How To Make Pizza

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learn how to make pizza!

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Pizza

Ingredients (serves 4)

1 cup plain flour

1 teaspoon dried yeast

Pinch salt

2 teaspoons extra virgin olive oil

5 tablespoons warm water

Extra flour for dusting rolling pin

140g tub pizza sauce

1 cup grated cheese (1/2 cheddar, 1/2 mozzarella, or just mozzarella)

Method

1. Combine the flour, yeast and salt in a bowl. Make a well in the centre of the mixture. Add the oil and water and use a wooden spoon to combine until a dough almost forms.
2. Turn the mixture out onto a lightly floured surface. Use the palm of your hand to knead the dough for 2-3 minutes or until smooth. Place into a lightly oiled bowl, cover with plastic wrap and set aside for 1 hour, or until the dough doubles in size.
3. Preheat oven to 240°C. Use your fist to punch down the dough. Knead until smooth. Using a lightly floured rolling pin, roll the dough out until big enough to line a lightly greased 27cm pizza tray.
4. Spread pizza sauce over pizza, then sprinkle with cheese and any other toppings that you desire. Bake for 15-20 minutes or until cheese is golden and the base is crispy.

Spaghetti Bolognese

Ingredients (serves 4)

6 short-cut bacon rashers, excess fat trimmed

375g dried spaghetti

2 tsp olive oil

400g lean beef mince

1 x 575g jar bolognese pasta sauce

1/3 cup loosely packed shredded fresh basil leaves

Shaved parmesan, to serve

Method

Heat a frying pan over medium-high heat. Add half the bacon and cook for 2 mins each side or until crisp. Transfer to a plate lined with a paper towel. Repeat with remaining bacon. Coarsely chop and set aside.

Cook spaghetti following packet directions, until al dente. Drain well.

Meanwhile, heat oil in the frying pan over high heat. Add mince and cook, uncovered, stirring with a wooden spoon, for 3-4 mins or until the mince changes colour. Pour in pasta sauce and simmer over medium heat, stirring occasionally, for 5 mins. Remove from heat.

Stir in the basil and half the bacon. Divide pasta among bowls and spoon over sauce. Top with remaining bacon and parmesan.

Lasagne

Ingredients

60g butter

1/4 cup plain flour

450ml milk

1/2 quantity cooked bolognese sauce (see bolognese recipe above)

9 dried lasagne sheets

1/3 cup grated mozzarella cheese

1/4 cup grated parmesan cheese

Method 

1. Preheat oven to 180°C. Grease a 6cm deep, 29cm x 20cm (base) lasagne dish.
2. Melt butter in a heavy-based saucepan over medium-high heat. Add flour. Cook, stirring, for 1 to 2 minutes, or until mixture is bubbling. Remove from heat. Slowly add milk, stirring until mixture is smooth. Return to heat. Cook, stirring, for 10 minutes or until mixture comes to the boil.
3. Spoon a little bolognese sauce into base of baking dish. Top with 3 sheets of pasta. Spoon over half the remaining bolognese sauce. Top with one-third of the white sauce. Spread evenly over bolognese. Repeat pasta, bolognese and white sauce layers. Top with final layer of pasta. Spoon remaining white sauce over pasta sheets. Spread evenly. Sprinkle with cheeses.
4. Bake lasagne, uncovered, for 30 to 35 minutes, or until pasta is tender and top is golden. Stand for 10 minutes before serving.

Cocolate Gelato

Gelato is a very popular italian dessert, which is very similar to ice cream. 

Ingredients (serves 6)

750ml (3 cups) milk

165g (3/4 cup) caster sugar

2 tbs cornflour

3/4 cup good-quality cocoa

Method

1. Whisk together 1 cup milk with the sugar, cornflour and cocoa.
2. Place the remaining milk in a saucepan and bring to the boil.
3. Pour the milk over the chocolate mixture and stir to combine. Return the mixture to the saucepan and stir over low heat for about 10 minutes or until thickened.
4. Pour the mixture into a shallow container and freeze until frozen at the edges.
5. Remove from freezer and beat with an electric beater. Pour back into container and re-freeze. Repeat 2 or 3 times. (Alternatively use an ice-cream machine following manufacturer's directions.

Tiramisu

This is a very simple recipe for tiramisu, a well known italian dessert, though there are some very elaborate recipes. But the simple ones taste just as good!

Ingredients

500g mascarpone cheese

2 tbs caster sugar

400mls freshly brewed strong coffee, cooled

2 tbs Tia Maria or Kahlua (optional)

1 250g pkt savoiardi biscuits

80g good-quality dark chocolate, grated

Method

1. Beat the mascarpone and caster sugar in a medium mixing bowl with electric beaters until soft peaks form. Set aside.
2. Combine the coffee and Tia Maria or Kahlua (if using) in a large bowl. Dip 1/2 the savoiardi biscuits quickly into the coffee mixture and then arrange over the base of a 1.25-1itre (5-cup) serving dish or six 250mls (1-cup) individual serving glasses. Spread half the mascarpone mixture evenly over the biscuits. Dip the remaining biscuits into the coffee mixture and then arrange in a single layer over the mascarpone layer. Finish with a layer of the remaining mascarpone mixture. Cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate for at least 6 hours or overnight.
3. Sprinkle with the grated chocolate just before serving.

Cheese

There are over 500 different cheeses produced from Italy. They include parmesan, ricotta, bocconcini, mozzarella and many more. The cheeses are served, usually before or after a main meal, or sometimes as a course of their own during a meal. Cheese is a big part in the Italian cuisine, and adds a lot of flavour and depth to a meal. The Italian translation of cheese is "formaggio."

Ettore Boiardi

Ettore (Hector) Boiardi (October 22, 1897 – June 21, 1985) was an Italian-born chef who became famous for his eponymous brand of food products, named Chef Boyardee.

Ettore Boiardi was born in Piacenza, Italy, to Giuseppe and Maria Maffi Boiardi. On May 9, 1914, at the age of 16, he arrived at Ellis Island aboard the La Lorraine, a ship of French registration.

Boiardi became the head chef at the Plaza Hotel in New York, where his brother had worked; it was his brother's employment there that had enabled him to join its staff as well. In 1915, he supervised the catering for the reception of President Woodrow Wilson's second wedding at the Greenbrier, in West Virginia.

His entrepreneurial skill became fine-tuned when he opened his first restaurant, Il Giardino d'Italia, whose name translated as “The Garden of Italy,” at East 9th Street and Woodland Avenue in Cleveland, Cuyahoga County, Ohio, in 1926.

Boiardi was quite proud of his Italian heritage. He sold his products under the brand name “Chef Boy-Ar-Dee,” allowing his American customers to pronounce his name properly, as boy-AR-dee.

Later, he sold his brand to American Home Foods, later International Home Foods, for approximately $6 million out of family concerns about the company's internal growth and its struggling cash-flow after having grown so rapidly.

Boiardi's company made and prepared millions of rations for the American and other allied troops during World War II, and for his efforts he was awarded a gold star order of excellence from the United States War Department. He then helped make new Italian food products for the American market until his death.