Pizza for Pitchy (Pizza with a chickpea flour base)

As my wife Pitchy has allergies to regular flour but loves pizza, I have been researching for suitable recipes. This recipe is the culmination of a year’s research. It uses a socca base. Socca is a pancake made from chickpea flour which is very popular in the Provence region of the south of France. The topping is fairly authentic Italian vegetarian.

This recipe takes a bit of practice but once you get it right, you can make delicious, healthy low-carb pizzas quicker than it takes to walk to the take-away.

 

Ingredients (makes 2 pizzas)

Sauce

2 large garlic cloves crushed

Olive oil

2 cups of tomato pulp (pasata)

I tsp Oregano

1 pinch salt

Dash of red wine (optional)

A few drops of hot pepper sauce (optional)

Base

2 cups chick pea flour

Pinch of salt

Ground black pepper

1 tsp baking soda

Water

Topping

2 bell peppers (different colours)

2 small onions

4 large mushrooms

2 tsp capers (drained)

125g Mozzarella

Handful of leaves (either basil or rocket)

Method

 1.    Roughly chop the onions, peppers and mushrooms and cook on a grill pan. Brush with olive oil and turn occasionally until starting to soften. Then leave to cool and cut into bite-size pieces.

2.    Finely chop the mozzarella.

3.    Fry the garlic in a little olive oil. When starting to turn golden, add the tomato pulp, oregano, salt and optional ingredients. Cook slowly to reduce to a thick sauce (if it is too watery, the base will go soggy)

4.    Mix the chickpea flour, baking soda and seasoning in a bowl and slowly add water. Mix to a very stiff paste then slowly add more water until you get the texture of full cream milk (this should avoid getting lumps). Let rest for 10 minutes.

5.    Using a large frying pan or pancake pan, add olive oil and then enough flour mixture to fully cover the base. Cook until starting to brown on the underside, then flip using a large plate. Once cooked, remove to a plate and repeat for the second pizza base.

6.    Place a pizza base on a baking tray and smother with the tomato sauce. Add the toppings and cook under a hot grill for 2-3 minutes.

7.    Once the cheese is melting, remove from the grill, place on a plate and top with leaves and a dash of olive oil.

8.    Repeat for the second pizza.

 

Notes

You can, of course, experiment with other toppings such as anchovies, olives, smoked salmon, artichokes, etc.

South Indian Prawn and Vegetable Curry

 

Ingredients

Spices

2 tsp cumin seeds
Thumb of ginger
4 cloves garlic
Thumb of turmeric root
2 – 6 small red chillies
2 Bay leaves
6 cardamoms (Bruised)
4 cloves
1 stick cinnamon

Other Ingredients

2 large green chillies – deseeded and finely chopped.
Onion
Ground Nut Oil
Veggie stock (about 250 cl)
Veggies (I recommend, red pepper, green pepper and cauliflower)
1 Tomato (diced)
200g Tiger Prawns
200 cl Coconut Milk
Bunch of Coriander

Method

1.    In a pestle and mortar, grind to a paste the ginger, garlic, red chillies, turmeric, coriander stalks and cumin seeds.

2.    In some  ground nut oil, fry the cardamoms, cloves and cinnamon for 2 mins, add the spice paste and continue to fry. Add the onions and green chilli and fry for 5 minutes until starting to brown.

3.    Add the tomato and continue to cook for another 2 mins, than add the stock and bay leaves and cook for 5 minutes.

4.    Add the vegetables (the harder ones first such as cauliflower, and the softer ones a bit later, such as peppers), then add the prawns. Cook until tender.

5.    Add coconut milk and cook for another 2 mins or so

6.    Garnish with coriander leaves and serve with warm rice and dahl.

Jamie’s South Indian Vegetarian Curry

This is a brilliant recipe coming from Jamie’s 15 Minute Meals. The original recipe can be found here. After cooking it a few times I have made a few alterations which in my humble opinion improve it no end:

Firstly, it is not wise to try to cook it in 15 minutes. It needs longer to allow the flavours to infuse. Adding in chopping and preparation time, it normally takes me around 45 minutes.

Secondly, using fresh pineapple tastes way better and is more nutritious than the tinned variety.

Thirdly, Jamie’s recipe does not explicitly include salt. I suppose he would think that seasoning goes without saying. Anyway, I have added some vegetable stock to my recipe which greatly improves the flavour.

I have also halved most of the ingredients so that it serves 2 but increased the spices.

Ingredients

•    ½ small cauliflower (cut into florets)
•    2 tablespoons ground nut oil
•    1 heaped teaspoon black mustard seeds
•    1 heaped teaspoon fenugreek seeds
•    1 heaped teaspoon turmeric
•    1 small handful dried curry leaves
•    1 thumb-sized piece of ginger
•    2 cloves of garlic
•    3 spring onions
•    2 fresh red chillies
•    bunch fresh coriander
•    1 ripe tomato
•    200 cl coconut milk
•    200g tin of chickpeas
•    Half a pineapple, chopped
•    500 cl Vegetable Stock
•    1 tsp Garam Masala paste
•    1 lemon

Method

1    Chop and grind to a paste the following in a pestle and mortar: chillies, garlic, ginger and coriander stalks.
2    Heat some ground nut oil and fry the fenugreek, mustard seeds, curry leaves and turmeric for 2 minutes.
3    Add the chopped spring onions and cook for another 2 minutes.
4    Add the paste (from above)  and the garam masala paste and fry for another 2 minutes.
5    Slowly add the coconut milk and cook for another 2 minutes.
6    Add the chopped tomatoes, chick peas, cauliflower, pineapple and veggie stock and cook for 10 minutes.
7    Serve topped with the chopped coriander leaves and drizzles with lemon juice.

Serves 2/3