You know those end-of-the-week blues? That feeling you get after finding out your train is cancelled when you’re trying to get home after a long day. Or when the train finally arrives and no-one gives their seat to an old man. Or when you brave a central city train station at 5pm. Or when you’ve just eaten a Krispy Kreme donut for the first time. Or when all of the above happens almost all at once.
These are not big problems. In fact, assigning them the word ‘problem’ is too generous. However, it is times like this when there is nothing better than the thought of coming home to a warm house, an easy meal and a blanket on the couch. And is there a more perfect time to be lazy and use up the dodgy looking food rattling around the bottom of the fridge?
The pizza recipe below was quick, delicious and a great way to use up all the suspicious looking ingredients in my vege drawer. The topping combination is of course only a suggestion as the glory of pizza is that you can put pretty much anything you can imagine on it.
Vegetarian pizza
1 head of broccoli, chopped into medium sized pieces
2 cloves garlic, roughly chopped
1 zucchini/courgette, roughly chopped
1/2 red onion, sliced
2 Tbsp thyme
3 mushrooms, sliced
Basil pesto to cover bases
1/2 cup of cheese
Pita breads
*Cover pita breads with a thin layer of basil pesto and enough cheese that all the ingredients will stick
*Arrange all other ingredients on pizza (along with anything else you want to add)
*Bake in oven at 200 degrees celcius for about 15-20 minutes or until pizza crust is crispy
Apple crumble for one
1 granny smith apple, peeled, cored and cut into largeish chunks (1 chunk = 1/8th of the apple)
50 g butter
1 cup flour
3/4 cup brown sugar
1/4 tsp nutmeg
1/2 tsp cinnamon
2 Tbsp unsalted pistachios, finely chopped
*Arrange apple pieces in the bottom of a ramekin
*Mix together butter, flour and sugar with your fingers until you get a fine breadcrumb like consistency (see note below)
*Add nutmeg, cinnamon and pistachios to the crumble mixture and cover the apple pieces in the ramekin
*Bake on 200 degrees celcius for about half an hour or until the apples have gone soft and the crumble topping is crispy
The measurements above are a ballpark figure as every time I make this I just make a judgement call. The topping is always different, but never bad (yet). I think it is best to value texture over measurements when it comes to crumble topping. Experiment with different amounts of butter/sugar/flour (you can also add oats or coconut) until when mixed together you get a fine breadcrumb kind of consistency that tastes not too sugary (you should have more flour than sugar).
As an added bonus, leftover crumble is great on porridge, or in tomorrow’s start-of-the-weekend apple crumble…
A Day In The Food 