Greek style chicken burger

Burger baby!

But a healthy one!

I love hamburgers! I'm not talking about those spongey burger-like things you find at McDo or anything like that. What I'm talking about are home made burgers. Yeah... Cheese burgers, bacon burgers, fish burgers, chicken burgers... as long as it is homemade.

You can't deny a homemade burger always tastes better. You can put on whatever you like and make it as big as you like, the sky is the limit!

Unfortunately your belly won't like it if you eat burgers everyday because you'll end up looking like Bibendum, commonly know as the Michelin Man.

If you feel like having a burger try having a "healthy" one. Use chicken or fish instead of beef. Always use red sauces... the are mostly healthier than other sauces; ketchup is better than mayonnaise. Stay of the bacon and the extra cheese, I know... it is soooo good on a burger, but than again: Bibendum!

I'm not saying you have to say goodbye to the "old-school" burger loaded with cheese and bacon. But diversify a little to keep it healthy.

Here is a recipe from... I honestly do not remember, which I personalized. Try this on your next BBQ and I bet your guests will want that recipe!

I hope you will enjoy it!

Greek style chicken burger

Ingredients: (for 4 burgers)

Burgers:

• 2 chicken breasts
• 1 onion
• 2 gloves of garlic
• 1 tsp oregano
• 1 tsp thyme
• 1/2 tsp dried hot pepper, chopped
• salt & pepper
• Tomatoes, sliced
• Roman salad (1 leaf per burger)
• 8 slices of artisan bread
• Olive oil

Greek Sauce (Tzatziki)

• 100gr yoghurt
• 50gr feta cheese (this is not used in traditional Tzatziki, but I like it)
• 50gr cucumber in small pieces
• 1 small garlic clove
• 1 tbs fresh lemon juice
• 1 tbs dill & parsley, chopped

Preparation:

Mix the yoghurt, garlic and feta with a mixer. Pour in a bowl, add the cucumber, lemon juice and herbs. Stir and put aside (refrigerated).

Time to prepare the burgers! 

Cut the chicken, onion and garlic into small pieces. Put them in a blender, add the herbs, season with salt and pepper and mix everything to a smooth mixture.

Take the mixture and shape into 4 hamburgers (don't make them to thick, because chicken has to be well cooked before consumption!). Heat the grill or your grill pan and grill the burgers on both sides until they're done.

Sprinkle some olive oil on the bread and toast on the grill.

Put a salad leaf on a slice of bread, put on a slice of tomato, top with the burger some tzatsiki and another slice of bread.

Serve with some extra tzatziki on the side.

Enjoy!

May 24, 2013

Asparagus flemish style

Tasty...

White & green gold!

In Belgium we are in the middle of the asparagus season which, this year, goes from the end of march until the end of june. The vegetable we know is actually the young sprout from an asparagus plant. In the north-west of Europe the white asparagus is mostly cultivated, the green asparagus is usually cultivated towards the south of Europe in countries like Italy. They can be a quite expensive vegetable, because of the intense labour it takes to cultivate.
Both white and green asparagus are a delicacy. For my recipe I use white ones, but you may as well use the green ones.
A dish almost every self respecting Belgian has eaten, besides french fries, is "asperges a la flamande". Asparagus flemish style is a really easy dish that basically consists of four ingredients: asparagus, butter, eggs and parsley.
It is a dish I really love... the only downside is that asparagus make your pee stink, this is because of the sulphur containing substances in this vegetable.

White & green asparagus

Asparagus flemish style

Ingredients:

• 16 large white Asparagus (8 per person)
• 4 eggs
• 1 handfull parsley, chopped
• salt
• pepper
• nutmeg
• 100 gr butter

Preparation:

Put the butter in a pot and heat it on a very low fire. The butter must slowly melt which will cause to clarify the butter. Clarified butter is a clear milk fat you get when you separate the milk solids from the butterfat. The "bad" fat will sink to the bottom and you'll remain with a clear substance.

At the same time start boiling your eggs for about 9 minutes.

While your butter is clarifying and your eggs are boiling peel your asparagus by holding the top and use a vegetable peeler to peel the outer skin off.

Take a big casserole with cold water, add the asparagus and salt, and start heating up to cooking point. When the water reaches cooking point, turn off the fire and let the asparagus rest for 5 minutes.

Lay your asparagus on a heated plate and top them with the hard boiled eggs you crushed with a fork. Add the parsley and spoon some clarified butter on top.

Another way is to mix your eggs, butter and parsley in advance and top the asparagus with this mixture.

Enjoy!

May 19, 2013

Wok

Fast bite today?

Wok this way!

Whenever I haven't got the time to cook, I wok or go for a wok. A wok is the Cantonese word for a round-bottomed frying pan, originally from the Canton region in China. Nowadays you can find wok-restaurants all over the world, either take away or on site. I even use the word wok as a verb... I wok you wok, well... we all wok!

One of my favorite take away wok-restaurants in Ghent is the Wok Away. They offer various types of stir fry dishes and besides the regular "wok" you can order Dim Sum (small steamed bites) or spring rolls. There are also tables and a bar (with view in the kitchen) available if you decide to eat your wok on the spot.

If you don't have enough with one portion you can always go "all you can eat" at Chess Cafe Gent. A wok-restaurant just outside the city center with a modern interior. The formula is simple: you choose your ingredients from various types of meat, fish and vegetables, take them to the kitchen, ask any sauce you like and the cook will prepare it in front of you. And you can do this as many times as you want.

If you are looking for wok-restaurants in Brussels you should go to the area around the Sint-Katelijnestraat, just past the "Bourse". It is an area swarming with asian restaurants and asian supermarkets where you can easily get a fast stir fry dish for little money.

"Seafood Slammer" from Wok Away

"Wokking" yourself

Of course you don't have to eat out if you feel like having wok. You can easily do it yourself! In my kitchen I have got some basic ingredients and sauces which I use for stir frying. Here are some things

you may need when "wokking":

• Stir fry oil: a wok is used on (very) high fire so you need oil which can withstand high heat. In asian shops you can find seasoned stir fry oil. U can also use safflower oil or sesame oil. peanut oil not really suited for stir frying.
• Fish sauce: if you are making a dish with fish, fish sauce is an ideal seasoning. It has a really salty, fishy taste.
• Oyster sauce: this is a sauce made by cooking oysters, and as crazy as it may sound this is best used for seasoning meat or vegetables.
• Lemon grass: it gives your wok a fresh, citrus-like taste. Perfect for fish or poultry
• Ginger: giver you stir fry dish some spicy, fresh touch.
• Red, green or yellow curry paste: a wet herb mix. Perfect to use in combination with coconut milk
• Coconut milk: can be used as a base for curry sauce or as a tastemaker.

If you have these things you can prepare a pretty decent wok.
I don't have a precise recipe for making a stir fry dish because I always add ingredients on taste. I can't stress out enough how important tasting is during cooking!
Next time I wok, i'll write it down and write a post about it.
But here is the best way to start wokking:
- Cut your meat or fish into small portions
- Cut you vegetables into small pieces
- Heat the oil
- Add seasoning (lemon grass, ginger, fish sauce, ...)
- Add vegetables and stir fry for some minutes
- Add your meat or fish and stir fry some more until the meat is done
- Season with herbs if you want
- Serve!

I hope you'll try to wok once in a while. And I'll try to upload a recipe as soon as possible!
Enjoy!

May 17, 2013

Lamb with risotto

Mary...

... had a little lamb.

Lamb... it must be the one meat I love the most! And the best part of a lamb, in my opinion, is a good, tasty lambs rack. 

At the beginning of my year at cooking school, all the student received an ingredient we had to review. Mine was "carnaroli". Carnaroli is a type of rice, cultivated in the north of Italy and used to prepare risotto.

With this ingredient and 3 other's (we could choose from ingredients the others received) we had to prepare one dish. I chose lambs rack, oyster mushrooms and stilton, an English blue cheese.

At the end of the first semester the chef chose 2 dishes which we would prepare with our whole team. And ... my dish was chosen! Well I must admit I felt pretty proud, and now this is one of my girlfriend her favorite dishes!

Risotto normally is a moist rice dish, but in my recipe it's not that moist because of the stilton I use. So  it is more the way it is prepared why I call it "risotto".

This is a relatively easy recipe. One thing you need for this dish is timing. I am afraid that without timing you will end up burning some things while other things are getting cold. But timing is needed in every kitchen!

This isn't really a summer dish, but it is still cold here in Belgium, so I decided to make this recipe last weekend.

I hope you'll enjoy it as much as I do!

Lambs rack with a stilton risotto and oyster mushrooms

Ingredients: (for 2 people)

• 350gr lambs rack
• 250ml lamb broth (or beef broth)
• 200ml chicken broth
• 2 small onions, chopped
• 175gr risotto rice (carnaroli or arborio)
• 1 carrot, roughly chopped
• 3 garlic gloves
• 2 nice hands full of oyster mushrooms
• 1 small bush of chopped parsley
• 100gr stilton (or any other blue cheese)
• 1 glas of red wine
• 1 tsp cinnamon
• butter
• olive oil

Preparation:

- Clean and season the lambs rack. Cut the oyster mushrooms in two. Preheat the oven on 180°C.

- Heat some butter with a tbs of olive oil and 2 crushed garlic gloves on a low fire. This will allow the garlic to flavor the oil and butter while heating. When the garlic starts sizzling take it out and fry the lambs rack on all sides on a medium to high fire. When all sides have a golden brown crust, set the rack aside in an oven dish. Leave your pan you used to fry your lamb and add 1 chopped onion and the carrot. Let them fry until they onion has a nice brown color. Deglaze with red wine and let it cook for a few minutes. Add the lamb broth and let it boil on a medium fire. This will become your sauce.

- Now take a casserole and heat 2 tbs of olive oil. Fry the finely chopped onion and the rice on a medium fire. When the rice becomes glassy add the chicken broth little by little, and keep stirring. When your rice is just covered with broth, turn your fire to low heat and cover your casserole.

- At this time sieve your "sauce" in a small casserole and let it simmer on a low fire. You can throw away the onions and carrots.

- Now put your meat in the oven for 10 minutes. From now on you have 10 minutes to finish your rice, your sauce and your mushrooms.

- Stir your rice and make sure it has enough moisture, if not, add some. It is important to taste your rice once in a while to make sure it doesn't overcook! Heat some olive oil in a large pan and fry your mushrooms with a chopped clove of garlic. They will loose a fair amount of moisture, make sure it evaporates and your mushrooms start baking. When they are almost done add the stilton to your rice, give it a good stir and put of the fire.

- To finish your sauce add the cinnamon, stir and add cold butter to thicken your sauce.

- Add the parsley to your mushrooms and season with salt and pepper.

- At this time your meat must be ready. Take it out and let it rest for a few minutes while you put your rice and mushrooms nicely on your plate. Cut the rack into separate cutlets and garnish them on your plate.

Serve with some sauce and a nice red wine!

Bon appetit!

May 13, 2013

Insalata Caprese

Salad you say?

This one is not for rabbits!

One thing I love, from as long as I can remember, is mozzarella. A soft, young cheese made from cow milk, originally from southern Italy. The very best one is mozzarella di bufala, this is the original mozzarella which is made from water buffalo milk. It is perfect to use in a salad or just to eat it on its own. Besides the soft and creamy mozzarella You can find a drier variation used for pizzas and lasagnas. Another variation is burata, a cheese made from mozzarella and cream, with the outer shell being the mozzarella and the inside being a mixture between cream and mozzarella. This is also a delicacy! The fist time I tried this variation was in Bologna. The burata was served on a freshly baked focaccia with cherry tomatoes and olive oil, I loved it!
But back to the mozzarella di bufala... One of my favorite ways to eat this cheese, besides eating it on its own, is in an insalata caprese. A caprese salad is really easy and it is very pure in taste! The basic of a caprese salad is mozzarella, tomatoes, basil and olive oil. To spice it up a little I like to add one of my favorite salad types: rucola (or rocket salad).
This is my version of a caprese salad, perfect as a starter to a BBQ or as a light lunch on a hot summer day.

Insalata caprese

Ingredients:

• 2 Mozzarella balls
• 15 cherry tomatoes
• some basil
• olive oil (preferable a good olive oil you don't use for cooking)
• balsamic vinegar
• basil
• some rocket salad
• rock salt
• black pepper

Preparation:

Cut your cherry tomatoes in two, cut you mozzarella into slices. Arrange the mozzarella and the cherry tomatoes on a plate, put a rocket salad leaf and a basil leaf here and there. Season with salt and pepper. And finish seasoning with olive oil and a little bit of balsamic vinegar.

Serve with a piece of toasted ciabatta!

Mmmm, così buono!

May 09, 2013

Chili Con Carne

¡Hola!

Mexican food, si señor!

I must admit I've never been in Mexico, but I have tasted enough mexican food in various restaurants to know that I love Mexican cuisine. Mexico is on my bucket list, so I'll certainly go there one day!

Taco's, tortilla's, pollo con mole, chili con carne, enchiladas, quesadillas, guacamole... I've tasted it all. And honestly, who doesn't like a Mexican bite once in a while?!

One of my favorites is chili con carne. Originally this stew consists of chili,  meat, tomatoes and often beans. But you can find a lot of varieties with different types of meat, extra vegetables and so on. If you want you can add capsicum, carrots, zucchini, ... whatever you feel like adding.
Today I'll give you my recipe of a really simple chili con carne. It only takes like 10 minutes to prepare. Of course you have to let it simmer for about an hour, but there is no work in that, is there! I always have all the ingredients stored at home, so I can prepare this whenever I want.
Chili con carne can be served with rice or "mexican rice" (I'll upload a recipe for this later on!), tortilla chips or bread. It can also be used in wraps or taco's or you can use it for chili dogs, which is a hotdog with chili con carne, grated cheese and grilled in the oven.
To make the Mexican feeling complete, drink a Sol or a Corona with your chili con carne.
Enjoy this recipe! I know you will!

Chili Con Carne

Ingredients:

• 500gr minced meat (I use a pork-veal mix)
• 800gr canned kidney beans
• 800gr chopped tomatoes (if prefer using canned, because fresh tomatoes are more sour)
• 3 tsp cumin
• 2 tsp spicy paprika powder
• 2 tsp chili powder or fresh chili to taste
• 2 tsp oregano
• 2 cubes beef stock
• 2 cloves of garlic
• 1 laurel leaf
• 1 big chopped (red) onion, or 2 small ones
• 10cl red wine
• oil
• cilantro, for garnish
• optional: sour cream

Preparation:

Heat some oil in a big casserole and fry the onion and the garlic. I like using red onion because it is sweeter than regular onion. Add the minced meat and fry. Add your seasoning, your beef stock and give it a stir. Add the tomatoes, the beans, the red wine and the laurel. Let it simmer for 40 minutes on a low fire with a half open cover to let some vaporized moisture out. Season with salt and pepper and garnish with some cilantro

Serve with rice, tortillas or taco chips and some sour cream!

Mmmmmm, so good!

May 07, 2013

Kangaroo with Mango & Coconut

Exotic

palmtrees, coconuts and ... meat!

I like eating and cooking with meat. Most of the time I use beef, pork, lamb or poultry, like most people do. But once in a while I like to cook with more exotic meat. Although kangaroo, crocodile or ostrich may not sound exotic for some people, in Belgium it is. Nowadays you can buy these kinds of meat in big supermarkets like Carrefour or Delhaize.
My favorite is kangaroo, it is a dark red meat with a somewhat stronger taste. You'd think: kangaroo is from Australia which means all Australians would eat kangaroo like we would eat beef for instance. But on my trip a long the Australian east coast I learned it is a not much consumed product down under. I even met Australians who looked at me as if I was crazy because I eat kangaroo. But I've got a tasteful recipe and I bet with this dish I would convince some Aussies that kangaroo is not bad, and show them it's not crazy to eat some kangaroo once in a while. They have got p

lenty anyway!

Kangaroo with Mango & Coconut

Ingredients:

• 350-400gr kangaroo filet
• 1 mango, cut into slices
• 1dl coconut milk 
• 1dl beef broth
• 75gr butter
• cinnamon
• salt & pepper
• brown sugar (cassonade)
• 160gr Rice (about 75-100gr per person)
• 1 tsp Asian basil
• chive

Preparation:

Preheat the oven on 180°C. Heat some butter in a frying pan, scorch your meat and put in the oven for about 10 minutes. You have got 10 minutes now to prepare the rest. Stark cooking your rice with the asian basil. Deglaze your frying pan with the beef broth and the coconut milk. Let your sauce reduce. In the meantime fry the mango with a tablespoon of brown sugar. When your meat is ready sieve your sauce finish with some butter and season with salt, pepper and some cinnamon.

Slice your meat and garnish with some chive.

Enjoy!

May 07, 2013

Caipirinha - Beef Wraps

Restaurant & Drinks

Caipirinha & Brazilian Food!

Weekend... I love it! It is a time to relax, eating out and having a drink with friends, without thinking about getting up for work the next day.
This weekend I went eating out in Brasil, a Brazilian restaurant in my hometown Ghent.
It is a small restaurant in an old cellar, right in the city center. Not very modern, but cosy. Brazilian music playing on the background and pictures on the wall give it the Brazilian feeling. On the menu you can choose from various traditional meat or fish dishes. After starting with a caipirinha I chose the fillet of lamb with goat cheese and rosemary, a really nice combination. My girlfriend chose the traditional mixed grill with black beans. The food was really well prepared. The serving felt a bit old-fashioned, as was the presentation of the dishes, but hey... nothing wrong with that. After our main course we had a "Bahia" desert mix which consisted of two types of coconut mousse, chocolate mousse, fresh fruit and 100% belgian "speculoos" ice cream.
In general we had a good diner and we were satisfied. Although it's not a place I would weekly go to, I recommend to try it out sometime.

Lamb with goat cheese and rosemary

After our diner we met some friend for a drink at Ghent's most known cocktail bar, "De Limonada". A nice bar with a sleek and modern interior. The menu offers loads of different cocktails varying from classics such as the Long island ice tea to experimental cocktails such as alcoholic popsicles. This is a bar you must have been to during your visit to Ghent.
My personal favorite is the Mai Tiki Thai, just try it! Last night I got a Desperados beer topped with a shot of Margarita and a Hotlix popsicle, with worm!

Limonada, Cocktailbar

Hotlix popsicle

Being a cocktail lover I would like to share the recipe for a Caipirinha, the traditional Brazilian cocktail. A perfect drink for a hot summer afternoon! This cocktail is also perfect as aperitif. But don't drink to many, because you'll be dancing samba before you know it!

Caipirinha

Ingredients:

• Cachaça (A Brazilian liquor made from sugar cane, similar to white rum)
• cane sugar
• limes
• ice

Preparation:

Roll a lime on your table or between your hands, this loosens the juice. Cut 1/2 lime in 4 parts, put them in an old fashioned glass with 1 or 2 teaspoons of sugar (depending on how sour the lime is) and crush with a muddler. Fill the glass with ice (crushed or cubes) and add 6ml of cachaça. Garnish with a slice of lime. 

Enjoy!

Simple Food

Beef wraps... so good!

The weekend is not only the perfect time for eating out and having a drink, but also for cooking. Although I had enough time to make something complex, I chose to prepare a super simple dish: fresh beef wraps. They are is my girlfriend's favorite! It is great for lunch, to take for a picnic or as a snack... and it only takes 10 minutes to make! Sometimes something simple can blow you away!

Beef wraps

Ingredients:

• 4 tortilla wraps
• 1 red onion (red onions are sweeter than regular onions)
• 500gr steak
• paprika powder
• salt & peper
• 1 avocado
• 2 hands full of rocket salad
• 3 tsp sour cream
• 1 tsp horseradish cream
• cilantro

Preparation:

Sprinkle some paprika powder, salt & pepper on your steak, put aside and let it rest. Cut your avocado in to long strips. I cut it in half lengthwise, and each half I cut into 4 slices. Cut your onion into thin strips. Mix one teaspoon of horseradish cream with 3 teaspoons of sour cream.

You steak will have absorbed some of the paprika powder. Grill it in some corn or peanut oil according to taste. When ready let it rest for 2 minutes while you spread one teaspoon of horseradish & sour cream mix on a tortilla wrap. Cut your beef into thin slices and spread on the wrap. Add some avocado (about 1/4 avocado per wrap), some onion strips, some rocket salad, some cilantro and sprinkle with paprika powder. fold the rap into a roll.

If you like you can also add tomatoes, cheese, or use chicken instead of beef.

April 05, 2013

"Gentse Stoverij"

Beer

Cooking with it.

Belgium is the land of beer, you can't deny that. In Belgium there are about 400 breweries brewing 1000 of the finest beers. Enough beers for one's taste! Do you like strong, dark beers? Well, have a St. Bernardus Abt 12! More fond of the white beers? A Hoegaarden is perfect for you! Or would you like a fruity Kriek? Or a Westmalle trappist? Or a Duvel? It is almost impossible to taste them all... 

Besides being a fine drink, beer is also used to cook!

On of Belgium's most known recipe with beer is "Gentse Stoverij" or Beef stew from Ghent also known as Carbonade Flamande. A fine stew made with a tasty dark Belgian beer. 

Living in Ghent I just had to learn this dish. I started looking up recipes, tasted different versions of "stoverij" in a number of restaurants in Ghent and wrote down the tips people gave me.

There a various ingredients in a "stoverij" which influence the taste. The main ingredient is the beer. Using a fruity dark beer will give your stew a different taste than using a bitter beer. Another ingredient is the mustard. I have experienced that seeded mustard will make your stew more bitter than a smooth mustard, like Ghent Tierenteyn mustard. You also don't want rubbery meat, therefor it is really  important to use quality meat. I like to use pork cheeks instead of beef because they are very tender and tasteful.

Stoverij is best served with french fries and a Belgian beer on the side.

Genste Stoverij (Carbonade Flamande)

ingredients: (for 2 people)

• 400 gr pork cheeks of beef
• 1 bottle of dark Belgian beer (I use Westmalle Dubbel)
• 100ml beef broth
• 1 chopped onion
• mustard
• 1 slice of bread
• 1 laurel leaf
• 1 tbs flour
• butter

Preparation:

Cut your meat into pieces of 3 by 3 cm. Melt the butter in a casserole and fry the pieces of meat in two turns. If you bake all your meat at once it will lose to much fluid and it will cook instead of fry. After frying the meat set it aside and fry the onion. Add the meat and the flour with the onions and give it a stir. Pour over the beer and the broth and add the laurel. Your meat must be submerged. Spread some mustard on the slice of bread and add it to the stew mustard side down. Put the lid on and let it simmer for 2 hour on low heat. Stir it once in a while to make sure it doesn't burn on the bottom.

Enjoy!

"Smakelijk"!

May 02, 2013

Pizza

Pizza

who doesn't like it?!

If you say Italy, you are thinking about sun, wine, romans, pasta and ... pizza! Everybody loves pizza! Everywhere you go in Italy you'll find it. From rich and cheesy pizzas in the north to the flavored, vegetable pizzas in the south. You can eat them hot... or cold. Take 'm at a traditional pizzeria or take some "pizza al tagglio"; giant rectangle backed pizzas sold hot or cold in square slices by the weight.

Italy has some great pizzerias. Here are some addresses in Italy which I remember:

Pizzeria La Fabbrica - Viale passubio 2, Milano

Trattoria La Fontanina - Via Stocchetti 56, Besozzo

Pizzeria Pantera Rosa - Piazzale del Verano 84, Roma

- Have you been in Italy and remember a really nice pizzeria? Comment it below! -

Who doesn't love pizza? And what better than make it yourself! I love making my own pizzas because you can choose your toppings and it's fun to make!

This pizza dough recipe I got in Italy from Maria, and it always gives you the perfect pizza crust!

Tomate sauce

Ingredients:

• 1 onion, chopped
• 1-2 garlic cloves 
• 1 can of tomatoes
• 1tsp fresh oregano or other mediterranean herbs
• salt & pepper
• 2tbs olive oil

Preparation:

Heat the olive oil, fry the onion and garlic. Add the tomatoes, and the herbs. Let it simmer without a lid on low to medium heat for about 20 minutes until you have a thick sauce. Season with salt en pepper. Mix and let it cool before use.

Pizza dough

Ingredients: (for 7-10 pizzas, depending on how big you make them)

• 1kg white flour (you can always mix whit flour with  rye flour)
• 700 ml tepid water
• 25gr fresh yeast (or 10gr dry yeast)
• 1 tbs salt
• 3 tbs olive oil

Preparation:

For this recipe I use a Kitchenaid, but you can follow the same steps if you mix your ingredients by hand. If you use fresh yeast you should dissolve it in the tepid water, if you have dry yeast you add it together with the flour & salt into your bowl. 

Add the flour & salt to the mixing bowl and mix on low speed with the dough hook. Slowly add the water. After 8 minutes add the 3 table spoons of oil and mix for another 10 minutes.

Take the dough from the mixing bowl and roll it into a homogeneous ball. Put the dough in a bowl and let it rise for about 20 minutes. Knead it a little and divide into small portions (each portion will become a single base). Put your dough balls on a tray, cover them with a tepid wet cloth and leave them to rise for another 2 hours. Pre-heat you oven as hot as possible (my oven can go up to 350°C)

Try rolling out the dough with your hands instead of using a rolling pin. If you want to have even more fun, try spinning your base in the air like a real pizzaiolo!

Top with tomato sauce, cheese (for the best result use grated mozzarella) and all the toppings you want!

What toppings to use? Try black olives, parma or cooked ham, canned artichokes, mushrooms, chorizo, blue cheese, pineapple, etc...

As a finishing touch you can top with rocket salad, fresh cherry tomatoes, parma ham, ... after baking the pizza, just before serving.

Buon Apetito!

 April 30, 2013