Goodness, my son eats a lot! I'm sure that won't surprise mothers of teenage boys or young men still living at home but, while my son's been away at Uni, it had temporarily slipped my mind how much cooking is entailed during a visit home. And the cost. He's very partial to pizza - usually the expensive shop bought ones - and manages to eat a whole 10" pizza in one sitting while I'm not fussed about pizza at all - it's all that claggy cooked cheese. However, talk to me about veg pizza and I might be persuaded - as with a recently discovered recipe.
This recipe may also be quite timely for anyone with a little bit of leftover lamb following an Easter roast but not quite enough for a Shepherd's Pie. (Spinach could be substituted for chard.)
Leafing through a Rachel Allen's 'Everyday Kitchen' for inspiration (it's due back at the library any day now), I came across an appealing recipe for Chard, Feta and Lamb pizza. It caught my attention because, amazingly, I had all the ingredients to hand, either in the fridge or garden. How often does that happen!? (Less shopping time equals more gardening time.) I also had a couple of pizza bases in the freezer, having put some dough aside for these during my last bread making session. I wasn't sure that my son would eat the chard pizza so first made him a tomato/cheese/bacon and mushroom combo before concentrating on making mine.
A quick walk to the garden netted a basket of baby-ish chard leaves and spring onions (plus some broccoli for a stir fry later); a happy 15 minutes in the kitchen was spent cooking the veg and then topping the pizza, followed by a very satisfied 5 minutes eating it. The leftover lamb and smell of toasted cumin seeds tempted my son to sample a slice - the verdict? Mmm, delicious! (as he snuck towards a second helping… )
Of course, if you have a few pizza bases in the freezer, this makes a brilliant 'Empty The Fridge' fun supper as everyone gets to choose their favourite toppings - even if that does include cheddar. ;)
If you fancy having a go at making this pizza, I've written up the recipe as a printable PDF - just click on this link.
Here are the videos for making dough (they may not work in the PDF recipe):
Great British Chefs make pizza dough
Richard Bertinet method of making and kneading dough (this is the one I use)
If you fancy having a go at making this pizza, I've written up the recipe as a printable PDF - just click on this link.
Here are the videos for making dough (they may not work in the PDF recipe):
Great British Chefs make pizza dough
Richard Bertinet method of making and kneading dough (this is the one I use)