Homemade pizza: step by step

I always felt pizza was overrated and never digged it until I travelled to Europe and saw there were different kinds; I especially like the thick crust ones with lots of cheese. It’s kind of like I am eating bread and stew, lol. Following this recipe was fun and I found out that making pizza ain’t rocket science. So here’s how to make chicken and sweetcorn pizza step by step, at home.

What you need: Makes three, 12” pizzas.

• For the topping: 4 large tomatoes ground, Small tin (70g) tomato puree, 1 heaped tablespoon ketchup, pinch of salt, a pair of knorr cubes, ¼ teaspoon white pepper, 1 teaspoon Oregano, 3 tablespoons olive oil, ¼ cup water, 1 small onion chopped, 4 cloves garlic, 1 kg soft chicken, sweet corn, cucumber thinly sliced, green pepper thinly sliced, Mozzarella and Cheddar cheese grated.
• For the base: 675g flour, 1 ½ teaspoon salt, 3 teaspoons yeast, 450ml lukewarm water and 3 tablespoons olive oil.

What you do:

• Using the first eleven ingredients, make a tomato sauce and keep aside.
• To prepare the chicken, season the chicken with garlic, knorr and salt. Sear on both sides and simmer with little water till it’s cooked and all the water has dried up. Remove the skin and bones and flake it.
• Mix the ingredients for the base starting with the dry ones and then incorporate the liquids.
• Knead for 5 minutes until smooth and elastic.
• Transfer dough to lightly floured surface, divide into three smooth balls and roll out each into 12” rounds and place in lightly oiled pizza pans or baking trays, pressing up the sides.
• Cover and leave in a warm place (say an unlit oven, make sure you close the oven door.) to rise for 30 minutes or till slightly risen and puffy.
• Next assemble all the ingredients as seen in the picture then put the toppings on the pizza base in this order: tomato sauce, cheddar cheese, chicken, sweetcorn, green pepper, cucumber and Mozzarella cheese. Note I put the Mozzarella last because its the cheese that gives the pizza that drawy, stringy effect.
• Bake in a pre-heated moderate oven i.e. at 200°C, 400°F or gas mark 6 for 25-30 minutes or until golden and well risen.
• Serve hot or warm and bon appetito!
• PS. I made the third pizza square shaped because its easier to share in little cute squares.

Searing the chicken

Assembly of ingredients from top left to right: flaked chicken, cucumber, sweetcorn, tomato sauce, green pepper, pizza base dough, Mozzarella, cheese and Cheddar cheese.

Rolling out the pizza dough

All rolled out with sides pressed up.

Pizza dough rising in an unlit oven for 30 minutes.

topping with tomato sauce and cheddar cheese

topping with chicken and sweetcorn

topping with green pepper and cucumber

Lastly topping with Mozzarella cheese and assembly of the three pizzas. For the third, I made a square shaped pizza.

Square shaped pizza

Pizza baking in oven

Pizzas baked and golden

Have a slice

Sticky Chicken Wings

Sticky chicken wings
Welcome to my own version of buffalo chicken wings where you have deep fried chicken wings tossed in a sweet chili sauce. They are lovely as snack, appetizer or side. Try serving it with celery, carrot and cucumber crudités (vegetables cut into batons) with a spicy mayo dip. And get ready to be enchanted by their sticky, goodness.
Ingredients: Serves 3
• 6 Chicken wings jointed
• Garlic grated
• Knorr original
• Salt
• 1 table spoon, flour
• Oil for frying
• Sweet chili sauce
• Spring onions
Method:
• To joint the wings, cut at the first and second joints. The bony piece after the second joint should not be included but kept aside for stock.
• Marinade the chicken in the seasoning and a little flour for an hour.
• Fry in hot oil but for a healthier alternative, grill till golden on both sides.
• Lastly, mix with sweet chili sauce and stir for a bit in a frying pan until heated through.
• Serve garnished with spring onions.

Crisp fried chicken wings

 

Chicken wings and sweet chili being heated through

 

Chicken wings in all their glory

Pancakes step-by-step

Pancakes are mighty easy to make and so it surprises me when I meet people that can’t make them. A simple tip is that the basics are flour, eggs and water then sugar if it’s to be sweet and seasoning if it is to be savoury. The softer you want it, the more eggs you need to add.
My brother ordered some sweet pancakes so I decided to do a step-by-step recipe. This recipe is just a guide, feel free to create yours. I made this in a large (10 inches) frying pan, but you can reduce the recipe by dividing the measurements. For example if you want half recipe, you divide everything by two.
Makes about 24 pancakes
What you need:
• 5 heaped cups of Flour
• 1 cup of sugar
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 2 teaspoon baking powder(optional)
• 1 tin of evaporated milk
• 15 eggs, whisked
• 1½ teaspoon Vanilla essence
• About 6 cups of water (or enough to achieve consistency seen in the picture)
• Little oil for shallow frying
What you do:
• Mix all the dry ingredients together.
• Make a well in the centre then add the eggs, milk and water. You should add enough water that gives you the consistency of single cream, drinking yoghurt or kunun Zaki
• Mix well with a wooden spoon, whisk or electric mixer till smooth.
• If lumpy, sieve and keep the batter aside to rest for 30 minutes.
• Fry ¼ cup of batter at a time by placing 2 teaspoons of oil in a hot frying pan then swirling the batter till it reaches all sides of the pan.
• When one side is cooked and browned, flip over and cook the same way.
• Serve warm.
• If serving with sweet topping say maple syrup, chocolate sauce, jam, ice cream, etc. reduce the sugar in the recipe.
• Bon appetito

Consistency of pancake batter

Batter poured into hot pan

Pancake with top set

Pancake flipped over

Pancake folded in half

Pancake folded into a quarter