New Year's Eve 2009 was a quiet one for me, but very eventful indeed. For a difference in dinner, I decided to make pizza from scratch, including the base (recipe for it can be found here). Unfortunately, clumsy me accidentally knocked the large bowl, containing the mixture of warm water and yeast to make the pizza dough, over the mountain of flour on the bench top, which in turn splashed all over me and the kitchen floor!
This was also one of the only times in the kitchen that I chose not to wear an apron, so my clothing fell victim to the spill and was all covered in wet flour and had to be washed immediately! :-( It was very time consuming to clean up the mess, so there just wasn't enough time to start preparing the dough from scratch again and providing it with enough time to prove.
Luckily, Coles was still open (until 10pm), so I resorted to rushing over to buy pre-made pizza bases. I found a few, but they all appeared to be very thick and wouldn't satisfy the thin and crispy base that I was after. I finally decided on a brand of souvlaki bread, called 'Gerry's Pittes,' which I've found to be very versatile with cooking. They produce fantastic results as a pizza base, crisping up perfectly and releasing lots of flavour.
This was also one of the only times in the kitchen that I chose not to wear an apron, so my clothing fell victim to the spill and was all covered in wet flour and had to be washed immediately! :-( It was very time consuming to clean up the mess, so there just wasn't enough time to start preparing the dough from scratch again and providing it with enough time to prove.
Luckily, Coles was still open (until 10pm), so I resorted to rushing over to buy pre-made pizza bases. I found a few, but they all appeared to be very thick and wouldn't satisfy the thin and crispy base that I was after. I finally decided on a brand of souvlaki bread, called 'Gerry's Pittes,' which I've found to be very versatile with cooking. They produce fantastic results as a pizza base, crisping up perfectly and releasing lots of flavour.
Table full of ingredients for pizza toppings - Diced lamb, kabana, ham, prosciutto, smoked salmon, bocconcini, goat feta, gorgonzola, parmesan, mozzarella, green olives, baby spinach, rocket, asparagus, parsley, dill, basil, red capsicum, button mushrooms, Roma tomatoes, capers, pesto, toasted walnuts.
I made the first few pizzas for everybody, and then after that, we all created our own, according to individual tastes. It was lots of fun and such a great concept that even those that don't like cooking really enjoyed themselves and came up with fantastic topping ideas!
We baked the pizzas on handy "Masterclass Non-Stick Pizza Baking Pans," bought from Wheel&Barrow, which allowed aeration underneath for a crispy base. For the tomato sauce, I combined a jar of "Jones The Grocer Melted Tomatoes" (similar to tinned chopped tomatoes) with a handful of chopped basil. All pizzas were then baked in a 250°C oven for approximately 10 minutes, until the cheese melted and the base was golden brown.
A few of the many pizza creations that we greedily devoured (ingredients are listed from the base up):
Mozzarella, Spinach and Feta
Parmesan, Parsley, Dill, Spinach, Feta, Smoked Salmon, Cracked Pepper - the salmon was added after the pizza came out of the oven.
Mozzarella, Kabana, Ham, Capsicum, Olive, Mushroom, Parmesan, Parsley, Cracked Pepper
Mozzarella, Feta, Prosciutto, Parmesan, Basil, Cracked Pepper
Roma Tomato, Basil, Mozzarella, Ham, Parmesan, Asparagus, Parsley, Cracked Pepper
Mozarella, Roma Tomato, Prosciutto, Mushroom, Parmesan - Baked for 8 minutes while lamb was sauteed in a pan for 1 minute. Pizza was taken out, lamb sprinkled over with mozzarella and parsley and back into the oven for a further 2 minutes.
Half N' Half: Mozzarella, Feta, Mushroom, Kabana, Ham, Spinach, Basil
Half N' Half: Mozzarella, Parmesan, Prosciutto, Kabana, Asparagus, Lamb
Roma Tomato, Basil, Dill, Mozzarella, Capsicum, Parmesan, Mushroom, Asparagus, Feta, Smoked Salmon, Parsley, Cracked Pepper
Zucchini, Asparagus, Parmesan, Parsley, Cracked Pepper - this was for grandma, making the most of the huge zucchinis grown in the garden
3 comments:
Love these pizzas, look yummy!
Thanks! A joint effort from everybody's creativity :)
yummyyyyyyyyyyyyy DROOLS!!!!!
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