Slice of heaven

Round #17 of Hay Hay it's Donna Day closes today, with Joey from 80 breakfasts choosing the theme of pizza. My family thanks you, Joey. They rarely have pizza for a Saturday lunch, and if they do, it's normally left overs from Friday night, a la cardboard.

Pizza's are a passion of mine. I'm forever searching for that elusive crust, that OMG crust, that crust that is forever memorable. Well today I think I found just that crust. I normally like to rest the dough overnight in the fridge for a flavour boost, but this crust doesn't need that, plus I wasn't that organised. More importantly, the preparation time needs to be minimal, considering the record time in which the final product is demolished, I mean devoured.

Here is my take on a Pizza Margherita, named after Queen Margherita of Savoy, and is supposed to have all of the colours of the Italian flag. Bit like the Caprese salad...hmmm Caprese Pizza maybe?


Pizza Dough

1 1/4 tsp yeast
1 cup (8 oz) water at room temperature
1 3/4 cup (14 oz) unbleached all-purpose flour, plus extra for work surface and peel
1 cup (8 oz) cake flour
1 1/2 tsp salt
2 tsp sugar

I just plonk all of the ingredients into my KitchenAid and mix for about 7-8 minutes.
Turn dough out into an oiled bowl, cover and let rise until doubled.
I never roll the dough, I just poke my fingers gently into it until it reaches the desired shape.
Heat oven to 450 degrees F or as hot as it will go.

Topping

4 large, ripe and juicy tomatoes, diced
2 cloves of minced garlic
Extra virgin olive oil
Bocconcini (or you could use sliced mozarella)
Grated parmesan
Extra olive oil for drizzling
Basil leaves

Finely chop the tomatoes, add garlic and a drizzle of olive oil, and marinate for at least 30 minutes. Drain tomatoes, add to pizza dough, add sliced bocconcini or mozarella, grate parmesan cheese over the top and cook in oven until crust is browned on the bottom, and cheese is bubbly.
Place basil chiffonade on top and drizzle with more olive oil.

Slice and enjoy

And have a great Australian Day to all the Aussies out there!

The Pizza Palace

Whilst on a recent short break to Perth, I was lucky enough to chose an apartment in East Fremantle that was renowned for having the best wood fired pizzas in Perth, and only a short stroll from my front door.

Their menu consisted of chicken marinated in garlic, honey, soy & chilli, tossed sesame seeds, mature cheddar, shallots and chives. Or you could try chilli coconut prawns, served with fresh rocket. Or even calzone filled with ricotta, mushroom, spinach and basil - chef's recommendation is to add chicken, pepperoni or pumpkin. Just to name a few. There are over 20 mouth watering pizzas to chose from. You can find these guys at 133 George St East Fremantle WA. Remember Fremantle was where the Aussies "stole" the coveted Americas Cup with their controversial "winged keel" back in 1983. An event we can never forget, simply because the Cup hasn't been back since!

The girls opted for the chicken of course, but I preferred something a little more grown up if this Pizza Palace was as good as people told me.

I chose the Smoked salmon, capers, red onion, avocado and topped with fresh rocket and sour cream.

My copycat creation doesn't look quite the same, but the flavour was very similar.

Ready for the oven.

Where is that food stylist and professional photographer when you need them?

This is my entry for this Weekend Herb Blogging event, hosted by Susan at Food Blogga. Check out the size of that lobster on her blog! I'm green with envy

When the moon hits your eye

Like a big pizza pie ...you know how it goes. This pizza "pie" was dinner one night during the week. Normally I wouldn't have time to make the dough and wait for it to rise, but this recipe from The Fresh Loaf really caught my attention. Anything with the word ciabatta attached, and I'm hooked immediately.

I've made many loaves of ciabatta, but none in less than 2 hours. This method is a cinch. If you look at the link, it has a picture tutorial, showing step by step photos.

I used a 9" cast iron frying pan to cook this pie in. WARNING Don't bring the pan out of a 450 degree oven, with a tea towel. I have the 3rd degree burn on the palm of my hand as proof of what not to do.

Top your pie with any ingredient you have on hand or desire. I chose sopressa salami, oven roasted capsicums, semi sundried tomatoes, the leftovers from a jar of marinated champignons, basil, mozarella and freshly grated parmesan cheese.

The crust was beautiful and light, chewy as well. I normally like a thin crust pizza, but for a pleasant change I'll be using this recipe frequently.

I just have to remember to use steel plated gloves to get the pan out of the oven next time.



Now that's amore.

Impromptu Pizza

The pizza is so versatile. It is a canvas for a food artist. Anything can go on a pizza and it would still taste good. I had a piece of left over polenta pizza dough in the freezer, which I originally thought was pasta dough until it thawed out (I really should label my little bits and pieces that I throw in the freezer), so the ravioli ingredients were replaced with a very limited selection of pizza toppings on hand. I didn't have any salami or italian sausage, so bacon was used. I did however have some of the basics such as sundried tomatoes, olives, mozarella, topped with a lovely yellow capsicum, sliced fresh basil and drizzled with olive oil. Teenage daughter is an avid BBQ chicken pizza girl, but she said this was one of the best she's ever tasted. Needless to say there weren't any leftovers.