Ridiculously Tasty Pizza!

One of my favourite memories of birthday parties as a child was making our own pizzas... Mum used to buy a selection of toppings, a load of cheese, some pizza bases and tomato puree or BBQ sauce, and we'd all pick our favourite bits and make our own pizza. So the other day when I was wandering down the supermarket aisle and saw some pizza bases I just thought it would be nice to do it again!



I then decided to get a pizza mix, instead of a base, so that I could roll it out nice and thin to get a gorgeous Italian style base. Then I bought a load of different toppings and put them on with a pesto base... easy and ridiculously tasty!

Ingredients

pizza base mix
1 tablespoon green pesto
1 tablespoon sour cream
1/2 red pepper, sliced
1/2 red onion, sliced thinly
a small handful of walnuts, chopped (optional)
1 chicken breast, cooked and ripped into pieces
a few pieces of chorizo or salami
parmesan shavings
a handful of mixed green leaves (or just go for some rocket)
balsamic syrup

Mix the pesto and sour cream together (you might want to double the quantities if you're pizza is quite large).


Mix your pizza base according to packet instructions and roll out nice and thin. Pop it onto a piece of baking paper on a tray, then coat thinly all over with your pesto mix.




Build up your pizza with all of the toppings (except the leaves and balsamic). The order doesn't really matter but I would probably go veggie stuff at the bottom, then meat and finally scatter the cheese over.

Then pop in the oven for about 10 minutes, or until the base is lovely and crispy and the cheese is bubbling away.

Add the leaves and a drizzle of balsamic - a pizza and salad in one! Then serve it up with a glass of cold white wine (still on the baking paper if you fancy a rustic style dinner), cut it into pieces and dig in with your fingers!

Yum!!

Keepin' it Simple Paella

Paella is one of those dishes that tastes exquisite when cooked traditionally, in a huge pan with loads of different sea food and complex, rustic flavourings. I also think it can be bloody delicious cooked nice and simple with a few key ingredients.

For me, a chorizo and prawn combo captures the typical flavour of the dish, so I don't bother/can't afford to add in all the mussels or even chicken! This is a fairly quick recipe, and when you've got all the ingredients in, you can kind of just leave it to bubble away and soak up the stock. I actually chop one ingredient, throw it in the pan, then chop the next and so on, so there's not much prep involved! These quantities (only rough guides as normal) made enough for me and my boyfriend - he eats A LOT so it is probably enough for three! Here I have also used risotto rice, which makes it more creamy than you would get in Spain, but is yummy anyway!!  Enjoy!

Ingredients

small white onion, chopped
2 cloves of garlic, chopped or grated
1 red chilli, chopped (optional)
paprika
salt and black pepper
100g chorizo, chopped
half red pepper, chopped
1 chicken stock cube
risotto rice (2 portions as indicated on the packet)
6-10 king prawns (I like to remove all of the shell to avoid faff when eating, but whatever your preferences are!)
a handful of frozen peas
a small handful of fresh parsley, chopped

Recipe

Boil the kettle ready for the stock.

In a large frying pan (I actually used a wok!), fry the onion in a dash of oil until it starts to soften. Add the garlic, chilli, a healthy sprinkle of paprika and seasoning.

Fry for a minute or two, then add the chorizo.

When the chorizo begins to brown a little, add the chopped pepper.

Make your stock by mixing the cube with the boiling water in a jug, measuring out the water. The stock will need to cover all the ingredients and more... usually about double the quantity of rice (follow the instructions on the rice packet), but I always end up adding more water as it seems to soak it up like crazy!

Stir the risotto rice in with the chorizo and other ingredients, making sure it is all coated nicely in the red colouring. Fry for a couple more minutes.

Then you can add the stock, prawns and peas, mixing it all together.

Then this can just bubble away for about half an hour, until all the rice is soft. You will need to keep an eye on it, give it a stir every now and again, and add more water if needed... but pop an episode of Friends or Big Bang Theory on and kick back for a bit!

Finally, stir most of the parsley into the paella, dish up, and then sprinkle a little on top of each plate with a quick twist of black pepper. Simple!

 

Quick Mid-Week Meal

Chorizo, Mushroom and Onion Omelette

Just a quick, easy, on-the-go meal but a really yummy one. I love omelettes because you can put just about anything in it and it will taste great. This one is not so adventurous, but will give a great result.

Ingredients

butter
1/4 of an onion, chopped
handful of mushrooms, sliced
2 eggs
splash of milk
few chorizo pieces (this version is done with sandwich chorizo, not the good sausage stuff)
black pepper
cheese, grated (optional)

Recipe

Put your chopped onion in a frying pan with a small amount of butter. When it is starting to soften then add your mushrooms.

While these are fying, crack both eggs into a jug and add the milk. Whisk 'em up good and proper with a fork. I always add a healthy sprinkling of black pepper in here, and mix that up as well.

When the mushrooms are looking a bit brown and giving off that great smell, add the chorizo. Shortly after, pour in the egg mixture and turn the heat down a tad.

Leave it a couple of minutes to cook through - not turning too brown underneath, but until it is starting to look less runny on top. Add the grated cheese.

Give it a little while more, then use a spatula to loosen around the edges, folding it in half, then serve!

Easy peasy, yummy scrummy, cook me an omelette, I'm in a hurry!!