Chris and I love making homemade pizzas. You get to pop on the ingredients you love, and in copious amounts. Those pizzas in restaurants with their pathetic little sprinkle of ingredients and cheese drives me BONKERS!! Why so freakin’ stingy?!?! Pizza is so cheap to make (and sold at a huge mark-up here in Shanghai) so I really don’t get it. Pet peeve of mine.
So when we make our own, we make sure the pizza is sagging with ingredients 😛 And specifically, we like it on puff pastry. It makes the pizza taste TWICE as good – all rich and buttery. Way better than regular pizza crust. All you do is get puff pastry and bake it flat for about 10 mins, then smear some tomato pesto on it and pile your ingredients on top, then bake again for another 10-15 minutes. Easy peasy!
Especially more fun when you crack open a bottle of wine with your husband whilst both of you cook together… more productive and fun than going out on a dinner date 🙂
For this one, we used a lot of chorizo sausage, which I adore because it’s spicy and so tasty. Coupled with lots of grilled mushrooms, yellow and red capsicums, plus shredded basil, it makes one fabulous meal.
Making up the pizza. I had clean hands, I swear!
Piling on the cheese. Heh heh heh…
Buttery cheesy goodness, washed down with a white wine
(a present from a friend for Chris’ birthday)
Haagen-Daz macadamia nut ice cream with smashed Graham crackers for dessert! Freakin’ GOOD.
Pizza was definitely what I missed the MOST when I was in Shanghai.
Added to the fact that even in Australia I’m like “that pizza is not as good as in Italy” – that was ALWAYS true in Shanghai! Mediocre pizzas for twice/three times the price!
Here in Canberra we have a pretty decent pizza place that does two for one pizzas on Monday and Tuesdays! :o) 2 large pizzas for $30 (and by large I mean one large pizza can feed three people!!!).
Puff pastry base… 😛 That sounds like a heart attack just waiting to happen! ;o)
AGREED! I find Aussie pizzas okay-to-good.. but in Shanghai the normal priced ones are awful and the decent ones have idiotic price tags. Makes me sooooo mad!
Glad we make it ourselves 😛
Pizza was definitely what I missed the MOST when I was in Shanghai.
Added to the fact that even in Australia I’m like “that pizza is not as good as in Italy” – that was ALWAYS true in Shanghai! Mediocre pizzas for twice/three times the price!
Here in Canberra we have a pretty decent pizza place that does two for one pizzas on Monday and Tuesdays! :o) 2 large pizzas for $30 (and by large I mean one large pizza can feed three people!!!).
Puff pastry base… 😛 That sounds like a heart attack just waiting to happen! ;o)
AGREED! I find Aussie pizzas okay-to-good.. but in Shanghai the normal priced ones are awful and the decent ones have idiotic price tags. Makes me sooooo mad!
Glad we make it ourselves 😛
🙂 wow! Looks goooood.
And I happen to still have 2 sheets of puff pastry left in the freezer!!.. thanks Bev… 🙂
GEEZ lucky!! Puff pastry is super hard to find in China 🙁
“yellow and red capsicums”
I am amused that Australians say capsicums because Canadians say peppers.
Heh yeah I hear a lot of people say peppers but to me, that’s black pepper 😛
Pizza looks great.
Thanks hon!
🙂 wow! Looks goooood.
And I happen to still have 2 sheets of puff pastry left in the freezer!!.. thanks Bev… 🙂
GEEZ lucky!! Puff pastry is super hard to find in China 🙁
Oh yeah, another Q haha, what’s tomato pesto? Is that the same as tomato paste?
By the way, when cooking the ingredients in the pan, did you season it at all?
Oh, none needed.. the tomato pesto (which you can use pizza tomato paste for, but I just bought a jar of Barilla tomato pesto which I think is more tasty) lends for a lot of the flavour as does the cheese. Plus, the mushrooms give a natural sweetness and the chorizo sausage a real punch of flavour 🙂
Oh wow never thought of using puff pastry! Will definitely give that a try…did you prick it first or anything like that? How many layers did you use? Can’t see clearly but it looks a little thicker than one single puff pastry? Craving this right now…hate you (I kid)! Looks lip smackingly good!
It makes a BIG difference! We bought a French one that was rolled up, so we just unrolled it and made it like that. I would recommend you prick the top with a fork a few times, and use 3 layers so it’s fluffier 🙂
It’s GOOOOOD!!!!!!
“yellow and red capsicums”
I am amused that Australians say capsicums because Canadians say peppers.
Heh yeah I hear a lot of people say peppers but to me, that’s black pepper 😛
YUM YUM YUM!! :)~
Hehe it was good.. and easy to make too!
Pizza looks great.
Thanks hon!
you used puff pastry? What cheeses did you put on?
Hmm, i’m gonna try it!! =D
Yep! Just puff pastry laid out. We put on pizza cheese by Coon, a 3-cheese mix, and a French Emmental cheese. a LOT 😛
I am like you too, skinny and able to and love eating lots of fatty, buttery, sugary food, thick crust heavily-laden pizzas full of melted cheese and ham is just sooooo good I usually eat a whole large pizza on my own and indulge in a three-scoop ice-cream once a week. Ahh!!! We are such lucky babes aren’t we?
Yummmmmm oh yes! But I like sausages on mine.. I love sausages with anything, really 😛
I think I might be super-fat on the inside though, oops..
think macadamia nut is like Haagen-Daz’s best flavour. no one else comes close!
AGREEEEE! You have excellent taste, hehe. I like their Strawberry Cheesecake too, but Macadamia Nut is by far my fave..
hahaha i place their Strawberry flavour as number 2 instead cos i prefer ben & jerry’s strawberry cheesecake! taste more like the real deal!
thats a very good and cheap date! 😀
It’s really fun cooking together too.. it’s a healthy activity to do together anyways 🙂
overpriced pizzas
I completely agree about the overpriced pizzas… I don’t eat pizza very often (too greasy and too expensive!!) but when I do I’m always a little shocked at how expensive it is… I mean like above 70RMB for a pizza? PUH-LEASE.
I’m not a big pizza eater, but this looks delicious! Have you ever tried pita pizzas? They’re really quick too! I’ve seen them all over the health-blogging world 😉 You should give it a try with Chris!
Wei-Wei
Re: overpriced pizzas
i ADORE pizza but find it so overpriced here.. many places are actually over 100RMB for a pizza, and they claim it’s “gourmet” so they scrimp on the toppings. ARGH!
I don’t like pita pizzas scos they’re not as tasty as the puffpastry ones (granted those are incredibly bad for you, hehe)
Oh yeah, another Q haha, what’s tomato pesto? Is that the same as tomato paste?
By the way, when cooking the ingredients in the pan, did you season it at all?
Oh, none needed.. the tomato pesto (which you can use pizza tomato paste for, but I just bought a jar of Barilla tomato pesto which I think is more tasty) lends for a lot of the flavour as does the cheese. Plus, the mushrooms give a natural sweetness and the chorizo sausage a real punch of flavour 🙂
Oh wow never thought of using puff pastry! Will definitely give that a try…did you prick it first or anything like that? How many layers did you use? Can’t see clearly but it looks a little thicker than one single puff pastry? Craving this right now…hate you (I kid)! Looks lip smackingly good!
It makes a BIG difference! We bought a French one that was rolled up, so we just unrolled it and made it like that. I would recommend you prick the top with a fork a few times, and use 3 layers so it’s fluffier 🙂
It’s GOOOOOD!!!!!!
YUM YUM YUM!! :)~
Hehe it was good.. and easy to make too!
you used puff pastry? What cheeses did you put on?
Hmm, i’m gonna try it!! =D
Yep! Just puff pastry laid out. We put on pizza cheese by Coon, a 3-cheese mix, and a French Emmental cheese. a LOT 😛
I am like you too, skinny and able to and love eating lots of fatty, buttery, sugary food, thick crust heavily-laden pizzas full of melted cheese and ham is just sooooo good I usually eat a whole large pizza on my own and indulge in a three-scoop ice-cream once a week. Ahh!!! We are such lucky babes aren’t we?
Yummmmmm oh yes! But I like sausages on mine.. I love sausages with anything, really 😛
I think I might be super-fat on the inside though, oops..
think macadamia nut is like Haagen-Daz’s best flavour. no one else comes close!
AGREEEEE! You have excellent taste, hehe. I like their Strawberry Cheesecake too, but Macadamia Nut is by far my fave..
hahaha i place their Strawberry flavour as number 2 instead cos i prefer ben & jerry’s strawberry cheesecake! taste more like the real deal!
thats a very good and cheap date! 😀
It’s really fun cooking together too.. it’s a healthy activity to do together anyways 🙂
overpriced pizzas
I completely agree about the overpriced pizzas… I don’t eat pizza very often (too greasy and too expensive!!) but when I do I’m always a little shocked at how expensive it is… I mean like above 70RMB for a pizza? PUH-LEASE.
I’m not a big pizza eater, but this looks delicious! Have you ever tried pita pizzas? They’re really quick too! I’ve seen them all over the health-blogging world 😉 You should give it a try with Chris!
Wei-Wei
Re: overpriced pizzas
i ADORE pizza but find it so overpriced here.. many places are actually over 100RMB for a pizza, and they claim it’s “gourmet” so they scrimp on the toppings. ARGH!
I don’t like pita pizzas scos they’re not as tasty as the puffpastry ones (granted those are incredibly bad for you, hehe)