Cook along with Mary P – Pizza

One of my favourite things to make is pizza.. I use this all rounder as a perfect opportunity to pack in the nutrition and as you’ll see I put a couple of unexpected things in but this adds an incredible taste..

I start by showing you my base recipe.. if you don’t have time to make the base or just don’t want to, ready made bases are cheap, so skip to the extra veggie topping recipe.

Pizza Base

500g flour (should be strong but plain works fine)
7g sachet yeast
pinch salt

put these ingredients in a bowl then in a jug add -

2 tablespoons olive oil
1 tablespoon honey
then pour in tepid water to 300ml mark

pour the water mixture half at a time onto the flour and fold in with either hands or wooden spoon, when it’s almost mixed tip onto a well floured surface and get kneading!
you should knead it for about 10mins, sometimes I do this if I want to take out anger (lol!) but sometimes I admit I don’t do it at all.. does it make much difference? for pizza base.. no!

I’ve made enough here for four bases, so break into four and wrap three in cling film and freeze! Next time you want pizza take it out in the morning and you save yourself a job..

put to one side.

Before I show you the sauce recipe I do something unusual..

Extra Veggie Topping (optional)

1/2 a small leek CHOPPED SMALL
a handful of curly kale or savoy cabbage CHOPPED

melt a small knob of butter in a medium saucepan and sweat the leek/cabbage until soft, then put to one side.

use the same saucepan to make the sauce, don’t rinse it out.

Pizza Sauce

1 onion finely chopped
1 tablespoon flour
a tin of chopped tomatoes
4 sun dried tomatoes
1 crushed clove garlic
squeeze of tomato puree
1 teaspoon dried oregano
pinch pepper

soften onion in saucepan (the butter from sweating the leeks should suffice for this if not add a splash of olive oil)
when onions are soft add flour and mix until onions are coated. add chopped tomatoes and the rest of the ingredients above, mix well so flour makes the sauce thick, turn the heat down low and leave to heat gently, stir occasionally. (if you like sauce extra smooth blitz in food processor)

next..

the other toppings I use apart from the leek/cabbage are – mushrooms, fresh sweet basil and cheese so..

grate some cheese (whatever your preference)
chop some mushrooms into very thin slices
rip leaves of sweet basil off the stems

Assembly!

flour your surface well, roll out your pizza base until it’s around a centimetre thick, this takes patience as it will spring back, but it will come.

spread a quarter of the pizza sauce on the base, the rest can be separated into three pots and frozen for next time!

now scatter your leek/cabbage mix over the base.

now lay your mushrooms on top

then scatter the basil leaves, whole or ripped.

sprinkle some pepper over the mushrooms

cover with cheese and finished with a sprinkle of dried oregano.

cook on 220c for 10-12 mins and enjoy!

The one thing I would say about this recipe is if you use my base recipe it will be hard to get it crispy in the centre, so may need to be eaten with cutlery (:0O) if anyone has any tips for me on making it more crispy this would be appreciated! although it’s so yummy I don’t care

NOTE FOR MEAT EATERS!

As usual you can either replace something for bacon or chicken or pepperoni or ham etc etc.. or just add it on top of the mushrooms!

I usually serve this with my home-made chips-

chip potatoes (skins on) sprinkle with olive oil spread on baking tray and bake in 200c oven for 20mins.

any comments would be welcomed

Cook along with Mary P – Veg/Meat Stir Fry

This is the second post of many more where I blog about my cooking obsession.. hope you enjoy

it so happens my first cooking blog was about curry and this one is too! but everyone loves a curry don’t they? This one is quite different to the last.

Griddled Fish with Coconut Curry Sauce and Rice

fish marinade

2 tablespoons of soy sauce
1 teaspoon honey
juice of 1 lime
splash of olive oil

make this marinade and cover your fish with it, leave it while you make the curry sauce. I say fish as you can use anything from Salmon to Coley, your choice.

Curry Sauce

pour a kettle full of boiling water into a saucepan and add various veg of your choice, I used broccoli, cabbage and peas, but really the more varied the better and as much as you like. Of course if you don’t want to add veg, don’t! I add it for nutrition and because when it’s covered in sauce it tastes fab too!

while veg is cooking (max 5mins don’t destroy it) make the sauce in a frying pan.

splash of Olive Oil
1 onion CHOPPED
1 chilli DESEEDED AND CHOPPED FINELY (or if you like heat leave seeds in)
1 clove of garlic
1 tablespoon of Garam Masala
1 tablespoon plain flour
350ml Coconut milk
1 tablespoon tomato puree
1 teaspoon brown sugar
pinch salt
pinch pepper

sizzle the onion, chilli and crushed garlic in a splash of olive oil, when softened add Garam Masala and flour and mix well until onion etc. are coated. Add coconut milk a bit at a time and stir so the flour/garam masala makes the sauce thick. plop in tomato puree and sugar when sauce is lightly bubbling and stir in, add cooked veg and pinch of salt/pepper, mix and leave to bubble gently while cooking fish and rice.

Fish

when veg has cooked replace saucepan with a griddle and leave to heat up while cooking sauce, I use a microwave steamer for rice so I’d put this on now but cook this however you usually would.

While rice is cooking place fish on griddle, turn after a couple of minutes, if griddle is hot enough this should take no longer than 6mins but stick a knife in thickest part and if it flakes it’s done.
When cooked transfer to a piece if foil and squeeze a good amount of lemon juice over it and either leave whole or flake.

just before plating add any ‘liquor’ from cooking the fish to the curry sauce and stir in.
Plate up rice and sauce, scatter flaked fish or place whole on top and enjoy!!!

any questions or comments please ask..

Mary P x