Mrs P for pizza

THIS is the pizza recipe.

The one I was going to get all smug about, but the husbando gazumped me and sorted dinner out that night.

I cried.

Only a little bit, though.

I love this pizza. Srsly, make the dough before you go to work, and when you come home the whole lot can be on the table in next to no time.

Its less smug, and more just a work of serendipity. And simplicity. And things just falling into place.

We start house renovation projects again tomorrow.

I need a little simplicity.

Just saying.

And the tomato sauce could be neither tastier nor easier.

Score!

First up, make the dough.

Put the flour and yeast into the bowl of your mixer.

You can do it by hand if you want,, but I bought my KitchenAid with the proceeds of the sale of my wedding dress.

I didn’t sell my wedding dress to knead pizza dough by hand.

So there.

Add the olive oil…

And turn on the hot tap.

Put the bowl with the flour and all in it on to mix.

Slowly add water, checking to see if the dough has come together yet.

This doesn’t have enough water.

This does.

Cover with dough with a damp tea towel and leave it in a warmish place for at least an hour.

When you are ready to actually make the pizza, turn the oven on.

Cut the cherry tomatoes in half and put them on a baking tray.

Drizzle with oil and vinegar, and sprinkle on some salt and pepper.

Grate on a little garlic if you’re feeling crazy.

I’m not alway feeling crazy, but certainly always ready to add garlic.

Roast the lot for about 15 minutes, until the tomatoes have browned a bit and are nice and soft.

Put it in a bowl and sort of mash it about a bit.

Listen, its the world’s easiest, tastiest pizza sauce.

Its rustic.

Deal with it.

If you can’t deal with it, you are probably of the mindset that stuffing your own ravioli is straightforward and just what you want to do of an evening.

In which case, you probably don’t read this blog.

Or eat pizza.

Rustic, people.

Oil the baking sheet you are going to cook the pizza on.

And put the dough on it.

I’ll share a secret with y’all. I don’t really roll it out. I just sort of fling it at the sheet and stretch it a bit.

See my notes on rustic above.

And I also now do thin, but not tooooooooo thin.

Otherwise you just end up hungry half an hour later.

That’s a separate note.

A practical one, too.

Crikey. Thats not something that happens much around here.

Spread with the rustic goodness…

And whatever toppings take your fancy.

In the Little Pink Kitchen, this usually involves mozzarella and some sort of spicy sausage product.

It creates harmony in my life.

And it tastes good.

Drizzle with a little oil…

Bake the whole lot until the cheese is melted and the crusts are browned.

Serve.

Halfway though eating, realise basil would make for a pretty picture. Stop your husband from tucking in, sprinkle with the basil and take a picture.

Pizza with super simple tomato sauce
Serves 2. Cooking time 1.5 hours (but that isn’t all spent actually cooking)

200g bread flour
1 tsp easy action yeast
4 tbsp olive oil
Hot water
300g cherry tomatoes
1 tbsp balsamic vinegar
Salt and pepper
I clove garlic
Toppings of your choice

1. Put the flour, yeast and 2 tbsps of the olive oil into your mixer bowl.
2. Turn on the mixer, and gradually add enough hot water to form a dough.
3. Allow the dough to knead for a few minutes, before covering with a damp tea towel.
4. Leave the dough for at least 1 hour.
5. When ready to make the pizza, pre-heat the oven to 180 degrees.
6. Chop the cherry tomatoes in half, and place on a baking tray with 1 tbsp of the olive oil, the vinegar, the garlic (grated) if using, and some salt and pepper.
7. Place the tomatoes into the oven for 15 minutes.
8. Remove the tomatoes from the oven and mash up to form the tomato sauce.
9. Oil a baking sheet and stretch the dough out to your desired thickness.
10 Spread with the squashed tomatoes and add toppings of your choice.
11. Bake, for 10 to 15 minutes, until golden brown.
12. Serve.

Emergency buns

Unexpected guests.

Delia talks about them a lot.

Nigella talks about them more.

Both talk about having half-baked cookies, or meringue nests or something up your sleeve. Or, perhaps, more accurately, in your freezer.

WHO DOES THIS?

The type of ‘unexpected’ guests I get are the ones who appear after nights out, usually so drunk all they want is toast and Big Macs. Together. As one. Or else I get the type of unexpected guests who I just feed wine and pringles too, thus turning them in aforementioned drunken monsters. Or else I just drink the wine myself, and ignore pleas for meringues and cakes and chicken pot pie, and instead make toast.

OK, not really, but basically what I’m saying is a freezer full of rosewater macaroons isn’t quite gonna work.

Now, while I don’t seem to suffer rosewater macaroon devouring unexpected guests, what I do tend to do, quite regularly, is invite people round, promise baked goods, and then go out for the day. Or paint my toenails instead. Or rearrange my wardrobe. Or drink tea. Or anything but bake.

This is when this little recipe comes to the fore. It can be rustled up in a few minutes, less if you don’t do the crumble topping. Any flavour of yoghurt can be used, and it really is a lovely type of cake. Perfect if you are bit disorganised like myself, or even if you live in one of those mystical worlds full of ‘unexpected’ guests.

Enjoy!

First up, the cake ingredients: a pot of yoghurt, self-raising flour, caster sugar and oil.

This time, I used a toffee yoghurt, but any flavour works. Northern Irish types, please support your local and buy this amazing Clandeboye Lodge yoghurt, it is lush and produced right here. DO IT! If you don’t live in Northern Ireland, I heartily recommend M&S’ pear and butterscotch yoghurt. Its not just a yoghurt, ya know…

Dump the tub of yoghurt in a bowl. Do not throw out the tub. All will become clear soon.

If you are a domestic goddess, one what is doing this for unexpected guests, wash and dry the pot using your finest Cath Kidston teatowel. If you are a normal person, who is speed making buns, don’t worry. I promise the world will not end.

Fill the tub with caster sugar and add to the bowl…

And do the same three times over with self-raising flour.

Add a tub’s worth of oil at this point. Any flavourless oil is fine. I use sunflower.

Marvel at the uglyness of the concoction.

If using a toffee yoghurt, or any other type that is nice with cinnamon, add a teaspoon of the glorious spice. Mmm… Cinnamon…

Mix it all up really well, otherwise the same thing will happen to you as me, where you get slightly greasy bun cases. Still tasty buns, but not very pretty.

Forget to take a picture of the mix, and divide it equally between bun cases. The amount will vary depending on the size of your tub of yoghurt, but a standard lunchbox yoghurt makes around twelve buns.

Now, you can just go right ahead and bake ‘em as they are, but this crunchy, crumbly topping pushes them into the next dimension of yum. And, the people who are currently in your living room as you manically throw flour and yoghurt about the place deserve that dimension of yum. Honestly.

For the topping you need: butter, oats, wholemeal flour, sugar and cinnamon. Soft brown sugar would be nicer, I think, but this recipe is hopefully all about the simplicity.

Weigh out the butter. The fact the scales were exact first time I tried to weigh pleased me greatly, so I thought I would share.

Melt the butter, before stirring in some sugar and cinnamon.

Add the oats…

And some wholemeal flour.

Mix well, and use to top the cases of bun mix.

Bake for twenty minutes.

Serve, marvelling at quite what a domestic goddess you are all the while.

Emergency buns
Makes about 12, if using a standard tub. Cooking time 25 minutes.

1 tub yoghurt
Using the same tub:
1 tub sunflower oil
1 tub sugar
3 tubs self-raising flour
1 tsp cinnamon (optional)

For the topping:
50g butter
2 tablespoons porridge oats
2 tbsps wholemeal flour
2 tbsps caster sugar
2 tsp cinnamon

1. Preheat an oven to 180 degrees.
2. Put the yoghurt in a bowl.
3. Use the tub to measure out the oil, sugar and flour, and add to the yoghurt.
4. Add the cinnamon, if using, and mix well.
5. Divide between bun cases.
6. If making the topping, melt the butter.
7. Add the oats, flour, sugar and cinnamon.
8. Place a teaspoonful on top of each cake.
9. Bake in the hot oven for 15 – 20 minutes.
10. Serve.

Spiced Sarah Fries

Eagle-eyed, and elephant minded, readers will remember my woes at not being an Italian mama. My ragu sauce isn’t authentic, my table isn’t scrubbed pine, and I don’t playfully rap knuckles with a wooden spoon when they try to sample my sauce. I sort of make puppy eyes and plead for acceptance and noises of appreciation.

Sometimes I have to wait a Very Long Time.

Well, this week, I have discovered new issues. I have been reading The Pioneer Woman, and basically I now want to be an American mama, in a ranch about Oklahoma somewhere.

I don’t think I’m going to be an American ranch mama, either, if this experiment is anything to go by. I was aiming for simple home fries, to go with an eggy frittata. There is something lovely about egg and potatoes, don’t you think?

Well, I got as far as scrubbing the potatoes, when the maverick cook inside me FORCED me to spice the whole affair up a bit. The results were delicious, so I thought I would share here.

I’m sorry America, for messing with your potatoes. But I’m Irish, so it’s allowed.

First up, we have the ingredients: potatoes, onions, garlic, cumin, paprika, oil, salt, pepper. Butter, too, but I forgot that in the picture. My bad.

Scrub the potatoes, and cut them into evenly sized pieces. Put them on to steam.

While the potatoes are cooking, slice the onion thickly…

And give the garlic a good bash before peeling.

Heat the oil and butter together in a pan…

And add the onions and garlic to soften for a little while.

Avert your eyes, American mammas, because this is where we add the spice: paprika, cumin, salt and pepper.

While that is all frying up, cut the potatoes into chunks…

And add to the pan.

Cook over the low heat for about 20 minutes, but don’t stir toooo much, otherwise you’ll have a mushed up potato mess, and even my unorthodox methods won’t allow for that kind of game playing.

Which really is saying something.

Serve, with whatever takes your fancy. Eggs are really, really good, though.

Spiced Sarah Fries
Serves 2-3. cooking time 45 minutes.

600g potatoes
50g butter
2 tbsp light olive oil
1 onion
5 garlic cloves
2 tbsp cumin
2 tbsp paprika
1 tbsp salt
Few grinds of black pepper

1. Scrub the potatoes, cut into evenly sized pieces, and steam.
2. Slice the onions thickly. Peel and bash the garlic gloves.
3. Heat the oil and butter together in a pan over a low heat., and add the onion and garlic.
4. Add the paprika and cumin, as well as the salt and some pepper.
5. Once the potatoes are cooked, cut into chunks and add to the pan.
6. Cook over the low heat until brown and crispy, stirring occasionally. This should take about 20 minutes.
7. Serve.

Whats up, doc?

Carrots. I must admit I’ve never really given carrots much thought, if I’m honest. The sticks of orange joy are just kind of there, creating a base for a meaty sauce or gravy, as a side dish, grated into coleslaw, stuff like that. Never are they allowed to be stars of the show.

Poor carrots. Was tempted to set up a support group, but then I noticed Nigel Slater had created spiced carrot fritters, which inspired me to make the following instead.

To be honest, they almost verge on a carrot bhaji, and if I used gram flour instead of regular plain flour, I think I could serve them as a tasty starter to an indian meal.

Anyway, to make them, take some carrots.

And some spices.

Put them into a bowl. I advise grating the carrots first. I mean, just because I don’t remember to take a picture doesn’t mean it doesn’t happen. Imagination is key here.

Add an egg.

Some coriander.

And some flour.

Mix the whole lot up.

And fry until golden brown on both sides. Again, I am choosing to test the imagination here. I must have been hungry the night I made these, and figured just eating the food was probably tastier than a 5D camera strap. Or any camera strap, for that matter.

Serve. I served mine with garlicky yoghurt and a couscous salad, but this is not The Law, or anything. Promise.

Carrot Fritters
Serves 4. Cooking time 15 minutes.

500g carrots
1 tbsp dried cumin
1 tbsp dried coriander
1 tsp salt
2 eggs
Handful fresh coriander
1 heaped tbsp flour
Oil

1. Grate the carrots.
2. Mix in bowl with spices, salt, egg, flour and chopped coriander.
3. Cover the base of a frying pan with oil and heat.
4. Fry spoonfuls of the mixture on both sides until golden brown.
5. Drain on kitchen paper and serve.

Eat your greens

Broccoli? Yes, it is tasty, but sometimes a bit yawanarama.

Stir-fry? Useful, yes, but can be a bit yawnarama.

Add to the mix veg box end of Winter lean-ness which means this is the 4578350574th week in a row that you have gotten broccoli, and its a veritable snoozefest, really.

When confronted with a slightly yellowing head of broccoli this week, I managed to create this, which was really very, very tasty, and a glimmer of hope as I wait for slightly more Summer-y veg to come.

I started with beef, onions and broccoli.

The beef got thinly sliced into strips…

The onions got thickly sliced…

And the broccoli got floretified. Must. Stop. Making. Up. Words.

Finely slice some ginger. I did matchsticks because I like superlumps of the stuff, but grating it would be fine, too.

The, prepare the sauce ingredients: honey, soy sauce, sesame oil and oyster sauce. The pretty little espresso cups are a bit much, admittedly, but you need to have it all measured out before you start cooking, so everything is to hand. Pretty bone china is optional.

You will also need some cornflour mixed with cold water. This is the anti-pretty bone china, if I’m honest.

Then, heat the wok until SMOKIN’, before putting in the oil. Yes, I know my wok is filthy, one of this days I’ll attack it with a brillo pad and re-season, but its just not happening any day soon, mmkay?

When the oil is hot, add the broccoli and ginger, and cook for a minute or two, stirring all the while.

Add the beef and onion.

Cook for another few minutes and stir ALL THE TIME.

Add a bit of the soy sauce if it needs a little liquid, but not too much, otherwise you will be boiling the dish, rather than stir frying. Boiled beef and broccoli? No, me neither.

Afer those couple of minutes, add the sauce ingredients.

Followed by the cornflour mix.

Hubble and bubble away for another few minutes. I like my sauce quite thin, because then the rice soaks it up nicely, but if you want yours thicker, just add a little more cornflour.

And it is done. Serve with rice or noodles.

Beef and broccoli stir fry
Serves 4. Cooking time 15 minutes.

1 head broccoli
2 onions
1 large piece frying steak
Piece of ginger the length of your thumb
30 ml soy sauce
30 ml honey
30 ml sesame oil
30 ml oyster sauce
1 heaped tbsp cornflour
250 ml water

1. Slice the beef thinly, slice the onion thickly, break the broccoli into florets and finely shred the ginger.
2. Measure out the oil, soy sauce, honey and oyster sauce. Mix the cornflour with the water.
3. Heat a wok until smoking, and add the oil.
4. Once the oil has heated, add the broccoli and ginger, and cook for 2 minutes, stirring all the while.
5. Add the onion and beef and cook for a further 3 minutes, stirring all the while.
6. Add the honey, soy and oyster sauce and allow to simmer for 1 minute.
7. Stir in the cornflour mix and simmer for 2 minutes until thick.
8. Serve.