:: the secret to a professional pizza ::

Pizza!

They are so easy to make, yet so often we buy them. I'm guilty. Oh, I don't buy Domino's/Pizza Hut etc (hope I don't offend anyone while I say "grossssss..."). Sticky, sauce-soaked fake-meated things. But I do love every mouthful of a piled-high "Pizza Capers" creation, or a gourmet-type pizza from a local resturant. They always seem to be so much yummier than anything I could create at home. And besides... they always look amazing. Why don't mine ever look that great? Even when I've gone to more trouble and carefully chosen 'matching' ingredients. They just don't seem to ever photograph well.

But yesterday I was speaking to Mother-Dear, and mentioned that we were making pizzas that night for Jason's family who were due to visit. She had also recently made pizza and had made an interesting observation when comparing store-bought frozen pizzas to home made. You can never see what's on a homemade pizza because it's always covered in melted cheese. Where's the cheese on shop pizzas? On the bottom.

Ah-ha!

Why does no one notice this? Or is it just me...

I think it's because the cheese rises up and oozes around the other toppings while it cooks, and we're always so ravenous when we finally get our order, that all we notice is that there is cheese on there somewhere, and that's all we care about. But whenever we (read: "I") make a pizza, I chuck that cheese all over my pretty arrangement and then wonder why they always look the same.

So last night, the cheese went on the bottom, on top of the sauce and in amongst the pre-fried onion. They were magnifique. The best I'd ever made, the boys of the family went back for piece after piece. And as you know, that always is the best sign (*heart puffs*).

Below:

I like to pre-cook a lot of my ingredients so that you don't get crunchy onion etc. My homemade dough bases only take 20mins in the oven once assembled. Here we have:

just-soft onion - diced red capsicum

just-cooked potato - variety of meats (kransky pre-fried)

pre-cooked-and-shredded chicken from the freezer, tossed in satay sauce

L: Meatlovers (a tad of extra cheese on top)     R: Satay Chicken

Have you tried potato on a pizza before? I hadn't until recently. Yes, I know it's carb-on-carb, but ahhh it's perfect.

Here we have beef pre-fried with garlic, cracked pepper and gravy powder with potato & flat-leaf parsley. And of course lots of cheddar and mozzarella underneath. This was the winner of the night.

What do you like to put on your pizzas? And where do you put your cheese?

:: quick weeknight pizza ::

I bought some extra large wraps the other week, and thought they'd make terrific pizza bases for a quick meal. I never like a very thick crust on a pizza anyway, so I was more than happy with this subsitution. They were just delish.

The options of what to put on them are absolutely endless. I just put on what I had in the fridge.

I spread the base of one with barbeque sauce, and the other with seeded mustard

(the mustard one turned out divine!).

I also sprinkled cayenne pepper over both, to add a kick & metabolism boost.

... sliced mushrooms...

... yummy red onion ...

... baby spinach leaves...

... and pieces of pre-cooked chicken (I had this frying while I prepared the rest). They were thigh fillets, sprinkled with tumeric, which is not a very strong tasting spice, but full of colour and immensely good for you. It's anti-inflammatory benefits are actually comparable to drugs like hydrocortisone and over-the-counter anti-inflammatory drugs. But, unlike the drugs, tumeric is not toxic at all. Most importantly, turmeric is one of the most potent anti-cancer spices that helps protect you. Turmeric and it's derivatives are currently being studied in alternative cancer treatments.

Finally, I added mozzerella cheese but forgot to snap a picture before I baked them for about 20mins.

Simple, savoury, and not too bad for you :).

xo

:: humpday brilliance ~ cauliflower crust pizza ::

It's one exciting day in our household  -  I can now make my pizza & eat it too!

Pizza is so good; great, in fact. I am yet to meet someone who doesn't like pizza. I'm not talking about your cheapo Eagle-Boys. I mean the one that you can get adventurous with at home... think chicken, cranberries, pumpkin, spinach, fetta etc etc. I see amazing ideas for pizza toppings constantly, yet I never make them because one thing stops me.

.the cursed crust.

There is just far too much white crust in ye olde pizza, and even though it's hot & soft, and pulls apart ever-so-nicely, I still dread the after-bloat like the plague.

This is all now a bad dream. We have had pizza twice this week, thanks to the lovely Beth over at Eat. Drink. Smile. I can now make my pizza (in absoultely record time too, there is no fuss here!) and eat it totally guiltlessly.

Sorry, I am just so, so excited. It was too easy, and cooked just like the best crust!! It pulled apart like a crust, and tastes like a crust. Ladies & Gentlemen, we have a winner!

Cauli-Crust Pizza

2 1/2 cups cooked, "riced" cauliflower
1 1/2 cups shredded mozzarella cheese
2 eggs, beaten
1 tsp dried oregano
1 tsp crushed garlic
salt/pepper

Afterwards: pizza sauce, shredded cheese and your choice of toppings.

Method:

1} It's so easy. Start with a raw head of cauliflower, and chop about half of it into "trees" (the recipe said remove the stems but I included them and it worked fine. Not the main woody stem, obviously).

2} Throw them in the food processor (luuuurve it) and wizz it into "rice". Not pulp.

3} Put it in a microwaveable bowl, cover with plastic wrap and microwave for 8 minutes (no water).

4} Take off the plastic, throw in everything else and mix.

5} Pat it into a circle/square/whatever onto a tray with lined with greaseproof paper.

6} *Optional* Spray or paint your raw crust with olive oil so it browns a bit. Put it in the oven at 220'C.

DONE.

Now for the trick. While that is cooking for 15mins, cook your toppings. You can't put raw toppings on the crust because it's already going to be cooked. Depending on what you're putting on top, you might have to cook some of the toppings before starting the crust. I fried some onion/bacon/capsicum/celery together. Then separately fried some chicken with some spices.

(below, cooked toppings added, ready for the final browning)

Once the base is out (um... YUM!) spread your pasta sauce, onion, chicken and then top with some cheese. Throw it straight back in the oven and watch the cheese melt. You're going to want to watch it because you're going to want to taste-test that baby the minute it's done, I guarantee.

What do ya reckon????!

We loved it so much, I did a pumpkin/chicken/baby spinach version a couple of days later.

And just to continue showing off my amazing "can't-believe-it's-not-crust" crust:

Amazed yet? Have a piece.

Note: If you go to the original recipe I linked back to, you'll find that I've doubled the ingredients. It was far too small. One person pizza maybe?
Also: If you don't have a food processor, you can just grate the cauli on your cheese grater.

 I hope this has inspired you, just a tad.

Love me.