Tag: Italian

Sourdough Margherita Pizza

Posted in Main Meals, RecipesTagged , , , , Leave a comment

Simple, classic, completely delicious. You could pimp it out with any toppings you wish, or just keep it as is.

The trick is to have a very thick pizza pan or a pizza stone. These retain the heat when you put the pizza on to cook, resulting in a crispy base. I use a cast iron pizza pan, which can seriously retain its heat.

Use my sourdough base recipe, picking up after the 30 minute bench rest.

Makes 3 pizzas

Ingredients

  • 300g passata
  • 150g buffalo mozzarella
  • 3 springs of fresh basil
  • Semolina and flour for dusting

Method

  • Preheat the oven to maximum temperature (mine is 275°C fan) and place a heavy bottom tray/pizza stone in the middle of the oven. Allow the oven to reach temperature and wait a further 10 minutes to ensure the tray is fully heated.
  • Dust the work surface with semolina, take a ball of dough and place it on the semolina and finely dust with flour.
  • Using your fingers, press around the edge 1 cm in to form a crust.
  • Using the palm of your hand, press inside this line to flattern the dough in the centre.
  • When you can press it no more, pick the dough up and using your knuckles, gently ease the dough out so it becomes thin and slightly transparent. Take care not to rip the dough. Ensure the base has an even covering of semolina.
  • Transfer the pizza base onto a pizza peel.
  • Add 100g passata over the base, up to but not on the crust part of the dough.
  • Tear 50g buffalo mozzarella into large chunks and scatter over the passata.
  • Transfer the pizza onto the tray in the oven using a strong and decisive forward and back motion to slide the pizza off the peel.
  • Cook the pizza for anywhere between 6-9 minutes depending on the temperature of your oven. The pizza should have very dark golden blistered crusts, and the mozzarella and passata should be bubbling and start turning golden.
  • Remove the pizza, and scatter with fresh basil leaves.
  • Best eaten straight away.

Per whole pizza: 1028kcal/ 13.3g fat/ 7.2g saturated fat/ 145.4g carbohydrates/ 12.3g fibre/ 38.6g protein

Tomato and Goats Cheese Risotto

Posted in Main Meals, RecipesTagged , , , , , Leave a comment

Sticky slow-roasted tomatoes and crumbled goats cheese over a tomato risotto. A delicious summertime recipe I made in honour of British Tomato Fortnight.

It uses my slow roasted tomatoes which helps increase their lycopene concentration, which is a type of antioxidant found in lots of yellow to red colours fruits and vegetables. In the case of tomatoes, processing helps increase the concentration and bioavailability of lycopene as the cells break down and become more absorbable. In addition, consuming tomatoes with oil also aids lycopene uptake by the body as it is a fat soluble nutrient.

Ingredients

  • 2 small red onions, finely chopped
  • 2 tsp extra virgin olive oil
  • 2 cloves of garlic, minced
  • 120g tomatoes, roughly chopped
  • 150g risotto rice
  • 150ml white wine
  • 1 tsp vegetable stock powder

To serve

Method

  • Gently fry the onions and oil together till soft and translucent. Add the garlic and cook for a further 2 minutes.
  • Add the tomatoes and allow to start cooking before adding in the rice. Coat the rice in the oil before adding the wine and stock in. Stir continuously and add hot water a little at a time as the liquid is absorbed. Cook till the rice is al dente (20-25 minutes).
  • Serve with the slow-roasted tomatoes and crumbled goats cheese over the top.

Mushroom Risotto

Posted in Main Meals, RecipesTagged , , , , 1 Comment

Risotto is such an easy dish. The only laborious part about it is the constant stirring to make sure the grains go creamy and release their starch to thicken the liquid.

You can use almost any ingredients to make the risotto too, depending on what you fancy. Roast tomatoes in the oven with garlic and herbs, or use spring vegetables such as asparagus and pea, or a lemon and pea risotto would be delicious served with a pan fried fillet of fish. The possibilities are endless really!

Serves 4

Ingredients

  • 2 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
  • 2 onions, finely diced
  • 3 garlic cloves, finely diced
  • 300g mushrooms, half sliced, half diced
  • 300g risotto rice
  • 200ml white wine (optional)
  • 10g stock powder
  • 60g parmesan, finely grated

Method

  • Sweat the onion and 1 tbsp oil together in a large pan till soft and translucent. Add the garlic and cook for a further 2 minutes.
  • Add the diced mushrooms and cook till soft.
  • Add the risotto rice, stir and cook for 1 minute before adding in the wine and stock powder. Stir continuously, adding boiling water as the liquid is absorbed. This will take around 25 minutes to cook.
  • When the rice is close to being cooked through, heat a separate pan with 1 tbsp olive oil and fry the sliced mushrooms.
  • Turn the heat off the risotto, stir in the parmesan cheese and serve with the fried mushrooms on top.

If you’re feeling a little fancy, why not treat yourself with a drizzle of truffle oil just before you serve?