Homemade Pizza

August 1, 2015

This was my last day in China. My cousin's and my flights were scheduled for late in the evening, so I had time to try a couple more recipes. I had been getting a bit discouraged by the heat's effects on some of my recipes (I will not even blog about the completely failed puff pastry I attempted), but I thought I might as well give it a bit more of a try.

So I decided to try making this pizza recipe that a family friend had sent me a while ago. It's not one where the dough can be spread very thinly, but it was good! The only thing is that I would finish the cooking in a pan to crisp the bottom of the crust some more. This was topped with tomato sauce, olives, mushrooms, tomatoes, and grated mozzarella cheese.

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PIZZA DOUGH RECIPE

  Ingredients

• 250 g flour
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 1/2 tsp yeast
• 3 tbs olive oil
• 200 mL cold water
• 1/2 tsp sugar

  Procedure

1. In a large mixing bowl, mix flour, salt, and yeast.
2. Add olive oil, water, and sugar, and mix with a fork.
3. If necessary, add flour or water depending on texture.
4. Knead dough for at least 5 mins.
5. Make a ball and put in an oiled bowl. Brush the top with some more oil.
6. Cover the bowl with plastic wrap, and refrigerate overnight.
7. Take the dough out at least 2 hours before use. Knead a few seconds
8. Make a ball again, put on an oiled and floured baking sheet, and spread by hand.
9. Top with topping of choice.
10. Bake 20 mins in an oven preheated at 220°C.
11. Crisp the bottom in a pan heated on the stove.

Homemade Pizza

Last weekend, I had some Greek yogurt leftover, and had been itching to try this very easy pizza dough recipe. So I got to work with some flour, baking powder, and yogurt. After the dough was ready, I sliced some vegetables (zucchini, eggplant, bell pepper, mushroom, tomato, mozzarella), then got to work.

First, I spread the dough. Not having a rolling pin (and my friend wasn't home, so I couldn't borrow hers, I just stretched it with my hands.

Then, I spread on some tomato sauce (equal parts tomato paste and water, then seasoned with Provencal herbs, salt, and sugar).

Add topping.

And bake until golden, approximately 20 minutes (to make sure the dough cooks). The middle was a bit soft and soggy though, so there's room for improvement.

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2-INGREDIENT PIZZA DOUGH RECIPE

  Ingredients

• 1 1/2 cup self-rising flour
• 1 cup Greek yogurt

  Procedure

1. Add ingredients together.
2. Mix and knead until it comes together, dusting more flour as needed.
3. Top and bake until golden.

  Tips

• If you, like me, don't have self-rising flour, you can sub each cup with 1 cup of all-purpose flour, 1 1/3 tsp baking powder, and a pinch of salt.
• To make sure it's not soggy in the middle, and that it cooks through, bake the dough alone in the oven a little before topping it and baking some more.

Italian

A pasta salad I made because I went on a trip where there wasn't much vegetarian food available, so I brought my own. Simply penne pasta, eggplants, fresh spinach, feta cheese, with a side of tomatoes and kidney beans. The dressing is homemade, with mustard, salt, sugar, pepper, olive oil, and balsamic vinegar.

Then today, my aunt made homemade pizza ^^

The trick for the aromatic oil (much like those found in restaurants). The first time I made the oil, it wasn't very spicy. Actually it barely was. So this time around, I took a certain amount of oil, and crushed dried chillies into it. I also added some dried-up rosemary, but it wasn't very fragrant. Covered it and left it to marinate for over a week, then strained the oil into the bottle. So this oil was spicy, but not too much.

I also recommend keeping a branch of rosemary whole, and stuffing it into the bottle for decorative purposes. Mine isn't very pretty, because the only rosemary I had was half-dead and dried up. But it still serves its purpose.

Pizza Bread

Note: Serving sizes may vary. I cook with what I have, for those who need food at the time.

This one's pretty simple. It's just store-bought stuff put together.

Recipe~ (makes 8 breads)

Ingredients:

- Pre-cooked breads, cut in half

- Tomato concentrate

- Water

- Salt, sugar to taste

- Italian seasoning

- Grated mozzarella cheese

Procedure:

- In a small pot, put together the tomato concentrate, seasoning, and flavoring along with water until desired consistency (a sauce, kinda like a pizza base consistency)

- Take the bread out of the fridge. Spread sauce on, and sprinkle cheese on top. Add some Italian seasoning on top of that so it will bake with fragrance.

- Toast in oven until golden. Enjoy~

Warning: Sauce may be very hot, so eat with care.

Pizza breads

I had some leftover spaghetti sauce... So I decided to make "pizzas," basically putting the sauce on top of slices of Moroccan bread drizzled in olive oil, topped with shredded cheese~ It was good.