Easy ways to make Pizza

 

My Saturday night homemade pizza of pepperoni, olives, mushrooms and fresh tomato with mozzarella

I feel a sense of satisfaction as soon as I turn that oven on to bake something. One such thing I get a lot of enjoyment from, that is in the baking and the eating, is PIZZA. As a lover of Italian food,  pizza is just one of those things that can be made with anything at any time of the day or night and costs next to nothing to make. Even if you don’t have pizza dough or pizza bases, you can make a pizza out of just about anything. Here are some easy ways to make pizza.

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Sure, the pizza takeaway chains have some pretty good deals but what about the taste? I really struggled to find a photo of what they really look like when you open the box. They never look like they do in the pictures at the store and half the time you don’t know if you’re eating the pizza or the cardboard box it came in. Nothing can taste as good as one you’ve made yourself and it’ll save you so much money.

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This is the recipe for pizza dough that I like to use. To save on kneading time, I make it in the breadmaker, roll out and then freeze in individual portion sizes.

Breadmaker Pizza Dough

• 1.1/4 cups water
• 2 tbs extra virgin olive oil
• 4 cups flour
• 1.1/2 tsp salt
• 1/2 tsp sugar
• 1 tsp yeast

1.  Add all ingredients, in order listed above, into breadmaker pan.
2. Make in breadmaker up until cooking stage.
3. Can be frozen into small balls and use as required.
4. When ready to make pizza, roll into desired shape, top with favourite toppings and bake in a hot, 220 deg C oven until cheese has melted.

2 Ingredient Pizza Dough

• 1 cup Greek yoghurt
• 1.5 cups self raising flour

1. Combine ingredients and mix well.
2. Turn out on a floured board and knead for 5 minutes or until dough comes together and is no longer sticky.
3. (If the dough is too sticky, add 1/2 cup of flour at a time until it is smooth.)
4. Roll out until about 1/4 inch thick, add toppings and bake in a 200 deg C oven until toppings have cooked and crust is golden brown.

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 If making pizza bases isn’t your thing, something as simple as making pizzas using bread is an easy option. I’ve done this many times. Here are some more varieties on how to make pizza. Just think of anything suitable enough to hold the toppings like Lebanese bread, low carb cauliflower crust, bread rolls, flat bread, Turkish bread. The choices are endless.

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Puff Pastry Pizza

 

  

 

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 Calzone

 

 

 

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Pizza Scrolls (use pizza dough or puff pastry)

 

 

 

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As far as pizza toppings go, I like to keep them simple and use whatever I have on hand. I nearly always have mozzarella cheese in the freezer and if I don’t, I use plain cheddar cheese. I always have pepperoni, ham or bacon in the freezer. Any meat works well. Use whatever vegetables you have in the crisper like capsicum (bell peppers), onion, mushrooms, asparagus, broccoli, fresh tomatoes, olives. If you don’t have pizza sauce or passata to top your pizza bases, use plain old tomato sauce (ketchup) or spruce it up with herbs or spices and/or chilli.

 

 

 

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Whichever way you go, gluten free, vegan, vegetarian, wholegrain, all meat, no meat, using a substitute for the pizza base, using ricotta cheese on top, pizza is a quick, cheap, tasty snack or meal that is easy to put together and easy to have on hand in the freezer, either partly made or made up ready to pop in the oven.

 

 

 

 

Topping suggestions for cracker biscuits

I was thrilled when I was selected to be one of 10 bloggers invited to try the new range of Arnotts Vita Weat Lunch Slices. I often have a couple of crackers and cheese or a spread of butter and Vegemite for lunch but try to avoid stacking the crackers too high with toppings as they sometimes crumble under the strain. No problem with that happening with the new Arnotts Vita Weat range. They’re made to withstand lots of toppings without crumbling in your hand.

Do you remember the original Vita Weats, when spread with butter and Vegemite and when squeezed, little ‘worms’ squished through the holes? I loved them! The Vita Weats have definitely ‘grown up’ since then and the good people at Arnotts have really boost the flavour of the crackers with such flavour combinations as:

• Soy, linseed and sesame
• Sunflower, oats and chia
• Sunflower, pumpkin and canola
• Poppy, sunflower and rye

The crackers are packed full of wholegrains and seeds, perfect to fill you up at lunch http://imglobalnetwork.com/vhealthportal-com-is-generic-online-pharmacy.html/ time and keep the hunger at bay in the afternoon.  Each box contains two separate packs. Ideal to keep in the pantry or your drawer at work. I decided to make lunch for my mother and sister and get their opinions on this new range of cracker biscuits.  Here are a couple toppings I served:

 

 

Thai Chicken

• Thai chilli, lemongrass, coriander & cashew dip
• cooked, sliced chicken breast
• roasted capsicum strips
• coriander leaves

 

 

This was topped on a poppy, sunflower and rye cracker. My favourite!

 

Italian Antipasto

• garlic and chive cream cheese
• tuna chunks in springwater, drained
• marinated, roasted capsicum strips
• sliced green, capsicum stuffed olives
• chunky basil pesto

 

My Mum’s favourite. This was served on the soy, linseed and sesame cracker. Both my mother and sister thoroughly enjoyed these crackers. They’re good enough to eat on their own or just with a smear of butter because of being chock full of chunky grains. With the addition of toppings you’ve got a complete, healthy snack or lunchtime treat.