Yesterday My Other Half was on cooking duty. "Shall we have pizza?" he asked.
Actually that wasn't a total cop-out. He always doctors them in such a way that they taste home-made. And how many of us have time to make pizza from scratch - apart from occasionally, at the weekend with kids and that's entertainment, not just meal preparation. I mean you can't start beating yourself up about pizza.
He found a good bargain at our local Waitrose, not necessarily the best place to go for bargains - a giant Vegetable Fajita Pizza for £3.99 instead of £4.99. Maybe that was one innovation too far, even for Waitrose's gastronomic thrillophiles. It had - and I quote - "a crisp and airy base (quite nice, not unlike a focaccia FB) topped with subtly spiced tomato sauce and loaded with grated Monterey Jack cheese, chargrilled yellow peppers and piquillo peppers, finished with sour cream and sliced jalapenos." Italians - and lovers of the English language - would have shuddered but it was surprisingly tasty with the addition of some extra garlic, capers and fresh basil (also reduced) wilted on the surface at the last minute.
It would actually have fed three, even four at a stretch but we managed to polish off the lot between us thus breaking one of the cardinal rules of frugal eating which is to remove potential leftovers at source so they don't get eaten up.
Cheaper than a takeaway or going out for a pizza though.
Your daily blog is a good idea but falls down if you have to buy pizza bases. They are so easy to make and so cheap - Carluccio has a pretty good recipe. And if you make twice as much dough as you need the rest freezes well for when you need to make one quickly - or at least remember to get it out of the freezer in the morning!
ReplyDeleteYou're right, of course, northern foody but I think many people might find making their own pizza bases daunting, especially mid-week. I know it isn't, once you're on a roll and do it regularly but dressing up a shop-bought pizza isn't a bad alternative
ReplyDeleteI make pizza all the time -- it's easy and doesn't take very long (not like making bread). This is the recipe I use: http://www.recipezaar.com/70165 It makes two crusts and I freeze half the dough for another time (like during the week -- then I thaw in the fridge the day I plan to make it). This is the sauce I make: http://www.recipezaar.com/60997
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