Every Friday I pick up daughter M. after school and we go shopping, always ending up at Coles. Asked what she wants for dinner, M. invariably says jaffles, so off to the bakery section for bread, the dairy section for cheese and the tinned goods section for some Stagg Chili ~ Dynamite Hot. The good people at Stagg should be told that their chili is not Dynamite Hot, maybe Firecracker Hot, but definately not Dynamite; and because it contains beans, I know your not from Texas. But it's nice enough for a jaffle.

Sometimes for a change, we cruise past the fresh pizza section, if they're on special, we grab one or two. Sometimes I like to cook, sometimes I don't. Putting an uncooked pizza into a blazing hot oven is not cooking, only warming.

M. decided to choose her own pizza topping, reached out and grabbed an Hawaiian ~ ham & pineapple. Having spent the best part of twenty years trying to convince my other kids not to eat Hawaiian pizza, I wasn't giving up without a fight. Showed M. all the other toppings, but she wasn't having any of it, ham & pineapple it was.

I'm sure we all have food abominations, ham & pineapple pizza is mine, feel free to leave a comment about yours. In Marcella Hazan's Essentials of Classic Italian Cooking, she lists about half a dozen pizza topping combinations, all very simple, all very classic. When I have the urge, I will make pizza from scratch. It's not hard, you just need plenty of time for the dough raising, oh, and some bread making flour, which can be found in the bread making section in most supermarkets. After that, all the other ingredients can usually be found in the pantry or fridge.

Watched a movie with M. while eating our pizza. When we were done, I took the plates back to the kitchen. There on M's. plate were little golden nuggets of pineapple.

Daddy's girl.



Pizza Margharita

Bread making flour (usually comes with dried yeast)
Dried yeast (if required)
800 g tin crushed tomatoes
half an onion, finely chopped
50 ml olive oil
2 cloves garlic, crushed
Few leaves of basil, shredded
salt and pepper
Mozzarella, sliced or grated

Makes two

Follow instructions on packet to make pizza dough, use enough flour for two bases. While the dough is proving, make the sauce. Heat the oil and soften the chopped onion, add garlic and cook one minute more. Add crushed tomatoes and cook until a loose sauce is obtained. Season and add basil. When the dough has been punched back, turn the oven to 240 C. When the dough is ready, roll out to fit whatever baking sheet you have or to suit a pizza stone if you have one. Spread sauce almost to the edge and top with mozzarella. Cook until mozzarella is melted and the edge is nicely browned.