Courgette Marrow Aubergine and Spicy Ground Chorizo Pizza

I made this Courgette Marrow Aubergine Spicy Ground Chorizo Pizza a few weeks back.  It is a little reminisce of Lahmacan. dubbed in the English speaking world as the Turkish Pizza, but of course this one is vegetarian as it is made with soya mince in place of minced meat.

I really, really loved it.  

The base is not traditional tomato, but spicy ground chorizo made with soy mince and all the flavours associated.  It was a little old fashion way of making vegan chorizo, but it was delicious and I will make it again . The courgettes in this recipe were bordering on becoming marrows, hence the reason that I have named the recipe so.  

The spicy ground soy mince chorizo base recipe comes from Mo Wyse and Shannon Martinez of Smith and Daughters in Australia. I was recommended the cookbook Smith and Daughters That Happens to Be Vegan by the Green Gourmet Giraffe.

Purple Pizza

Homemade Pizza!

This is not ordinary pizza, this is a purple pizza made with red cabbage pesto.   Enjoy!

Purple Pizza
Serves 2 - 4
Ingredients
Pizza base (make your own or shop bought)

Black Bursa Figs Mozzarella Pizza Tart

It's a a pizza kind of day.

 Except this is not a pizza, its more of a tart.  

I made this a few weeks back with what is a luxury fruit in our home: fresh Turkish Black Bursa Figs.  

I was a little unsure when D picked these Black Bursa Figs, as we had plums falling in our garden, but he said he wanted something different fruit to eat for a change from the usual apples, bananas and oranges.  I then thought fair enough we don't eat fresh figs much, only if we go overseas to places like Turkey or Cyprus.  

The figs are squat like in shape and much darker in colour, deep purple and nearly black in places. They made for a nice change, but we had way too many and they were super ripe and fragile to the touch.   I decided to make a pizza like tart.  I spread a little green basil pesto on the base, topped it with slices of figs then dotted it with some mozzarella balls (you can use a vegan alternative if you want).  Then it went into the oven for around 20 minutes or so, until golden.  As this Black Bursa Figs Pizza Tart can be sliced into many little bite size pieces, I am sharing it with Tea Time Treats as the theme is Savoury Foods hosted by Lavender and Lovage, Travels for Taste and Jo's Kitchen. 

Apple - Pear, Spinach and Brie Pizza

As a food blogger, I am very surprised at myself in that I have hardly any pizza recipes on my blog.  I can't even think of the reason why this may be the case, its not even that we order pizza's.  

Oh well, today that is going to change.  

I had been given three pears by my parents a week or so back, around the same time I was given green tomatoes.  I was glad to have them, already in my head making plans to make this Pear, Walnut and Blue Cheese Tart, but had completely forgotten about them as they got hid under the pile of citrus fruit to stave away my recent cold.   Thank you to those of you who came by to wish me well.  I do feel much better.

I made this (above) Pear, Spinach and Brie Cheese pizza yesterday later afternoon, and again this afternoon encouraged by my husband who really, really liked it.  

Pumpkin Polenta Pizza

A little bit of sunshine on my plate.

Of course this is not strictly a pizza, as its base is made up of polenta and it is not smothered in a tomato sauce, but I did not know what else to call it.

A good thing about this pizza is you can make it pretty much all in advance. In this case, just don’t melt the cheese until your ready to eat.

I created this for Charley who has just harvested a colourful array of pumpkin and squashes. I hope she likes. D did not mind it, he thought it could have benefited from a little bit of red sauce (not from a bottle).

The green in the polenta comes from the coriander pesto. I only added it because I had some in the fridge from this meal. If you don’t want to include it whilst the polenta is cooking, you can also smear this on top of the polenta when it resting; or you can omit it all together if you wish. If you don’t like coriander, use a different herb, sage would work well too. Same with the cheese, if you don’t like goats cheese, substitute either with fontina, grated mozzarella, or a vegan alternative.

Upon baking the polenta base acquires a soft-crisp texture, whereas the herbs and pumpkin slices delicately flavour. The colours perked me up considering it was rather grey outside. This pumpkin polenta pizza is suitable for those on a gluten free diet.

It is rather pretty at this stage like pantomime fiery flames against the herb flecked polenta. Its good when cooked too.

Pumpkin Polenta Pizza
Serves 2 or 4 with accompaniments such as a light peppery salad
Ingredients
For the polenta base
125g quick cook polenta
Salt and pepper to taste
Water
Optional: 2 tablespoon of coriander pesto. Recipe here.
Method for the polenta base
Make the polenta first according to your packet instructions. Mine read to 125g polenta add ½ litre water. As soon as it starts to thicken, add in the pesto stir quickly to combine then pour into a round non-stick or greased flan tin measuring about 91/2 inch. Adjust polenta if your flan tin is bigger.
With the back of a spoon spread the mix evenly and leave to set. When firm, tip out carefully onto a lightly oiled pizza tray. Optional: If you have not stirred the coriander pesto into the polenta, you can smear the polenta top with coriander pesto.
Ingredients for the topping
1 small squash or a good wedge (quarter) of a medium pumpkin
Olive oil

4 round slices from a goats cheese log
Optional: chilli flakes
Method
Now either use your mandolin; or a knife and carefully slice the pumpkin thinly as possible.
Layer the polenta evenly with the pumpkin slices, coating each layer with a little olive oil. Do between two to three layers. Season with salt and pepper and optional: chilli flakes. Bake in oven for 10 – 25 minutes until the pumpkin slices can be pierced with a fork. Then top with cheese and bake for a few minutes until the cheese has melted. Then slice and serve immediately.

Chard be good

Rainbow chard is vibrant when its fresh... but when picked and left for a couple of days it’s a rather sulky looking plant indeed. This looking even more sorry for itself because its bolted too.
I originally grew rainbow and bright lights chard for its fantastic colours, then later it dawned on me that these were not just for admiring and adorning my growing space, but for eating too. Since then, I’ve made a number of recipes with a variety of chard. Rainbow chard bundles and spiced chard perhaps being my favourites. However, I am always looking for other ways to enjoy it. I’ve seen a number of chard pesto recipes, but as my chard is of many colours I will have to postpone that recipe for another time. I’ve also bookmarked a stew recipe, but as its quite warm at the moment, I settled on a simple Rainbow chard pizza.
One of the first ever recipes I saw using Swiss chard as a pizza topping was by this fellow blogger. Since then there have been many other versions topped with mozzarella, parmesan, goats cheese or just plain naked. I’ve even seen the chard pizza topped with a fry egg, not something I’d recommend. I had pizza on my last day in Benodet, Bretagne, France and I didn’t particularly enjoy it. First I don’t think the cooked egg worked on the pizza, second my pizza base was more than charred, it was burnt.

Anyway, onto my rainbow chard pizza - I do not have exact amounts to give for the ingredients, since I made this in an attempt to use up the bolted rainbow chard picked at the weekend.
Heat olive oil, add sliced onions and garlic and saute until soft, then add in the rainbow (or other) chard. When the chard begins to wilt, season with salt, pepper, garlic powder and oregano. Taste and adjust seasonings as desired.

I have to be honest and admit to using one of those pizza dough that come out of a tube. It was actually my first time ever using this product, bought for its convenience during a busy working week. I don't think I will bother wit it again, it was very salty. You can use any you like or make your own. Roll out your dough on an oiled pan and season with garlic powder and oregano. Drape the dough elegantly as you can with the wilted chard, then drizzle with olive oil, and top with optional cheese to your taste. Here I have used goats cheese. I was happy to omit this, but D likes his cheese. Cook according to the directions for your pizza dough for 20 minutes.