V and I are big fans of pizza. When we were in India, I had thought, pizza always had tomato sauce, vegetables(or meat) and cheese. But after coming to US, I learned about many different toppings and different sauces for pizza. While I love these different tastes, V loves Pizza Hut types with tomato sauce and the standard toppings. My latest love is Spin Nepolitan pizza . I became a huge fan of it when we ate there couple of months ago.
Recently, I have been baking pizzas at home very frequently – like once in 15days or a month. I know some readers would talk about all purpose flour/ maida not being healthy etc etc, but I still like to make this version once in a while. We both simply love this. I have tried different toppings and this one is something we really really loved.
For the base , I followed the recipe from here . I used half wheat flour and half all purpose flour.
For the sauce: (adapted from Béchamel sauce and this ) 1 tbl spn butter 1 tbl spn all purpose flour A pinch nutmeg powder(freshly grated/powdered) 1/4 tea spn red chilli flakes 3/4 cup whole milk 1/2 tea spn dried basil Salt Pepper 1 tbl spn parmesan cheese (optional)
Method: Heat butter in a pan. Now add chilli flakes, all purpose flour and whisk continuously(keep on a medium flake to avoid burning). Now slowly add milk whisking all the time. Add nutmeg powder(grate a nutmeg directly into the pan). Add parmesan cheese, salt, pepper, basil and whisk it. Cook till the sauce thickens.
Toppings: Eggplant Рsliced, sprinkled with olive oil, salt pepper and grilled for few minutes Pineapple Olives Sundried tomato Jalape̱o Artichokes 2 tbl spn grated mozzarella cheese(optional)
Assembling: Preheat the oven to 450F for about 10mins. Roll the dough into desired thickness. Sprinkle some olive oil. Spread the sauce, toppings, cheese(optional) and bake it in a preheated oven at 450F for about 12-15mins. Serve immediately.
This is one of those very simple and nutritious rice dishes that I cooked few days ago. I am tired of giving same things in lunch box for V. So I try to make something different whenever possible. Sometimes they turn out good, and sometimes they become flop. I am trying to keep track of the recipes that we liked, so that I can cook them exactly same the next time.
This is my entry to Srivalli’s rice mela .
Ingredients: 1/2 cup dried val ( avrekalu ) 1 cup rice 1/2 cup grated carrot 3/4 cup chopped fenugreek leaves 1/2 tea spn mustard seeds 4-5 curry leaves 1-2 tbl spns lemon juice Oil Salt
Ground to paste : 4 green chillies 1/2 tea spn chopped ginger 1/2 tea spn coriander seeds 1/2 tea spn cumin seeds 1 tbl spn coconut 1″ cinnamon
Method: Soak avrekaLu overnight and cook them along with rice, taking care the rice grains should not stick to each other. Keep it aside. Heat oil and add mustard seeds. When they start popping, add curry leaves. Add grated carrot, fenugreek leaves, ground paste and fry for few minutes till fenugreek is cooked. Add rice- avrekaLu mixture, salt and mix well. Take off heat, add lemon juice. Serve hot.
Serves : 2 Preparation time : 20mins.
