Category: pizza

Categories
burger curry food noodles pizza

recent rumblings: a round up

It’s been a while since I rolled up the latest stuff I’ve been up to, so here goes!

Weird Ingredients

I couldn’t resist rounding up 12 weird things Heston has cooked with and listed them over at Buzzfeed here. Includes Devil’s Penis. Go check it out!

Five Guys UK

five guys UK bacon cheeeseburger all the way

Oh lordy. This was a burger. Five Guys invited me to their first UK restaurant outside of London, based in Essex Mecca Lakeside. Their menu is purposefully simple, offering not a lot beyond burger, hot dog and fries, but by simplifying things they can really focus on what they’re doing.

I opted for a bacon cheeseburger ‘all the way’ which is as you can see a burger with lettuce, tomatoes, mushrooms and a bunch of sauces I can’t remember. And it was good. It smelled of grilled beef and tasted juicy and satisfying, packed with meaty goodness. By the way, you don’t ask for a double patty; it just comes like that. Also when you ask for a portion of fries it serves two. They like to make sure you get fed. The burger costs £8.25 but we compared it to a recent Frankie and Benny’s burger which costs c. £11 with fries and was decidedly frozen, limp and tasteless. This was night and day. You watch the guy grab a ball of meat over the counter, squish it then grill it.

Mrs. Spud and I were also really taken with the drinks machine, which boasts over 100 drinks from a single vending machine. I giggled like a child using it.

Chatting with the manager they’re looking to introduce milkshakes to the UK soon, which for me would set it off perfectly. If you like a burger, go find a Five Guys near you and try one.

Chinatown Walking Tour with Meemalee

I’m a noodle numpty so was keen to have an expert show me round Chinatown. Step forward noodle cookbook author MiMi Aye. It was a lot of fun! Read more about it here.

Kavey Meets the Bloggers

Speaking of other awesome bloggers, for some reason Kavey interviewed me about my blog. Find out a bit more about me here.

Peafs

I want to give a shout out to my local farm shop, Peafs. It’s exactly what I want; a knowledegable butcher (who told me he was out of ham because it needs another week to cure yet), great pies, fresh local veg and preserves by the bucket. I can’t believe I hadn’t seen it before, but I love it. It’s handy located next door to my daughter’s ballet class so I have a weekly excuse to browse there.

If you’re in the mid-Essex area, check out Peafs on Hullbridge Road, Rayleigh.

Curriza

I was asked to try some curry pizzas the other day – Currizzas, if you will. Combining two takeaway favourites, pizza and curry, what could go wrong?

I tried each of the varieties: Chicken Madras, Chicken Korma, Chicken Tikka Masala, and Spinach & Sweet Potato (pictured above). My son loves spicy food – he has a far higher tolerance of it than I do – and woofed down the Madras which I found outrageously hot. I was much happier with the Korma and Tikka Masala pizzas, which were gentle and enjoyable. These really do taste exactly as they sound so if you want a compromise between ordering Italian (!) or Indian, this would be a good one.  I will say that the £3 per pizza price tag puts them at the pricier end of the supermarket fresh pizza range.

Read an alternative review of Currizzas here. Find out more about Curry Dave and his Currizas here.

Pizza Express Christmas

Yes, more pizza. I went to Pizza Express’s unveiling of their Autumn and Winter menus. The Christmas fare included things like ‘Anatra’ (Peking duck) pizza which did taste like a duck pancake and ‘Festiva’ pizza which was a play on brie and cranberry.

But what stole the show for me and my fellow diner was the Mare Rossa.

Chunks of smoked salmon, prawn and tenderstem broccoli on a perfectly crisp base. The fish flavours on the tomato sauce was completely perfect. Loved it.

We were offered festive desserts such as mince pie cheesecake and chocolate tartufo but happily we were too stuffed on mare rossa pizza.

Check out the new Autumn menu at Pizza Express from 7th October, with the Christmas menu following on 11th November.

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Many thanks to Pizza Express, Curry Dave and Five Guys UK for their invites and samples. No-one asked for favourable reviews and I definitely don’t give them out lightly.

Categories
food pizza

heston blumenthal’s perfect pizza

Let me be clear: this isn’t Heston’s recipe for perfect pizza. But it is my approximation of it.

Driven on by In Search of Heston’s go at the pizza, I felt it was about time I tried it. As they had gone boldly before I took their suggestions and incorporated into this pizza recipe. I was particularly drawn to recommendations to skip the pre-ferment stage (which involves making a proto pizza dough a day before) and avoiding his fiddly and salty tomato sauce.

In tribute to In Search of Heston’s write-up, this post will be written in their style, with photos aplenty and the obligatory ingredients hero shot. So without further ado…

The ingredients shot. For the base, anyway. Heston’s recipe calls for malt extract. ISOH liked the malt extract but you need half a teaspoon (!) for this one recipe. And is really obscure. So a little research down the baking sites led me to believe that malt extract gives a malty / yeasty flavour, with a little sweetness thrown in. So why not Horlicks and black treacle?

And surprisingly Tesco’s bread flour has exactly the protein count Heston requests, 12%.

Into the mixer on a low setting they go. Confusingly the recipe mixes everything with water, it’s left to prove, and then the yeast is incorporated. I have no idea why it’s done in this order. I wouldn’t bother next time and just bung it all in. I also used the Paul Hollywood idea of leaving the water cold to let it expand slowly and naturally to develop the flavour.

After kneading, rising, proving and shaping I’d made 4 9 inch pizzas of varying roundness. I’ve done this a lot so I’ve got a bit of a knack for pinching and stretching until there’s a neat shape.

While they proved, I could get on with the tomato sauce. I have a version of Gennaro Contaldo’s I really like, but this time I had a secret weapon: San Marzano tomatoes. Heston has banged on about these a few times, but finally I’ve found that Tesco do them. For £1 a tin. Brilliant! A quick simmer gives them a volcanic red colour (ironic, as they are harvested from Vesuvian soil).

And here are the pizzas ready for the oven. I let people roll their own, I went fairly minimalist at the back there. Look at that goat’s cheese mountain on the left!

Still the issue of cooking them remains a problem. Heston suggests a pan on the hob, followed by a grilling, but electric grills run off a thermostat which will cut out every so often. So I just went for an roasting oven with a pizza stone and upturned cast iron pan in. I could also only fit two in at a time, so cooked them in shifts. My oven got to 255°C, but after taking two out and putting the next two in, it plummeted to 220°C. It told in cooking the next two, as cooking time went from about 4 mins to 6 mins.

So how was it? The base was certainly just right: chewy, bready and with a pleasing crisp. And the tomato paste was great – San Marzanos are worth the hype. But the oven temperature just can’t get that puffiness that great pizza demands. I’ve dreamed of building a pizza oven in the garden for a couple of years now but just kinda lacking the vision to go and do it. That would be the perfect way.

Until then, this recipe it pretty darned good.

Thanks to In Search of Heston for the inspiration.

Want to know more about Heston and his recipes? Check out my Heston ingredient infographic.

Perfect pizza (serves 4):

For the dough:

500g bread flour

1 teaspoon salt

1 7g sachet yeast

1 teaspoon Horlicks

1 teaspoon black treacle

250ml water

For the tomato sauce:

2 tins San Marzano tomatoes

2 cloves of garlic, crushed

Balsamic vinegar

Toppings as required (I went for mozzarella, olive, anchovy and red onion but your call)

  1. Combine the dry ingredients in a large bowl, stir the treacle into the water then combine in a food mixer on it’s lowest speed until it comes together. On a work surface knead for 10 minutes until elastic and pliable. Leave in the bowl with a drizzle of olive oil and cover. Leave for 2 – 3 hours until at least doubled in size.
  2. While the dough rises, make the tomato sauce. Get a frying pan very hot and add a splash of oil. Crush in the garlic and them immediately add the tomatoes (caution: there will be spitting and sputtering). Add a dash of balsamic, and a pinch each of salt, sugar and pepper. Reduce over a fast heat until you can leave a trail through the thick sauce. Check for seasoning, pass through a sieve and put aside until needed.
  3. Put the oven on top whack, and put a pizza stone or cast iron pan in to warm up – you should allow at last 45 mins for this. Beat the dough back down, divide into 4 and stretch and press into rounds. Cover and leave for another 30 minutes. (I dusted my chopping board with polenta so it would slide off easily).
  4. Smear tomato paste over the pizzas, then top as required. Place into the oven until puffed up and brown, about 4 mins. Eat immediately.
Categories
bacon chicken food pizza spinach tomato

rustica pizza

I seem to be writing about nothing but pizzas at the moment. I don’t know what it is but I can’t stop craving that perfect mix of bread, cheese and tomato.

What luck then, that Domino’s invited me to try their Gourmet range of take away pizza. I’m so-so on Domino’s pizzas usually, I find their bases a bit blandy and bready, instead of puffy and yeasty as I like them. The base can be so easily overlooked but it for me it should definitely be the star of a pizza. But if they’re paying I’ll give it a go.

Armed with a group of friends, we tried out their Firenze and Rustica pizzas, and a bunch of sides. The ordering system is inventive, with an online order tracker with automatic post-back (one for the jQuery fans) that updates onscreen as to what your pizza is up to at any time. This probably works really well when you’re having a delivery, but if you’re collecting there is nowhere to be told when you should turn up for it. We just pot-lucked it in the end; had we not we’d probably still be staring at the screen.

The Firenze is topped with salami, pepperoni and peppers, upon which my chum demanded extra chillies. I ordered the Rustica for me which boasts chicken, bacon, spinach and SunBlush tomatoes. The spicy pizza went down with my friends really well, just what they were after. The Rustica was perfectly OK, just a very ordinary takeaway pizza. The base was certainly a lot better than I remember, with a bit of stretch to it, and the spinach was a nice touch. As for the sides, the garlic mozzarella sticks were great (they’re fried cheese; how can you go wrong?) but the chicken wings were abysmal: little sweaty things that tasted only of that chemical heat you get that flashes hot then disappears immediately.

Furthermore it cost a small fortune. One of these Gourmet pizzas costs £16.99 which is no small figure for something which has a relatively tiny base cost. I haven’t a clue where your money is going.

I was inspired to beat them at their own game. I had one of Warburton’s square naans to hand and they are sensational on their own; mildly spiced, excellent texture and just enough crunch (Atul Kocchar loves them!). However they also work fantastically well as a pizza base, so topped with roast chicken, smoked bacon and a splash of spinach to convince you it’s a balanced meal you have a superb pizza. A fraction of the cost and I can have it ready before the guy on the moped arrives.

Rustica pizza (serves 2):

6 cherry tomatoes, halved

½ tin of tomatoes

Balsamic vinegar

1 Warburton’s naan

1 ball of mozzarella, dried well and grated

1 roasted chicken breast, diced

2 slices of smoked bacon, cut into lardons

Small handful of fresh spinach leaves

  1. Get the oven on as hot as you can. Pop the halved tomatoes in a baking tray and shove them in while you get on with everything else.
  2. Get a frying pan over a medium heat and fry the bacon for a couple of minutes, tossing occasionally until starting to colour (you will finish them off in the oven). Tip the bacon on to some kitchen roll to drain and add the tinned tomatoes, turning the heat up high. Add a dash of vinegar along with a pinch of salt and sugar and allow it to bubble furiously for 4 – 5 minutes until the mixture is thick and gloopy. Tip this into a sieve over a bowl and mash well to squeeze all the juice out (you can discard the pulp).
  3. Lay the naan on the baking tray and smooth over the tomato sauce. Top with the meats, cheese and spinach and pop in the hot oven for 7 – 8 minutes until the spinach has wilted and the cheese melted. Take the pizza and the tomatoes out of the oven and dot the surface of the pizzas with the now-concentrated tomatoes.
Categories
food pesto pizza tomato

slow-roast tomato and pesto pizza

One of my favourite things about food blogging is finding new people who have other ideas that inspire you. I happened upon Bangers & Mash, and wouldn’t you know it – it revolves around family food which is a constant topic of mine. Via a link on the Brabantia Life website I found her recipe for slow-roast tomato pizza. I’ve made pizzas a whole bunch of times, so it was the slow-roast tomatoes that had me interested.

Gotta leave yourself a whole bunch of time to get these tomatoes roasted, and I’ve added a few more stages in here to make tomato sauce, pizza base and pesto, but using shop-bought substitutes for these would work great.

Thanks for the inspiration Vanesther!

Slow-roast tomato and pesto pizza (serves 2 with a side salad):

6 tomatoes

A ball of mozzarella

For the base:

325g plain flour

7g salt

½ teaspoon sugar

7g sachet yeast

About 250ml tepid water

4 tablespoons olive oil

For the tomato sauce:

½ tin tomatoes

1 clove garlic

Balsamic vinegar

For the pesto:

Bunch of basil, leaves and stalks

75g pine nuts

50g parmesan

Zest of ½ a lemon

Extra virgin olive oil

  1. Turn the oven to 100°C. Pop the tomatoes on a baking tray, drizzle with a little oil and roast for about 6 – 7 hours, until shrivelled and glistening.
  2. While they bake, stir together the dry dough ingredients, then gradually add water until it comes together to a stretchy dough. Knead for a further 10 minutes, drizzle with oil and cover. Leave for an hour to rise.
  3. After an hour, punch it back and then spread out into a thin round. Get the oven on as hot as it will go. If you have a pizza stone, put this in too to heat up.
  4. In a small frying pan, add a splash of oil and the garlic. After 10 seconds add the tomatoes and put on as high as it will go. Sprinkle with vinegar, sugar, salt and pepper and allow to reduce until getting thick (about 4 – 7 mins). Push through a sieve into a bowl and allow to cool slightly.
  5. In a pestle and mortar bash up all the pesto ingredients until you have a thick paste.
  6. Transfer your dough to the pizza stone, smear over the tomato sauce, dot with pesto and torn-up mozzarella. Arrange the tomatoes on the top and bake for about 8 – 10 mins, or until puffy and crisp. Eat immediately!
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