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 Do you look at recipes in glossy magazines and cookbooks and despair of ever making anything like that yourself?
The nzgirl Test Kitchen is about real, easy food that anyone can make. We search out recipes, then test them, so you can see what the food really turns out like.
When we were thinking about our next Test Kitchen, we thought about some of our favourite meals. Then all of a sudden it was obvious - everyone loves pizza, especially on a Friday night! If you're looking for an alternative to the usual Hawaiian or MeatLovers, check out our new gourmet options - especially the potato pizza!
If you want to make the process even easier, do what we did and order all your groceries from Foodtown online! It was so simple and convenient, we just jumped on to the Foodtown website, picked from their great range of products, set the order date, and hey presto! The groceries were delivered right to our office door. Visit the www.Foodtown.co.nz to see how easy it really is for yourself...  __________________________________________________________________________
Pizza
Editor’s Note: Pizza is one of my favourite meals ever! I do love the convenience of dial-a-pizza and even pre-prepared pizza bases with a few toppings chucked on the top. However, what I do really love is homemade pizza, prepared from scratch - yummo! Time to prepare: Making the dough up in the morning or the night before means that you'll arrive home from work to smell the dough rising and only have to heat up the oven, pop some toppings on and cook!
The $$$: Homemade dough is ridiculously cheap - so the cost of your pizzas is based on the extent of the toppings you use. Cheaper options are the potato and onion marmelade, margarita or pumpkin and rocket, while smoked chicken and brie is more of a deluxe option. Taste rating: Delicious, each one of these pizzas went down a real treat at nzgirl HQ. While it sounds like carb overload, the potato pizza is amazing.! We even converted an ardent pumpkin hater to love the pumpkin, rocket and pinenut combination! Ingredients (Click here to purchase these ingredients now!) Serves 4 Pizza Dough
4 tsp yeast
125ml warm water
4 cups flour
2 tbsp milk
4 tbsp oil
1 cup water
Pinch salt
Margarita Pizza
3-4 tomatoes, sliced
Handful of basil leaves
2 tbsp basil pesto/sauce
2 tbsp pizza sauce
60 grams mozzarella
Pumpkin, Pinenut and Rocket Pizza Topping
Quarter of a pumpkin
Handful of pinenuts
1/2 cup rocket leaves
2 tbsp cream cheese
2 tbsp pizza sauce
1/4 cup grated Tasty cheese Potato Pizza
One red onion, sliced chunky
2 tbsp brown sugar
2 tbsp balsamic vinegar
2-3 large potatoes, sliced very thinly
1 tbsp pizza sauce
1/4 cup grated Tasty cheese
Smoked Chicken, Cranberry and Brie
Half a smoked chicken breast
2-3 tbsp cranberry sauce
1/2 brie
1/4 cup grated Tasty cheese
Steps
1: Combine yeast and warm water in a cup and leave to foam (about ten minutes). In a large mixing bowl, combine flour, milk, oil, water, salt and the yeast mixture. Spread some flour on a flat surface and knead the dough mixture for about ten minutes. Place back in the bowl, cover with cling film and leave in warm place to rise. NB: A hot water cupboard works best, or a warm spot somewhere. 2: After a few hours (or when you get home!) collect the dough - it should have risen significantly. Punch down with a wooden spoon, sprinkle some more flour on the bench and knead lightly into a ball. Divide into 5-6 portions and roll out flat. Place each pizza base on a non-stick baking tray and get ready to add the toppings. To assemble the Margarita Pizza 3: Spread the pizza base with pizza sauce, the back of a tablespoon works well for this. Layer slices of tomato on the base, then add slices of mozzarella, swirl pesto around and sprinkle the basil leaves.
To assemble the Potato Pizza 4: Start by making up the onion marmelade (you can buy this if you need in the pickle section of the supermarket). Roughly chop up a red onion, put into a saucepan with brown sugar and balsamic vinegar over a low heat. Allow to caramelise for 10-15 minutes. This should smell delicious! Spread a thin layer of pizza sauce on the base, then smooth out the onion marmelade, cover with the thinly sliced potato, then a light sprinkling of cheese.
To assemble the Pumpkin, Pinenut and Rocket Pizza
5: Chop up the pumpkin into pieces, remove the skin, place in a microwave safe bowl covered with a damp paper towel and heat at two minute intervals. It's ready when it's easy to insert a knife. Spread the pizza base with pizza sauce. Sprinkle a layer of rocket over this, place the pumpkin at even intervals and then sprinkle pinenuts over top. Place blobs of cream cheese around the pizza, then cover with a sprinkling of cheese!
To assemble the Smoked Chicken, Cranberry and Brie Pizza
6: Spread the pizza base with cranberry sauce. Using your fingers break the chicken breast into pieces and place over the pizza. Then sprinkle chunks of brie on top. Cover with a light sprinkling of cheese.
7: Once all the pizzas are assembled, place in the oven at 180-200C for about twenty minutes or until the cheese and toppings start to brown, just a little bit! Then cut into sections and enjoy!
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