#foodpost - Artichoke and Spinach Pizza - Basille's NYC inspired

So, back in December when we visited NYC we ate a lotta, lotta food but one of our favourites was the humungous slice of artichoke pizza from the popular Basille's Pizza in Chelsea. It cost $5, was the size of my head and was simply delicious!

Naturally, we've been craving a slice ever since and after looking at a few different recipes online we chose bits and pieces of them to make the easiest artichoke pizza that we could and it worked a treat.

Ingredients:

Pizza base

or

White flour with yeast - simply add water, oil and salt

3 tablespoons of olive oil

2 cloves of chopped garlic

Parmesan cheese

Mozzarella cheese

Frozen (or fresh) artichoke hearts

Fresh spinach

I made my own base with shop bought pizza flour. I added half the amount of water to flour, plus 3 teaspoons of olive oil and a few pinches of salt. I wanted a deep pan style so I kneaded the dough twice over an hour and also left it to rise once i'd added the toppings. In future, I'm going to try a thinner crust and not leave it to rise at all.

So first...

Before adding your toppings, add your garlic to the olive oil and mix. You also need to chop the artichoke hearts into quarters and drain to keep from getting a soggy pizza.

Once you've prepped the oil and artichokes, lay out your pizza base and spread the garlicky oil all over it. Sprinkle parmesan cheese over the base and cover that with grated mozzarella. Cheese galore!

Add the artichoke pieces and spinach leaves and then, yes, cover with another handful of mozzarella cheese and if you really want to, another sprinkle of parmesan. 

Season with salt and pepper and put your pizza in the oven... medium/high for 10 minutes until the cheese is bubbling and brown.

It's certainly no Basille's... I think I'd need about 3x the cheese but it definitely curbed our cravings!

#foodpost - Courgette fritters

When the clock strikes midday on a lazy Sunday afternoon my eyes have a bad habit of going straight to the kitchen cupboards. If it's not to feast on the delights inside, then it's to whip up something of my own.

Sadly, I don't have the nifty fingers and patience to make an oh so pretty cake so I tend to go for the savoury options in which I can overuse the word 'rustic'... tasty but not so easy on the eyes.

So here you have it... my 'rustic' courgette fritters teamed with a rocket salad, cherry tomatoes and fresh boquerones (anchovies in vinegar). The recipe (below) is simple and takes less than 10 minutes from start to finish..

Ingredients

50ml plain flour

2 eggs

50ml milk

1 courgette

1/4 white onion 

1 tbsp oil to cook

To start on your fritters grab a mixing bowl and add your flour. Once in, make a small well in the centre for your eggs.

Add the eggs and mix together well.

Then, add the milk and salt and pepper for seasoning.

Once, everything's mixed together add your vegetables. I used courgette and onions but adding sweetcorn, peppers or spinach would be good too.

When your mixture's ready heat the oil in the pan and add spoonfuls of the mixture into the pan for 3 minutes on each side. When your fritters are golden... voila!

This recipe makes about 10 fritters so feel free to half the measurements.

Eat with a salad at lunch or with some crusty bread for supper.