Cafe World Challenge Week 7

This week has been really slow on the cooking front, as I only made one Cafe World dish. My husband has either been away or had to eat out, so it's been mostly just myself and the kids at dinnertime. I like to share my cooking and get feedback (hint, hint) so when he's not around, its easier to just serve the kids exactly what they like, so its been spaghetti or soup and salad for most of the week.



Tony's Classic Pizza

In Cafe World the picture of the pizza shows pepperoni and the instructions include olives, so I assuming Tony's Classic is a pepperoni and olive pizza.

I made two pizzas, one is Tony's Classic and the other is my favourite, so I'll call it Jenny's Classic Pizza.

No amount of great toppings can save a pizza with a bad base, so I prefer to buy my pizza dough from an expert. I have a great little bakery and cafe in my neighbourhood owned by an Italian family, so I get my pizza dough from them. I get two dough balls in each package big enough for two 12 inch pizzas.

Pizza recipe

Use base or dough of choice
I use a pizza pan with holes, so that the base crisps. I spread coarse corn meal on the plate before adding the dough. This prevents the dough from sticking. For my South African readers, I use good old IWISA pap

For Tony's Classic:

Spread tomato/pizza sauce or puree on the base. I like to mix in some minced garlic and a drizzle of olive oil before I spread mine on. Add cheese, I like an Italian blend of mozzarella, parmesan, emmenthal and provolone, but plain mozzarella is good too. I then place sliced pepperoni and olives on top. Don't put the pepperoni under the cheese, it doesn't crisp and you'll have soggy pepperoni, UGH. I also sprinkle a little Italian herb seasoning on top. I put my pizza on the bottom rack of a 425F/220C oven and cook for about 15 minutes. It'll depend on your pan, so check when the cheese is bubbly and the crust is browned.


* I didn't add the tomato paste in this photo as I didn't have any. I used oil and garlic, as in Jenny's Classic


For Jenny's Classic:

My Classic is a Tomato and Basil Pizza. Mix together some olive oil and minced garlic and spread/brush over crust. Add thinly sliced tomato and chopped fresh basil. Sprinkle with cheese and Italian herb seasoning. Bake on the bottom rack of a 425F/220C oven and cook for about 15 minutes.



Cafe World Cookbook Changes

The Cookbook has had a net decrease this week. The Martian Brain Bake and the Tom Yum Goong are gone and the Sushi Spread is new.

Progress: 18 / 60

Up next: Pumpkin Pie

* Disclaimer: Image owned by Zynga. This site is not owned by Zynga. This site is not the owner of the intellectual property.

Eggplant Pizza with Pecorino

You're probably thinking eggplant on a pizza!!! But trust me it was delicious, although my 3 year old didn't agree, "I don't want the black things!!!!" I just went to the kitchen got another slice and pulled off the black things..ie. the eggplant and olives and told him this was his special pizza. Did the trick, disaster averted. My 16 month old was none the wiser and ate the whole thing.

The recipe came from Homemakers magazine Sept 2009 issue. Unfortunately the recipe is not online.


What's on it???

eggplant
tomato puree, I used strained Italian tomatoes
garlic, mmm.... what would a pizza be without it!!
Dried oregano & hot pepper flakes
black olives
Pecorino Romano cheese, this can be substituted with romano and mozzarella

Pizza dough from my local bakery



The Result

Half the fun of using this recipe was sourcing the ingredients. I love going to my local farmers market and picked up the eggplant and canned tomatoes there. I found pizza dough at my local bakery, which I had to order in advance and I found the cheese at an Italian deli. My grocery store didn't have all the ingredients, so I couldn't one-stop-shop.

The pizza was great, although next time I will cut back on the amount of cheese. The pecorino is pretty strong, but very flavourful.

I really like the eggplant, since it was salted, dried and then roasted in olive oil prior to contact with the pizza. Salting the eggplant draws out the moisture and helps prevent too much oil soaking into it and turning completely to mush.

Now the best discovery was this pizza dough, which was just perfect and so easy to work with. It came in balls sized for a medium pizza it stretched out easily to fit my pizza pan.

A few nights later I made up for the "black things" and made another pizza with my son's favourite topping, sausages. Now that I've discovered this awesome pizza dough, I will be experimenting with other toppings.