We’re particularly lucky in my area of Kumamoto in that we now have access to a gorgeous stone oven. It’s the brainchild of a local ALT, and friend, and after several months of construction, and reportedly numerous failures, it was ready for full-on testing this last Friday.
In my gun (an area within a prefecture (pronounced similar to a short version of ‘goon’)) we try to meet up at least once a month. Sometimes, like this month, it’ll be more often. With the BBQ last Friday and the pizza party the very next week we’ve definitely had some good times. This time, it called on us to try out our own pizza dough bases and bring whatever ingredients we wanted on our pizzas.
Pizza dough can be very simple to make, and I find it a particularly satisfying thing to do. Bringing together flour, yeast, water, olive oil and a little salt and sugar to make a gorgeous soft base is a delight. Once baked this base will become delightfully crisp but still soft inside and can be stretched out as thinly as you wish.
I used this recipe from taste.com.au. It was a base that was complimented for its ease of use, taste, and it was incredibly easy to make.
I’m a fan of little toppings on pizza and lots of tomato paste…but this time I wanted to try something a little different. I had a large block of feta in my fridge from a recent trip to Costco, and some raw organic walnuts that were just crying out to be used…so after a little pondering I came up with this delicious pesto that can be used as a pizza sauce, in pasta, as a dip or a sauce.
Spinach, Walnut and Feta Pesto
Ingredients
About 4 cups of loosely packed spinach leaves.
1/2 cup of raw organic walnut halves (or 1/3 cup of chopped walnuts)
About 1/2 – 3/4 cup of crumbled feta
Approx 1/4 – 1/3 cup of olive oil
Salt and pepper
Lemon juice
Instructions
1. Place spinach, walnuts and feta in a blender.
2. Drizzle about 1/4 cup of olive oil into the mix.
3. Blend! You can choose the consistency at this point. Add more olive oil if you think it needs it!
4. Season with salt and pepper and give it a healthy squirt of lemon juice.
いただきます
This had a delicious strong taste that worked well on the pizza base. For toppings I just chose mushrooms, red onion and a little bit of mixed cheese. The flavours of the pesto are more than enough!
