More notes from Naples: Villa Rosa di Nonna Rosa

As you may have gathered from my last post, our trip to Naples was an absolute foodie delight.

It's a very...frenetic city, and I wasn't sure when we first arrived how much I would actually like it. The taxi drive from the airport, for example, was somewhat terrifying. Actually, every time we got in a taxi it was frankly terrifying. The narrow streets are teeming with people (and the odd rogue moped) and shop spill their wares outside onto the already narrow pavements meaning you can never actually walk in a straight line. Which is good for the old step count.

The longer we stayed though, the more we fell into the city's rhythm. And the fact that around every corner there was a new venue wherein one could enjoy an Aperol spritz helps as well - the edge gets taken off pretty quickly.

We also ventured outside of Naples itself - including a trip to Sorrento and a visit to a wonderful restaurant up in the hills outside the city. Villa Rosa di Nonna Rosa is a mission to reach but, sitting on the terrace overlooking the Mediterranean and eating the most glorious, rustic Italian food, one can almost forget the fact that so many taxi drivers refused to take us (their vehicles being too large for the narrow, winding mountain roads) that we almost didn't make it.

How's this for a lunchtime view:

It is a set menu - you get what you're given. And their is no wine list, just a choice of house red or house white - however, they do let you bring your own and do not charge corkage.

We started with something called "aria fritta" which was a sort of fried, upside down pizza. 

It was gorgeous, albeit rich - one would comfortably have served two people. Then they started bringing the antipasti out and we began to suspect that the kitchen was trying to kill us.

This is just a sample of the spread they provided! There was nothing really fancy or cheffy going on here, just amazing produce that tasted of sunshine and had been treated with the utmost respect. But, if I had to make a (very mild) criticism. there was a LOT of food and we still had pasta, a main course and a dessert to go (all of which were similarly delicious).

I just loved how unpretentious this was. The main course was, literally, pork and chips. And it was heaven! The meat was tender, the potatoes salty and the sauce was the most delicious, savoury gravy.

And all good meals should end with doughnuts.

I can't imagine that this is an experience we will ever have again but I am incredibly glad we got the opportunity to go while we were there and, if you find yourself in Sorrento, can locate a friendly taxi driver and are willing to screw your courage to the sticking point, then I would most certainly recommend.

Adventures in pizza eating

My last meal on Earth could well be a pizza.

I hope that my tastes have changed - developed, evolved - from my teenage years. But still, really, when it boils down to anything I generally want to eat pizza. I want a base that is just the right balance of crispy and yielding, I want a sharp hit of tomato sauce, I want a gorgeous pull of cheese and then, of course, a topping. Or two.

We recently spent a few days in Naples - the birthplace of pizza! And, I am pleased to say that it did not disappoint. We ate at two restaurants in and around the centre of Naples that were, respectively, the ninth and first ranked pizza places in Italy, and were incredible. Although, just from walking around, I get the sense we would have done perfectly well pitching up at plenty of other places.

Our first night there, we went to Pizzeria La Notizia - and this was, as far as I could see, a neighbourhood joint done very well indeed. We ordered four pizzas between three (dear reader, please note, that we are three greedy people and still couldn't manage this so would not necessarily recommend). The classic Margherita was easily the best of the bunch as far as I'm concerned - although I think D was a fan of some of the more meat based offerings.

A couple of nights later, we headed out to I Masanielli. This was pizza taken VERY seriously. And I have never had a base like it. It contrived to have a light, airy quality alongside a crisp, oil-rich crust. Absolute heaven. The toppings could, in some instances, be a touch try hard if you favour simplicity. Textures of onion, for example, trod a fine line between absolute genius and terrible pretention. But, again, the classics really delivered - a simple Marinara was about as umami as you could wish, the base redolent with anchovies and olives and all good things.

I think that what was interesting is that Neapolitan pizza is definitely very distinctive and of itself. D wasn't the biggest fan - finding it a little bit on the doughy side and preferring a thinner, crispier iteration. I thoroughly enjoyed it - but, also, appreciate D's point that if you're expecting a very thin crust and minimal toppings you might be surprised by the Neapolitan offering.

Recent eats: the interminable winter edition

I find myself so intensely boring at the moment that I haven't wanted to inflict any blogging on the world. Lockdown has not been good for me. I have basically turned even more sloth like in my habits and my hair is, frankly, ridiculous. Funky, asymmetric styles are all very well until they start growing out and then they just look like someone can't cut straight.

So we've been cooking and eating, which is fine. What can I tell you about? We brined a roast chicken the other week - or, to be strictly accurate, we brined a chicken for 48 hours prior to roasting it which was delicious. It would have been better, however, if I hadn't managed to roast it upside-down. Which meant that the underside was golden and crispy and buttery and the breast was...a wee bit pale and flabby looking. D removed the breast skin and crisped it up under the grill, while I languished on the sofa wondering how on Earth I have reached the age of 40 without knowing which way up a chicken should go. 

I made pizza last week, and remain very impressed with Dan Lepard's dough recipe, so that was good. We cooked a smoked haddock and kale hash from one of the new Christmas cookbooks which was DELICIOUS. It is actually online, here, if you're interested. It is one of those dishes that somehow manages to be significantly more than the sum of its parts. Highly recommended.

Oh, and D splashed out and treated us both to a Dishoom bacon naan takeaway kit thingy. Good, but we think we can tweak it to make it even better (it will probably include a liberal drizzle of our beloved coriander and chilli chutney, aka "green stuff").

In the background, we've both been trying to shift a bit of weight which I am loathe to talk about really because - see first paragraph it is SO BORING. And I'm conscious that this blog is like bloody Groundhog Day for Diets - except that it's not, not Bill Murray actually learns and grows during Groundhog Day and me...not so much. But I will say that a few months ago - mid-October time - we introduced low calorie days back into our week, so we now follow a programme of intermittent fasting which involves only eating for 8 hours a day and, on two of those days, only eating 500 calories. A mash-up of 16/8 and 5/2. And it does work, albeit slowly, and it is a hell of a lot easier to manage low calorie days when we're at home not really doing everything. Whether it will be sustainable when the world goes back to normal...not so sure. But since that shows no sign of happening for a while, we'll keep going for now! 

Recipe corner: Mussel and bacon pizza (jingle all the way!)

The thing about authentic Italian pizza is that tends to be pretty simple. Tomato, cheese and then a few, carefully chosen, toppings. Not enough of anything to create sloppiness: a crisp base and the structural integrity of the whole is important. No weird combos. No doughiness, no ten tonnes of cheese (that is the province of Domino's and their ilk). I get all that and I appreciate it. But SOMETIMES it is fun to play a little bit and end up with something which is somewhere between what an Italian Nonna would appreciate and what drunk people order at eleven pm with a side of chicken wings.

When I wrote this up in my notebook I called it "Pizza Bianca del mare e dell'odore" which means "A white pizza of the sea and the sty". And I like that title very much. It sounds so much more elegant than mussel and bacon pizza. But I've stuck with the English for the blog title because it's probably a bit more useful. 

This is a pizza that combines seafood and cheese, that is a little bit on the sloppy side and, to be honest, is a bit of a bloody faff if you're making it because it involves numerous processes. None of them difficult but it's not easy home cooking. Jamie couldn't squish it into a 30 minute meal. So I probably haven't sold it to 99.99% of the people who will come across this blog post. But for the rest of you, who are intrigued, you are in for a tremendous treat. I think this is the most delicious pizza that I've ever made.

When I wrote pizza 101 back in July 2016 (!) I was using Paul Hollywood's dough recipe, but I've fallen out of love with that recently after a couple of issues with the dough being just too sticky to practically use. So I turned to Dan Lepard and, sure enough, his recipe and method worked perfectly. I won't repeat it here but if you DO pop over to have a look I would note:

I used a tablespoon of malt extract and all water, rather than open some of D's precious beer

I went up to 200ml of water - 50ml fresh boiled and 150ml cold from the tap to get it luke(ish) warm.

I initially made the dough the night before using and left it in the fridge overnight before moving on to the stretching and folding stage. This has the benefit of spreading the effort a bit as well.

I was making personal sized pizzas, so divided this recipe into 6 (actually, I made a half batch and divided it into 3). This was a generous portion. If you're not greedy, you could reduce the portion size further.

And for the topping...

Ingredients

1/2 kilo mussels

Splash of white wine or Vermouth

150ml milk

3-4 garlic cloves, peeled and bruised

Large sprig of thyme

15g Parmesan

10g butter

10g flour

75g pancetta (or diced bacon)

Small onion, thinly sliced

100g firm mozzarella, grated

75g smoked cheese, grated

Makes 2 generous individual pizzas

OK, so firstly we want to cook the mussels with no more flavourings added than a splash of white wine. Clean and de-beard the crustacea then heat the wine in a large, lidded pan until it simmers madly, and tip them in. Cover the pan and cook for around 5 mins, shaking gently every so often. They'll be ready when the majority of the shells are yawning open. Incidentally: we tend to buy up bags of mussels whenever we make it the fishmonger, cook and freeze them for future use. But if you do this be sure to freeze them alongside their delicious liquor.

Make the white sauce by first infusing the milk with the garlic and the thyme. Place all together in a small pan, scald the milk (which means heating it until the edges are beginning to bubble) then turn off the heat, cover and leave alone for at least a couple of hours.

Then we make a roux - melt the butter, add the flour and stir briskly to make a paste. Pour in the infused milk, bit by bit, stirring vigorously every time to eliminate lumps. When you've added all the milk, add the mussel liquor - again, bit by bit. Gently bubble the sauce for a few minutes to ensure that all the flour is cooked out (the easiest way to check this is by tasting it - if you can taste even a hint of flour, cook for a bit longer) then season with the grated Parmesan, a tiny pinch of salt and a little pepper. This is the base of your pizza.

Fry off the pancetta until crispy and then remove from the pan with a slotted spoon. Then, turn the heat right down and soften the onion in the bacon fat.

Finally, assemble your pizza. Take your rolled out bases and spread across the white sauce. Top with the cooked mussels, bacon and onion and finish off with the mozzarella and smoked cheese. If you have any spare, sprinkle a few fresh thyme leaves over to finish. Bake in a very hot oven for about 12 minutes until everything is bubbling and beginning to brown. 

If you have any sense at all, you'll allow it to cool slightly (and, in doing so, begin to solidify) before eating.

Meat, then seven veg

Greetings Earthlings! The year is disappearing so fast and it has been the quietest ever on my little blog so my end of year report is likely to say must do better. Sigh.

We are not (that) long back from Berlin and we had a wonderful time - there’s definitely a post in that. And WW have, apparently, changed their plan again and I sort of want to find out how and then do a post on THAT but then...I suspect the WW ship has long since sailed for me. Perhaps I need to rename the blog - any bright ideas? Cooking with Cats quite appeals; then I would have a legitimate reason to stick up pictures of my beloved Minx for no particular reason. But as a name it doesn’t make any sense. Why would someone be cooking with cats? Are the cats actually helping out in the kitchen or just looking on reproachfully and bemoaning the lack of attention? Is it possible that the name would be open to misinterpretation and people would assume that I was making dishes out of cats? I mean, the Internet has its Dark Corners and I would hate to attract someone who would make that kind of assumption but...

Anyway, the meat in the blog post title refers to the food we ate in Berlin. Which was fab - I loved it! But wow, not a cuisine for vegetarians. To make up for it, we have just planned out seven days of entirely vegetarian meals. At this time of year, some of the veggie dishes that I am drawn towards are certainly too full of cheese and butter to count as strictly health food but that isn’t really the point of the exercise. I adore vegetarian food (although, for me, vegan will always be a bit too far) but I want to eat food that isn’t trying to pretend it’s something that it’s not if you see what I mean? Dishes that are glorious in their own right. Here’s what we’re doing:

Monday: roast root veg and pearl barley soup

Tuesday: pasta alla Norma - a gorgeous dish which combines a rich tomato sauce with aubergine, roasted until it just starts to melt through with a smoky flourish

Wednesday: “Arabbiata” pizza - basically, cheese and tomato but the tomato element is spicy with chilli as garlic. I’ll be topping this with lightly wilted rocket

Thursday: Ottolenghi’s ultimate winter couscous. Well, there had to be an Ottolenghi dish on there. And this is one of our favourites. The recipe is here if you don’t have a copy of “Plenty” on your bookshelves

Friday: Vegetarian dirty rice (another Ottolenghi dish) with corn maque choux (basically, sweet corn cooked in cream and spice).

Saturday: Mushroom curry, creamy chickpea and spinach curry, pilau rice, flatbread and Strictly on the telly. Bliss.

Sunday: Cauli cheese pie with mashed potatoes and Parmesan roasted parsnips. A cheese fest to end the week!

Back soon with...well, an account of Berlin (alternatively titled Pictures of Pork).

MPM: 24th June 2019

It's a brand new week and a typically grey, muggy day here in Leeds.  I am not a fan of heat at the best of times, but this particular brand of damp stickiness is particularly unpleasant.  Either we need to get on and have a bit of a summer or admit defeat and lurch straight into the cool, crisp days of Autumn.  Sort it out, weather.

Today also marks the start of my fourth week in my new role which has been full on and busy from the get-go but which is all going well so far.  I feel a little bit like a hamster on a wheel, and I don't think that I will ever see the bottom of my inbox again, but at the moment that still feels OK.  A few months down the line, if I am tearing my hair out in fistfuls, please feel free to refer me back to this.

Meal planning this week - I'm going to a bottomless brunch on Saturday, so it is unlikely I will still be upright come tea time.  The planned curry is going to be made in the slow cooker in advance so will be there if I need it.  Otherwise, a quiet week (well, it is the end of the month).

Monday: soup, as per often.  Crusty bread on the side.

Tuesday: spaghetti in tomato butter sauce and with turkey meatballs.  These meatballs are not, to my shame, homemade, but have been lurking in the freezer for a while and need using. 

Wednesday: trout fillets, minted hollandaise (again, the hollandaise is not homemade!  My foodie credentials are taking a battering today), potato salad, asparagus.

Thursday: fishcakes, but I'm thinking of going down a slightly Scandi route.  This Rick Stein recipe for "frikadeller" with remoulade looks nice.  I've got half a fennel bulb in the fridge that needs using, so I'll probably thinly slice that and add it to the remoulade to boost the veg content.

Friday: I'll keep back some of the tomato butter sauce from Tuesday and use that, alongside a batch of frozen dough, to put together a Friday night pizza.

Saturday: cardamom butter chicken

Sunday: a D choice - steak and chips

Hmmm not a bad selection at all, although it would be nice to see a couple more veggie options on there - something to balance out next week.  Have a good one everyone, and happy cooking!

Meal planning (Bank Holiday) Monday

I don’t really know how to cope with a sunny Bank Holiday weekend. It seems so non British somehow. I managed to burn my left arm on Saturday while at the first Eat North of the year and have retreated indoors subsequently. The sun and I are not the best of friends and I will never, never understand the appeal of just lying around stewing in one’s own sweat.

Anyway, we are due storms this week so hurrah. Although, come to think of it, I don’t much like rain either.

Meal planning. Tonight, I’ve thrown together a supper to use up some odds and sods in the fridge. Potato and watercress frittata. A slaw flavoured with the remains of a basil and mint pesto. Fresh baked bread. Tomorrow, I’m out. Wednesday, D is out. And on Thursday we are going to see The Avengers straight from work. I’m not usually bothered about seeing films the second they come out but we decided that it would be practically impossible to avoid spoilers unless we completely eschewed the Internet.

Next weekend, the plan is: 

Friday: trout fillets with Jersey Royals, asparagus and minted hollandaise

Saturday: homemade pizza (this got bumped last week)

Sunday: sticky pork belly with noodles. Although I’m wondering about doing the pork stir fry per the recipe and serving it with rice instead. I’ll see how I feel at the time.

Whatever the weather decides to do this week, have a good one my lovelies.

Meal planning Monday (sort of): 15th April 2019

Meant to post this yesterday and, er, failed.  But we carry on regardless!  It's just a shame that meal planning Tuesday doesn't have such a pleasingly alliterative quality.

Anyhoo, how are you dearest reader?  I hope this finds you well.  We had a bit of drama at the weekend when the cat decided to either have a midlife crisis or start her bid for the Best Actress statuette at next year's Oscars.  It culminated in her being frogmarched to the vet who announced that she has slightly dodgy kneecaps.  As my mother said, one never thinks about cats having knees.  She now appears thoroughly pissed off with both us and life in general.

Of couse, she can express such emotions by leaving us little turd shaped indications of her displeasure in the hall.  The rest of us have to keep soldiering on despite the fact that a) Brexit, or the lack thereof, is a constant source of stress (modern day politics is NOT good for those of us with higher than normal anxiety levels), b) work is unrelenting and c) no lottery win has yet been forthcoming.  I mean, I'd take the millionaire's raffle, I really would.  I doubt that I could quit work for a million pounds but I could definitely buy a nice handbag and, as we all know, a nice handbag always helps.

In the midst of all this, of course, there are people going through real crises.  Peridot, if you happen to read this - still thinking of you and sending much love to you both through the blogosphere.

So to meal planning!  It was actually our anniversary on Sunday - not our wedding anniversary but 15 years to the day since we first met.  Our first date was in a not-particularly-great pub in York.  This year, we celebrated with steak which has become our go-to treat meal ever since we discovered reverse searing.  About halfway through said steak, we realised that one would comfortably have done both of us.  And so, last night, the rest of it was thinly sliced and served in a sandwich with caramelised onion mayonaise, mustard, and lightly dressed leaves.  Elsewhere this week...

Tuesday: split pea and ham soup

Wednesday: pan roasted chicken breast with sweetcorn puree and a potato and chorizo gratin

Thursday: D (rather than Charles) is in charge and he is undertaking to produce a spring veg risotto

Friday: creamy salmon pasta (opting for fish like the good lapsed Catholics that we are)

Saturday: homemade pizza.  Not sure what form this will take as of yet.

Sunday: a special Easter meal of roasted belly pork, lightly pickled rhubarb, kale with cream and bacon and caraway roasted potatoes.  There may well be pudding.  And even a starter.  And I shall spend the entire day in clean pyjamas.  Hurrah!

MPM: 4th March 2019

In a vain attempt to recapture my blogging mojo I thought that I would do a meal planning post.  Meal planning has still continued chez nous over the last few months - some weeks have been more successful than others.  Some weeks I have been half woman, half Giant Hula Hoop.  What kind of monster invented the Giant Hula Hoop, by the way?  I'm obsessed with the bloody things and I've managed to make D obsessed with them as well.

Anyway.  Meal planning.  We have no plans this week - we're off on holiday at the end of March and are making vague attempts to be slightly frugal until then - so hopefully nothing should throw us off track.  Apart from Giant Hula Hoops.

Monday: soup.  A hangover from our 5:2 days, we've got into the habit of having a pot of soup on a Monday night.  It's quick, easy and a light start to the week.  I should really make my own but the whole point of soup night is the lack of cooking. 

Tuesday: Pancake Day!  We like our pancakes piled up in a stack, like the American style ones, and then served with crispy bacon, chilli flakes and lots of maple syrup.  Although lemon juice and sugar is always good too...

Wednesday: a recipe from Yotam Ottolenghi's "Simple" - fettucine with spiced cherry tomato sauce.

Thursday: mushroom risotto.  Keeps getting bumped, but I'm determined that it will get made this week.  If we've got any bacon leftover from Tuesday, I might bung some in for a bit of extra excitement.

Friday: smoked haddock rarebit with mashed potato.  I saw a contestant make this in the first round of Masterchef the other week and was immediately determined that I was going to do it too. 

Saturday: homemade pizza.  We haven't done this for ages, so it's about time.  D is planning to go entirely off piste, muttering about Merguez sausages, hummus, feta and pomegranate.  So I will keep mine super simple.  Maybe just a scant scattering of capers and chopped anchovies.

Sunday:  something with roast lamb.  Elaborateness levels to be determined by levels of energy and enthusiasm come Sunday.

Have a happy week all!

MPM: 24th September 2018

Greetings chickadees and I think it is safe to say that summer is well and truly over after a weekend which saw us a) light our fire every night b) turn the heating on and c) get pounded by hailstones.  Suits me just fine - I am not a big fan of the hot weather although I have no intention of giving up the salads that have characterised my lunches for the past couple of months.  I love salad and don't see that it should be confined to when the weather is sunny.

I've been back on track for nearly a whole week now (four and a half days counts as nearly seven, doesn't it?) and although it has had its tricky moments, altogether it is going pretty well.  It helps, I think, that we were SO over indulgent last weekend, my body was definitely ready to embrace a simpler, leaner diet.  But, as I said in my last post and said to my WW coach at the weigh in, I will never be the type of person to count, or even attempt to count, on holiday.  Food and drink are two of life's very great pleasures.

Talking of great pleasures, and another sign that winter is on its way - the new series of Strictly Come Dancing started on Saturday night which I thoroughly enjoyed.  Saturday nights from now will definitely have to feature a special sort of supper to honour the occasion.  Actually, this Saturday's supper was very special indeed - inspired by a photo on Bundobust's Instagram feed, I contrived a saag paneer pizza.  If two of your favourite foods are saag paneer and pizza, this is a dish not to be missed.  I may well post the recipe at some point.

Anyway, on to this week.  I am supposed to be going out on Friday, so it is blank for now, but may try and wriggle out of it for various reasons, not least that it would be nice to have two straight weeks of tracking under my belt as we go into October AKA D's 50th Birthday Month.  Elsewhere:

Monday: Tuna and onion (tonno e cipolla) pizza - we have pizza dough leftover from Saturday night and, well, it would be rude not to.

Tuesday:  Mussel paella

Wednesday:  Vietnamese braised pork with vegetable egg fried rice

Thursday: Chicken breast stuffed with goats' cheese

Saturday:  Lobster truffled macaroni cheese - a dish inspired by our recent trip to the Star Inn the Harbour.

Sunday:  A freezer dive - beef and fennel stew with mashed potatoes.

Have a fabulous week all!

Cheap Eats in Leeds - Thai Aroy Dee & Ecco Pizzeria

A few years ago, D and I instituted the practice of aiming for at least one “CNO” a month. Which, for the uninitiated (i.e. everyone apart from us) meant the two of us dining out for a total of £30 or less all in. We all know that it’s pretty easy to eat well if you’re happy to splash loads of cash but can it be done on a budget?

The answer, of course, is yes if you know where to look but we fell out of the habit or, at the very least, became less stringent about the rules. Having recently seen our outgoings increase though, we are on a mission to be more frugal and so have reinstituted the concept of the CNO. But, because, you know, inflation, we’ve raised the upper limit to £40.

Thai Aroy Dee

I may have mentioned TAD before, but if you live in Leeds and are a fan of Thai food I would always recommend you come here rather than the glitzier Sukkothai or the buzzier Zaap Thai. I hesitate to mention authenticity in reference to Asian cooking, as I’ve never travelled there myself, but I have been here with people who know and they tell me it’s probably the most authentic Thai food in the city. Certainly, it’s delicious. The flipside is that nothing here, neither the food nor the restaurant itself, is particularly glamourous which is by the by if you can get a good feed for under £20 a head.

D threw a potential spanner in the frugal works by letting himself get too hungry which meant that he wanted to order a starter, a salad and a main plus rice and a beer. In the end, he was persuaded to share a portion of the Thai prawn crackers (crunchier, spicier and infinitely more addictive than their Chinese counterparts) followed by a minced chicken salad, stir fried minced pork with fermented eggs and a sticky rice. And a beer. I had a red Thai curry with duck and steamed rice. And a sparkling water. Because I’m trying to stop drinking on school nights.

Crackers!

D found the minced chicken salad to be a little delicate, and would have preferred a bit more zing and punch such as was found in the stir fried dish, which he deemed delicious. I can confirm that the spiced mince was heavenly, but avoided sampling jellified eggs because I have issues with anything that looks like jelly and tastes of old egg.

Mince and eggs!

The duck curry was also good. I think the duck must have been poached which left the meat incredibly tender although, where I am used to eating it fried, I must admit missed the contrasting crackle of crispy skin. The sauce was thinner than I expected but packed full of flavour with that classic triumvirate of sweet, sour and hot all in perfect alignment.

Duck curry!

Final bill? The whole lot came to £34.35 which we rounded up to £38.00 with tip. Not far below our limit but we took away enough leftovers to do us both lunch the next day. This might be no frills dining but it is undoubtedly good and definitely somewhere to consider if you’re looking for cheap, cheerful and tasty.

Ecco

Ecco is located in Headingley, which, if you know Leeds at all you will be aware seems to be mainly populated by students. As such, it is a good place to head if you wish to avoid the city centre but find interesting and frugal places to dine out.

I had been wanting to visit (Ecco rather than Headingley) for ages, being a pizza fiend. It has quite the local reputation, always seems to be packed out and, impressively for such a small place, boasts an authentic wood burning oven. Apparently, to be considered true Neapolitan style pizza there are strict rules with regards the temperature of said oven and the length of time the pizza can cook (60-90 seconds) and Ecco are proud to advertise that they adhere to these standards.

I am not sure, however, that many residents of Naples would recognise some of the topping combinations that Ecco have adopted. D, ever the rebel, ordered an Istanbul “pizza” which was topped with tahini, rather than tomato, over which had been strewn liberal quantities of lamb mince, feta, pomegranate seeds and yoghurty salad. It was delicious, but it was not pizza.

Pizza!

I went for a slightly more pedestrian combination of pepperoni, ham, mushrooms and olives. The base was blistered and blackened which gave a pleasing hint of char, the sauce was good, the mozzarella plentiful and creamy. My personal preference would have been for a little less topping and a slightly thinner base, but I can’t say that I was complaining particularly. Chicken wings, ordered as a starter, and also cooked in the wood fired oven, were good if not exceptional.

Again, this was no frills dining. Tables are set very close together, service is efficient, food is served promptly with a minimum of ceremony. They do not sell alcohol which was not a particular issue for me but both D and the guy at the table next to us looked a little crestfallen at the prospect of pizza sans beer. However, with more pubs in Headingley than you can shake a drunken student at, locating a watering hole either side of your meal (and you will be in and out pretty quickly) is not hard.

Pizza for two (again, we had leftovers that we got boxed up to take away) with a starter and a soft drink came to £22.95 so even with tip we were well under the £30 mark, let alone £40. And I would quite happily go there again, although if you ask me, the best pizza in North Leeds is to be found a bit further up the road at Meanwood’s That’s Amore, where the menu is considerably smaller and the toppings are slightly less liberal.

Overall though, two excellent additions to the pantheon of Leeds CNO venues. But fear not, next month normal service will be restored as we head to Michelin starred (and priced) The Black Swan at Oldstead and pay the equivalent of ten Cheap Night Outs for a single meal. Huzzah!

Thai Aroy Dee
120 - 122 Vicar Lane, Leeds, LS2 7NL
0113 245 2174

Ecco
93 Otley Road, Leeds, LS6 3PS
0113 278 2828

Pizza 101 (1): base and roasted tomato sauce

I have often said that my last meal on Earth would be bangers and mash with onion gravy. But pizza would be a close second. Good pizza - which, for my taste, is a thin and crispy base, a scant amount of deeply flavoured sauce, plenty of cheese (but not so much as to make the whole soggy) and a couple of carefully chosen, complimentary toppings.

That being said, up until last year I had never made it myself, being slightly intimidated by bread making. I've cracked that now, which means I can have homemade pizza whenever I like! Or, because D is forbearing but not THAT forbearing, on a relatively regular basis.

The amounts here make enough for 4-6 pretty decent sized pizzas. Once the dough has been proved it can be rolled into a ball, wrapped in clingfilm and popped in the freezer. Likewise, the sauce can be frozen in little pots. Defrost the two for 12 hours in the fridge. So, whack it in there in the morning and make pizza in the evening in less time than it takes to ring for a takeaway.

The trickiest part of pizza making (in my humble opinion) is rolling out the dough.  We have an excellent pizza restaurant at the end of our street and I have tried to study their technique as they effortlessly fling around dough creating perfect, thinly stretched circles.  But the fact is, if I try and throw dough it is likely to end up on either the ceiling or the floor.  A rolling pin is the only way forward.  But I've stolen an excellent tip from my Mum, and now roll it out actually on the lightly floured baking tray.

With regards the baking tray, another Mum tip was to use one with holes in to allow plenty of heat to get to the bottom of the pizza as well as the top.

When you are coming to make your pizzas, in lieu of a proper pizza oven, crank your domestic beast up to the highest it will go at least ten minutes before you intend to cook them so that they are up to temperature.  Roll out the dough as thinly as you can imagine and spread about a tablespoon of sauce over the surface.  You can, of course, use more sauce if you wish but to my mind a pizza should not be too saucey (oo-er).  Snow over a fine layer of Parmesan which adds seasoning and a touch of cheesy umami to whatever is coming next and then you are ready to add whatever toppings take your fancy.

For the base:

Ingredients:

500g strong bread flour
10g salt
10g fast action yeast
4 tbsp olive oil
360ml cool water

I make this in a stand mixer using a dough hook and the instructions reflect that. If you prefer to make it without then just pretend that you hand is said hook! You may need to knead for a little bit longer.

Tip the flour into the mixer bowl then put the salt on one side and the yeast at the other so that never the twain shall meet. Make a well in the middle and pour in the oil. Put the bowl in the stand with the dough hook attachment and set off at a low speed.

Pour in the water, watching for the point when the dough forms a ball around the hook. You may not need it all. You can now crank the speed up a couple of notches and leave it to work away for 5-10 minutes. The dough is ready when it is soft, silkily elastic and not too sticky.

Transfer the dough to an oiled bowl, cover with cling film and leave to prove for a couple of hours. I actually follow the advice of Mr Paul "Silver Fox" Hollywood, making it in the morning and allow to prove all day. You don't need to leave it in a warm place if you do this - ambient temperature is fine.

For the sauce:

Ingredients

6 medium tomatoes, quartered
Onion, finely chopped
3 garlic cloves, crushed

2 tbsp olive oil
Tbsp balsamic vinegar
Tbsp tomato ketchup
Tsp sugar
Small knob of butter

Sprig of fresh oregano (or tsp of dried)
Small handful of basil leaves

Preheat the oven to 150.

Toss the tomatoes in a tbsp of oil, the balsamic vinegar, the oregano and plenty of seasoning. Roast for around and hour and a half.

Once the tomatoes are out, heat the other tbsp of oil and sweat the onion for five minutes until soft. Then add the garlic and cook for a further couple of minutes.

Squish the tomatoes down in the pan and combine well. Stir through the ketchup, sugar and butter.

Remove from the heat and allow to cool slightly before stirring through the basil and transferring to a blitzer. Blend until smooth and then, if feeling really cheffy, pass through a sieve.

Lunch at Bella Italia

Nigel Slater recently criticised the term foodie.  I like his quote that food should be “something to be quietly enjoyed rather than put on a pedestal. (The very notion of someone being a “foodie” makes me shudder.)”

When I named my blog, I’d like to think that I was being slightly ironic.  I'm certainly not someone who has ever been particularly snobbish about food; merely I delight (to a slightly excessive degree) in eating, cooking, writing about and reading about the subject.  The idea of making it into a fetish, is, I agree, shudder inducing.  But unfortunately for me, you can’t run after everyone who happens across your blog and explain that the term was meant humorously.  Sadly, I will now never have Nigel Slater as a fan.

This is a very roundabout introduction to what is actually the simplest of things – lunch.  In particular, lunch at a chain restaurant.  One of those chain restaurants that tends to set up shop in city centres and out of town shopping parks near the multiplex cinema.  About as far away from fayne dayning as it is possible to be.  And yet, and yet.  As long as you’re not going to get all snobbish about it and enjoy it for what it is, a perfectly nice place to enjoy a perfectly nice meal.

I don’t recall ever being to a Bella Italia before.  Based on my experience at the York Clifton Moor branch on Saturday, I would certainly pop in there for a bite to eat before catching an early evening film.  Chain restaurants have their place, especially when they are delivering good quality food for decent value.  I suppose my one issue with them comes when they start to choke out the great little independent places who have the capacity (and, indeed, the freedom) to be a bit more creative.  But that, in part, is down to the diner who doesn't want to step outside their comfort zone.

So, to lunch.  It was Saturday, and busy and buzzy but our lovely server Louise was completely unflappable and charming in the face of the rush.  And, yes, I enjoyed the food.  And yes, I know it was lunchtime, but we did share a bottle of the house red (for research purposes) and it was very pleasant for £14. 

I started with one of the specials, ‘nduja spirale – breadsticks stuffed with mozzarella and my beloved spicy salami.  I was really excited to see ‘nduja on the menu (I believe I've mentioned that it is my current obsession) and hope it introduces it to a wider audience.  This dish was like an upper class stuffed crust that had got so far above its station as to detach itself from the pizza - yum.  D had gamberi, or prawns, with garlic and chilli – great, fat, juicy nuggets which he pronounced very good (and he’s a man who knows his crustacea).

Prawns!

Stuffed crusts!

For a main course, I put my WW head on and ordered a pizza Vita – which, at under 600 calories (roughly 15pps) was one of the more diet friendly options (all dishes less than 600 and 300 calories are flagged up on the menu).  The base was wholemeal, giving it a distinctly nutty taste and a more prominent role in the proceedings than usual which I actually liked.  The quality of the topping was good – the slices of Speck ham, in particular, were lovely and overall I enjoyed it although I think “pizza” is a slight misnomer.  D had a pizza proper which was thin and crisp of base and generous of toppings.  He appeared to like it although in terms of the logistics of eating he would have preferred a larger plate and a pizza wheel  (as opposed to a steak knife).  First world problems indeed.

Pizza!

Not pizza!

In order to provide a completely comprehensive view we also ate pudding although we were both rather full at this point.  Still, that’s what the separate pudding stomach is for, isn't it?  The selection of pudding “shots” was a really nice idea (and again, at under 300 calories each, a good option for the dieter who wants something sweet without blowing too many points on a huge portion) – we opted for pannacotta, tiramisu mousse and the chocolate amaretto pot between us.  D thought the chocolate was too sweet (I liked it) but praised the sharp morello cherry coulis on the pannacotta and took to mixing the two to cut through the chocolate.    

Pudding!

Elsewhere, judging by the constant stream of contented, sticky young children, the gelato cart was doing roaring trade – I thought that was another lovely touch.  Although I still don’t understand the difference between gelato and ice cream.

So what is our summary here?  In short, if you call yourself a foodie but in reality you are just slightly greedy and don’t want to get caught up in the politics of it all, then you would have a thoroughly nice meal in a Bella Italia restaurant.  And it is was really good to see from the menu that the chain are starting to think about provenance and regionality: such things that may be buzzwords but they are concepts that ultimately contribute to a higher standard of food across the board.  

Map of Italy!

If you’re trying to lose weight but still want to go out, then the low calorie flags on the menu are good signposts to guide your choices.  If you want to get young children used to eating out then this sort of place (relaxed atmosphere, lovely, friendly staff, child friendly gelato carts) is ideal. If you just want to grab something quick, tasty and decently priced before you go and drool over Daniel Craig, this fits the bill.  That’s a lot of boxes ticked.

Disclaimer: I was invited to eat at Bella Italia and the meal was complementary.  However, my blog is my kingdom etc. and all opinions expressed are honest and, along with all spelling and grammatical errors, indisputably my own.  

Adventures in pizza making

Oh, pizza. How I love it, in all its forms. From the thick, gooey, doughy hunks that make the perfect post-pub takeaway (Domino’s I’m looking at you – and yes, I’ll probably be in touch soon) to the actual “proper” stuff that they eat in Italy, with a crisp crust stretched thin and an elegantly restrained amount of topping.

I’m a regular patron of the Pizza Express chain and I generally order the same thing – the Soho, which is essentially a margherita topped with rocket, Parmesan shavings and a drizzle of olive oil, and at 13 WW points it is workable as a dinner with a little bit of austerity earlier in the day. Pizza Express has recently challenged its diners to come up with a new pizza topping – and while I don’t think I’ll ever be able to improve on my beloved Soho, the prospect of a £5000 prize AND a place on the Pizza Express menu was enough to make me pause for thought.

I wanted to do something that had a recognisable culinary link to Italy and traditional Italian cooking. And, for some reason, my thoughts turned towards a pasta dish that D cooked about a year ago which consisted of ravioli filled with a roasted butternut squash puree, subtly flavoured with amaretti biscuits, and then tossed in a sage butter. Apparently this is a dish most famously found in the Cremona region of Italy, and is traditionally called tortelli di zucca.

I liked the idea of squash roasted with sage on top of a pizza. I thought that adding amaretti biscuits might be a step too weird alongside all the other flavours that I would need, but liked the idea of a bit of crunchy texture, so added a sprinkle of toasted flaked almonds just before serving. I was a bit concerned that the sweet squash would fight with a sweet tomato base, so made this a pizza bianchi, flavouring ricotta with roasted garlic, a touch of lemon zest and a hint of Parmesan cheese before spreading it on the pizza base (shop bought, much to my chagrin – I must try and make my own dough at some point) and topping it with the roasted squash, some roasted red onion (to add another savoury note) and, of course, mozzarella.

Voila!

It looks a bit of a mess but I'm still rather proud - it tasted yummy, although was quite rich.  I didn't actually calculate the points but I'm guessing it wouldn't be too terrible if you used half fat mozzarella (which I've found melts just as well as the normal stuff) and didn't roast the squash and onion with much oil.






D had a go too and his was far prettier than mine:

Behold the pizza puttanesca - also based on a classic pasta dish.  The sauce was absolutely delicious - baby plum tomatoes, olives, capers, anchovies and a touch of chilli all whizzed together and then topped with mozzarella (of course) and more anchovies and olives.  We decided it was a bit of a marmite pizza - if you love those strong, salty flavours then likely you would love this, but if not it would be a bit much.

Whether or not we win the £5000, it was fun to do and I must say I am rather inspired to do some more creating - although I've promised myself that I will actually make my own dough next time!