Pizza...plain and simple

 Often the simplest foods are the best foods. This couldn't be more true of pizza. It often does take much less effort and definitely less cost to make a pizza from scratch than to buy or order one. And it's always healthier when you know what goes into your food. This time around, I made a whole wheat flour pizza dough (because that's all I had in my cupboard) with fresh ingredients.

For the dough, here's a good recipe which makes quite a bit of dough:
6 1/2 cups all-purpose flour (I used a slightly less amount of whole wheat flour)
3 cups warm water (77° to 81°F)
4 1/2 tsp active dry yeast
1/4 tsp salt

Let the yeast dissolve in the warm water for about 5 minutes.

Combine the flour and salt and dump the mixture onto a flat surface. Make a depression in the middle, pour the yeast and water into it, and combine the dry and wet ingredients until the dough starts to come together. Keep working the dough with the palms of your hands for 7 to 8 minutes, and then let it rest at room temperature for about 2 hours, or until it doubles in size. You can cover the dough with a clean kitchen towel and leave it somewhere warm. Once risen, punch it down, squeezing out all the air bubbles. Cut the dough into four equal pieces and shape them into balls. Place them in the fridge for another 2 hours.

You can cut the rising time but your dough will make a thinner crust for your pizza. Once its ready, shape out your pizza crust with your hands and put it on a pizza stone or pan. Then top with whatever ingredients you like.

I used some olive oil, tomatoes, basil, and mozzarella cheese. Bake the pizza at 400 C for about 20 minutes or until the crust is browned and firm, and the toppings are baked through. Plain and simple. And Delicious!

Pasta: when nothing else will do

There are times in life when you crave simple foods. Tomato soup and a grilled cheese sandwich. Pure and simple pot roast doused in Worcestershire sauce. A great poached egg and buttered toast for dipping. And plain pasta with a simple sauce. The last one has been elusive to me for a while until I saw an episode of a Nigella Lawson show where she made the most dreamy and simple pasta dish. As a bonus, it's a great meal to make when you're alone, rushed for time, or have very little in your fridge (or all of the above). Here is my take on that recipe:

You'll need a handful of thin pasta like angel hair or capellini. I say handful here because I mean to take some (as much as you want) and prepare it as you would any pasta, in boiling salted water.

For the sauce:
1/4 cup olive oil (or butter if you're adventurous)
2 egg yolks
1/4 cup Parmesan cheese, grated
1/2 tsp basil
salt & pepper (lots of pepper)

In a small saucepan, add a few drops of oil and put it over a low heat. Then add the yolks and whisk like crazy. The yolks will change colour a little and become creamy. Whisking continuously, drizzle in the remaining oil until it all becomes emulsified and cohesive. Add the seasonings and cheese, whisk and toss with your still-warm pasta immediately. If you wish (or have some on hand) squeeze some lemon into the sauce before mixing it with the pasta. This will make you dish just like Nigella's lemon linguine.

By keep the temperature of your pan low and whisking constantly, you'll keep the eggs from scrambling. At the same time, the heat you do give the pan, as well as the heat from the pasta, will be enough to coddle the eggs enough so they're not raw.

This is a creamy pasta sauce that is soothing and satisfying. It doesn't keep well so make just enough to eat at the time of preparation.

As with the lemon juice trick, you may experiment with this basic sauce to your heart's desire. Add cream for an extra decadent treat, sun dried tomatoes, chilies, more herbs, scallops or shrimp, etc.

For some tips on separating your eggs, see this. You can also freeze your egg whites if you have nothing to do with them right away. And for more on whisking:
Whisking

Snow Day Pizza

So it's a snow day here where I live. Blizzard conditions outside with blowing snow and cold temps. I'm off work for the day and had little else to do but conjure up something in the kitchen. I also don't have much in my fridge. But I seem to always have the necessities for baking: flour, yeast, salt, sugar, etc. So after scouring my pantry I decided to make pizza. From scratch.

It's not that difficult and here's my go-to pizza dough recipe:

1 1/2 tsb dry yeast
1/2 tsp sugar
1 1/2 cups lukewarm water

Mix these together gently and let sit 10 mins until it starts to bubble.

Then, in a large bowl, mix together
3 1/2 cups flour (all purpose)
1 1/2 tsp salt

Pour the yeast mixture into the centre of the flour mixture. Start pulling in flour into the centre with a fork gently mixing as you go. Then add 1 egg, beaten, and continue to combine the mixture into a loose dough.
Once the mixture starts to just come together, dump it out onto a floured surface and knead it.

Kneading is simple enough and the best way is to press the dough, pull one side towards you and then double that onto the middle mass of dough. Turn the whole thing a 1/4 turn and repeat. Keep doing this for a couple minutes until the dough becomes smooth and can form a ball.

Put the ball of dough into a lightly oiled bowl and turn it around until it is lightly coated with oil. Cover with a dish towel or plastic wrap. You need to let this rise for about 45 minutes in a warm place. Once that's done, unwrap it, punch the dough down, knead it once more for a few minutes and it's ready to go.

You can stretch this dough with your hands or knuckles, flavour it with herbs, shape it into bread sticks or whatever you'd like. On this snowy day, I opted for one basic tomato sauce/peperoni/cheese pizza and one smaller basil pesto and tomato flat bread.

Making your own pizza dough is a little time consuming but you can take pride in it. It's relaxing and helps you take out your frustrations. Plus you can experiment with it: use whole wheat flour, flavour it, make it into different shapes, choose whatever toppings you like or have on hand, etc.

Not a bad way to spend time, or eat, on a snowy day.