On New Year's Eve, we invited family for lunch, except I didn't plan on being so busy and exhausted. By the time new year's eve arrived, I'd thrown my hands up in the air, texted my sister to bring salad, and that I was just getting blooming ready made pizzas from the supermarket. However, that was everyone else's plan, so there were none! I came home effing and blinding, saying I'd have to make the damn pizza!
But I'd forgotton how much I love it, and how easy it is. I mean, google 'easy pizza base' and you'll find a recipe - flour, yeast, sugar, water, oil, knead and rest to double, then roll out and put toppings on! And then, as I waited for the dough to rise, I made toppings.
Firstly, one pizza was going to have zucchini. When I was a kid Mum used to make zucchini pizza this way. She'd saute lots of zucchini in a pan with garlic and onions, add a heap of fresh basil, then put them on pizza with tomato sauce and cheese. I loved it - and it's great cold as well. I did one with just zucchini, basil and strips of capsicum and slices of jalapeno for my son as he hates olives and mushrooms.
The next pizza DID have mushrooms. I used my home grown oyster mushrooms, dry frying them to get rid of the moisture. Then I added a splash of liquid smoke, heaps of smoked paprika, and a little bit of olive oil, salt and pepper, and cooked them for about another ten minutes, adding tiny bits of oil to stop them sticking and letting them crisp up a little and brown. Delicious.
Of course, all pizzas got lots of fresh basil, because it's doing well in the garden. Capsicum, olives, parmesan, fresh oregano, and halved fresh asparagus also ended up on the pizza. Of course, just ordinary tomato paste did the trick - I was NOT in the moody for making fancy sauce! But I was definitely enjoying making them, tidying up as I went.
By this time Jamie had come in to help tidy up. I'd set the table with a bowl of fresh jalepeno from the garden, fresh limes for the beers, and sprigs of oregano flowers scattered prettily about. I really love hosting at this point - sometimes just getting to this point is the stressful part!
When everyone arrived, they were just coming out of the oven. My brother in law made an amazing vegetable salad and we had rhubarb champagne and cold coronas with lime, a gift of a case of 24 a friend bought Jamie for helping him putting new shocks on his Landrover. I was so keen to see everyone that I forgot to take photos of them cooked, so you'll have to contend yourself with the round pizzas I made the year before! But hey, you know what pizza looks like, right?
Oh, and you might have noticed they are vegetarian. I don't even think about putting meat on pizza - a good veggie pizza is just the best! I know this might be repulsive to some, but hey, when you love veggies you love veggies! And if you're vegan, try to imagine vegan cheese, or dabs of baked coconut yoghurt on top - just as yum. I often do that when I don't feel like dairy or if I feel we've been eating too much of it.
Do you make your own pizza? What's your favourite topping?
With Love,
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