Courgette and Hummus Pizza

I saw a photograph of a Courgette (Zucchini) and Hummus Pizza on Pinterest, unfortunately the link went to a blog that was private so I wasn't able to get the recipe, however I was intrigued by this unusual topping, so decided to have a go myself.


Having recently returned from Appleby and the Lake District  via Little Salkeld Mill, near Penrith,  where you can see the flour milled, enjoy the delights of the cafe and stock up on all the organic goodies.


Courgette and Hummus Pizza

For the dough
2 tsp fast action dried yeast
300ml milk
200g spelt flour
300g strong white flour
1 1/2 tsp salt
1 tsp sugar
3 tbsp plain yogurt
30g butter, melted

This quantity of flour will make one large pizza and three flat breads or two large pizzas. Just half the quantities if you only want enough for one pizza.

For the topping
1 large courgette (zucchini) finely sliced
200g hummus (I used homemade, if you can try and find one that is not completely smooth but any will do)
100g Tickler Extra Mature Cheddar with Red Onions (or cheese of your choice)

I made my dough in the bread maker, but if you want to make it by hand, put all the ingredients in a large bowl and add the salt and the yeast keeping them away from each other.  Add the olive oil and 150ml of the water and mix. Add the remaining water a little at a time until you have a smooth, soft dough.

Tip the dough onto an oiled surface and knead for 5-10 minutes until smooth.  Leave to rise until doubled in size.

Split off enough dough for your pizza and roll is or press it onto a tray, spread the hummus in a thick layer over the dough, place the slices of courgette over the hummus.  Crumble the mature cheddar and scatter over the pizza. 

Cover the pizza with oiled cling film  and leave to rise for a further 30 minutes.  

Bake at 200C for 20-30 minutes until the base is cooked, the courgettes have crisped and the cheese is melted and golden. 

The combination of the hummus and courgette was absolutely brilliant!  The spelt base was soft rather than crispy but full of flavour, the red onion in the cheese also worked well with the combination, but you could add some finely chopped red onion to the topping to compensate if you don't have this cheese. 

I had the opportunity to try out the new Clean Cut Pizza Wheel  from OXO Good Grips, so here is the result, it was easy to hold and cut through the topping and base with ease.  I also liked the plastic cover for the sharp blade although it can be a little tricky to get the cover off!  See the pizza cutter in action in this little video.


Clean Cut Pizza Wheel:  For the perfect pizza party, use the OXO Good Grips Clean Cut Pizza Wheel. This hand-held pizza slicer provides leverage and control for easy slicing and the 10cm stainless steel wheel easily cuts through thin- or thick-crust pizza. The soft, comfortable, non-slip grip will make portioning out slices for everyone a breeze. The handle comes apart and blade removes for easy cleaning, and the blade guard snaps on to protect the blade and hands for storage. The Pizza Wheel is dishwasher safe.  RRP £10

Labels: Cheddar, Clean Cut Pizza Wheel, courgette, hummus, OXO Good Grips, Pizza, spelt flour, Tickler, zucchini

posted by Janice @ 20:41 14 Comments

Spinach and Cheese Souffle with Barbers 1833

Spinach and Cheese Souffle with Barber's 1833 Vintage Reserve Cheddar

Barber's 1833 Vintage Reserve Cheddar

 The lovely people at Barber's 1833 Vintage Reserve Cheddar invited me to join them at the BBC Good Food Show before Christmas. Unfortunately, I was unable to attend, but instead they sent me some Barber's 1833 Vintage Reserve Cheddar and the ingredients to make a Spinach and Cheese Souffle.

Ingredients for Spinach and Cheese Souffle

First I'd like to say a little about the Barber's Vintage Reserve Cheddar: this is one of the best cheddar cheeses that I have ever tasted.  It had a little calcification (the crunchy bits you get in mature cheddars) but not too much, but the flavour of the cheddar was rich and tangy with an aftertaste that just makes you want to eat more!  Beautiful stuff! 

The Barber family have been farming and making cheese at Maryland Farm in Ditcheat, Somerset since 1833. In the early days, milk from the farm was sold locally and the cheese made was used to feed the family and farm workers. As time went on, the milk needed to make cheese increased and soon the family were buying milk from neighbouring farms as well.
Today the Barber farms comprise 2500 acres of prime Somerset dairy land and are home to some 2,000 dairy cows. They continue to use traditional ‘cheddaring’ techniques combined with a unique collection of traditional starter cultures for which they are sole guardians, to create a truly typical West Country Farmhouse cheddar.

The Spinach and Cheese Souffle was the ideal vehicle for this strong cheddar, only 100g is used but the souffle still tasted strongly of tangy cheddar.  I also used some in a cheese sauce for cauliflower cheese and, again, a little went a long way.  I can highly recommend this cheese and will be looking out for it again.


Spinach and Cheese Soufflé
Serves 6-8 depending on the size of the ramekins

Ingredients
200g/7oz bag washed and ready to eat spinach
40g plain flour
300ml/half a pint milk
25g/1oz white breadcrumbs
100g/3 and a half oz Barbers 1833 Vintage Reserve Cheddar, finely grated
1tsp Dijon mustard
Freshly grated nutmeg, salt and freshly ground black pepper
4 eggs separated

Method
1. Heat the oven to 200C/Gas 6. Pierce the bag of spinach in several places and microwave on full power for 1 1/2 - 2 minutes until wilted. Leave until cook enough to handle then squeeze out as much liquid as possible. Chop roughly.

2. Melt the butter in a pan and stir in the flour. Cook stirring for 2 minutes. Gradually whisk in the milk until smooth then cook gently, stirring for 5 minutes. Transfer to a large bowl and set aside to cool slightly.
3. Brush 6-8 ramekins or small ovenproof dishes with melted butter and coat with breadcrumbs.

4. Stir most of the cheese and the mustard into the sauce and season with nutmeg, salt and pepper. Gradually stir in the egg yolks, then add the spinach.

5. In a large bowl, whisk the egg whites until forming soft peaks. Take care not to allow them to become dry. Spoon two tablespoons of egg white into the cheese mixture to slacken the mixture then fold in the rest of the egg white with a metal spoon.

6. Place the ramekins in a roasting tin and pour in boiling water to come half way up the sides of the dishes. Bake for 10-12 minutes until well risen and golden brown, but still with a little bit of a wobble!
Serve immediately with green salad.

I made some small changes to the recipe, I baked mine in a single dish as I've put my ramekins into storage due to the work which is about to start on my kitchen.  The recipe also stated that you only use 2 tbsp of the egg white, I'm not sure if this is an error in the booklet, but I used all the egg whites and the souffle seemed the correct texture to me. I can't see 2 tbsp raising this amount of bechamel sauce. 

Spinach and Cheese Souffle

The Souffle was light and fluffy, with the fresh sharp taste of the spinach contrasting nicely with the richness of the cheese and eggs.  A lovely dish, I do love a souffle, but not how much washing up it creates!

Labels: Barber's 1833 Vintage Reserve Cheddar, Cheddar, cheese, Souffle, spinach

posted by Janice @ 09:30 8 Comments