Posted on by Annika

Arugula Pizza

I have been re-discovering arugula and so it did not take long for me to put it on pizza. 😛 You can spice up this classic version by using pesto alla Genovese instead of the standard tomato pizza sauce. It works nicely with the aromatic ham.

Fresh out of the oven and delicious!

Ingredients

  • pizza dough of your choice
  • 1 serving of pesto alla Genovese
  • 325 g cherry or mini-roma tomatoes
  • 80 g arugula
  • 80 g smoked ham
  • 125 g mozzarella cheese
  • potherbs

How to Make It

  • Preheat the oven to 250° C. If you own a pizza stone, make sure to heat it up in the oven. If you do not own one, no problem – either oil a baking tray or line it with baking parchment.
  • Roll out the dough and put it on the baking tray (or the pizza shovel to transport the pizza to the stone later).
  • Spread the pesto onto the dough.
  • Wash the tomatoes and cut them into halves or quarters, depending on their size. Put the pieces on the pizza.
  • Wash the arugula, dry it, and spread it on the pizza.
  • Cut the ham into smaller pieces and distribute it evenly as well.
  • Lastly, cut the mozzarella cheese into chunks and sprinkle them on top.
  • Add potherbs and/or oregano, if you want.
  • Put the pizza into the oven and bake at 250° C for 10-15 min., depending on your preferences.
The aromatic ham goes well with the pesto and the melted cheese.
Posted on by Annika

Pesto alla Genovese

Pesto alla Genovese is a classic pesto made from pine nuts, basil, a bit of cheese and olive oil. It is really easy to make and tastes best with fresh basil. You can use it for pasta or as a base for pizza.

Freshly made from basil leaves and pine nuts.

Ingredients

(makes about 400 ml / 400 g of pesto, i.e. about 2 servings)

  • 80-100 g pine nuts
  • 30 g fresh basil
  • 4 cloves of garlic
  • 120-130 ml olive oil
  • 90 g pecorino cheese
  • salt, pepper

How to Make It

  • Roast the pine nuts in a pan until they are golden brown. Do not use any oil.
  • Wash the basil leaves.
  • Peel the cloves of garlic and cut them into slices.
  • Blend the pine nuts, the basil, and the garlic until you have a chunky paste. Please be aware that the more pine nuts you use, the stronger the nutty flavor will be. If you are unsure whether you like that, start out with less pine nuts and slowly add more as you go until you have reached the flavor you like.
  • Add about 80 ml of the olive oil and blend everything thoroughly.
  • Add the cheese and at least a teaspoon of salt and freshly ground pepper each.
  • Blend again and add more olive oil until you reach the desired consistency.
  • Taste it and add more spices if necessary. Let the pesto rest for 30 minutes and taste again. You may have to add a bit more salt then.
  • You can freeze the pesto if you want or store it in the fridge in an air-tight container for 3-5 days. Make sure to pour a layer of olive oil on top, though.
You can use the pesto as a pizza sauce or for pasta. You can also store it in the fridge for a few days.
Posted on by Annika

Spicy Chicken Pizza

This pizza takes a bit longer to prepare, but the effort is absolutely worth it! Depending on how much curry powder you add, the chicken pieces can become quite spicy, giving this pizza an interesting twist. The caramelized onion provides a sweet note to the whole affair.

Spicy and sweet at the same time.

Ingredients

  • 2 chicken breasts
  • 1 big onion
  • 1 red, 1 yellow, and 1 green bell pepper
  • 100 g gorgonzola (or some other type of blue cheese)
  • curry powder, salt, pepper
  • honey

How to Make It

  • Cut the two chicken breasts into pieces and fry them with a bit of olive oil in the pan. Make sure to season them with curry powder and a bit of salt and pepper.
  • Peel the onion and dice it. Take another pan, heat up a spoonful of honey, and caramelize the onion in it.
  • Wash the bell peppers and cut them into pieces.
  • Roll out the dough and put it on the baking tray (or the pizza shovel to transport the pizza to the stone later).
  • Spread the pizza sauce to your liking.
  • Spread the bell pepper on the pizza, then add the chicken.
  • Cut up the gorgonzola cheese and sprinkle it on top as well.
  • Add whatever spices (like oregano) you feel like.
  • Put the pizza into the oven and bake at 250° C for 15-20 min., depending on your preferences.
  • Take it out, cut it into pieces, and enjoy!
Fresh out of the oven.
Posted on by Annika

Italian Veggie Pizza

Pizza is a versatile kind of food and you can get creative with your toppings. Basically, anything you like is acceptable. My personal favorite is a simple, yet healthy, veggie option made with zucchini and eggplant. Here, all measurements are estimates; it really depends on your individual tastes whether you want to add all ingredients and how much of them.

Ingredients

  • pizza dough of your choice
  • pizza sauce
  • 1 eggplant
  • 1 zucchini
  • a handful of mushrooms
  • 150-200 g goat cheese
  • spices like oregano, salt, pepper, chili, …

How to Make It

  • Preheat the oven to 250° C. If you own a pizza stone, make sure to heat it up in the oven. If you do not own one, no problem – either oil a baking tray or line it with baking parchment.
  • Roll out the dough and put it on the baking tray (or the pizza shovel to transport the pizza to the stone later).
  • Spread the pizza sauce to your liking.
  • Cut up the veggies and spread them on the pizza.
  • Cut up the cheese and sprinkle it on the pizza. Add whatever spices you feel like.
  • Put the pizza into the oven and bake for 15-20 min., depending on your preferences.
  • Take it out, cut it into pieces, and enjoy!
Italian veggie pizza for pizza night.

Why don’t you share with me a picture on Twitter or Instagram of your pizza night? 🙂

Posted on by Annika

Whole Wheat Pizza Dough with Yeast

If you have a spontaneous pizza craving, then a pizza dough made with sourdough is not for you! But fear not, here comes a quick and easy recipe for pizza dough made with yeast – and if you use whole wheat flour, then the dough is even (a bit) healthy. 😉

Have fun and drop me a line in the comments below or on Instagram and Twitter to tell me how your pizza night went. I would love to hear from you!

Ingredients

Enough for 1 baking tray.

  • 125 g whole wheat flour
  • 125 g wheat flour (type 450 or similar)
  • 1 teaspoon salt
  • 1 teaspoon sugar
  • 1 tablespoon olive oil
  • 15 g yeast
  • 100-120 ml lukewarm yeast water

How to Make it

  • Mix the flour with the salt and sugar. Add the olive oil.
  • Mix 80 ml lukewarm yeast water with the yeast.
  • Slowly add the yeast to the flour-mix.
  • Continue to knead the dough. Only add the rest of the yeast water as needed. The dough should not be too moist.
  • Knead the dough for another 5-10 minutes until you have a homogeneous mass.
  • Put the dough in an oiled bowl, cover it, and let it rest in a warm spot for 1 to 1½ hours.
  • You can now use the dough to bake your pizza. Check out my recipes for pizza sauce as well as my ideas for pizza toppings for inspiration.
Posted on by Annika · 1 Comment

Wheat Pizza Dough with Sourdough

This is a quick and easy pizza dough that does not take long to prepare and requires only a few basic ingredients. Keep in mind, though, that this dough relies on sourdough as raising agent, so unfortunately you cannot spontaneously make pizza with this recipe. (For a spontaneous pizza craving, check my dough recipe based on fresh yeast.) What I often do, however, is that I use leftover sourdough from baking bread in the morning and quickly whip up the batter for pizza dough. Then I let it rest until the late afternoon and we simply have pizza for dinner. It makes me very popular at home. 🙂

Ingredients

Enough for 2 baking trays.

How to Make It

  • Mix the flour with the salt and sugar. Add the olive oil and the sourdough.
  • Mix it all together and slowly add the lukewarm yeast water.
  • Knead the dough for about 10 minutes until you have a homogeneous and smooth mass.
  • Put the dough in an oiled bowl, cover it, and let it rest in a warm spot for at least 3-4 hours. The dough should have almost doubled its size.
The pizza dough as it begins the resting phase.
  • You can now use the dough to bake your pizza. Check out my recipes for pizza sauce as well as my ideas for pizza toppings for inspiration.

Let me know in the comments below or on Instagram and Twitter how you fared. I would love to hear from you!

Posted on by Annika · 2 Comments

Pizza Sauce

Well, if you are making your own pizza dough, then the next step is to cook your own pizza sauce, really. It tastes so much better than store-bought tomato sauce! Below I describe how to cook your own sauce and I won’t lie – it can get a bit messy. This is why I always make more and store leftover sauce in preserving jars in the fridge. This way, you have to clean up the mess only once, but have sauce for 2-3 pizzas. 😉

Let me know in the comments below or on Instagram and Twitter how messy your stove got and whether you like the pizza sauce.

Ingredients

Makes enough for two to three pizzas the size of standard baking trays.

  • 3 cloves of garlic
  • 1 onion
  • 2 tablespoons of olive oil
  • 3 cans of pre-cut tomatoes (1.200 ml in total)
  • 1 tablespoon of tomato puree
  • spices: salt, pepper, chili, oregano, …
  • 2-3 preserving jars

How to Make It

  • Peel the garlic and chop it into small pieces. Chop up the onion as well.
  • Put 2 tablespoons of olive oil into a pot and heat it up. Add the garlic and the onion and gently fry the pieces until golden.
  • Add the tomatoes.
  • Let the tomatoes simmer for 20-30 minutes until the liquid has evaporated and the sauce has been condensed to about two thirds or even half of the original amount.
  • Season it with salt, pepper, oregano, and chili.
  • You can fill left-over sauce into the preserving jars, close them, and store them in the fridge for about a week to ten days.
You can keep left-over sauce in a jar in the fridge.