All that Naughty Italian Foods

Pasta:

Roasted Veg Ravioli          

 

After watching the trailer for Simply Italian by Michela Chiappa, on Channel 4 this Summer, I decided to try my hand at Ravioli. My sister Emma used to make a stuffed pasta from a Jamie Oliver book which I loved but we did not have any of the ingredients so I decided to wing it ... a little brave I know but I was lucky and it paid off.

I diced a whole load of veg really small and put it into a pan and dry fried on a low heat making sure to keep the mixture as dry as ever, I added rosemary and garlic to give it some flavour. I then made a basic pasta recipe with 'pasta' flour and eggs then rested (I don't think you have to use pasta flour as I have used plain four and its worked really good). I now go by the rule 100g of flour to 1 medium egg- (Michela Chiappa's recommended ratio. I served this with homemade pesto and it got the families approval.

Penny Pinching Pasta                    

You know when it is the end of the month and you really want to avoid buying more food? Well my secret penny pinching recipe is Pappardelle, I use Michela's pasta dough recipe and cut it thick (1 or 2 cm) for  pappardelle or then (0.5 cm) for linguine.

I serve with left over pesto or a tin of tomatoes which is cooked down with onions, garlic, fresh chilli and a splash of red wine (if any).


Pizza:

My flatmates favourite, Blue Cheese & Chilli Pizza

 

Pizza is something I have been making from scratch since I was a student but as I have gotten wiser I have tweaked different things and now have a collection of toppings that I like cook, here are some of them.

I use a variation of Jamie Oliver's pizza dough and a tomato sauce made with a tin of tomatoes, garlic and basil whizzed up in the food processor.

Homemade pizza base & tomatoe sauce just

add mozzerella and its a quick easy meal

 

Some little tricks that I have learnt along the way are:

1.  Use fine polenta when rolling out the dough, it gives a really nice texture and taste to the base (Like dominoes);

2.  I also put a drizzle of oil (preferably a flavoured oil) into the dough mixture before you add the dry ingredients;

3.  I freeze any left over tomato sauce and it keeps really well.

Hugh's Beetroot & Goats Cheese Pizza

Do you have your own pizza topping variations or dough recipes please share them in the comments below.