Go on... Be a kid again!

 

Meet Sheldon, the youngest little chef to grace my kitchen. We prepared pizze together a few evenings ago - or should I say, we prepared the best pizze ever!  Paddy, Michelle and Dave were licking their lips!

It's amazing how children love to cook - I guess the stresses and strains of this world have not yet tainted their ability to think creatively...  And so, about a year ago, Paddy was smoking chickens on the Weber when my brother and his family visited, when little Richard insisted on using freshly squeezed orange juice mixed with water to baste the chickens.  Paddy let him, and he has been very excited about baking and cooking ever since.  The other evening, Sheldon wanted tuna, salami and ham on his pizza...  I let him do it, and it was actually great!  Shows you - we're back to my philosophy that 'there are no rules when it comes to cooking!' Rules set boundaries, and boundaries kill creativity and passion!

I have this amazing and authentic Italian cookbook, and, although this recipe is not originally my brainchild, I have made it my own.  Pizze are a great way to get your kids involved in the cooking process...  Here's a pic of The Bearded Wonderboy that Jason and I created one evening, and OK, given, we are no longer kids, but just think of how much fun real kids can have in the kitchen!

Mama Sophia’s Italian pizza dough

Ingredients
1T castor sugar
2t dried yeast
215ml lukewarm water
450g plain flour
½t salt
3T olive oil

Method
1. Put sugar and yeast in a small bowl and stir in 90ml of the lukewarm water.   Leave to activate in draught-free spot.  If it does not bubble and foam within 5 minutes, throw away and start again.
2. Mix flour and salt in a bowl.  Add the olive oil, the remaining 125ml lukewarm water and the yeast mixture.  Mix until it clumps together.  Kneed for 8 minutes – add a few drops of water if needed until a soft dough forms.
3. Rub it with olive oil and cover with plastic and then a cloth and leave in a draught-free spot for between an hour and 90 minutes until doubles in size.

Notes:
I get between 3 and 6 pizzas out of this depending on how thick I roll them…

Buon appetito!

Now, to read about what's in and what's out on the food scene this winter, stay tuned...  "Sophia Lindop" food fashion fundi...

Comments

[Sevarian]

Hi Sophia. You probably won't forget me. I'm working at bread & wine restaurant and we met under really bad circumstances. First of all, I want to appologize for the way I treated your husband on the phone, there's no way I can justify my telephone manners. Since then I've been checking your blog for a bad review about the restaurant and am relieved that you never wrote one. I found myself more and more interested in what you're writing about and I checked your blog atleast once a day. You really inspired me with your stories that I've decided to start my own blog, and so I did. It might not be nearly as good as yours but hey, Rome wasn't build in a day. I really love reading your blog. You can check out my blog if you want 'cos I would really love to hear what you think. YOu must remember that it's only the starting face, and that I never know what to write about next. So, here goes: www.franschhoek.co.za/sevarian