caprese sandwich

With the weather finally changing here in Perth to more like spring, here is a 

great idea for a picnic snack, whether you eat it as is or toast on the BBQ. a play on the great Caprese Salad with vine ripened tomatoes, a good mozzerella and fresh grown basil pressed between two slices of good toasted sourdough.

What you need

6 slices sourdough bread

4 vine ripened roma tomatoes, sliced

2-3 tbsp balsamic vinegar

Good quality olive oil

8 oz. fresh mozzarella, sliced

2 large handfuls basil leaves (about 1 oz)

Salt and pepper to taste

what to do

Place the sliced tomatoes on a flat tray greased with olive oil. Drizzle the tops with a little olive oil, salt and pepper, and balsamic vinegar.

On the grill setting, bake the tomatoes in the oven for about 6-8 minutes, 

Place a few basil leaves on each slice of the bread.  Add the roasted tomatoes and top with mozzarella.

Just grill on the BBQ or in a pan till the bread is golden brown and the cheese is gooey and soft

fetta, onion and olive pizza

what you need
basic pizza dough 

basic tomato sauce 
1/2 cups shredded mozzarella
1/4 cup sliced spanish onion
1/4 cup sliced kalamatta olives
1/4 cup crumbled feta cheese
cracked pepper to taste


what to do
Roll out pizza dough to approximitely 1/2 inch thickness. 
Spread tomato sauce lightly over base
cover with the mozzerella cheese
Arrange feta, spanish onion and olives over the cheese
Finish with a few grinds of black pepper.
Bake on a pre-heated pizza stone in a hot oven for approx 15-20 minutes.

banana & coconut bread

Ingredients
Melted butter, for greasing
100g shredded coconut
450g self-raising flour
150g brown sugar
150g butter, at room temperature,
cubed
1 ripe large banana, mashed
270mls coconut cream
2 tsp vanilla essence


What to do
Preheat oven to 180°C. Brush a
6cm-deep, 10 x 21cm (base measurement) loaf pan with the melted butter to
grease. Line the base and sides of the pan with non-stick baking paper.
Spread coconut over a large
baking tray. Toast in preheated oven for 3-4 minutes or until lightly toasted.

Sift flour and sugar into a large
mixing bowl and stir to combine. Add butter and use your fingertips to rub in
until the mixture resembles fine breadcrumbs. Stir in the toasted coconut and
make a well in the centre.

Combine the banana, coconut cream and vanilla essence in a medium bowl. Add to dry ingredients and use a wooden spoon to mix until just combined.

Spoon the mixture into the prepared pan and use the back of the spoon to smooth the surface.

Bake in preheated oven for 30 minutes. Cover with foil and bake for a further 30 minutes or until a skewer inserted into centre of bread comes out clean. Set aside for 10 minutes before turning onto a wire rack to cool.

To serve, preheat grill on medium.

Thickly slice the bread and place on a baking tray. Toast under preheated grill for 2-3 minutes each side or until lightly toasted.

Spread with ricotta, drizzle with honey and serve immediately.

Italian sausage and three-cheese calzone

what you need

400g plain flour

100g semolina

1½ cups warm water

60ml olive oil

7g sachet dried yeast

1 Tbsp salt flakes

Extra 1 Tbsp olive oil

300g spicy pork sausages, out of their skins

2 large brown onions, sliced

¼ bunch oregano, leaves picked

Extra salt flakes and pepper, to season

400g ricotta

200g cherry bocconcini

150g parmesan, grated

what to do

Preheat oven to 200ºC. Put flour and semolina in the large bowl of an electric mixer. Attach dough hook. In a jug whisk together water, oil and yeast.

Turn mixer on low and pour in yeast mixture. Once all liquid has been added, increase speed to high, add salt and mix for 5 minutes until dough is soft and silky. Remove dough hook and cover bowl with plastic wrap. Put bowl in a warm place and allow dough to prove for 40 minutes or until doubled in size.

Heat extra oil in a frypan. Add sausages and cook over a high heat for 5 minutes or until brown. Add onion, reduce heat to low and cook for 25 minutes. Add oregano and season with extra salt and pepper.

Divide dough into 4 portions and roll out into rounds. Divide ricotta between rounds, tear over cherry bocconcini and drizzle with a little oil. Season with salt flakes and pepper. Sprinkle over parmesan and top with sausage mixture.

Fold over dough rounds to form half-moon shapes, then rope-twist the edges or press with a fork to seal. Put calzones on a heavy tray or preheated pizza stone and bake for 30 minutes.

Stand for 10 minutes, before serving.

new york style pizza dough

What you'll need
½ teaspoon active dry yeast

350ml warm water

2 ½ teaspoons sugar

2 ½ teaspoons) salt

15 ml olive oil

4 ½ cups) OO flour

What to do
Set the yeast in the warm water for 5 minutes, or until it starts to ‘bloom’

Add the remaining ingredients until they are just combined

Place a wet cloth over the bowl and let sit for 20 minutes. This step allows the starches to hydrate and better develop the dough as you proceed

Knead the dough for at least ten minutes, or until the dough is stretchy and does not rip when your finger pushes down on it

Put the dough in a warm area and let sit until it doubles in size

Punch it down, knead for three minutes, and let it rise until again doubled

Punch down again and shape in to 300gr balls.

let stand for 10 minutes, roll out and top as required.

olive and garlic bread

This olive & garlic bread is a foccacia based bread roll, and is ideal for a mediteranean style meal, or simply for dipping on olive oil.

What you'll need

Olive oil

2 gloves garlic

21gms Yeast

3 tsp Sugar

1650gms Plain flour

480gms Kalamata Olives

150gms Extra flour

3 tsp Sea sal

What to do

Roughly chop the olives and finely chop/crush the garlic.

Combine yeast, sugar and 3 cups of luke warm water. Rest in a warm area until it becomes frothy.

Combine flour, sea salt, chopped olives & thyme in a bowl, make a well in the center and then pour in the yeast mixture, add 2 tbsps oil and mix to a firm dough.

Knead the dough on a lightly floured surface.

Vigorously knead the dough until it is soft and silky (add more flour if too wet) coat the dough in oil and let it stand in a bowl for 2 hrs in a warm area( or until it has risen to twice it's size).

Cut the dough into 160 gm (6 oz) pieces and shape into small bread rolls, place on an oiled tray and stand in a warm area for 30 minutes.

Bake the bread for 30 minutes on 180*c (350 F) or until golden brown and sounds hollow when tapped

beer bread

This easy to make beer bread can be made using either whole meal flour or white self raising flours.


What you'll need

3 cups of white self raising flour

3/4 cup of wholemeal self raising flour

2 teaspoons of sugar

2 teaspoons of salt

1 x 375 ml stubby of beer. Stout will give a darker brown colour.

Milk for glazing

Sesame seeds

What to do

For white flour only version use just 3¾ cups of white self raising flour.

Preheat oven to 220 degrees centigrade (425 degrees Fahrenheit).

Sift the dry ingredients without the sugar.

Stir in the sugar followed by the beer.

Mixing thoroughly and make into a loaf.

Brush with milk across the top and sprinkle on sesame seeds.

Place into a bread tin & bake for fifty minutes. To test if bread is cooked, tap on bread and it should give a hollow sharp sound.

gluten free pizza dough

This dough is not like the traditional pizza dough but if you are gluten intolerant and love crispy base pizzas this is a great base to make.

what you need
450gr gluten free flour
550ml cold water

what to do
Place the gluten free flour in a large bowl and slowly add the cold water.Mix the flour and water together until you have a firm dough which resembles shortbread. The shortness of the dough will make it hard to knead.
After kneading for 7-10 minutes you should have a good pizza dough.
Roll out the dough and place on a baking tray slightly overlapping the edge, cover with plastic wrap and place in the fridge to rest for a minimum of 15 minutes.

Top as desired and bake.

note... if you don't let it rest and cook it straight away it will shrink and crack.

basic pizza dough

Recently I had an email from Lu Anne requesting a pizza dough that she could make at home resulting in a thin crispy crust, unlike the thick bases in those large chain pizzas.

The key to crispy base is replacing some of the flour with fine semolina, and also to cook the pizza on a stone. The stone helps to draw out the moisture resulting in a crispier base.
If you aren't lucky enough to have a wood fired oven with a stone base, you can purchase pizza stones from most kitchenware stores, that you can heat up in your kitchen oven. The secret is to cook your pizzas directly on the stone and not on a metal tray.

what you need
1 kg (2.2lbls) strong bakers flour
10 grams salt (0.35oz)
10 grams sugar (0.35oz)
20 grams dry yeast (0.70 oz)
20mls good olive oil (0.70oz)
660mls water (22fl oz)

what to do
mix flour with salt, sugar and dry yeast.
place water and olive oil in an electric mixing bowl add all dry ingrediedients mix on low with a dough hook for 5 minutes. turn out and need for one minute.
place dough in a oiled bowl covered with cling film for approx 1.5 hours to double in size.
knock back and shape into pizza balls, let rest for 15 minutes, then roll out and top as desired.

crispy tip
If you want a crispier crust replace 200grams of flour with 200grams fine semolina

Ciabatta Italian Bread

Poolish (the starter dough)

what you need
300 g general purpose flour (Caputo Tipo 00 works well)
300 g room temperature water
1 g (pinch) yeast

what to do
Mix to a pancake batter consistency, cover with plastic wrap and let ferment for 3-4 hours, or overnight. Refrigerate after 3-4 hours.

The Finished Bread

what you need
The poolish, plus:
700 g flour
20 g salt
9 g yeast
430 g water (73% final hydration)

what to do
Mix the dough until it is well hydrated (it is very sticky).

Stretch and fold (like a letter) and let rest covered with plastic for 30 minutes.

Stretch and fold again, and let rest for 1 1/2-2 hours covered. (The stretch and fold lines up the gluten to give the dough structure.)

Cut the ball into 3 pieces, and stretch into the final shape.

Proof for 1 hour, then bake at 500ºF (plus or minus) until the internal temperature reaches 205ºF.

It’s a very moist dough, and you don’t slash it. The final shape looks almost like a dog bone, and the final bread is crusty, with big holes in the crumb.

ricotta and spicy chorizo calzone

what you need
Basic pizza dough
180g 00 strong plain flour (or bread flour)
140ml warm water
1tbls Italian extra virgin olive oil
1 pinch of salt
1 tsp dried yeast

For the filling
500g ricotta cheese
200g cooked spinach
15 slices of spicy chorizo sausage
Handful of Parmesan cheese
Handful of pitted black olives
3-4 tbsp passata tomato sauce
Fresh basil
Salt and pepper to taste

what to do
Basic pizza dough
Mix the salt and the yeast in a bowl with the water. In another large bowl make a well in the centre of the flour and then add the water mixture and the extra virgin olive oil. Mix well with a wooden spoon until you create a doughy texture. Turn out the dough onto a clean well floured surface and work it with your hands for approx. 3 minutes. Place in a bowl, cover with a towel, leave in a warm place and allow to rest for at least 20 minutes. At this stage, pre-heat the oven at 220º.

To make the calzone
Use a 30cm diameter pizza tray. Flatten the prepared dough into the tray with your hands.
Spread a thin layer of passata over the dough spread all the ingredients on one half of the pizza and very carefully fold the other half over the top and closing the edges with your fingertips. Bake for approx. 12-15 minutes or until golden brown.

italian sausage and cheese calzone

whay you need
400g plain flour
100g semolina
1½ cups warm water
60ml olive oil
7g sachet dried yeast
1 Tbsp salt flakes
Extra 1 Tbsp olive oil
300g spicy italian pork sausages, out of their skins
2 large brown onions, sliced
¼ bunch oregano, leaves picked
Extra salt flakes and pepper, to season
400g ricotta
200g cherry bocconcini
150g parmesan, grated

what to do
Preheat oven to 200ºC. Put flour and semolina in the large bowl of an electric mixer. Attach dough hook. In a jug whisk together water, oil and yeast.

Turn mixer on low and pour in yeast mixture. Once all liquid has been added, increase speed to high, add salt and mix for 5 minutes until dough is soft and silky. Remove dough hook and cover bowl with plastic wrap. Put bowl in a warm place and allow dough to prove for 40 minutes or until doubled in size.

Heat extra oil in a frypan. Add sausages and cook over a high heat for 5 minutes or until brown. Add onion, reduce heat to low and cook for 25 minutes. Add oregano and season with extra salt and pepper.

Divide dough into 4 portions and roll out into rounds. Divide ricotta between rounds, tear over cherry bocconcini and drizzle with a little oil. Season with salt flakes and pepper. Sprinkle over parmesan and top with sausage mixture.

Fold over dough rounds to form half-moon shapes, then rope-twist the edges or press with a fork to seal. Put calzones on a heavy tray or preheated pizza stone and bake for 30 minutes or if your lucky as i am cook it in your wood fired oven..
Stand for 10 minutes, before serving

Focaccia

what you need
310ml (1 1/4 cups) warm water
2 tsp (7g/1 sachet) dried yeast
2 tsp caster sugar
3 1/2 tbs olive oil
450g (3 cups) plain flour
2 tsp sea salt flakes
1 1/2 tbs fresh rosemary leaves
20 pitted kalamata olives

what to do
Combine the water, yeast, sugar and 2 tablespoons of oil in a small bowl. Set aside in a warm, draught-free place for 5 minutes or until frothy. Place flour and half of the sea salt in a bowl. Make a well in the centre and pour in yeast mixture. Use a wooden spoon to stir until combined, then use your hands to bring the dough together in the bowl. Turn onto a lightly floured surface and knead for 10 minutes or until smooth and elastic. Brush a bowl with oil to grease. Place dough in bowl and cover with plastic wrap or a damp tea towel. Set aside in a warm, draught-free place for 45 minutes or until doubled in size.
Preheat oven to 200°C.
Brush a 20 x 30cm Swiss roll pan with 2 teaspoons of remaining oil. Punch down centre of the dough with your fist. Turn onto a lightly floured surface and knead for 2 minutes or until dough is elastic and has returned to original size. Press into the prepared pan. Cover with a damp tea towel and set aside in a warm, draught-free place to prove for 20 minutes or until doubled in height. Use your finger to press dimples into the dough. Brush with remaining oil and sprinkle over rosemary and remaining salt. Press the olives into the dough.
Bake in oven for 25-30 minutes or until golden and focaccia sounds hollow when tapped on base.
Serve warm or at room temperature with good olive oil for dipping or filled with a variety of continental meats and marinatd vegetable and a little aoili

Margherita Pizza

Margherita is a pizza prepared according to a recipe of the Italian chef Raffaelle Esposito. The pizza was first made in 1899 when Queen Marghereta visited Napels to escape a cholera epidemic in the north of Italy. The ingredients used to make a Margherita pizza, tomatos, mozzarella cheese and basil, imitate the colors of the Italian flag. Queen Margherata liked the pizza so much that she wrote a thank you letter to Esposito, who decided to name the pizza after the Queen.

what you need
2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
1/2 lb. plum Roma tomatoes, chopped
1 clove garlic, crushed and finely chopped
1/2 tsp. salt
1 12" uncooked dough crust
6 oz. mozzarella cheese, shredded
6 fresh basil leaves
extra virgin olive oil
1/4 cup fresh shredded parmesan cheese

what to do
Combine 2 Tbls. olive oil, tomatoes, garlic, and salt in bowl.
Allow to marinate while making dough.
Brush dough crust lightly with olive oil.
Top with cheese, then tomatoes.
Drizzle with olive oil.
Bake in preheated 480F oven on pizza stone for 8−10 minutes or until crust is golden brown and cheese is bubbly.
Remove from oven and top with parmesan cheese, then basil.

Cool on a for 2−3 minutes before cutting into wedges and serving.

pecan pie pizza

I tried this pizza the other night for a group of friends and while they all only took one slice, to be polite of course, deep down i know they all wanted more, nice and warm straight from the oven and topped with vanilla bean ice cream. it wa so good.

what you need
10-12 inch basic pizza base
caramel sauce
110 gr caster sugar
1 cups pouring cream

what to do
Place sugar in a deep heavy-based frying pan and place over low-medium heat and stir until sugar just begins to dissolve. Cook without stirring, but shaking pan occasionally, until a golden-amber caramel forms. Meanwhile, heat cream in another saucepan until almost boiling, then gradually add to caramel, taking care as mixture will spit violently. Return mixture to heat and stir until well combined and smooth. Serve sauce immediately or cool to room temperature. Sauce will keep, refrigerated in an airtight container, for up to 1 week. Sauce will thicken once refrigerated, warm to achieve the desired consistency.

pecan filling
150gr butter softened
150gr castor sugar
1/4 teaspoon vanilla bean paste
3 eggs
150gr self raising flour, sifted
200gr roughly choped pecans

what to do
place sugar, butter, vanilla bean paste and eggs in mixer and beat till light and fluffy
add sifted flour and mix thoughly
fold through pecans.

to put together
roll out pizza dough and place on a oiled tray
spread half the caramel sauce once cold over dough leaving a rim around the edge
gently spread the pecan filling over the caramel sauce
bake for approx 10 minutes on 220c or until the centre springs back when touched.
Drizzle withthe remaining caramel sauce and serve hot with vanilla bean icecream

cheat tip... you can always buy the caramel sauce, and use sweet pastry if you prefer over pizza dough.

pepperoni calzone

what you need
2 x 250gr pizza dough balls
1/2 cup spaghetti or pizza sauce
1/2 teaspoon dried oregano
4 ounces sliced pepperoni
2 cups shredded mozzarella cheese
1/3 cup grated Parmesan cheese

what to do
Punch dough down.On a lightly floured surface, roll each ball into a 14" circle .Place one circle on a greased baking sheet. Spread spaghetti sauce in a strip down the center. Sprinkle with oregano, pepperoni,and mozzarella cheese.Fold over dough and seal edges; repeat for other circle

Sprinkle with Parmesan cheese.Bake at 350° F. for 30 minutes or until golden brown in a traditional oven.

For party food make the circles about 4"round and fill as above. fillings can be varied like spinach & cheese, ham & mushroom or what ever you like to try.