Butter Puff Pizza Pie/Slice

April is a birthday month for us - Mr P., his auntie, my sister, three friends and various ring-ins :-)  We had a birthday gathering on Good Friday for Mr P. on our back deck.  The first gathering here in I don't know how long - 'cos, you know - Covid ...  It was wonderful.  Wine and food and hugs.  It was a fabulous feeling.

And next weekend is the Anzac Day long weekend, which commemorates all Australian and New Zealand soldiers.  It has become a huge thing in recent years, bringing us all together.  I will be baking many Anzac biscuits for the morning service :-)  But for now, I present to you my pizza pie/slice, doing duty at two birthday teas this month (with more to come).  

golden crispy savoury seedy ...

ingredients:

2 sheets butter puff pastry, thawed

3 Tbs Mersey Valley spreadable vintage cheddar cheese, or similar soft cheese

2 Tbs cornflake crumbs or panko breadcrumbs

150g./5.5 oz ham, diced 

1/2 cup mixed olives, pitted and chopped

3-4 wedges artichoke hearts, chopped

1/3 cup semi-dried tomato strips, chopped into wee pieces

2 Tbs fresh herbs, chopped - parsley and chives are my fave

a good sprinkling of dried oregano

black pepper, to taste

2 Tbs milk for glazing

several Tbs of white and black sesame seeds, and poppy seeds 

Method:

Heat the oven to 190C/375F

Line a baking tray with baking paper

Place one piece of butter puff pastry on the paper

Spread the soft cheese over the pastry

Sprinkle the cornflake crumbs or panko over the soft cheese

Then layer on the ham, olives, artichoke hearts, and dried tomato 

On go the herbs and black pepper

Cover with the other piece of pastry

Crimp the edges, and brush the whole shebang with the milk

Cast on your seeds and cut into squares with a ravioli cutter or knife

And ... bake! (for 25-30 mins.) till golden brown on top

I put the oven fan on for the last 5 minutes as I have a senile, doddery gas stove - this helps finish off the baking and crisp up the top layer

Eat warm or cold or however you fancy

Notes:

I used the tomato strips without oil; and I put the remainder in a jar, cover with good EV olive oil and into the fridge it goes ...

I keep bags of chopped parsley and chives in the freezer; so handy to just tip some out when needed

Always buy the butter puff if you can; it's worth the expense (butter, not palm oil) and saves the orangutans!

P.S. Today is the anniversary of Shakespeare's death in 1616.  Just in case you were interested ...

ingredients gathered

chop the artichoke hearts

place the pastry on the baking paper-lined tray

scatter on the chopped goodies

ready for the oven

golden and delicious after 25-30 mins. @190C

and over to Princess Pia's for her birthday arvo tea

and here's Mr P, in his new birthday cap!

I searched online for quite a long time to find him this Harris Tweed cap!  Did you know that Harris Tweed is like an appellation for cheese or wine?  It is protected by an Act of Parliament in Britain.  It has to be handwoven at the home of the weaver, and made in the Outer Hebrides of Scotland.  Mr P. loves it!

  

© Sherry M.

Chicken Sausage And Zucchini Pizza

I was watching a food show on SBS (our multicultural tv channel) the other day, and someone made a pizza bianca with sausage and broccoli.  I decided I had to make it (with a twist or two).  Mr P. gave me a Danish dough whisk for my birthday, and I was keen to try it out.  I've been trying to find an easy and tasty pizza dough recipe for yonks, and yes my friends, this is it!  I was super stoked.  And as regular readers may remember, I'm not a tomato fan so a bianca is a blessing - :-)  Yay, no tomatoes!

Though I do have fond memories of eating pizza by the slice in Rome.  Going into a pizza bar near the Pantheon and just ordering various slices of delicious pizza by the centimetre - ah, such brilliant times!  And then there was McDonald's on the Spanish Steps ...  A tiny bit incongruous it seemed to us.  I also remember disgustingly awful slices of pizza you could buy as street food in Italy.  OMG!  So bad.  So odd to have the best and the worst in the same place.

pretty darn tasty, my dears!

(Recipe by Lucy Tweed)

Serves 4: (or 2 according to SBS!)

ingredients:

Dough:

300g. (2 cups) plain flour

330g. (1¼ cups) plain Greek yoghurt

7g. (2¼ tsp) sachet dry yeast

1/2 tsp caster sugar

1 tsp fine salt

Topping:

2 tbs EV olive oil

2 chicken or beef sausages (about 200g./7 oz), squeezed out of their casings, and ripped into chunks

1 medium zucchini, sliced thinly

1 garlic clove, crushed or chopped finely

100 mL (1/2 cup) creme fraiche

2 tbs parmesan, grated

1/2 tsp chilli flakes

1/2 tsp dried oregano

150g. (5 oz) mozzarella, thinly sliced or grated

85g. (3 oz) button mushrooms, sliced thinly

salt and ground black pepper, to taste

2 tbs parsley, finely chopped (optional)

Method:

Place all the dough ingredients in a large mixing bowl, and stir together well.  Add more flour or yoghurt as necessary to get a soft dough (see notes below).  Turn out onto a lightly floured bench and knead till smooth (this took about 20 seconds!).  Place in an oiled bowl, cover with a damp cloth/tea towel and leave in a warm place to prove for 20 minutes

In the meantime, heat the olive oil in a medium frypan, throw in your sausage chunks and fry off till almost cooked through and golden-brown on the outside

Then throw in the sliced zucchini and garlic; stir and allow to cook for just 2 or 3 minutes - and put aside till needed

Turn your oven to 220C/425F to warm up

Now take the dough out of the bowl, and knead it briefly (they say), though I found it only needed patting like on a baby's bottom a few times - you couldn't really call it kneading :-)

Shape into a ball and roll out till about 40 cm/16 in. round and 1 cm/ ½ in. thick - see notes below

Place the rolled-out dough onto a pizza tray (or 2) on which you have cast a wee bit of plain flour to stop it sticking

Gently mix together the creme fraiche and parmesan in a bowl, then spread over the dough

Sprinkle with the chilli flakes and oregano, and top with the mozzarella

Place the mushroom slices over the mozzarella

Season with the salt and pepper, and place the vegetables and sausage pieces (and parsley) over the mushrooms 

Bake for 20 minutes or until the cheese is golden and bubbling, and it looks and smells delicious, golden and has a perfectly-cooked bottom :-)

Serve with a green salad

Notes:

My flour was very dry so I ended up adding an extra 100 grams of yoghurt = 430 grams all up

I left my dough to prove for about 25-30 minutes, without any problems

I used 3 medium mushrooms

I don't have a pizza tray that is 40 cm, so I used my usual 30cm/12 in tray and another small, rectangular tray (and I like a thin base so I rolled it out to just under 1 cm)

P.S. I'd only recommend the dough whisk for dry ingredients.  It got all glued up with the wet stuff :-) 

mix the dough ingredients together

pat your dough till smooth

give it a wee knead ét voilà - a beautiful dough

fry up the sausage chunks and the veg.

place the rolled-out dough on the tray(s)

add the creme fraiche + parmesan, and mozza and mushies!

add snags, veg. and seasoning

pile on the sausages and veg.

golden and crispy

hoe in folks! and we did ...

© Sherry M.

Annabel's Easy Pizza

I am not sure how many Aussie cooks and food bloggers know of Annabel Langbein, but I hope it's a lot 'cos I love her!  I love watching her shows.  With her cheeky grin and that beautiful NZ countryside in the background, for me she can do no wrong.

Mr P. and I have been to New Zealand half a dozen times, and always love it.  The countryside is gorgeous, and the people so interesting and friendly.  And there's always the hope that a hobbit will pop up somewhere.  Oh, and they have weird and wonderful foods too that you won't find here.  We came upon rhubarb sparkling water for instance! And delicious local crayfish, and abalone.  And local honey, and fabulous breads, and and...  

I guess that's an orc:=)   

I have been making a baking soda pizza dough for years, but it is always a little salty/soda-y even when I add herbs and parmesan to it, so I was glad to see that Annabel has come up with this 2-ingredient dough for pizza.  

So - easy peasy lemon squeezy, here it is:

Take 2 cups of self-raising flour to 2 cups of thick Greek style yoghurt - you get the idea; you can double it if you need to; just equal quantities of flour to yoghurt.

Add 1 tsp of salt and mix to a soft dough - it is very soft and sticky so use a rubber spatula or a knife to mix it in (don't be tempted to add more yoghurt here; it will be enough)

Press it (with very well-floured hands) onto a piece of lightly floured baking paper

Pre-heat a round or rectangular baking tray in the oven at 220C

Now cover your dough in whatever you fancy:  you could use a tomato sauce or do as I did, mix 120g. of ricotta with 1/2 tsp hot chipotle sauce and spread over the base

I then added:

100g. prosciutto cut into strips
1/2 dozen cherry tomatoes, halved - (on Mr P.'s side of the pizza)
8 bocconcini, halved
1/2 small potato, very finely sliced
salt and pepper to taste
1 tsp chopped rosemary (less or more as you fancy)
3-4 tbs parmesan, grated


Grab the heated tray from the oven and slide the pizza AND the baking paper onto the tray - carefully!

Bake for about 20 minutes till golden and delicious - you will know what that looks like:=)  


Tips:

Make sure your hands are very well-floured, and cast more over your hands and the dough if you need to

Press out the dough till it is very thin - no more than half a centimetre

Make sure the tray is hot before placing the pizza on it 

You will have more than enough for one big pizza so either freeze the rest or make another small pizza, or do as Annabel suggests, and make several small dinner plate sized pizzas.  She suggests this will make at least 4.

2 ingredients - (well, 3 really)  

grab that rubber spatula and mix    

pat it out with well-floured hands onto baking paper         

grab your toppings; whatever you fancy    

mixing chipotle sauce into the ricotta   

ready for the oven  

oh yum!

my delicious pizza doodle :=)