Monday 25 May 2015

Ups and Downs Part the First

I can't believe it's been so long since I last wrote here! It's been a busy time: a couple of races, karate things, eldest going through the year 6 SATS, settling in to a new job, a brand new baby niece, some other family things...

But let's just have a blog post about food. Those of you who know me in Twitterland are only too aware of my love of food as I usually end up tweeting about it. I know I've promised Twitter friends to share some recipes but we're on holiday at the moment so I don't have any of the cake recipes to hand. Instead here are a few musings about pizza.

If time and energy permit then we make our own pizza bases. Usually I don't bother with yeast and just make a simple unleavened dough with flour (a mix of white & spelt/rye/wholemeal- whatever's in the cupboard!), water and some olive oil and roll it out very thin. I don't measure anything out- I go by how hungry we are and what the dough feels like. As long as it turns out smooth and silky after a bit of kneading then it'll be fine. Once the base is made I put homemade tomato sauce onto the base before adding toppings, although a quick cheat is to mix some pesto & tomato puree. Still healthier than using a bought jar of ready-made sauce.

My current favourite topping is kale, garlic and feta cheese. I prefer to briefly cook the kale first- start off chopped garlic in a frying pan with a little oil.  If the kale has a lot of thick stalk on it, it's best to cut that off, slice it and start those bits off with the garlic. It's a shame to waste the stalks as they are tasty and add a bit of substance too.  Then add the rest of the kale along with a splash of water. Cook for about 3 minutes then it's ready to go on the pizza. Add chunks of feta on the top and cook in a very hot oven for about 7 minutes. Yes, the kale will go crispy and look a bit odd but it tastes delicious!

Other additions and variations on this pizza have been attempted:
  • I've tried using other cheeses- strong cheddar is also good as is goat cheese or leftover oozing bits of Brie or Camembert.
  • You can throw some fresh chilli into the kale and garlic mix for a bit of extra vitamin C.
  • Spinach doesn't make a good substitute for the kale though, so don't try that, although if you've got a bit of rocket going limp in the fridge add it to the kale when it's almost done for a bit of a peppery kick.
  • And if you make a dip in the middle of the kale, carefully crack an egg into it and let that cook til just set. Greens and egg with a soft, gooey yolk is one of my all time favourite things to eat!

It feels as though this would be a great place to put a photo or two of pizza. Unfortunately pizza never lasts long enough in our house to be photographed! You'll just have to use your imagination, or even better go and make one right now and see (and taste) for yourself! Go on, you know you want to!

#hungryrunner

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