Make your own! Homemade Pizza for Two

How to make pizza? During the current recession climate, everyone's watching their pennies and we are no exception. So we decided to have a homemade romantic evening together.
Ingredients for pizza base
400g Strong white flour
A packet of Fast Action yeast
250ml luke warm water to help the yeast
A couple grinds of salt
A drop of olive oil
A drop of milk

Toppings
Be creative, pick whatever takes you fancy and put them on the pizza. Enjoy your own creation! This is whatwe did.

100ml Tomato sauce (I bought a small tub of Tesco Bolognese sauce)
2 gloves of garlic, sliced (optional)
1 chilli, chopped (optional)

Mozzarella and Avocado Pizza
Mozzarella cheese
5 cherry tomatos
A handful of spinach
Half avocado, stoned and sliced
3 slices of parma hams

Spicy Veggie Pizza
Grated cheddar cheese, or of your choice
1 red chilli, sliced
Half an onion, quartered
Half a red pepper, diced
4 mushrooms, sliced
A quarter of a courgette, sliced


Step 1
Mix the flour, yeast and salt well. Gradually add the luke warm water and bring the mixture together. As it starts to bind, add a drop of oil and milk. Continue to bind until the outside is smooth.

If it's too slack, wet, add a bit more flour; if it's too dry, hard, add a bit more water.

Step 2
Cover the inside bowl and surface of dough with olive oil, to stop crust from forming when the dough starts to raise. Place the bowl in a warm part of the kitchen to help yeast action. (I put it on the shelf directly above a radiator) Leave for 2 to 3 hours to rise.

Step 3
The dough should have doubled in size. Poke the surface to let out some of the air. Transfer the dough to a floured surface and start kneading for a couple of minutes.

Cut the dough in two. Roll it flat (about 1-1.5cm thick) with a rolling pin (It doesn't really matter what shape it is, I think that's the beauty of homemade food) and place on a pizza tin, or just on a piece of foil. Leave it to rest until you sort out the toppings.

Step 4
Heating up the tomato sauce with garlic and chilli is optional. You can just spread a thin layer of tomato sauce straight on the pizza base.

Heat a pan with a teaspoon of olive oil, after one minute put in the chopped garlic and chilli. Stir it a bit and add the tomato sauce until it just starts to bubble. Leave it aside to cool.

Spread a thin layer of the sauce on the pizza base. Make sure you don't put too much, or it'll go soggy.

Step 5
Pre-heat the oven at 180 degree.
Now do your magic and place toppings on the pizza base in the style you like.

Step 6
Place the two pizzas in the oven and cook for 10-14 minutes.

Enjoy your homemade romance with a glass of good wine!

The Perfect Wine for Pizza

Where Italy comes to Australia from Premium Vineyards with a Wine for Pizza!

Totoiseshell Bay Shiraz/Barbera - South East Australia @ £5.99 per bottle

This is an intensely fruity wine, bursting with brambly Shiraz fruit, spice and herb notes. Barbera adds structure and freshness to the blend, which has soft tannins and a long clean finish.

When the sun goes down, let the wine warm you so you will settle down and sip some sunshine and pleasure with you Pizza!

Valentine’s Day Recipe - Love Fish (For two)

The name says it all. A special Valentine's Day recipe brought to you by Alastair from Dorje's Wine.

Start the Ceremony for helping the Chef prepare the feast with Distant Land Marlborough Sauvignon from New Zealand.

Ingredients
2 x 10 oz. Salmon steaks
1 tbsp Good olive oil
Mr. Lingham chilli sauce (or other chilli sauce)
2 cloves finely chopped garlic
2cm finely chopped ginger
Juice from one lemon
1 large handful of fresh coriander
6 tomatoes
1 bulb of Fennel, peeled and quartered
6 oz. Broccoli chopped into bite size florets
1 Red pepper chopped into chunks (to add some sweetness)
½ bottle Dry Sherry
1 Banana
Tomato Ketchup
Salt and black pepper to season

Step 1
Pre-heat the oven to 180°C.
Pour the olive oil onto the salmon steaks and coat the salmon with Mr Lingham chilli sauce. Add the garlic, ginger and lemon juice to the salmon and mix well. Sprinkle with salt and pepper.

Step 2
Place the salmon steaks in a baking tray on a good bed of fresh coriander.
Place tomatoes, quartered fennel, chopped broccoli and red pepper around the salmon steaks. Pour the Sherry on to mix.

Step 3
Chop bananas and place on top of the salmon steaks.
Splash good dash of tomato ketchup over the bananas and salmon steaks.

Step 4
Seal with foil and bake for 1 hour or until the vegetables are cooked.

Serve on a bed of Wild Rice.

Enjoy with a glass of orgasmic Arrogant Frog, Lily Pad Pink Sparkling Rosé!

Compliment from Alastair at http://www.dorjes.co.uk/