PIZZA

I love pizza; it is one of my favourite junk foods. For me when I am feeling blah, or poorly or just have midnight munchies I always go for a bread type snack, something about it is just comforting, reminds me of the better times when it was just me and my Mummy. I love toast for example, hot and slathered with lots of lightly salted butter or margarine like Utterly Butterly. As a child St Ivel Gold was my favourite. My Mummy didn’t buy it very often but when she did it was a welcome rare treat. I associate it with happier times I remember watching her one day buttering her toast and she looked at me smiled and said “Every now and again, Rebecca, there is nothing nicer than hot toast with lots of melted butter” I have to agree. I also believe that this was the beginning of my ‘dough’ obsession; I still savour every bite and feel comforted when I eat it.

The best pizza I have ever eaten was in America of course, Papa John’s BBQ Chicken and bacon ranch, whenever we ordered pizza that was what it would be and the garlic butter dipping sauce, heaven! As with most things in life I have discovered that all good things come to an end, eventually. America was one of them, I felt at home there and if it had been possible for me to stay I would have done. Never mind there is absolutely no point dwelling on that, I have brought lots of experiences away with me and different ideas about food that would never have crossed my mind before, and thankfully I am able to replicate the Chicken and bacon pizza that we loved so much. I have made three of these pizzas the first two were simple, one with ham the other with shrimp, all three were with store bought pizza base. I had made an attempt at pizza dough but it was too sticky and stuck to EVERYTHING, I did manage to get some of it on to baking paper (also a bad idea) and baked it to see what it would have tasted like… I wish in one way I hadn’t bothered, 95% of it was glued to the baking paper and therefore inedible but that little bit we did try was delicious, in fact I would go so far as to say that it was the best I had ever tasted….. Oh so bitter sweet disappointment. I will try again, I am just not quite brave enough yet. The BBQ was my favourite, sods law though I’ve lost the recipe, it very nearly captured the Papa John’s pizza, I even managed to make the garlic butter dipping sauce….. Gutted…. Here are the other two recipes though.

PIZZA

2 store bought pizza bases (unless you can make your own)

150ml tomato sauce

2 balls mozzarella torn into pieces

A bunch of basil

Salt and black pepper to taste

Olive oil

2 handfuls of rocket

The juice of ½ a lemon

9 slices of prosciutto

100g cooked, shelled shrimp

Parmesan to serve

 

1.      Preheat your oven to 220˚C/430˚F. If you are making your own pizza base now would be the time to do that. Working quickly, spoon enough tomato sauce to cover the pizza base, into the middle and working towards the edges spread it evenly out, leaving the outside edge clear. Scatter the pizza with mozzarella and basil, season to taste with salt and pepper and drizzle with a little olive oil.

2.       Bake your pizzas in the oven for 8-10 minutes, until the base is golden and crisp.

3.      Take the pizza out of the oven and drape one with the prosciutto and scatter shrimp on the other, scatter the rocket over both and a squeeze of lemon juice another drizzle of olive oil and sprinkle on some Parmesan…