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Quick and Easy homemade ITALIAN PIZZA

Author: Naima

Aug 8

 

 

here we are with a common, easy yet delicious recipes of the traditional italian cuisine. LA PIZZA!

This is the recipe we use in my family since lots of years and I can assure you, it’s delicious. It takes some time but just to rest as the preparation won’t take you more than 30 minutes.

here it comes the timings:

preparation 30 minutes
time to rest 50 minutes
cooking time 15-20

you can have your pizza every day of the week, I usually back from work at 6 pm and at 8 pm it’s served.

ingredients:

  • 600g flour type 00
  • 1 cup milk
  • 1 cup seed oil
  • 1 cube  brewer’s yeast (25g)
  • 150-200ml water
  • salt
this is for the dow. The stuffing is upon your preference, the basic pizza is MARGHERITA with simple tomato sauce and a very good mozzarella, olive oil and oregano, otherwise the MARINARA is with tomato sauce, parsley, garlic and olive oil.
Preheat the oven at 60°C for about 10 minutes than turn it OFF and leave the door closed to keep it warm.
Heat the milk a little bit, it shouldn’t be hot or the yeast will loose all its properties. Dissolve the yeast in the milk using a fork until it’s all dissolved.
In a blender, put the flour, a good pinch of salt, milk with yeast and start blend it with the correct spatula for the dow. After a few blitz, start adding the water slowly inside the mixer, don’t put too much water per time, it shouldn’t be too soft. The dow is ready when it naturally detach from the borders of the blender.
On a clean large surface (a wooden table would be perfect as you need space), dust some flour and remove the dow from the blender and start working it hardly. Keep on working up to 10 minutes than make a ball with the dow. In a large bowl with high edges, dust some flour, put the ball of dow and cover with a clean canvas than put in the oven turned OFF for 50 minutes. NEVER OPEN THE OVEN DURING THIS PERIOD!!
now.. relax.. take it easy with the world famous “dolce far niente”
When the dow is ready, dust again some flour on the table and start working it again but this time, slowly and just for a couple of minutes (otherwise the yeast will loose all its effect and you’ll eat a piece of marble), in the meantime preheat the oven at 250°C.
Prepare the tray brushing a drizzle of seed oil all over the surface just to avoid sticking. If you prefer, you can use some parchment paper too.
Now, it’s easy and you’re pretty done, just lay the dow on the tray, make some high edges allover and leave it rest for about 5-10 minutes again, before stuffing.
Remember to season the tomato sauce if you use it, add oregano (we ALWAYS use it) and a drizzle of olive oil before cooking.
It will take about 15-20 minutes, check it out after 15 minutes and be sure the edges are not too brown and nothing is burned.
enjoy!!
in this picture I used tomato sauce, a gorgeous mozzarella, bacon, green bell peppers (actually.. these are yellow though), oregano and olive oil.

 

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  • Filed under: Ai fornelli!, Comfort Food, how to.., in chiacchiera, Italian recipes, Junk Food

    • Spaghetti alla carbonara

    Author: Naima

    Feb 12



    This is one of my favorite dishes, it’s pretty easy to make but it needs just a couple of tips not to turn out to a disaster! :)

    A little bit of history.. This dish is very old and popular in Italy (and there are different versions)
    Some say that it was invented from some miners, the name “Carbonara” comes from “carbone” (charcoal) as they where all covered by charcoal dust and the spaghetti turned to be dusty and black. Nowadays the grounded black pepper replaced the dust obviously! :)
    If you like spiced food, be generous with pepper!

    Ingredients (serves 2)

    - 300g spaghetti (usually the common quantity of spaghetti should be around 100g each person.. But for me is too small quantity so I serve at least 150 or 200 depending on the hunger :) )
    - 250g diced bacon
    - 3 eggs (1 full egg and 2 egg yolks *tip: one egg yolk each person + 1 full egg each 2 person, if you serve more than 2, just make the calculation!)
    - ground pepper
    - 1 cup parmesan cheese, grated (at least!!)
    - 150g butter

    Equipment:
    - 1 large sauce pan with high borders for pasta
    - 1 small frying pan
    - 1 large bowl
    - 1 fork or whisk
    - 1 pasta fork (utensil used to drain out spaghetti from the water, usually made in plastic or metal. If you don’t have one, just use tongs)

    This sauce is very quick to make. Usually it takes the time you cook your spaghetti!

    (check the tutorial “how to cook pasta” in the previous post)

    When the salted water is boiling and you put the spaghetti in, put the frying pan over a medium heat, pour in the butter and the bacon and make it crispy and golden brown.
    In the large bowl, whisk the eggs with a lot of Parmesan cheese (about a cup) and ground pepper, it makes a creamy sauce. Add just a couple of teaspoons of cold butter and set aside.
    When the bacon is crispy just turn down the heat to minimum, to keep it warm.
    When the spaghetti are ready al dente, DON’T drain them with the colander, this preparation needs a different process to be done and it’s where it’s tricky.. Using a pasta serving fork or tongs, drain out a little quantity of spaghetti and put it in the bowl with beaten eggs and STIR QUICKLY AND IMMEDIATELY, it avoids to scramble the egg (the worst case scenario for a Carbonara is having the eggs scrabbled!), do it again and again until you finish your spaghetti. Don’t drain them too much, just leave some cooking water on to soften the sauce (I said SOME, don’t put too much water or you’ll eat spaghetti with egg stock and it would be disgusting!!!)
    Now pour the bacon and butter over the pasta and stir again to combine.
    Add some more parmesan and ground pepper, stir again, serve and eat immediately.

    Enjoy!

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  • Filed under: Italian recipes

    • How to cook pasta

    Author: Naima

    Feb 12

    Here we are! Let’s start with a basic tutorial about cooking pasta.. Trust me when I say that it’s definitively easy!
    What you need is just a large sauce pan with high borders, water, rock salt and, pasta, of course!!

    Whatever the kind of pasta is, the process is the same:

    - Fill the pan with cold water until is almost full, you have to leave a space of about 5-7 cm from the top, and bring it to the boil

    - when the water is boiling add the rock salt. Be careful with it, I use about 4 pinches of it but I suggest you to start with 3, let it dissolve, taste the water and decide if it needs more salt.. Remember that you can add salt later (as in the sauce or once is plated) but you CAN’T remove it..

    - when the water is boiling add the pasta and stir immediately. Pasta doesn’t cook with cold water or if it’s not boiling.
    If you are cooking short pasta as for maccheroni or similar, just stir a couple of times, if you are cooking spaghetti, please don’t brake them to fit in the pan, just stay there and gently push them in the water as they start to get a little soften. Do it quickly or you’ll have spaghetti half cooked and half raw and we definitively don’t want it, right?

    - respect the timing! Usually, spaghetti al dente takes 6 to 8 minutes, in Italy we serve at 5 either.. But please don’t overcook them!!!!
    Short pasta may take to 12 to 15 or more, depending on the kind of pasta, but just follow the timing reported on the label.
    Pasta is ready and “al dente” when it makes a little resistance when you bite it. It doesn’t have to be too hard or sticky to your teeth.. With the experience you’ll be able to understand when it’s done without using a timer!

    - when the pasta is cooked just pour it in a colander in your sink and it’s ready to be added to the sauce.

    A common, quick jet easy way to eat it, (especially when you’re in a hurry) is to make “pasta in bianco” that means that you may just cook pasta, add a splash of olive oil or a table spoon of butter, parmesan cheese, and eat it!

    Enjoy!

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  • Filed under: how to.., Italian recipes