roll, the original idea for asparagus on pizza came from a lovely blog friend Margaret over at Pachamama’s Beautiful Food. If you haven’t been over to this wonderful oasis of food and nature, we highly recommend a visit. Margaret is sure to brighten up your day!

The ingredients here are pan roasted off in a little balsamic before topping the dough, adding a nice sweet/ sharp tang. This pizza also comes with an oil that packs even more flavour onto this already heavy-laden crust. We’d serve it in a bowl separately and let people help themselves.

Pesto we had left over and thought it sounded like a right good idea, this does make it a very rich affair, but adds a tonne of flavour. The pesto we used was your standard green pesto, plenty of parmesan and basil. A regular tomato sauce would also be wonderful here. Lemon zest is also a brilliant addition and really shines through here, not something you see often on a pizza.

GREEN SPEARS

Asparagus is one of the oldest recorded vegetables and is said to originate from the Mediterranean, it was much revered by the Greeks and Romans (and still is!) Asparagus is related to the onion and garlic, also the daffodil and tulip. Asparagus is one of those strange vegetables that actually take up more calories to digest, than they offer the body, making it a negative-calorie vegetable (celery is another). A celery and asparagus could just be the ultimate ‘diet’ salad.

Asparagus must be served as fresh as possible, if not the sugars present turn to starch and it loses flavour. Asparagus is best harvested early in the morning and kept in the fridge in a plastic bag, this will keep them tender and conserve the vitamins present.

Normally I’m a brown flour chap, but a little white does make things a lot lighter and a heavy pizza dough is just no fun. It doesn’t matter what you do,where you buy it from, how Italian the flour is; if you don’t make your own pizza dough, it just ain’t the same! Give it a whirl…..

This is a special pizza for special occasions!!

Roast Asparagus, Lemon and Pesto Pizza

The Bits

Pizza Dough

Our No Knead Pizza Dough is our favourite at the minute. So easy.

Toppings

8 stalks asparagus (tops cut in half length ways)

1 tbs balsamic vinegar

10 cherry tomatoes

1/3 courgette (sliced at a 45o angle if you like)

1 block vegan mozzarella (sliced into 1 cm slices) or use cashew cheese – something that melts

1/2 lemon zest

Handful of pitted olives (chopped)

Pinch chilli flakes

4 tbs green pesto

1/4 cup yoghurt

Fresh basil leaves

Oil

2 garlic cloves (crushed)

1/2 lemon zest

juice 1 lemon

1/2 cup olive oil

1 tbs white wine vinegar

Do It

Make your pizza dough.

Get your toppings ready, in a small frying pan, add a little olive oil and begin to fry your asparagus with a drizzle of balsamic vinegar, when they are beginning to colour they are ready. Repeat process with tomato and courgette.

Roll out your dough on an oiled surface and either use your hands or a rolling pin to massage the dough into a pizza shape. It will be resistant and needs a little coaxing, but will eventually rest into a shape. For a golden crust brush with a little plant milk.

Pre heat fan oven to 220oC (get very hot). If are lucky enough to have a pizza stone, pop that in now.

Spread pesto on pizza, leaving a one inch gap around the edges then scatter your toppings with glee on your dough. Be reckless and generous.

Pop in oven and check after 10-12 minutes, may need another 5 depending on the potency of your hot box. The base of the pizza should be cooked in the centre.

For the oil, simply add all to a bowl and whisk together. This will keep well in the fridge overnight and may be all the better for it!

Serve

Hot out of the oven, spoon over some yoghurt, sprinkle with basil leaves and serve with a nice light green salad with a sweet-ish dressing.

We Love It!

Too easy to love this one, far too easy. From zesty top to crispy bottom, its a all round champion!

Foodie Fact

Asparagus is a good source of dietary fibre and can help with IBS, they are also rich in the vitamin B’s and folates. It also contains many minerals, especially copper and iron.