Showing posts with label Feta cheese. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Feta cheese. Show all posts

Friday, May 4, 2007

Spinach and Feta Pizza

Most food bloggers that I have been reading recently are talking about the ‘lovely spring air’, ‘spring blossoms’, ‘warmer weather’, ‘fresh spring vegetables’, etc etc. While all the food bloggers brag about the warming weather in the northern hemisphere, here we are hit by colder and colder winter nights, and a chill in the air in the southern hemisphere, brrrrr.

Even though it doesn’t snow in most parts of Africa, it does get pretty cold, which makes me wonder how the Khoi-San people, no offense meant, survive in the Kalahari desert with just their animal skin chaddis. Ok back to my comfort recipe to indulge in, while some of us sit wrapped up in blankets in front of the TV. My hubby says the best pizza he’s had is the one made at home, so I make this quite often, and keep trying to experiment with different toppings. This spinach and feta one, I tried, came out way beyond my imagination. It had an amazing flavour, was warm and so comforting.

I’m wondering if I can send it in as a late entry to Indira for JFI & WBB : greens, I’ll give it a try!

What you need:
- 500g self raising flour
- 50g margarine
- 1tsp oil
- 2-3 cloves garlic crushed
- 150ml tomato puree


- A few sprigs fresh basil
- Dried oregano
- 50g feta cheese
- 500g fresh spinach leaves
- 200g mozzarella cheese
- Salt to taste
- White pepper and black pepper to taste




Makes two pizzas 30cm in diameter. This is for people who like a thin crust. Preheat oven to 180 degrees celcius.
Pizza dough: Rub in 50g of margarine into 500g of self raising flour. Add water to make soft dough. Cover with a damn cloth and keep aside.







Tomato base: Sauté some garlic lightly (don’t brown it too much) in a tsp of oil, and add the tomato puree with finely chopped basil leaves, dried oregano, salt and white pepper to taste. Keep aside when ingredients have combined and cooked well.










Toppings: feta cheese and crumbs and spinach puree. Cube the feta cheese making sure the cheese doesn’t crumble too much. Also we don’t have to use a lot here coz we will be topping with mozzarella finally. For spinach puree: blanch fresh spinach leaves, and puree them in the processor to get a thick dark puree.





To assemble: Roll out the dough into two circles of about 8mm thickness onto a baking tray. Spread the tomato base. Spread the spinach puree. Scatter the feta cubes.
Sprinkle with mozzarella cheese, salt and black pepper to taste. You can sprinkle dried origanum too.

Bake in a preheated oven at 180 degrees C until the base is cooked and golden from below. Switch on to the grill to cook the top until golden. Cool slightly, slice evenly before serving.