Saturday Night Homemade Pizzas

(Click on pizza#1 to see pizza#2)

Bardeco at the corner of St-Mathieu and Lincoln in Montréal, then Royal Pizza in Edmonton’s Old Strathcona were my weekly, lazy-let’s-order-in night favourites.

I used to order pizza in all the time, but it was too much cheese, too much salt that I woke up in the middle of the night with a dry mouth!!! I also bought pre-packaged pizza crusts from the grocery stores, but they tend to be too soggy!

…Until I discovered homemade pizzas.

Easy, cheap and most delicious!

The great thing about homemade pizza is that you can make the dough, forget about it for a few hours, and knead it again for a short second rise while preparing the toppings. If you plan ahead, you could let the dough rise while you are out and about, relaxing at the movies or splurging on a new pair of Arnold Churgins!

Even better, you get to create your own pizza. Anything you can imagine for tasty homemade pizzas: barbequed red peppers, piccantelli olives, anchovies, and fresh buffalo mozzarella and herbs! Infinite possibilities! You have here two toppings for you to try. For the adventurous palate, the first one combining apples, capicollo, with Serrano peppers is sweet, savoury and spicy; the second one with tomatoes, anchovies and olives is for the conservative palate.

I adapted the recipe for the dough from the Joy of Cooking, added a tiny bit more water and reduced the amount of salt.

Ingredients for 2 pizza crusts:

3 cups all-purpose flour

1½ cup warm water

2 ½ teaspoons active dry yeast

2 teaspoons salt

1 tablespoon sugar

2 tablespoons olive oil

Toppings for Pizza#1:

1 egg yolk

¼ cup mustard

2 tablespoon lemon juice or cider vinegar

100 g capicollo

1 apple (or grapple: grape-flavoured apple)

1 red pepper

1 small red onion

4 Serrano peppers

¼ cup grated parmesan, preferably grana padano, or gruyere

Fresh Italian parsley

Salt and pepper to taste

Toppings for Pizza#2:

¼ cup tomato paste

4 slices pancetta

6-8 anchovies

1 tomato

1 yellow pepper

2 tablespoons capers

¼ cup piccantelli olives

Italian herbs

¼ cup grated parmesan, preferably grana padano, or gruyere

Fresh Italian parsley

Salt and pepper to taste

1. In a large bowl, stir the yeast into the warm water.

2. Let dissolve for 5 mins.

3. Stir in the olive oil with sugar and salt, then the flour.

4. Knead the dough for 10 mins to form a smooth and elastic ball.

5. Place the ball of dough in a bowl, cover and let rise for 2 hrs in a warm location, until doubled in size.

6. Punch and divide the dough into two balls.

7. Lightly knead, wrap in plastic film and let rise again while you prepare the toppings.

8. Preheat the oven to 425 F.

9. Grease or line two pizza pans.

10. Roll the dough using a rolling pin and place on the lined pans.

11. Allow the dough to relax before adding the toppings.

12. Drizzle with olive oil and bake for 20 mins.

13. Sprinkle with chopped parsley before serving.

Fresh Fig and Apple Breakfast Pudding

It is Thanksgiving today, South of us. One of the best times to enjoy the fruits of the harvest. A bountiful harvest of apples and figs for every meal, including breakfast! This bread pudding is my low-fat version of the traditional Pain perdu (a.k.a. French toast). Who would have though that I would go for the oven-baked instead of the ever-so-tempting pan-fried in butter original!? Believe me, the warm and juicy fruit and the cream cheese are worth coming back to this breakfast treat! I usually add toasted walnuts on top for their earthy crunch.

Ingredients for 4 servings:

½ pound bread (about 8-10 slices)

1 cup milk

1 large egg

¼ cup fancy molasses (or maple syrup)

½ cup light cream cheese

4 fresh figs

2 gala apples

½ cup golden raisins

1 stick cinnamon

2 tablespoons butter

½ cup walnut halves

1. In a bowl, beat the egg with the milk and the fancy molasses.

2. Coarsely cut the bread into one-inch squares.

3. Soak the bread into the egg mixture for 5-10 mins, until all the liquid is absorbed.

4. Preheat the oven to 350 F.

5. Grease a 9 x 9 in. pan with butter.

6. Transfer the bread into the pan.

7. Slice the apples and quarter the figs.

8. Slice the cheese.

9. Add to the fruit and the cheese to the bread.

10. Toss with the freshly grated cinnamon.

11. Pop in the oven for 15 mins.

12. At the same time, toast some walnuts on a baking sheet.

13. Cut the butter into small pieces and scatter on the pudding.

14. Bake for another 5 mins, until the butter is all melted.

Raisin Gala and Spartan Apple Pie

With fall come apples, which means homemade pies. I do not understand why people buy ready-made pastries when it only takes a few minutes to mix butter, flour and water.

This recipe features a pâte brisée, the easiest pastry ever - and I am sure you will agree with me when you try it! No need to fuss around to get this thin crust ready!
In this pie, the sweet tartness of small red and yellow Galas and bright pink Spartan is balanced with the candied and dried fruit. Perfect for a light dessert!

Ingredients for the pâte brisée:

200 grams all-purpose flour

100 grams room temperature butter

1 teaspoon salt

1/3 cup (75 mL) cold water

Ingredients for the filling:

4 apples (2 gala and 2 spartan)

¼ cup raisins

2 tablespoons candied orange peel

¼ cup orange liqueur

1 egg yolk

1. In a bowl, combine flour and salt. 2. Cut the butter into small cubes and rub into the flour until obtaining coarse grains.

3. Pour the water in and slightly knead to form a ball.

4. Wrap the dough with clingfilm and allow to rest in the fridge for 30 mins.

5. Slice the apples. You can also peel the apples, but I prefer them with their skin on.

6. Preheat the oven to 350 F.

7. Line a deep pie pan with parchment paper.

8. Roll the dough using a pin on floured board.

9. Transfer the dough to the pan. Bake the pastry blind for 15 to 20 mins to avoid a soggy crust.

10. Layer the candied peel, the raisin and the apple slices in the pie pan.

11. Bake for 30 mins, until the apples are golden brown.

12. Slightly beat the orange liqueur with the egg yolk.

13. Brush the apples with the egg mixture.

14. Bake for another 5 mins.

15. Serve warm, au natural or à la mode.