Your own Eazy Peazy pizza... and it will de-stress you too!

THESE days, it’s easy to get your hands on a shop-bought pizza. But this weekend, I’m advocating having a bash at making your own.

As much as there are good quality, ready-made pizzas out there, nothing beats a freshly made pizza straight from the oven. And believe it or not, the pizza-making process can actually help you de-stress.

I once watched a food documentary called How To Cook Your Life, which followed a Zen Buddhist chef talking about how making certain foods can promote calmness.

One example he used was bread making, since, when you knead the dough, it touches pressure points in the hands which are connected to easing stress and promoting relaxation.

So, essentially, when you knead bread dough, it calms you down!

That’s got to be a solid reason for having a go at making your own pizza this weekend!

My pizza bases are made with fast-acting yeast which helps rise the dough quicker. Toppings include baby spinach leaves, cherry tomatoes and a three different cheese combo of ricotta, mozzarella and parmesan.

Of course, you can adapt toppings to your favourite taste, with pepperoni, olives and mushrooms just some of the additions also popular for pizza.

As you’ve got the oven on, use it to bake a comforting dessert of Winter Spiced Apples, which can be popped in the oven to cook while you eat the pizza.

Fresh apples stuffed with dried fruits and the trad spices of the festive season make the kitchen smell glorious. Serve warm with cream or custard.

Eazy Peazy Three Cheese Pizzas

Ingredients (2 large pizzas for sharing) For the pizza dough:

300g strong bread flour or ‘00’ flour 7g sachet fast acting yeast Good pinch of salt 200mls tepid water 1 tbsp olive oil For topping:

150mls rustic tomato passatta 2 good handfuls baby spinach leaves, rinsed and dry 125g cherry tomatoes, halved 125g ricotta cheese 1 mozzarella ball, thinly sliced 2 tbsp freshly grated Parmesan cheese Sea salt and freshly ground black pepper Olive oil for drizzling Method For the pizza dough base, sift flour into a large bowl. Stir in yeast and salt. Make a well in the centre and add the tepid water and olive oil. Bring together with a wooden spoon.

Turn dough out onto floured board, make a ball. Knead for about 5 minutes till dough is smooth, bouncy and starts to feel resistant to the stretching.

Place in a lightly floured bowl and cover with a clean tea towel. Leave in a warm place for about an hour to allow dough to rise.

Turn out the dough on a floured board and knead lightly. Split in half and roll each half out to a thin 25cm circle. Drape a circle over a rolling pin and carefully transfer to a sheet of baking parchment. Repeat with remaining dough ball.

Preheat oven to Gas 8 240C (220C for fan assisted ovens) Place 2 baking sheets large enough to take the pizzas in oven and heat for about 10 minutes.

Meanwhile, top each pizza with some passatta spreading over dough with the back of a spoon.

Scatter over the spinach leaves and halved cherry tomatoes. Dot each pizza with spoonfuls of ricotta and sliced mozzarella.

Finish with grated Parmesan. Drizzle with olive oil and season with salt and freshly ground black pepper. Scatter over the oregano Carefully remove hot baking trays from oven and lay pizzas on parchment on the trays. Return to oven and bake for 8-10 minutes till dough is golden and top is bubbling.

Winter Spiced Apples

Ingredients (serves 4) 4 dessert apples 50g butter 3 tbsp soft brown sugar 3 tbsp sultanas 2 tbsp raisins 1 tbsp diced candied peel grated zest of a lemon 1 tsp ground ginger ½ tsp mixed spice good splash of apple juice or water Method Core the apples with an apple corer or use a sharp knife to cut out a cylinder from the centre of each apple. Make sure you get all the pips.

Score the skin each apple around it’s circumferance Place in a buttered ovenproof dish.

Mix the butter with the sugar, fruit, candied peel, lemon zest and spices in a small pan.

Heat gently till the butter melts.

Spoon some of the fruit mix into the centre of the apples.

Scatter the remaining fruit and melted butter around and add a splash of apple juice or water to the dish.

Bake in a pre-heated oven Gas 5 375F 190C for 15 minutes or until the apples are tender and pulpy but not completely collapsed.

Serve in warmed bowls with cream or custard

WINE MATCH

THIS homemade pizza deserves a glass of red wine.

Casato dei Medici Riccardi Chianti Colli Sensi 2020 is a perfect partner.

This very well priced Chianti is bouncing with berry fruit and subtle herby notes, to wash this pizza down a treat.

It feels ripe and full in the mouth and matches the rich cheesy topping beautifully.

It Looks great at the table too, with its trad labelling and red foil coated neck. Use your big red wine glasses, folks.

You’ll want to swirl this to allow the flavours to develop. The eye appeal of the bottle and quality of taste in the wine belie its very affordable price tag of just €7.99 from Lidl stores.

It will also make a great crowd pleaser of a wine for those Christmas gatherings, so it’s worth stocking up on a few bottles for the festive wine rack.

RECEIPT

MAIN DISH

00’ flour 1kg €2.99

Fast acting dried yeast 8 x 7g sachets €3.95

Cherry tomatoes punnet 250g 89c

Baby Spinach leaves 200g pack €1.29

Italian Tomato Passatta 360g €1.89

Ricotta cheese 250g tub €1.99

Mozarella 125g pack 75c

Parmesan 125g €3.79

Total: €17.54

DESSERT

Apples €2

Dried Fruit €4

Brown Sugar €2.50

Total: €8.50

GRAND TOTAL: €26.04