How to: Make a Messy, Yummy, Crazy Pizza!

by Camy 

!WARNING! THIS RECIPE IS SO AWSOME, IT'S COPYRIGHTED. PLEASE DO NOT COPY WITHOUT PERMISSION!

Ok, to make a Messy Yummy Crazy Pizza you will need:

 

  A friend too ashamed of the end result to appear on here
The smallest, tiniest oven you can find
Pizza dough
Tomatoe sauce
Cheese.... Looooads of cheese!
An olive

Step 1:

 Unroll the pizza dough on your table. Add the tomato sauce and the cheese... All the cheese...
...
Aah cheese... How could we live without cheese?...

 Anyways, back to buisness!

 Step 2:
Fold the dough in half and make the edge all cute using your fork

Make sure you look properly at this picture, it's the only nice one you'll see in this post.

Step 3:
Use a book to shove your pizza in the tiny teeny weeny oven. If it wrinkles/make wholes in your pizza/breaks it, good! That's what it should do.

Step 4:
At some point, your pizza should leak, and the cheese and tomatoe sauce should burn on the bottom of your oven. That's perfect. It's now time to take your pizza out of the oven. I recommend not using a book for this step, I think a wooden board would be more appropriate.
This step is pretty tricky because the MOST IMPORTANT thing is to let your pizza fall into a dish. Try to spill as much as you can on the table, on the floor and on yourself.

 
My advice as a wellknow gourmet would be not to eat what has spilled on the floor... I'm not sure it would be very good anyways.

Hmmmm! Looks yummy, right?!

Ok, now, put the "pizza" back in the oven and let it cook for some more minutes. How long? Well, you know, until it's eatable!


Step 5:
When your "pizza" is ready, it's time for you to decorate! I mean, you don't serve a piece of art like the Messy Yummy Crazy Pizza like any standard home failed pizza! Remember that olive I was telling you about at the very begining of this post? Well, it's time to take it out and make good use of it! With a gentle gesture, carefully put the olive on top of the "pizza". There. Perfect!

Not only does it look yummy but GOORGEOUS too!

Step 6:






 Eat, Laugh a lot, Enjoy!

Kbab from Algiers

By Za, 

Recipe's on the way

Sfiriya

By Za, 

  This is a "food recycling" traditional Algerian dish that's made basically from stale bread. 

When you have lots of leftover bread which's gone stale, here's a suggestion to recycle it into a very delicious dish. Kids love too. My brother used to call it 'Khoffash' - Bats. They enjoy eating the crispy bread "cookies" dry. It's very tasty and healthy for them (esp. if you're using brown/whole meal bread like I did today) 

So, here we go: 

Ingredients: 

For Sfiriya: (bread cookies) 

• A big bowl of shredded stale bread (white or brown) 
• A British mug of Milk
• Soft cheese (i.e la vache qui rit, or any soft cheese of your liking) 
• 1/2 tea spoon of cinnamon
• 1 tbsp of Orange flower water. 
• 1 egg. 

The sauce and meat: 

• Minced meat
• 1 Onion 
• 4 Garlic cloves 
• spices of your liking. (I like cumin, cinnamon and mix spices) 
• 1 egg 
• 2 tbsp of breadcrumbs. 
• Chopped coriander 
• Salt and water 
• (Lemon = optional) 

Method - Preparation: 

                 For the Sfiriya (bread fried cookies): 

Shred the stale bread in a big bowl and add warm milk gradually while kneading and mixing with your hand. 

Mixed it and knead it untill all lumps soften and melt. You should have a lump-less paste. 

PS: if the paste is too runny, add a few table spoons of bread crumbs until it gets an assembled viscous consistency.

Shred the stale bread in a big bowl and add warm milk gradually while kneading and mixing with your hand. 

Mixed it and knead it untill all lumps soften and melt. You should have a lump-less paste. 

PS: if the paste is too runny, add a few table spoons of bread crumbs until it gets an assembled viscous consistency.

Make medium sized balls from the paste and flatten them with your fingers gently to form a cookie-like round shape. (use water or oil in your hands if the past if too sticky) 

Fry the bread cookies until they gain a mahogany-golden-brown-ish color. (see picture).

remove, sieve and let the Sfiriya rest aside while you get to your sauce. 

              The meatballs: 

Grab the minced meat and add salt, a grated small onion + 2 cloves of garlic + 1 egg + spices + chopped coriander + 1 tea spoon of olive oil. and mixed everything untill you get this (see picture).

Wet your hands with water, (it helps meat not stick to them when you're rolling the paste in your hand to form a small ball). 

I decided to have a different shape today for a change. So, I opted for the oval one. ( see picture) 

                For the sauce: 

Grate or chop the onion and garlic before you chuck them to stir fry in a pot. (2 to 3 table spoons of oil) 

Once onion+garlic are soft add spices of your liking for a white sauce. (I add cinnamon and a teeny bit of cumin + some mixed herbs and spices) and stir well. 

pour in 2 to 3 glasses of water and bring it to a boil before you start chucking the meat balls in the sauce. 

Add chopped coriander (that's the cherry on the cake) 

Add the chick peas (They shouldn't be dry! if you get them dry, let them stay dipped in water over night. They'll double in size) 

let cook between 20 to 40 mins. ( if you're using a pressure pot then you might only needs about 15mins of cooking time). 

Serving: 

In a plate, put the number of bread crisps you'd like to have and pour the sauce (+meatballs) over them. Drizzle some lemon juice for a better taste. ( but that's optional)

et voila! 

Bsahatkom - Enjoy - Bon appetit. 

Boorak from Algiers (Spring rolls)

By Za, 

Fried and Grilled Boorak! Recipe coming up soon. Stay tuned.

Full Moon Full Tourte

By Za, 

This is going to be quite easy. If you feel like making salty crust, roll up your sleeves, gather your positive energy, hold your breath and get yourself: 

For the dough: 

• Flour: 1 mug and 1/2 (British mug) 
• Butter: 1 and 1/2 table spoon of butter 
• Oil: 3 table spoons of oil. 
• Baking powder: 1/2 sachet. 
• A pinch of salt. 
• Water (enough to gather all ingredients creating a dough) 

The filling: 

• You really can use anything you like!
• This time I opted for TUNA!!! so the ingredients I got were: 
• A tin of tuna in red sauce (not oil) 
• 1 Onion
• A handful of white rice (cooked/boiled) 
• 1/2 Tea spoon of paprika. 
• Sliced boneless green/black olives. (I used green olives to give a sour-ish taste to it) 
• Grated cheese (Cheddar, or any hard cheese of your liking) 

Method: 

Put your flour (+salt) in a big bowl. Melt the butter and mix it with oil before you pour them on the flour. 

Rub everything thoroughly with your fingers until the flour starts to look like 'sand'. 

Add the baking powder and combine ingredients. 

Start adding water, bit by bit, while mixing until you get a very soft and elastic/stretchy dough. 

Let it rest for 15 - 30 minutes. 

Meanwhile, chop or grate your onion and put it in a pan with some oil (2 table spoons). 

Let it and stir fry until it goes a little brown before you add in your tuna. 

Mix everything and add olives and (cooked) rice. If it's too dry, add a bit of water and paprika. (the red sauce in which tuna was will give a delicious tomato flavour once cooked with the other ingredients) 

Half your dough and roll the first half flat (5mm) before you lay it on a dusted oven tray (preheat oven 150C) 

Spread the filling all over the flattened dough (it'll look like pizza :-D) don't forget to sprinkle your gratted cheese before you cover the top! 

Flatten the other half on a dusted working surface then lay it on top of the 'pizza-like' dough. PS: don't forget to sprinkle your gratted cheese before your cover the 'pizza' covering everything. 

Press the edges tightly closed and fold/roll them to prevent any leak of the sauce or the  stuffing. 

Dock the dough with a toothpick or a knife. 

Glaze the top with egg yolks or milk (I like to sprinkle some sesame -or black seed- on top too) 

Chuck in the oven. and check from time to time, till it turns golden in colour. (cooked) 

Cut however you like <3 

Bsahatkom - Enjoy - Bon appetit 

Small ring, Big ring: Tortellini,Tortelloni

Made by Raffaella with the contribution of Megan, Melanie and Za.

Originated from Italy, this ring-shaped pasta is absolutely delectable and savory. It is usually served with sauce or in a broth. 

*drooling* 

Tortelloni are bigger and generally stuffed with veggies. 

Parmesan cheese and Mortadella 

The filling: 
A portion of Turkey bacon! and another of Mortadella (this brilliant idea was the brainchild of Raffaella's long mulling over. Another option was cheese and spinach.) 

So, here's the deal: 

Stir fry the shredded turkey bacon and chopped mortadella together for a minute or two.

In a blender or a food processor put the mixture. Add 2 table spoons of Mascarpone cheese or any creamy cheese you like, and blend. Add the diced Parmesan, blend more, till you get this gorgeous burnt-pink-coloured paste (gloop lol) 

If it's too runny, add a bit of bread crumbs, till it gets slightly thicker. (see picture) 

Tortellini filling

The pasta 

Now, in order to get this beautifully shaped tortellini,

Make sure to follow these steps in the order indicated bellow: 

On your working counter, put 400g of flour and make a hole in the centre for 4 eggs and a pinch of salt. 

Incorporate the ingredients to create a non-sticky dough. 

Knead it as much as you can to soften it. If it's too hard and dry add few drops of milk/water 

On a surface dusted with flour, roll the dough flat after letting it rest for a few minutes. ( 10-15) 

Make squares 

Click here to see a video from youtube for ideas on how to fold and wrap your pasta :) 

Melanie engrossed in ring-shaping the pasta

You can also play with making round shaped Tortellini :-D 

Knock yourself out! make as many as you want. 

Then, chuck the first batch in -slightly salted- boiled water (adding a tbsp of oil helps the pasta not stick) 

The tortellini you get at the shop cook quiet rapidly, once you toss them in boiling water, allow them 2 to 3 minutes and you'll see them floating to the surface. That means they're ready. 

However, we let ours cook a bit longer (5 to 7 mins) as the dough was homemade and not thin enough. We used a roller pin to roll the dough 0.5mm thick, but it would have been a whole lot easier and way much better to use a pasta roller (click) ... (which we didn't have hehe :-p )

The pasta was super yummy with white Alfredo sauce

Bsahetkom - Enjoy- Bon appetit 

Gratin Dauphinois

by Amel

Gratin Dauphinois by Amel

  Ingredients :
1 kg potatoes
  2 onions
3 tablespoons creme fraiche
  20 cl light creme
  Gruyère (grated cheese)
  ½ spoon of curry or nutmeg powder

 

Preparation:

While you cook the potatoes, gently brown the chopped onions. (Quick tip: to avoid burning them, use water instead of oil!)

Add the curry or nutmeg powder, they will give your dish all its flavour.

Once the onions are ready, add the creams and cheese and cook them until the mixture boils (approximatively 3 mins) 

Cut the potatoes in thin slices, and add them and your onion & cream mixture in a dish, sprinkle with cheese and pop it in the oven. Bake it at 210°C / 400°F / thermostat 7 for 10 to 20 minutes depending on how long you prehated your oven.

Bon appétit !!

Quick & easy pasta with chiken leftovers

by Camy

This is a quick, easy and delicious way of using meat leftovers. 

Just cook some pastas and cut your chicken (or whatever meat your using) in small pieces. Mix the two together.

 

 

Then, add some cheese (I added parmiggiano here but emmental or gruyere are even better) and tomato sauce (ketchup is also super yummy with it but way less healthy!) 

 

Stir well...

And there you have it! A quick, easy and yummy way to make pastas and use your leftovers!

Enjoy!