Crustless Pizza

This week is Potluck week at I Heart Cooking Clubs. I've made a simple and lovely crustless pizza from Nigella Lawson, recipe from her book Nigella Kitchen. I made it for our lunch with some green salad. 

The bottom layer is a mixture of egg, flour, milk and grated Cheddar cheese, which is baked for 30 minutes, then topped with the topping. The topping are slices of pepperoni and sprinkling of more Cheddar cheese. Back into the oven for about 2 or 3 minutes until the cheese melts.

This is easy, simple and delicious. It is one of those meals that would be perfect for sharing with friends. 

This week's Potluck is dedicated to Kim, one of our co-host at IHCC, who has recently lost her mom last week. Her mom was a great supporter of Kim's cooking and blog. Kim, I hope that your pain and grieve will lessen over time, and the memories of your mom will bring joy and smiles as she is being fondly remembered. Sending a big hug to you, my friend.

Crustless Pizza
(adapted from Nigella Kitchen, by Nigella Lawson)
serves 2-4
1 egg
2/3 cup all-purpose flour
salt, to taste
1 cup whole milk
butter for greasing
1 cup grated Cheddar cheese
2 ounces small chorizo or pepperoni slices, approx. 3/4 inch diameter (optional)

1 x round ovenproof pie dish, 8 or 9 inches diameter

Preheat the oven to 400F. Beat the egg with the flour, salt, and milk to make a smooth batter.

Grease a round ovenproof pie dish, then stir half the grated cheese into the batter, before pouring it into the dish.

Bake for 30 minutes. Take the dish out of the oven, sprinkle with the remaining cheese, and add the chorizo or pepperoni (is using) - or anything else, now, too. Return to the oven and cook for another 2 or 3 minutes to make sure it's heated through.

Once the cheese on top is melted and looks burnished with gold on the crustless pizza, take it out of the oven and serve, cut into slices. A green or tomato salad on the side would not be a bad idea.

I'm linking this post with I Heart Cooking Clubs (IHCC), the theme for this week,

IHCC September Potluck (for Kim)

and

I'm linking this post with Cookbook Countdown #21 hosted by 

Kitchen Flavours and Emily's Cooking (Makan2) Foray

Onion Tart

Cook The Book Fridays, a group of lovely foodie bloggers are cooking their way through David Lebovitz's cookbook, My Paris Kitchen. The selected recipe for this week is Onion Tart (Pissaladiere).

I've only made Pissaladiere once before. And remember that my kids were asking where is the cheese! My kids' idea that as long as it is some kind of pizza, or looks like it, it must have their favourite ingredient, Mozzarella cheese, and lots of it, the more the better! So this time, when I make David Lebovitz's Pissaladiere, I reminded them that I am making Pissaladiere, and traditionally it is made with NO cheese!

The caramelized onions took about 50 minutes to cook till dark golden brown. A few whole sprigs of thyme are cooked together with the onions. Remove the thyme sprigs before assembling the pissaladiere. 

I've made only two thirds of the recipe, to fit the size of the baking sheet I had. The dough was easy to handle. Pull and spread the dough to fill the base of the baking sheet. Spread the caramelized onions on the dough and arrange some olives and anchovies on the onions.

The pissaladiere is baked for about 20 minutes, though I baked mine for 25 minutes, until the crust is lightly browned. 

Delicious especially when eaten warm.

According to David, Pissaladiere should be crisp and very thin, not thick and bready. This is thin and crisp, and very delicious! Especially good eaten while still warm. My favourite part are the sides where you get to bite into the crispy edges and the crispy bottom of the crust. The caramelized onions are delicious and sweet,  match perfectly with the salty anchovies. 

This is a delicious onion tart. I love the crust, it would make a fabulous pizza base, and would be great with other pizza toppings, and of course, with lots of cheese too! 

Stop by Cook the Book Fridays to see what everyone thought about this Onion Tart.

Arugula, Caramelized Onion, and Mozzarella Pizza

"Anyway You Slice It", the theme for this week at I Heart Cooking Clubs (IHCC), where we are currently cooking from Ellie Krieger's recipes. I have some arugula rocket growing in my container garden, and it's time to harvest the lovely leaves! Looking through Ellie Krieger's cookbook "The Food You Crave", found a perfect way of using up that greens with a healthy version of simplified pizza, using whole-wheat tortillas. 

Arugula rocket leaves, fresh from my container garden.

Simple and quick! Thinly sliced onions are first sauteed with a little olive oil until brown and caramelized, then the roughly chopped arugula leaves are mixed in, stir for a minute until wilted, season with salt and pepper to taste. Place them on the tortilla sheet.

Recipe uses Goat's Cheese, an ingredient which is next to impossible to find in the area where I live. So I have used mozzarella cheese instead as that was what I had.  Baked in the oven for 10 minutes until the tortilla are brown at the edges and the cheese has melted.

Slice into quarters and serve. This is simple and good!  The caramelized onions are just so good, one of my favourites. The arugula leaves are peppery with a slight bitterness to it, which I find really nice. But my kids find the arugula a little too bitter for their taste, and asked that the next time use spinach instead. OK, spinach for them, and arugula for me. I really enjoyed the peppery and slight bitterness of the arugula. I would make this again, I really like it! Yums!

Arugula, Caramelized Onion, and Goat Cheese Pizza
(adapted from "The Food You Crave", Ellie Krieger)
Serves 4
1 tablespoon olive oil
1 medium red onion, cut in half and thinly sliced into half-moons
4 cups arugula, washed, dried, and coarsely chopped
salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste
Four 6-inch-diameter whole-wheat tortillas
2 ounces fresh goat cheese, preferably reduced-fat

Preheat the oven to 400F.
Heat the oil in a large nonstick skillet over medium heat. Add the onion and cook, stirring, until golden and the edges are browned, 10 to 12 minutes. Add the arugula and cook until it is wilted, about 1 minute. Season with salt and pepper.
Place the tortillas on a baking sheet and top each one with the arugula mixture. Crumble the goat cheese over each and bake until the tortillas are crisp and the cheese is slightly melted, about 10 minutes. Let cool for a few minutes, then cut each pizza into 4 wedges and serve.

I'm linking this post with I Heart Cooking Clubs (IHCC), theme for this week

"Anyway You Slice It"

Lahmacun (Turkish Pizza) : IHCC

"Pies and Tarts", our theme for this week at I Heart Cooking Clubs (IHCC), where we are cooking from our featured chef, Yotam Ottolenghi's recipes. This week is all about pies, tarts, galettes and anything with some kind of crust!

I have been planning to make a savoury pie of Ottolenghi for the past few days, and this pizza was what I made on that very morning that I planned to make the pie. The switch came about, as I was browsing thru Ottolenghi's website, looking for recipes for the coming week's themes, when I found this pizza recipe, and decided to make this pizza instead, since I have all the ingredients. And I am glad that I've made the switch!

Adding the salsa salad over pizza is so good! You gotta try this!

The dough is very easy to make, just mix the dough ingredients in a mixing bowl and knead by hand for a few minutes. The dough is then left to rise until doubled in size. It is then divided into either 4 large or 12 small rolls, I made them into 12 individual servings. Roll them into thin discs, brush both sides lightly with olive oil and keep aside for 15 minutes or so, until they have risen a little.

The filling is made up of minced beef, which I have replaced with minced chicken, marinated with ground cinnamon, ground allspice, red chilli flakes, chopped fresh parsley, pomegranate molasses which I have replaced with pomegranate concentrate, sumac, and some salt to taste. Mix all the ingredients together and keep in the fridge until needed.

To make the salad, mix the chopped cucumbers (remove the soft centered seeds), chopped tomatoes, finely chopped onions, chopped fresh parsley (I have used corianders). Season with salt, pepper and lemon juice. 

The slightly risen discs are then spread with Tahini (I use my Homemade Tahini), topped with the chicken filling, scatter some pine nuts over the top, and bake for 12-15 minutes. From the recipe, it says to use 3 tablespoons of Tahini, which is too little for me, imagine dividing 3 tablespoons for 12 small pizzas, that is 1/4 tablespoon each! I have however used more than that, did not measure, but just spread the paste on the dough until I am satisfied! Haha! In all, I've used up all my Tahini which is about 1/3 cup.

Even though Ottolenghi suggested to bake the pastry until just done, I have baked the full 15 minutes until they are browned as I love brown crust.  

Freshly baked Lahmacun, it may look all brown and boring, but the filling is so tasty! Can you see the tahini on the crust, a change from the regular tomato pizza sauce. This is very good!

Top with the salad and enjoy! We sure did!

This is one delicious pizza!  The chicken filling is so tasty, and it has all the Mediterranean flavours, a bite into it would make you instantly think of Mediterranean! The blend of spices used including a new one which I've only just started using, Sumac, is just so wonderful. I'm so glad I've discovered Sumac!

The pizza crust has a delightful light crunch, with a bread-like texture in the centre. 

And eating the pizza with salad topping is something new to me, and I love it! If you try out this recipe, make the salad, it really takes this Turkish Pizza to a whole new level!

Even my kids do not mind that their pizzas has got no cheese at all, they would usually request for more cheese for the topping, but for this, they love eating the salad over the pizza!  

I bought this spice Sumac a few weeks ago, and this is the first time I'm using it, looking forward to use it more often.

Lahmacun (Turkish Pizza with Spicy Minced Beef and Salad Topping)

(adapted from : Ottolenghi)
Ingredients :
Topping :
250gm minced beef (I used chicken)
1 medium onion, finely chopped
1-1/4 tsp salt
1-1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
1-1/2 tsp ground allspice
1/2 tsp red chilli flakes
25gm flat-leaf parsley, chopped (I used coriander)
2 tbsp pomegranate molasses (I use pomegranate concentrate)
1-1/2 tbsp sumac
25gm pine nuts
3 tbsp tahini (I used about 1/3 cup)
2 tbsp lemon juice

Dough :
250gm white flour, plus extra to dust (I use bread flour)
1-1/2 tbsp milk powder
1/2 tbsp salt (I use 1 tsp)
2 tsp fast-action dried yeast
1/2 tbsp caster sugar
60ml sunflower oil (I use canola oil)
1 medium egg
100ml lukewarm water
olive oil for brushing

Salad (optional)
1 mini-cucumber, cut into 1cm dice (190gm)
2 small tomatoes, cut into 1cm dice (150gm)
10 radishes, thinly sliced (75gm) (omitted this)
1/2 red onion, thinly sliced (65gm)
10gm parsley, roughly chopped (I use coriander)
1 tbsp lemon juice
2 tbsp olive oil
salt and black pepper

Method :
Makes 4 large or 12 small snack size pizzas

Start with the dough. Put the flour, milk powder, salt, yeast and sugar in a large mixing bowl and stir well to combine. Make a well in the centre. Add the sunflower oil and egg and stir as you add the water. When the dough comes together, remove it from the bowl and knead lightly for 3 minutes on your work surface until smooth, elastic and uniform. Dust a bowl lightly with flour, place the dough inside, brush with some olive oil, cover with cling film and leave somewhere warm for 1 hour, at which point the dough should have almost doubled.

(I place the dough in an oiled bowl, turn over the dough so the oiled surface is up, cover bowl with cling wrap).

Put all of the topping ingredients in a large bowl, apart from the tahini, pine nuts and lemon juice. Mix well with your hands and refrigerate.

Preheat the oven to 210C and line two large baking sheets with baking parchment.

Divide the risen dough into 40gm balls, you should get about 12, and roll each into a thin disc, about 2mm thick and 15cm in diameter. Brush each disc lightly with olive oil on both sides and place on the baking sheet. Cover and leave to rise for 15 minutes.

If you make the salad, mix together the vegetables and add the parsley, lemon juice, olive oil, 1/4 teaspoon of salt and 1/4 teaspoon of pepper. Stir gently and set aside.

Spread the tahini onto each pastry disc, divide the filling between the pastries and spread it evenly so it covers the dough fully. Sprinkle over the pine nuts and place in the oven for 12 to 15 minutes or until just cooked. You want to make sure the pastry is just baked, not over-baked; the topping can be slightly pink inside and the pastry golden when you look underneath. Remove from the oven, spoon the salad on top, if making, and finish with a drizzle of lemon juice. (I did not bother with the drizzle of lemon juice).

Please stop by I Heart Cooking Clubs (IHCC) to view what my friends have made for this week's theme, "Pies and Tarts", and if you are interested to join us, please find out more details from IHCC.

And I'm sharing this with :

See Ya In The Gumbo hosted by Ms. enPlace

Portobello Pizzas

 Little Thumbs Up : Baking and Cooking event, selected ingredient for the month of May is "MUSHROOMS"

Little Thumbs Up, is an event organized by Zoe from Bake For Happy Kids and Doreen from my little favourite D.I.Y. , where an ingredient is selected each month and everyone is welcome to join in by using the selected ingredient either in your bakes or in your cooking pot. I am the host for this month, and my selected ingredient is "MUSHROOMS". Please do join us, cook or bake any recipes using Mushrooms as one of its ingredient, post it in your blog within this month, (only new and current posts), and link to Little Thumbs Up, in the thumbnail linky which is provided at the bottom of this post. To find out more details on Little Thumbs Up, please click here.

While this month's theme is MAY : MUSHROOMS, the selected ingredient for June is Curry Powder or Paste and will be hosted by Everybody Eats Well In Flanders. Cook  or bake any of your favourite curry dish, and link that up in June which shall start on 4th June.

Mushroom Of The Day : Portabella Mushroom

Portabella is the largest of the cultivated mushrooms. They have tan or brown caps and measure up to 6 inches in diameter. These mushrooms have deep, meat-like texture and flavour. Portabella can be grilled, broiled, and roasted and they make a flavourful vegetarian alternatives and are great served as "burgers" on toasted buns. On the nutrition side, one medium cap provides 22 calories, 0 gram fat, 4 grams of carbohydrates and is an excellent source of B vitamin riboflavin, a good source of the antioxidant selenium, potassium, phosphorus, the B vitamins niacin and pantothenic acid and copper.

Let's get down to the recipe for today : Portobello Pizzas.
I made these Portobello Pizzas for the kids' after school lunch, and boy, do these bring out those smiles! I am a fan of Rachel Ray! I have tried many of her recipes and so far they have not disappoint me yet, including this Portobello Pizzas. These are downright delicious! 

Firstly, remove the stems and scraped out the gills from the Portobello caps. Wash them gently under running water to remove any dirts. Dab them dry gently with some paper towels. Place them on a greased baking tray and season with a sprinkling of salt and black pepper on both sides. Drizzle some olive oil over and broil in the oven, caps side up for about 2-3 minutes, turn over and broil other side for another 2-3 minutes or until tender, watch out that they do not burn. Remove and stuff with filling.

To make the filling :

The recipe uses Italian sweet sausage. I use my own homemade Italian sweet sausage, will share the recipe on another day. The filling is made up of the sausage, cherry tomatoes which are cooked until they burst, a delightful process to watch when the cherry tomatoes popped!

The mushroom caps are stuffed with the filling, top with some cheese, here I have used mozzarella cheese.  Grill these mushrooms under the broiler for about 1-2 minutes until the cheese melts, keep a close watch, taking care not to burnt the cheese.

Serve immediately. Delicious!

I'm linking this post to Little Thumbs Up event, hosted by Joyce, kitchen flavours, organized by Zoe from Bake For Happy Kids and Doreen for my little favourite D.I.Y.

To join us, simply bake or cook any recipes using the ingredient for this month MUSHROOM.  Submit your post by linking to the thumbnail linky provided at the bottom of this post. 

• Your submission must be a current and new post.
• Mention Little Thumbs Up in your post, and submit your post to the thumbnail linky to the host of this month, Joyce from kitchen flavours, and link to Bake For Happy Kids, and my little favourite D.I.Y. 
• Feel free to display Little Thumbs Up badge in your post.
• Last date of linking will be on 31st May 2013.

Portobello Pizzas
(source from Rachel Ray)
6 large portobello mushroom tops, stems removed and gills scraped
extra-virgin olive oil, for liberal drizzling plus 1 tablespoon
salt and freshly ground black pepper
1 pound Italian sweet sausage
1/2 pint grape tomatoes
1/2 cup cream
1/2 cup basil leaves, shredded or torn
1/2 cup shredded Parmigiano ( I use Mozzarella )

Preheat broiler.

Dress the mushroom caps with liberal drizzle of extra-virgin olive oil and season with salt and pepper. Broil the portobello mushrooms 5 minutes on each side until tender.

While caps are broiling, heat 1 tablespoon extra-virgin oil in a skillet over medium high heat, add sausage and brown and crumble the meat. Then add tomatoes to the skillet and cook another few minutes until they burst. Add cream to skillet and reduce 2 to 3 minutes more. Remove the sausage from heat and fold in basil.

Fill mushroom caps and top with cheese, place under broiler to brown 2 to 3 minutes, then quarter caps and serve.

Apple Pizza Pie

It was one of those weekends when my kids had a late breakfast and nobody wants any lunch. So I browsed thru my cookbooks to look for something that I could make for tea-time instead, as I'm pretty sure when the clock strikes past 3 o'clock, they would want something for their tummy! I found this wonderful recipe, Apple Pizza Pie, the name certainly caught my attention! Since I have some apples, which I really wanted to clear anyway, this is a perfect way to use them.

According to the book, the base which is a yeasted butter pastry,  is even suitable to make the regular savoury pizza.

Let's get started on the Apple Pizza Pie :

1. Mixture of Fuji and Granny Smith apples, and some thymes from my garden.
2. The risen dough is placed on a pizza pan, the base coated with cornmeal. To make the dough, refer to the instructions in the recipe below. 
3. I use a rolling pin to roll out the dough to fill the pan and press the edges at the sides so that it forms an upstanding rims all around. Refrigerate for 10 minutes.
4. Scatter with bits of butter all over.

5. Prepare the apples as per instructions below. Arrange apples slices on the crust and sprinkle a mixture of cinnamon, sugar and rosemary (I use thymes) over the apples evenly.
6. Bake for 8 minutes in a preheated oven at 425F (I baked mine for 10 minutes),  remove pan from oven, then lower the oven temperature to 375F.
7. Scatter the top with shredded cheese and continue baking for another 5 minutes until cheese has melted but not bubbling. (It took mine an additional 10 minutes more as it was not brown enough).
8. The baked pizza pie is ready!

Testing time : Of course a slice was quickly cut barely 5 minutes out from the oven!

Let me just admire the pizza pie first!!  Haha!

Review : I like it, the kids love it, my hubby not so! When you take a first bite, first you taste the saltiness and softness of the cheese on top, then you get the next taste of the apples, a little bit sweet and tender.

The crust is lovely, with crusty crispy sides and bottom. Soft, spongy and tasty bread-like texture in the centre. It is especially good when eaten warm, my hubby does not like the combination of sweet and salty in this bake.  My kids love it, there was no leftovers!

Great with a cup of warm Earl Grey tea. I'll be using this easy crust for other savoury future bakes!

I'm sharing this with :

• Twelve Loaves, hosted by Cake Duchess, Creative Culinary and Life's A Feast, where the theme for the month of September is Cheese!
• Bake Your Own Bread (BYOB), hosted by Girlichef, Delectable Musings and My Discovery of Bread
• Recipe Box hosted by Bizzy Bakes

Apple Pizza Pie
(Apple Pie by Ken Haedrich)
1 recipe yeasted butter pastry (below)
fine cornmeal or semolina

Filling :
2 tablespoons cold unsalted butter, cut into small pieces
2 Golden Delicious or other firm-textured cooking apples, peeled and cored
1 tablespoon sugar
pinch of ground cinnamon
big pinch of finely chopped fresh rosemary leaves (I use thyme leaves)
2 cups sauerkraut (optional), drained and warmed
2 cups grated Gruyere or extra-sharp Cheddar cheese

1. If you haven't already, prepare the pastry and set it aside to rise for 1 hour. Meanwhile, lightly oil a large baking sheet and dust it with the cornmeal.
2. When the dough has risen, without punching it down, turn it out onto the center of the baking sheet. Using oiled fingers, press the dough out into a 13-inch circle, smoothing it, if you like, with a floured rolling pin. Try to keep it of even thickness; you want to aviod making thin spots you can see through. Pinch the dough around the edge, forming an upstanding rim. Refrigerate the dough for 10 minutes. Preheat the oven to 425 degrees.
3. Dot the surface of the dough with the butter. Halve the apples lengthwise. Place each half cut side down on a cutting board and cut into very thin slices. Arrange the slices on the crust, overlapping them slightly. Mix the sugar, cinnamon, and rosemary together in a small mixing bowl and sprinkle evenly over the apples.
4. Place the baking sheet on the center oven rack and bake for 8 minutes. Reduce the oven temperature to 375 degrees. Remove the pizza from the oven and sprinkle with the sauerkraut, if using. Sprinkle evenly with the cheese.
5. Bake the pizza for another 5 minutes, until the cheese has melted nicely; it shouldn't bubble. Do not overbake, since this is a buttery, porous dough, it tends to get fairly brown after about 15 minutes. Slice into wedges and serve as soon as possible.

Yeasted Butter Pastry

(makes enough pastry for 1 large pie)

1/2 cup lukewarm water

1 package (about 2 teaspoons) active dry yeast

2 cups unbleached all-purpose flour

1-1/2 tablespoons sugar

1/2 teaspoon salt 

1/4 cup (1/2 stick) cold unsalted butter, cut into 1/4-inch pieces

1 large egg yolk

1. Measure the water in a 1-cup glass measure. Sprinkle the yeast over the water, mixing briefly with a fork. Set aside for 5 minutes to dissolve the yeast.
2. Meanwhile, put the flour, sugar, and salt in a food processor. Pulse several times to mix. Remove the lid and scatter the butter pieces over the dry mixture. Pulse the machine 7 or 8 times, until the butter is broken into very small pieces.
3. Add the egg yolk to the yeast water; blend with a fork. Remove the lid from the processor and add the liquid. Pulse the machine repeatedly, until the dough coheres, then run the machine nonstop for 8 to 10 seconds to knead the dough. Remove the dough and place it in a medium-size oiled bowl, rotating the dough to coat the entire surface.
4. Cover the bowl with plastic wrap and set aside to rise in a warmish spot for 1 hour. If for some reason you're called away and you need to delay the rising, simply put the dough in the refrigerator.

kitchen flavour's notes :
For the filling :
~ Use a mixture of Fuji Apples and Granny Smith Apples
~ Use thyme leaves instead of rosemary leaves
~ Omit the sauerkraut
~ Use Cheddar cheese
I rolled the dough out with the help of a small rolling pin into an 11-inch pizza pan. Baking time extended by another 10 minutes as the pastry was not brown enough.

Pissaladiere

As described in the book "Bread Machine Kitchen Handbook", "this French version of an Italian pizza is typical of Nicoise dishes, with anchovies and olives providing the distinctive flavour typical of the region". 

Ever since I've seen recipes using canned anchovies with the descriptions "stir until the anchovies are melted ", I have been curious about how anchovies can be melted. Anchovies is a common ingredient over here in Asian cooking, but what we have over here are usually the dried ones, which we use to make a base for stock and cooked in various dishes and can be deep-fried till crispy as a snack. But I have never come across anchovies that can be "melted" when cooking. Though this Pissaladiere recipe does not require the anchovies to be "melted", I can now fully understand how that can happen when I purchased a can of anchovies in oil.  It is quite costly, more than RM8.00 for one can (product of Spain), and there are only about 8 pieces of anchovies inside! 

These canned anchovies are salted and soaked in oil and are really soft, easily broken to pieces when I remove them and I can see that these can be easily "melted" if cooked further. They are actually very much similar to our local salted mackerel fish (mui heong ham yee), soaked in oil, which are very tender and can be mashed easily. 

This pizza is a healthier version with no presence of any cheese! The dough is soft and I have got to let it rest and stretch a couple of times to fill up the pan.

The result is a nice, fluffy, soft crust. Instead of using tomato sauce for the base as in most pizza, this uses only  a tablespoon or so of Dijon mustard. If you are not a fan of mustard, I guess you can always substitute with your own favourite tomato sauce. The filling are just onions, basil leaves, black olive and anchovies, it is best to break the anchovies to little pieces and scatter all over, as it is quite salty. 

Review from my kids : Where's the cheese? How come there's no cheese on this pizza????  Oops, sorry kids, I did thought of adding some cheese to it, but decided at the last minute to follow exactly as the recipe..maybe next time!!

Overall review : Nice pizza with soft, fluffy crust that would make a great base for any pizza. I enjoyed it with a cup of warm Earl Grey tea.

I'm sharing this with
Cookbook Sunday hosted by Couscous & Consciousness

Exciting Announcement !!!

My baking buddy, Zoe from Bake For Happy Kids will be starting a new blog hop "Cook Like A Star". Each month a celebrity chef will be chosen, and everyone is invited to cook from any of that chosen chef's recipes! "Cook Like A Star" will launch in March and Zoe has chosen Donna Hay as the celebrity chef of the month. Please hop over to Zoe for more details. I hope everyone will join in this exciting blog hop, see you there!

Pissaladiere

(adapted from "The Bread Machine Kitchen Handbook" by Jennie Shapter)

100ml / 3-1/2 fl oz / 7 tbsp water

1 egg

225gm / 8oz / 2 cups unbleached whole bread flour

5ml / 1 tsp salt 

25gm / 1oz / 2 tbsp butter

5ml / 1 tsp easy bake (rapid-rise) dried yeast

For the filling

60ml / tbsp olive oil

575gm / 1-1/4 lb onions, thinly sliced

15ml / 1 tsp Dijon mustard

3-4 tomatoes, about 280gm/10 oz, peeled and sliced (I did not bother peeling)

10ml / 2 tsp chopped fresh basil

12 drained canned anchovies

12 black olives

salt and freshly ground black pepper

1. Pour the water and egg into the machine pan. If the instructions for your machine specify that the yeast is to be added first, reverse the order in which you add the liquid and the dry ingredients.
2. Sprinkle over the white bread flour, ensuring that it completely covers the water and the egg. Add the salt in one corner of the pan and the butter in another corner. Make a small indent in the centre of the flour (but not down as far as the liquid) and add the easy bake dried yeast.
3. Set the bread machine to the dough setting; use basic or pizza dough setting (if available). Press Start.Then lightly oil a 27 x 20cm/11 x 8 in Swiss (jelly) roll tin (pan) that is about 1cm/1/2 in deep.
4. Make the filling. Heat the olive oil in a large frying pan and cook the onions over a low heat for about 20 minutes, until very soft. Set aside to cool.
5. When the dough cycle has finished, remove the dough from the machine and place it on a lightly floured surface. Knock it back (punch it down) gently, then roll it out to a rectangle measuring about 30x23cm/12x9in. Place in the prepared tin, and press outwards and upwards, so that the dough covers the base and sides.
6. Spread the mustard over the dough. Arrange the tomato slices on top. Season the onions with salt, pepper and basil and spread the mixture over the tomatoes.
7. Arrange the anchovies in a lattice and dot with the olives. Cover with oiled clear film (plastic wrap) and leave to rise for 10-15 minutes. Meanwhile, preheat the oven to 200C/400F/Gas 6. Bake the pissaladiere for 25-30 minutes, or until the base is cooked and golden around the edges. Serve hot or warm.

Pesto Pizza

This Pesto Pizza is now my favourite pizza! Really! "Such a simple pizza, yet totally divine" as described by Rebecca Baugniet from the book "500 Pizzas and Flatbreads". And it is exactly that!

I use my Homemade Basil Pesto from my previous post, told you that I'm making something delicious! And could have knock myself for not trying this out sooner as making Pesto has been on my list for months! 

The taste is unbelievably delicious! So simple, yet so full and packed with flavour!

This is a thin pizza crust and it is so, so, crispy and tasty. The recipe states that the dough is to be divided into three, to make three 12-inch round pizzas. But my skill at rolling the dough to 1/2" pieces badly needs more practice (more pizza to eat! hahaha!). So I only made two pizzas which are meant for three! I thought that it would be like the regular crust, but am surprised that it actually turns out quite thin and oh, so crispy! I actually made this same crust for a sweet pizza in one of my older post, Strawberry Streusel Pizza.

Simple and easy, with only three ingredients for the topping. Pesto, tomatoes and cheese!

I have already used up more than half  jar of my Homemade Basil Pesto. Eagerly waiting for my basil plant to grow, for my next jar!

Perfect crust! Delicious topping! Definitely my favourite pizza, at the moment!

I'm sharing this with Hearth and Soul Hop over at Mom's Sunday Cafe

I'm submitting this to the Christmas Giveaway in The Sweet Spot, any dish or bake, sweet or savory, with green and/or red in it. Please hop over to The Sweet Spot for more details. 


Pesto Pizza
(adapted from "500 Pizzas and Flatbreads" by Rebecca Baugniet)
1 recipe basic thin pizza base**
175ml (6 fl oz) basic pesto
2 fresh tomatoes, thinly sliced
175gm (6 oz) grated mozzarella


Preheat the oven to the maximum setting, usually 240C (475F/Gas Mark 9). Place pizza stone or unglazed clay tiles on bottom of gas oven or lowest rack of electric oven.
Make three 30-cm (12-in) discs of pizza dough. Lightly dust pizza peel with flour or cornmeal.
Place one 30-cm (12-in) disc of pizza dough on peel and spread 60ml (4 tbsp) cup pesto over the dough, leaving a 1cm (1/2 in) border around the edge.
Arrange 6 to 8 slices of tomato and sprinkle 1/3 of the grated mozarella on top. Gently shake pizza from the peel to the stone or tiles.
Bake for 4 to 6 minutes, until cheese is melting and base is puffy around the edges and crisp on the bottom. Slide the peel back under the pizza to remove from oven. Repeat with remaining 2 pizzas.


** Basic Thin Pizza Base
(adapted from "500 Pizzas and Flatbreads" by Rebecca Baugniet)

This base rises only once and bakes in minutes, making it the quickiest base to make. It can be made into three 30-cm (12-in) pizzas, as desribed below, or divided into six individual 15-cm (6-in) pizzas. Baking time remains consistent.

175gm (6oz) plain flour
200gm (7 oz) strong white bread flour
5ml (1 tsp) sugar
5ml (1 tsp) easy-blend dried yeast
5ml (1 tsp) salt
22ml (1-1/2 tbsp) extra-virgin olive oil
225ml (8fl oz) very warm water

To prepare the pizza dough, combine flours. Mix 225gm (8oz) flour with the sugar, yeast, and salt in bowl of standing mixer. Set aside. Combine olive oil and warm water. With paddle attachment, slowly stir in the water and oil into the flour mixture until well combined. Mix in the remaining flour.

Change to dough hook attachment and knead on low for 4 to 5 minutes, until dough comes together as a ball and is smooth and elastic. If not using a standing mixer, turn dough onto a lightly floured surface and knead by hand for about 10 minutes.

Place dough in lightly oiled bowl and cover with clean paper towel. Set aside in a warm spot for 1-1/2 to 3 hours, until dough has almost doubled in volume.

Once dough has risen, use a sharp knife to divide the ball into 3 equal pieces. Shape each into a ball, and flatten to form a disc. Using fingers or rolling pin, stretch out each dist co 30-cm (12-in) rounds, which is very thin - about 2mm (1/12 in).

(my notes : I use the breadmaker to mix the dough, setting "Quick Dough", this setting will mix and knead the dough for six minutes. I removed the dough and let it rise in a greased bowl, covered with a greased cling film, for about 2 hours until doubled in size. I do not have a pizza peel or stone, I just baked the pizza on a regular 12-inch pizza pan, place it on the lowest rack in the oven, at 220C, and baked for about 20 minutes until sides are puffy and bottom is crispy)

Chicken Rendang Pizza/Thousand Island Tuna Pizza : Free and Easy Bake-Along #11, Theme - Pizza Nite-In

I have made these two same pizzas for the last couple of times, repeated requests from my kids. Each time when I asked them what pizza they would like me to make, my daughter would request for Rendang Pizza (her favourite) and my son would asked for Thousand Island Tuna Pizza (his favourite). Yes, I did make these a couple of times but never did a post on these pizzas.

So when our baking group's theme for this Bake-Along is "Pizza Nite-In", I find myself baking these again! Both my kids have agreed that on the next pizza baking day, I will decide on the flavour, mommy's turn to choose! Hahaha!

I use the packaged pre-made rendang sauce, and I always use the brand above for making my homemade Rendang Pizza. It is really good, cooked with minced chicken and some sliced onions as a Pizza topping. Over here, in Malaysia, Pizza Hut does serve Rendang Pizza in their menu, which we seldom order, again, the kids get to pick their flavours, and this is not one of them. They have their own favourite flavours over at Pizza Hut!

My homemade version of Rendang Pizza, my family's favourite.

It is really nice!

You would not stop at just one slice! 

Thousand Island Tuna Pizza

Canned tuna in oil is drained and mashed coarsely. Mix with some Thousand Island Sauce, Mayo and Black Pepper. Top with some sliced pieces of canned pineapples, crab stick and onions, scatter generously with Mozzarella cheese, bake and enjoy!

Let's go over to see what my two baking buddies, Lena of Her Frozen Wings and Zoe of Bake For Happy Kids, are having for their "Pizza Nite-In". 

Wai Kitt from hellowaikitt has join us in this Pizza Nite-In Bake-Along. Hop over to see her delicious crispy pizza, a lovely snack anytime of the day!

We will be baking based on another theme "Chocolates and Cherries" next. Feel free to bake anything with Chocolates and Cherries, either fresh cherries, canned cherries, dried cherries, any kind of cherries! We will post that on 20/10, just mention our links in your post and leave a comment in any of our "Chocolate and Cherries" post (mine, Lena's or Zoe's), we will visit you right back! 

I'm sharing this with :
Cookbook Sunday at Mom's Sunday Cafe

And I'm bringing this to a Cookbook Party, hosted by Louise of Months of Edible Celebrations. Louise is celebrating her Blogoversary by throwing a Cookbook Party, and October being the National Cookbook Month! There's a whole list of food celebrations just for the month of October! For full details, hop over to Months of Edible Celebrations. I'm submitting these Pizzas under the list "Pizza Month"!

Pizza Crust
(adapted from : "Bread Machine Kitchen Handbook" by Jennie Shapter)
Makes two 30-cm/12-in Pizzas
280ml/10fl oz/1-1/4 cups water
30ml/2 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
450gm/1lb/4 cups unbleached white bread flour
7.5ml/1-1/2 tsp salt
2.5ml/1/2 tsp granulated sugar
5ml/1tsp easy bake dried yeast

1. Pour the water and olive oil into the bread machine pan. If the instructions for your machine specify that the yeast is to be placed in the pan first, reverse the order in which you add the liquid and dry ingredients.
2. Sprinkle over the flour, ensuring that it covers the liquid. Add the salt in one corner of the bread pan and the sugar in another corner. Make a small indent in the center of the flour, then add the yeast.
3. Set the bread machine to the dough setting; use basic or pizza dough setting (if available). Press Start. Lightly oil  two pizza pans or baking sheets.
4. When the dough cycle has finished, remove the dough from the machine and place it on a lightly floured surface. Knock it back (punch it down) gently. If making the larger quantity divide the dough into two equal pieces. Preheat the oven to 220C/425F/Gas 7.
5. Roll out the pizza dough into two 30cm/12-in rounds. Place in the prepared pans or on the baking sheet. 

(my notes : recipe does not require the crust to be baked before adding the filling. But I prebaked the crust for about 8-10 minutes first, then add on the filling and baked for a further 15 minutes. I made 2 pcs of 10.5in pizzas with this recipe)

Rendang Pizza Topping

(by kitchen flavours)

1 packet (about 200gm) rendang sauce

400gm minced chicken

1 medium onions (cut into thin wedges)

2 tbsp cooking oil

mozzarella cheese (as much as you want!)

Heat oil in non-stick cooking pan. Add in the minced chicken and stir until chicken is no longer pink and cooked, about 8-10 minutes. Add in onions and rendang sauce. Stir for  about 5 minutes. There is no need to add any salt, as the rendang sauce is already salty. You may taste and add some salt, to your preference.

When prebaked crust is ready, scatter rendang chicken all over. Top with mozarella cheese and baked in preheated oven at 220C for about 15 minutes, until crust is golden brown and cheese melts. Enjoy!

Thousand Island Tuna Pizza Topping

(by kitchen flavours)

1 small can (about 180gm) tuna chunks in oil, drained and mashed coarsely

3 slices canned pineapple rings (cut into chunks)

5-6 pieces crabsticks (cut each into 4 pcs)

1 small onions (cut into big chunks)

4 tbsp Thousand Island Dressing

2 tbsp Mayonnaise

dash of coarse black pepper

3 tbsp tomato puree

Mozzarella cheese

Mix tuna, Thousand Island Dressing, mayonnaise and coarse black pepper into a medium-sized bowl. When prebaked crust is ready, spread crust with tomato puree. Scatter tuna mixture, pineapples, crabsticks and onions all over. Top with Mozzarella cheese. Bake in preheated oven at 220C for about 15 minutes until crust is golden brown and cheese melts. Enjoy!

Free and Easy Bake-Along #1: Streusel Pizza

I'm baking along with Lena of Frozen Wings, as a fun, free and easy bake-along. We have several books in common, and I thought that it would be a great idea to bake from these books together. For this first bake-along, Lena has suggested several recipes and I have chosen this sweet pizza from her list. I have always wanted to bake a sweet pizza but never did! There's always dozens of other recipes to chose from, and always "maybe next time"? Whatever the reason, this bake-along has already prompted me to bake something that has  been 'on-the-list' and now it's on the table! 

This Streusel Pizza recipe is taken from the book "500 Pizzas & Flatbreads" by Rebecca Baugniet.  The base is a thin pizza base. The streusel complements well with the strawberries and the cream cheese topping, overall the sweetness is just right.  This is good with a cup of tea. My kids really enjoyed this sweet pizza. 

The recipe of the dough stated that the amount of dough can be made into 3 pieces of 12-inch round pizza. I made it into 2 pieces instead, as I find that it is difficult to roll to a very thin layer of 2mm, as there are holes when I try to roll it thinner! I really need to practice more on this step, and I mean lots of practice!

After baking, let pizza rest for about 10 minutes to enjoy the crispiness of the dough. Don't forget that cup of hot plain tea. 

Wanna have a bite? ...mmmm

Please do visit Lena of Frozen Wings and see her delicious sweet pizza. We will be baking "Gateau Breton" from "Heavenly Cakes" By Rose Levy Beranbaum for next month's Free and Easy Bake-Along, together with Zoe of Bake For Happy Kids.

I'm linking this with Full Plate Thursday over at Miz Helen's Country Cottage

Basic Thin Pizza Base
(adapted from "500 Pizzas & Flatbreads" by Rebecca Baugniet)

This base rises only once and bakes in minutes, making it the quickiest base to make. It can be made into three 30-cm (12-in) pizzas, as desribed below, or divided into six individual 15-cm (6-in) pizzas. Baking time remains consistent.

175gm (6oz) plain flour
200gm (7 oz) strong white bread flour
5ml (1 tsp) sugar
5ml (1 tsp) easy-blend dried yeast
5ml (1 tsp) salt
22ml (1-1/2 tbsp) extra-virgin olive oil
225ml (8fl oz) very warm water

To prepare the pizza dough, combine flours. Mix 225gm (8oz) flour with the sugar, yeast, and salt in bowl of standing mixer. Set aside. Combine olive oil and warm water. With paddle attachment, slowly stir in the water and oil into the flour mixture until well combined. Mix in the remaining flour.

Change to dough hook attachment and knead on low for 4 to 5 minutes, until dough comes together as a ball and is smooth and elastic. If not using a standing mixer, turn dough onto a lightly floured surface and knead by hand for about 10 minutes.

Place dough in lightly oiled bowl and cover with clean paper towel. Set aside in a warm spot for 1-1/2 to 3 hours, until dough has almost doubled in volume.

Once dough has risen, use a sharp knife to divide the ball into 3 equal pieces. Shape each into a ball, and flatten to form a disc. Using fingers or rolling pin, stretch out each dist co 30-cm (12-in) rounds, which is very thin - about 2mm (1/12 in).

(my notes : I use the breadmaker to mix the dough)


Streusel Pizza
(this recipe is for enough for one pizza only)
1/3 recipe basic thin pizza base


Topping
115gm (4oz) cream cheese, softened
1 large egg yolk
1.25ml (1/4 tsp) vanilla essence
7.5ml (1-1/2 tsp) sugar
75gm (3oz) fresh strawberries, hulled (I use about 200gm, 75gm is simply not enough!)


Streusel
60gm (2-1/2oz) light brown sugar
25gm (3oz) unsalted butter, melted
15ml (1 tbsp) plain flour

Preheat oven to 200C (400F/Gas Mark 6).

Line a 30-cm (12-in) pizza pan with baking paper. Roll pizza dough out to a 30-cm (12-in) round and place in pan. In medium bowl, combine cream cheese, egg yolk, vanilla and sugar. Stir until smooth.

In small bowl, combine all the streusel ingredients until you have a crumbly mixture. Spread the cream cheese mixture over the pizza base, top with strawberries and sprinkle with streusel.

Place on middle rack of preheated oven and bake for 25 to 30 minutes, until the base is baked and the streusel topping is crunchy. Serve warm or at room temperature.