Sweet & Smokey BBQ Chicken Pizza

Anyone that reads my blog regularly, or has been following for a while, will realise that I'm all about making everyday meals simple. That doesn't mean grabbing a ready meal and popping it in the microwave, even on the busiest of days, but I do like the odd shortcut or two.

My kids love a pizza on the weekend, and I usually keep one or two in the freezer so the teens can feed themselves. Frozen pizzas aren't always the best tasting, but the kids don't seem to mind, as long as it's quick and hassle free. This semi-homemade Sweet & Smokey BBQ Chicken Pizza is not only quick and hassle free to make, but it also tastes great, and a lot better than a frozen one.

It doesn't take long to make your own pizza dough, but if you really don't have the time then a store bought pizza base, flatbread, naan bread or tortilla wrap works just as well. For this recipe I used a large ready made pizza base, but at the weekend my friend told me about large garlic & coriander naan breads that Iceland are selling so I'm going to give them a try for the next pizza I make.

I cooked the pizza on a preheated pizza stone on the BBQ, which gives the base a slightly smokey flavour, and then finished off under a hot grill, but cooking in a hot oven works well too.

Jack Daniel's Smokey Sweet Barbecue Glaze is ideal for coating the chicken strips on the pizza, as it not only adds a sweet and smokey flavour to the chicken, but it also slightly caramelises when it's cooked under a hot grill.

Along with the sweet & smokey bbq chicken, I topped the pizza with mozzarella slices, sweetcorn, jalapenos, rocket and an extra drizzle of BBQ sauce, making this an ideal quick and easy midweek meal for the family - even the teens could make it, and in less time than it takes to cook a frozen pizza!

Jack Daniel's make a variety of barbecue sauces and glazes that are great for dips and marinades this bbq season.

a commissioned post for Jack Daniel's Sauces

Classic Thin & Crispy Margarita Pizza

This week has been a bit of a hectic one, with two trips to the physio (one for me and one for the accident prone eldest child) , a trip to the opticians to try and convince them that my new glasses are no good despite the number of adjustments to the arms they made, as I still couldn't see my computer screen clearly - a sure sign that I'm getting old!

Then I spent far too many hours working in front of my computer wearing my old scratched glasses with hazy sections in the middle of each lens whilst I wait for my new (hopefully improved) specs.

Fast forward to the weekend and I finally got around to making pizza for this week's Bake Off challenge. Some of those on the show turned out to be a bit of a dogs dinner, and I'm not sure where they went wrong, but it makes for good tv, and makes be feel better about my own rustic efforts.

Home made pizza is so much better than store bought, in my opinion, but sometimes needs must, and the kids don't seem to have the same palate as me, and don't mind where it comes from, although if you mention Domino's their grumpy little faces soon light up.

I'm not a fan of stuffed crusts or deep pan, as there's just way too much bread for my liking. Thin and crispy authentic pizza bases are definitely the way to go, and simple toppings are usually all that's needed. I used Paul Hollywood's pizza base recipe from his 'Bread' book, which is a nice and simple basic recipe. It makes enough dough for 3 decent sized single person pizzas, and it's easy to roll out or shape into a thin base.

I happen to have a pizza stone, which I've had for years, and it's perfect for cooking crispy bases, as you heat it up in the oven first, and it starts to cook the base before it even gets into the oven, which seems to make it easier to remove too. I also happened to have an unopened box of semolina in the cupboard with an expiry date of sometime during 2015, but it was still perfectly fine, and gave the base that authentic finish.

For the topping I stuck to the classic margarita style, with passata, mozzarella and fresh basil. I would've preferred more basil on top but Asda let me down that morning with my online shop and delivered a manky basil plant with barely any decent leaves on, which I only noticed as I went to pluck a handful of leaves once the pizza was cooked. The pizza still tasted great though, despite the lack of greenery, and it was thin and crispy, just the way I like it.

one of the few decent basil leaves (insert all the eye rolls)

If you're following a low carb diet & a bread base isn't really your thing then you could try making the base from a protein powder, such as pea protein. See more here for the best pea protein powders.

Pepperoni Pizza Bread Sticks

Before I made my cardamom, orange & cinnamon teacakes a few weeks ago I hadn't made any bread for a while, but that's the great thing about Bake Off, as it makes you rediscover the baking that you'd forgotten about, as well as trying out new bakes, such as Stroopwafels.

Since bread week I've baked bread of some sort each week, including a cheese, garlic and herb stuffed loaf to accompany home made soup, which is great in this cold weather, and now these bread sticks filled with cheesy pizza flavours. They are so easy to make, especially if you have a bread maker to make the dough, or use ready made and rolled pizza dough (£1 in Asda), as they only need a few additional ingredients, a little time to rest, and then only 10 minutes to bake.

Serve them as a tv snack dipped in ketchup or chilli sauce, or alongside soup, salad or pasta for a main meal. Personally I think they're best served warm, with the cheese oozing out, but they would also be a great addition to the kids lunchboxes, or as snack for car journeys.

I don't often buy cheesestrings, but they work really well in these, as the cheese doesn't seep out like it would if cheddar was used, plus they're convenient as they don't need cutting or grating!

Easy Pizza

I cook meals from scratch most nights and we very rarely have takeaways or eat out, which can become a bit exhausting in the kitchen if I'm totally honest. Sometimes I just want to make something quick, but still want it to be tasty and not out of a box that I've plucked from the freezer.

Warburtons wraps have many uses, including as an alternative for naan bread with a curry as well as being great for making quick pizzas.  You can add whatever toppings you like but one of the favourites here is mozzarella, red pepper and pepperoni, with added Jalapenos for the adults.

The tomato sauce is simply made from a good quality ketchup mixed with red pesto and smothered over the wrap.

Add slices of mozzarella, pepperoni, peppers and a sprinkling of dried oregano.

Bake in a 180C oven for approx 10 mins and then serve with salad for a quick lunch or dinner.

Ham & Tomato Pancake Pizza

Who doesn't love pizza? I know that my kids love it and I make it quite often, but there are those times when dinner time is fast approaching and I really can't be bothered to make a pasta base, even a quick one. Then I had a brainwave, what if you could use a pancake as a pizza base? Would it work? Pancakes take only a few minutes to whisk up and cook so if it worked it would be a perfect solution.

Do you know what? It worked, and it was from the fridge to table in 15 minutes - you couldn't even cook a frozen pizza in that time.

Ham & Tomato Pancake Pizza - makes two 10" pizzas

135g Plain flour
225ml milk
1 Egg
pinch of salt & pepper
Oil for frying
200g grated mozzarella

100g sun dried tomatoes, chopped

50g ham, chopped
fresh oregano

• Whisk the flour, milk and egg until smooth
• Season with salt & pepper
• Lightly oil a 10" frying pan or skillet
• Pour half of the mixture into the pan & swirl around to reach the edge of the pan
• Cook pancake on each side until lightly browned

• Whilst still in the pan sprinkle over half of the cheese, tomatoes and ham
• Top with oregano and place under a medium grill until the cheese is bubbling
• Serve immediately & repeat with the remaining pancake mixture & topping

I have entered this recipe in the Swallow Charity recipes for life challenge, which is in it's final month this month, based around the 3 ingredients of milk, eggs and flour.

Rhubarb and Custard Crumble Pizza

Who said pizzas have to be savoury. I shared my recipe for fruit crumble pizzas a while ago but thought it was time to share again now that I have a tonne of rhubarb to use up. What goes better with rhubarb than custard so I've incorporated some custard in there too, the ready made tinned stuff is fine, and what better way to serve it than with some rhubarb ripple ice cream.

It's a very simple, no yeast, pizza base which, if you have a very sweet tooth, you might want to add a little sugar to.

Rhubarb and Custard Crumble Pizza

250g rhubarb
1 tbsp sugar
1/2 can of ready made custard
25g butter
100g plain flour
50g Demerara sugar
1/2 tsp mixed spice
zest of 1 lemon

• wash & trim the rhubarb & cut into 1cm pieces
• Place in a microwaveable bowl, cover & microwave for 5 minutes, until soft
• Drain any excess juice and stir in the tbsp of sugar & set aside
• Make the pizza base by mixing the flour, oil and milk together until it forms a dough
• Knead for 1 minute & roll out to approx 30cm in diameter
• Make the crumble by rubbing the butter into the flour until it resembles breadcrumbs
• Stir in the demerara sugar, mixed spice & lemon zest
• Spread the rhubarb over the pizza base, cover with the custard & sprinkle over the crumble
• Bake in a preheated 180 C oven for approx 20 minutes
• Serve hot or cold

I have entered this recipe into the Swallows Charity Recipe for Life challenge on Bangers & Mash, which you can read more about here.

Red Thai Turkey Pizza

Once again I've had the pleasure of being asked by Lean on Turkey to come up with a creative turkey recipe to prove that turkey most definitely is not just for Christmas. This time the challenge is to come up with a pizza or pasta recipe using fresh turkey. The first recipe that sprang to mind was spaghetti bolognaise using turkey mince but it didn't seem very adventurous so I decided to go down the pizza route. Instead of scattering cooked turkey breast on the top, which would seem the obvious choice, I used it instead of the tomato base, spicing it up slightly with a Thai paste.

It's a very quick meal to cook, especially as the base doesn't contain yeast so needs no proving time - only about 15 minutes to prepare and 20 minutes to cook.

Red Thai Turkey Pizza - serves 4

1 tbsp Olive oil
225g Turkey thigh mince
50g Red Thai paste
150g SR flour
1 tbsp Olive oil
100ml milk
150g grated Mozzarella cheese
1/2 small red pepper, sliced
2 mushrooms, sliced
4 mini corns, sliced
few slices of fresh red chilli

• Heat 1 tbsp of olive oil in a frying pan
• Add the turkey mince and thai paste and cook on a medium heat until the turkey is cooked through, stirring regularly

• Make the pizza base by mixing the flour, olive oil and milk together to form the dough - you may not need all of the milk so keep a little back until the dough is almost mixed and add it if it seems too dry
• Roll the dough out onto a floured surface to fit your baking tray or pizza stone - mine was 30cm in diameter
• Flour the baking tray and lay the rolled out dough on top

• Spread the turkey mince over the base

• Top with the mozzarella, then the pepper, mushrooms, corn and chilli

• Bake in a preheated 180 C oven for approx 18-20 minutes until browned on top

A family meal enjoyed with chips and salad....

This is a sponsored post, however the recipe is my own


This post is an entry for BritMums’ Summer Turkey Recipe Challenge with Lean on Turkey

Pizza the Mummy Mishaps way

When I heard Jenny from Mummy Mishaps talk about her fish finger pizza I was a bit unsure whether it would be something I would be making...


Then I saw the photos and it did look good so I decided to give it a go. I was going to make a pizza base that I've used before, using yeast, but I didn't have enough time as the dough takes 1.5 hours in the breadmaker so I went with the quick pizza base recipe that Jenny used, and doubled it as I knew it wouldn't be enough to go around this hungry family.


I did put my own little spin on Jenny's pizza and instead of using tomato ketchup on the base I used baked beans. I also made an additional pizza with peppers, onion and hot chillies on, and served with homemade chunky coleslaw and healthy oven baked chips.


For the base you will need :
1 cup of self raising flour
1/2 cup of milk
1 tbsp oil



For the topping you will need :

Can of baked beans
Cooked fish fingers
Grated Cheese


Spicy Pizza topping
Tomato ketchup
grated cheese
sliced red onion
sliced chillies (I used pickled red chillies)
Sliced Roasted Red peppers
dried mixed herbs

• Mix the flour, milk & oil in a bowl until it comes together to form a dough - I added more flour as I suspect I was a bit heavy handed with the milk.
• Roll out on a floured surface until the size of your baking sheet/pizza stone
• Spread the beans over the base, add the cut up fish fingers and cover with grated cheese
• Bake in a 180 degree (C) oven for 10-15 minutes

For the spicy pizza

• Spread the tomato ketchup over the base, cover with grated cheese, chillies, onion & peppers
• Sprinkle with mixed herbs & bake in a 180 degree (C) oven for 10-15 minutes

To make the chips I sliced the potatoes (skins on), rinsed them in cold water & spread them out in a large roasting pan pre-heated with 2 tbsp of oil - I usually use olive oil but this time I used Flora Cuisine. Toss them in the oil and shake some malt vinegar over the top. Roast them in a hot oven for around 35-45 minutes, turning occasionally and giving them an extra sprinkle of vinegar - this gives them a real 'chip shop' like taste.

 

 

I baked the pizzas in my Mermaid Companion Trio pans - perfect when you want to make small pizzas with different toppings as all 3 trays are designed to fit on a standard oven shelf - you can WIN a set of these next week in one of my Blogaversary competitions.

Cooking With Your Toddler - Homemade Pizza

There are a few pizza recipes in the Linky and I've been meaning to make it for a while now but just never got round to it. As I've dragged the breadmaker out of the garage I decided to use it to make some pizza dough ready for pizza making once Jack was home from pre-school. I used to use this recipe a lot, every week in fact...until I got lazy!



You will need (makes 2 large pizzas)
1 1/4 cups water
2 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
4 cups strong white bread flour
 1.5 tsp salt
1/2 tsp granulated sugar
1 tsp dried yeast

• Pour the water & olive oil into the bradmaker pan
• sprinkle over the flour, covering all the liquid
• add the salt to one corner and the sugar to the other
• make a well in the centre and add the yeast
• turn the breadmaker to the 'dough' setting and turn on

Toppings - we used :
1 pot Tideford Organics Ragu a la Bolgnese (you can use tomato puree, a ready made pasta sauce or make your own)
Grated cheese (we used mature cheddar,you can use a mix of cheddar & mozzarella if you like)
sliced pepper
sliced onion
sliced mushrooms
sweetcorn
olives
sliced mini sausages
cooked chicken
ham
mixed herbs

or anything else you fancy

• Roll the base out either using a rolling pin or your hand on a very well floured surface - I have somewhere a nifty little pizza dough roller but it seems to have disappeared from my ridiculously full utensil drawer.

• Flour a baking sheet or pizza stone and lay the base on it.

• Spread the ragu over the base

• Cover evenly with cheese

• Add your toppings

• Sprinkle on some mixed herbs or Oregano

• Bake in a 200 degree oven for around 15-20 minutes until golden & sizzling.

Please come and look at other bloggers great recipes in the Linky below and feel free to add your own. The linky is ongoing.