Sadly for me, dearest readers, I’ve been unwell for the last couple of weeks. Actually, it’s not just me it’s been sad for. In general I’m a vision of robust good health and rarely ail, always being on hand to fulfill my role as (my amended version of) a domestic goddess, taxi driver, provisions supplier, laundress, stock wrangler and all round go-to woman-about-the-house and it is just possible that this has been taken for granted, a smidge, by those with whom I reside. It came as an unpleasant and inconvenient surprise for them to see me wallowing in tissues, decongestant and self pity for what seemed a prolonged amount of time.
What came as a nastier surprise to them was the scarcity of meals provided by yours truly. Dinner time would roll around and as they assembled in the cold, darkened kitchen their sad, disappointed, little faces gazing across the barren dinner table would have been enough to make a lesser woman take pity – but not me. I figure it’s about time they hardened up and worked out how to feed themselves and, anyway, I’ve been too busy blowing my nose and feeling sorry for myself, so normal service has taken some time to resume.
Now that the doctor has brought out some big pharmaceutical guns I’m beginning to feel much better and actually, a bit hungry myself. My appetite has been more than a little piqued by some of the brilliant pizza ideas supplied by my clearly imaginative readers as they’ve entered my competition for the Emile Henry pizza stone. You’ve all come up with such wonderful ideas and, fearing that my loved ones might notice that the improvement in my health had not so far resulted in correspondingly increased activity in the kitchen, I decided that last night was to be pizza night.
Homemade pizza’s have to be one of the easiest, tastiest and most popular dishes in our house and a very healthy, cost effective alternative to the shop-bought variety. You can choose to make your own pizza dough, as I often do, or buy ready made pizza bases. I find that many of the commercial pizza bases are thick and stodgy, so I prefer the crisper base achieved by using locally made Greek Pita bread. Then, it’s just a matter of smearing on a flavour base, selecting your toppings and cooking at high heat on a pizza stone in the oven, or in one of those handy-dandy little electric pizza cookers (which also work a treat). You can make your own tomato sauce, but for convenience sake I often use pure tomato paste. When heading down a more “gourmet” path I just adore playing around with the flavours of some of the extensive range of our local Beerenberg condiments. I’m all about maximum impact for minimum effort – remember?!
Following what seems to be something of a theme in the pizza ideas comments for the competition, I made a sweet potato, chorizo and Woodside Cheese Wrights chevre pizza and a caramelized onion and garlic prawn pizza – both perfect, fast weekend meal ideas.
Sweet Potato, Chilli, Chorizo & Goats Chevre Pizza
Ingredients
- 2 medium sweet potatoes cubed
- 1 Tbsp olive oil
- 1 tsp Ras el Hanout
- 4 small pizza bases or pita breads
- 1 Tbs tomato paste
- 1 Tbsp Beerenberg Sweet Chilli Relish
- 1/3 cup grated mozarella
- 1-2 chorizo sausages thinly sliced
- 150 gms Woodside Cheese Wrights goats chevre
- 1 bunch fresh coriander roughly chopped
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 180C.
- Toss sweet potato with oil and ras el hanout, spread in a baking dish and cook in oven for 20 minutes.
- Increase heat to 220C and place pizza stone in oven.
- Spread bases with tomato paste, then spread lightly with chilli relish.
- Sprinkle mozzarella cheese evenly over the bases.
- Distribute the cooked sweet potato evenly over the 4 bases, then do the same with the sliced chorizo.
- Cook the pizza's for approx 10 minutes, or until the cheese is bubbly and golden and the sausage is crisping. Remove from oven.
- Crumble the chevre over the pizza's, then sprinkle with chopped coriander before serving.
My second effort, the caramelised onion and garlic prawn pizza, was even simpler. I smeared a couple of tablespoons of Beerenberg Caramelised Onion on to the pizza base, sprinkled over a handful of grated mozzarella and dotted it with fresh, raw prawns which had been marinaded in crushed garlic, salt and olive oil, then threw them into the oven for about 10 minutes – just until the prawns have pinked up a little. I served them with fresh, wild rocket scattered over the top, but fresh chopped basil would be a great alternative too.
Don’t forget – there’s still time to enter for the chance to win a gorgeous Emile Henry ceramic pizza stone, here!
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I hope you’re feeling better soon Amanda! 🙂
Wow, that pizza looks Delicious with a capital D! Thanks for sharing the recipe.
So sorry to hear you’ve been under the weather; hope you’re on the mend and back into doing everything again…no wait; let me keep taking care of things without you for a bit; it’s good for the family!
These pizzas both look tasty; I haven’t bought a pizza from someone forever; just too easy to make your own. I can buy dough from a local shop cheaply…it’s the best and quickest solution.
Sorry to hear you’ve been under the weather. I think it’s good every once in a while for the family to realise how much you do for them. Relax, rest and feel better.
I’d feel better with this fantastic pizza. When I saw top of the shop Ras el Hanout in there, I knew I wanted to eat it!
Sorry to hear you have been crook, I hope you make a speedy recovery and return to your very busy life!
You poor thing! I hope you are feeling better soon. The pizzas look delicious!
Glad to hear you are on the mend Amanda, we’ve been able to avoid it here thank goodness and with the retreat just under 2 weeks away I have my fingers crossed that it stays that way! So the family survived without dear old Mum being on duty in the kitchen – we are so taken for granted that sometimes we need to get sick for them to realise we are not always going to be there for them. Love the look of that simple prawn pizza, must try that one.
I too have been unwell this winter. I’m blaming the weather. Somehow I picked up the flu and that lingered for at least two weeks, then I was better for a number of days only to be struck down with some sort of coughing thingy. And as a mother who like you, is a jack of all trades, it’s so obvious when the mother is unwell that the home and everything in it just unravels. I hope you will be better soon and the pizza is lovely xx
Get well soon – there are so many colds and viruses around just now so I really feel for you !! When the rest of your family take to their beds with the sniffles and bad throats they will be expecting tasty treats on trays accompanying their honey and lemon drinks to be delivered by dear old Mum, if your household is anything like mine.
I’m sure pizza has healing qualities Amanda, sure of it.
I hope you are feeling a whole lot better this week and all other family members declare it as help mum out week, (just they don’t have to go hungry again!)
Hope you are feeling better soon! Beautiful looking pizza.
🙂 Mandy
I’m glad you’re starting to feel better, hope it doesn’t take long for the drugs to kick in !
I agree that sometimes it does the family a world of good to have to fend for themselves and not take Mummy for granted- but I bet they’re glad there’s food on the table again! Especially when it’s yummy, yummy pizza like this one 🙂
Good to hear that you are on the mend Amanda! Great pizza ideas too! When I can’t be bothered to make my own base, I go for the crispy pita bread too, It’s so much lighter and you can roll it up!