after an epic thunderstorm with torrential downpours of rain and hail, and the blackest clouds i’d seen in england pretty much ever, this glorious double rainbow appeared:

you can very faintly see the second rainbow above the brighter one. but i just wanted an excuse to say “DOUBLE RAINBOW ALL THE WAY!”

what does it mean?????????

anyway, after all that excitement, i decided to make pizza. as in – make my own pizza dough, homemade pizza sauce, etc. now i should start out by saying – this pizza is not very allergy-friendly. the crust is made with regular old flour, the cheese is pure buffalo mozzarella (although it does contain lactose, it is easier on the digestive system than standard cow’s milk cheese, but this doesn’t mean you should go ordering pizza at your local place – the buffalo mozzarella i used here was from a local farm, untouched by hormones and antibiotics and other horrible stuff).

but sometimes, you just want a classic pizza. phil made some caramelized red onions to go on top (using honey instead of sugar). he also made the spicy pizza sauce, and we finished them off with a scattering of basil leaves. the pizza dough, as usual, was a mark bittman recipe and is a complete fail-safe. it is all made in the food processor and takes about 30 seconds (of course then you need a good hour to let it rise).

and while my system may not be pleased with the amount of wheat and gluten i consumed yesterday, i think it was worth it because i made it myself. i think if you’re going to suffer through a food sensitivity, it may as well be something delicious that you made yourself. and why not, when it’s so easy to do?

of course, if you’re not a gluten-, wheat- or dairy-eater, here are some pizza ideas for you:

• sun-dried tomato & goat’s cheese pizza on spelt crust
• socca pizza with kale & red onion
• gluten-free vegan pizza
• gluten-free wheat-free pizza crust

have any more favorite recipes or tips to share for the gluten and dairy challenged who are CRAVING pizza?

quick survey: i am thinking of changing my blog post titles to the recipes contained within, rather than something abstract. what do you think? would this make it easier to navigate for you? let me know in the comments section please!

phil and i are one month away from our wedding day and are getting very very excited! but we are also realizing just how expensive weddings are, and with that in mind, decided to have a quiet weekend at home. instead of going out on the town (or even just the sleepy village where we live) we made our own pizza from scratch and watched movies on phil’s laptop. it was exactly what we both needed – to relax at home and save a little money too.

this pizza dough was a breeze to make, thanks in large part to my food processor. of course, it isn’t vital to use machinery in this recipe, but it certainly makes life easier. i decided to use whole grain spelt flour instead of wheat flour, and painstakingly sifted the bran away – which took about 15 minutes. if you would like to make a smoother dough, feel free to use white flour, but what kind of nutritional advisor would i be if i didn’t suggest you use a wheat variety? pizza can certainly be healthy and still taste like the real thing (i.e. you don’t have to use a pita pocket as a pizza crust).

phil made the pizza sauce by combining chopped tomatoes, onion, garlic, olive oil, balsamic vinegar, crushed chilies, and a secret blend of herbs and spices that even i don’t know.

the toppings are up to you, but we went with some nice fresh ingredients from the farmers market. mine had artichoke hearts, anchovies, soft rosemary goats cheese, sunblush tomatoes, toasted pine nuts, and some salad leaves. superb!

spelt pizza dough

makes 1 large or 2 small pizzas; based on a mark bittman recipe

the particulars:

• 3 cups wholegrain spelt flour
• 2 tsp sea salt
• 2 tsp instant yeast
• 3 tbsp extra virgin olive oil

1. combine the flour, salt, and yeast in a food processor. turn on, and drizzle in 1 cup of water and 2 tbsp of the oil through the feed tube. add more water if necessary and process until the dough comes together into a large ball, about 30 seconds. if the dough is too sticky, add 1 tbsp at a time of flour. if it is too dry and not coming together, add more water, 1 tbsp at a time.
2. sprinkle flour on a work surface and place the dough ball on top. knead for a few seconds until smooth and rounded.
3. pour the last tablespoon of olive oil into a bowl and place the dough ball inside. roll it around to coat it in the oil, then cover the bowl with cling film and leave to rise for about 2 hours. you can place it in the fridge to lengthen the rising time – about 6-8 hours.
4. when it is ready, divide into 2 separate dough balls if you are making 2 smaller pizzas (or keep it as one) and roll out on a floured work surface to your desired size. grease 2 baking sheets (or 1 large one) and place the doughs on top, stretching it out with your fingers if you wish. leave to rise a little more while you prepare your toppings.
5. place in a hot oven (about gas mark 8 / 450F) for about 15-20 minutes, rotating once.

anyone else not feeling ready for winter coats and boots just yet? this summer, and YEAR, seem to have flown by and we’re already in october. it’s madness! because i was feeling a little bit in denial, i cooked up a summery salad for dinner last night. it is a warm salad though – i’m not that nuts. promise. the veggies in the salad are grilled, making it perfect for a barbecue, although i just did mine on a stove-top grill pan. love those little black grill lines!

this would work nicely as a starter or side dish to some fish or meat, but we threw some crumbled goat’s cheese on our plates and called it a main course. even phil was pleasantly surprised, after saying he doesn’t usually like “meals that are only veggies on a plate”. for a vegetarian, that’s saying something!

it takes no time at all to prepare, making it a wonderful evening meal when you’re not in the mood for anything complicated. if i was back on the sauce, i’d probably go for a nice glass of red with this. only one more week to go in the sober september/october detox!

the health benefits of this meal are enormous. there are five different whole vegetables adorning your plate, as well as three different types of fresh herbs. which brings me to another point: i bought a basil plant the other day and it is now sitting proudly on my kitchen windowsill. as someone who has never had a green thumb ever, i’m a little nervous about the basil’s fate but hope to nourish the little guy for months to come!

as i’ve been studying the importance of protein recently, the goats cheese provides just that. it also provides a nice amount of good fat, as do the olives. as always, make sure your ingredients are as wonderful as you are! fresh, organic, and beautiful – and local, where possible.

this morning, i was reading the guardian’s word of mouth blog (a favorite) and saw this great post on holiday food and how it translates back at home. it got me thinking about our recent italy trip and how we have been eating some lovely italian meals even since coming home, just to hold onto the holiday feeling!

i love bringing back food items from abroad. after my holiday in greece back in july, i stocked up on halva, olive tapenade, and some of the complimentary turkish delights they had at our hotel before boarding the plane home. in italy, the bits and pieces we brought home were a bit more sophisticated and healthy! i nabbed a small tin of olive oil and an even smaller bottle of truffle oil at the airport, but in castelnuovo (the nearest town to our villa), i picked up a bag of spice mix, found all over tuscany and used for the simplest pasta dish.

we’ve been using this stuff like mad ever since our return. in case you don’t read italian, the ingredients are: parsley, garlic, chili pepper, and salt. that’s it! all nicely chopped and dried and ready to be thrown in some olive oil before tossing with your favorite pasta. we decided to use ours with some prawns – it gives just the right amount of heat and flavor – and served with a pear and goat’s cheese salad.

i thought that you could only find this stuff on italian soil, but it turns out (at least here in london) you can find it in loads of places. try an italian deli – i know of a couple around london. also, i’ve heard there is a stall at borough market which sells it. but hunt it down and keep it in your kitchen for those last-minute meals!

very often, we eat what we’re given – what’s abundant and available. i know this to be very true in the states, but it’s also increasingly the case in england. this is odd, considering the proximity to europe and all of the diverse foods found therein. so it came as a bit of a shock when i had to track down farro in london. farro is to italians what spelt is to us – same thing, different name. it’s an ancient grain which we find most often in flour, bread, or pasta form. i happen to LOVE spelt pasta and flour – it has the exact same consistency as regular wheat flour but is much easier on the digestive system and is far better for your health. let’s take a look at some health benefits of spelt/farro (and other whole grains):*

• source of vitamin b2, niacin, copper, thiamin, and manganese – this all means it will benefit you greatly if you suffer from migraines or diabetes
• reduces the risk of high blood pressure and heart attack
• reduces the risk of type 2 diabetes
• a great source of insoluble fiber, which protects against gallstones and breast cancer
• also a good source of protein

while on vacation in tuscany, we came across farro salads everywhere – similar to the quinoa salads we love to make at home. once i tracked down a bag of farro back home in london, i thought it would make a nice substitute for rice in a risotto-type dish. and after a bit of googling, it seemed i wasn’t the only one with that idea! farro risotto is everywhere – but the word “risotto” is a bit misleading. it is nothing like the consistency, texture, or flavor of a typical risotto, and it certainly isn’t made in the same way. but that doesn’t mean it isn’t a wonderful dish for dinner. with autumn fast approaching, give it a try (if you can find some farro for yourself!) – but if you can’t find the whole grain, pick up a bag of spelt pasta or spelt flour and try it instead of the regular stuff next time you’re having an italian dinner or baking something delicious. you might love it!

here’s my first attempt at farro risotto – it’s a definite keeper. the nuttiness of the farro combined with the slight sweetness of the squash and the punch of herby goodness? it all works together really well. even phil loved it and he’s a risotto fanatic.

* i am not a medical professional, but i am studying to become a nutrition consultant. if you have any questions or would like any more information, please feel free to email me or leave a comment. any nutrition advice i offer on the blog is supplemental to any medication you may be taking for a pre-existing condition.

one of the most common food allergens is gluten, a protein found in wheat and other grains. we’re seeing a lot more gluten-free goods on supermarket shelves and finding “gf” next to menu items in restaurants. but i have somehow managed to escape it on my intolerance list. i do feel a difference in my body when i eat gluten as opposed to avoiding it, but it certainly doesn’t affect me in the way the other three allergens do. yet i’ve come across so many people who have cut it out of their diet, including my own mother!

why it has affected her and not me, i’ll never really understand. but something i do know is that spelt flour is far gentler on my stomach than regular flour. if you’ve read through some of my recent baking recipes, you may have noticed that i have mostly been using spelt flour. this is great because it is easily substituted for regular flour – it acts in the same way. but, a word of warning: spelt is NOT gluten-free. this is why i have a “wheat-free” tag but not a gluten-free one. the wheat-free tagged posts on this blog either contain spelt or no flour at all. i have attempted to bake with gluten-free flour mixes, but it is very difficult and requires quite a few extra ingredients and tweaks to create a good consistency. i admire the gluten-free bakers in this world!

but something i tend to cheat with is my pizza. i just cannot be bothered to make my own pizza crust – it requires warm, soft hands (i don’t have those) and making sure the measurements are just right. this is why i love biona’s spelt pizza crusts. (sidenote: i promise they have not paid me to say this! i just genuinely love them!)

whenever phil and i make pizza at home, i always try and pick these up. they come in handy packs of two – that’s perfect for two individually sized pizzas. but while the crust might not be homemade, the sauce always is. evens it out a bit, i like to think!

last night, we did very simple cheese and tomato pizzas – using spelt bizza bases of course – with a homemade tomato sauce, a few sun-dried tomatoes, basil and spinach leaves, a couple of chopped black olives, and some generous slices of cheese (goat’s for me, mozzarella for him).

i also put anchovies on mine, an ingredient i used to be repulsed by until recently. this seems to be the case for a few other foods too: fennel, anything spicy, artichokes, olives. anyone else noticed their taste buds maturing recently?

but i digress.

if you’re based in the uk and don’t have a health food store nearby, goodness direct is brilliant and sells all kinds of stuff, including my beloved spelt pizza bases. if you find yourself feeling slightly iffy after eating something containing flour, give spelt a try. it may be just the change you’re after!

most people go out on a friday night – it’s the start of the weekend and you can lie in on saturday. what did i do? made some delicious pizza with my fiance and watched an adorable movie on the couch. and after the week we’ve had, i have no regrets about staying in. we were out practically every night this week, so it was a well-deserved evening of rest. i think we were both pretty exhausted.

now phil is off coaching a football (soccer) game, while i have spent the morning at bfm buying some lovely fish and veggies for dinner tonight. AND some spelt flour! phil’s lovely aunt and uncle bought us a bread maker for our engagement gift. i am so excited to use it – which is why i bought the spelt flour. always wanted to make some yummy wheat-free bread without all the kneading and rising nonsense! it’s like magic!

but it’s really wonderful whenever the isle of wight guy shows up at the farmer’s market. he’s got a very weird and wonderful stall, with everything from homemade jars of chutney and jam to lovely fresh garlic to bags of flour. and the best part is – he’s got spelt and gluten-free flours too! love to shop locally

anyway, on with last night’s pizza combos. oh man this was good. and FANCY. the ingredient choices were inspired by a recent visit to fire & stone, where they make a pizza with similar toppings (the “melbourne”). we used ready-made whole wheat pizza bases – everything else i did from scratch. phil used pesto and mozzarella on his – i had tomato paste and grated goat’s cheddar. and the result? well you can’t see me right now, but i’m doing that italian thing where you kiss your fingertips and then release them and fan them out. molto bene!

sweet potato, sweet onion, & pine nut pizza

the following amounts make more than enough for 2 individual pizzas (mine’s the one in the front below…)

the particulars:

• 2 pizza crusts (homemade or readymade)
• 2 sweet potatoes, peeled and diced
• olive oil
• salt and pepper
• 1 red onion, halved and sliced
• 1 tbsp soft brown sugar
• 1 tbsp balsamic vinegar
• 6 or 7 plum tomatoes, halved
• handful of pine nuts, toasted
• handful of spinach leaves, washed and torn
• 1 tbsp pesto OR tomato paste
• handful of mozzarella, sliced OR goat’s cheddar, grated (or omit to make vegan – would still be yummy!!)

1. preheat the oven to a high heat – we used gas mark 7 (about 425F).
2. toss the sweet potato cubes on a roasting tray with some olive oil, salt and pepper, and put it in the oven for about 15-20 minutes, until softened and slightly charred on the edges.
3. prepare the sweetened onions: cook them in some olive oil in a small saucepan until nicely softened, then add the brown sugar and balsamic and continue to cook until very wilted and reduced.
4. keep the oven on while you arrange the toppings on your pizza. i started with a spread of olive oil and tomato paste, followed by the sweet potato and sweet onions, then some pine nuts, tomatoes, a sprinkling of goat’s cheese, and then some spinach leaves placed on top.
5. on a thin baking tray, cook the pizzas in your oven for about 15 minutes – until cheese has melted and lightly browned.
6. slice up and serve!

lesson learned: even though i didn’t make my own crust, this was still a gorgeous homemade pizza. definitely using that combo again!

i love recipes that only contain 5 or so ingredients. no matter how long it takes to make, the fact remains that it will be a simple dish that won’t cost loads or require a massive amount of time and effort and shopping. i also love recipes that take a seemingly unhealthy dish and turn it into something surprisingly good for you. not to mention, allergy-friendly.

(by the way, isn’t that a weird phrase, allergy-friendly? it’s like saying “yes, we welcome you, allergies. please sit down and have some tea.” no! it’s the opposite! but you can’t call something allergy-hateful…)

so last night’s dinner was just this – something i loved as a kid, but can never ever order at a restaurant now. that is melanzane alla parmigiana, or “eggplant parm” if you’re from philly. the original would be a couple of huge slices of breaded eggplant, smothered in tomato sauce and melting parmesan cheese. the one i made last night has no breading, and uses grated goat’s cheddar instead, but you could easily make this dish vegan by substituting a soy cheese.

necessary: fresh basil. don’t even bother making this if you don’t have any.

baked eggplant italiano

leave yourself about 2 hours to prepare this. i’m serious. also, i have no idea why i’m making this face:

the particulars:

• 2 medium eggplants, cut into 2-inch thick slices
• extra virgin olive oil, for frying
• 1 garlic clove, finely chopped
• 1 yellow onion, sliced
• 3/4 large jar of tomato passata
• 1 bunch fresh basil, leaves roughly torn
• 1 cup grated goat’s cheddar (or parmesan or cheese substitute)

1. lay the eggplant slices on a chopping board or baking tray. sprinkle some sea salt over each slice and place another chopping board or baking tray on top. place a heavy weight on top and leave to press for two hours. meanwhile, pour 1 tbsp olive oil into a medium pan and fry the garlic and onion until it begins to color. add the passata and simmer gently for about 45 minutes or until thickened, stirring occasionally. season and leave to cool.
2. after the eggplant slices have been pressed, rinse them and thoroughly pat dry with paper towels. heat 2-3 tbsp olive oil in a griddle pan and when it’s very hot, add the slices and fry for 2-3 minutes on each side until lightly browned. add more oil by the spoonful as necessary during cooking and when turning the eggplant over. drain on paper towel.
3. heat the oven to 400F/gas mark 6. arrange the eggplant slices in a small ovenproof dish and spoon the tomato sauce over each slice. scatter the basil leaves, then the cheese over the top and bake for 20 minutes. serve nice and hot!

lesson learned: i had to look up the difference between tomato passata / puree / paste. it’s all on the useful terms page now, but there is quite a difference between them, especially for this recipe!

you know that thing in your kitchen cupboard that’s been there forever? that box or jar of some ingredient that you’ve been meaning to try but have never quite built up the courage? for me, this is a box of polenta that i bought like a year ago. i tweeted yesterday how polenta reminds me of college. let me explain. (oh, and brits, when i say “college”, i mean “university”…)

so i was not a very adventurous eater when i started college (at nyu). but that quickly changed when i shoved out of my comfort zone and forced to live with three other girls, all of whom came from completely different backgrounds. this was probably one of the best things that ever happened to me. we were lucky enough to have a small kitchen in our dorm, and we cooked sometimes. but the school cafeteria (the closest one to our union square dorm, anyway) actually served decent food! and it was here that i first tasted fried polenta and became mildly obsessed. it is a WONDERFUL meat or even pasta substitute – especially when topped with some tomato sauce. when i got my first apartment all to myself in san diego, i kept one of those polenta tubes in my cupboard at all times. they are so simple to cook – a little slice and fry action, and you’ve got yourself the basis of a good meal.

then i moved to london and forgot all about it. i picked up a box absentmindedly, not realising that it’s not quite the same as the tubed variety. it turns out i had bought a box of the instant stuff (way easier), but i thought it was the basic cornmeal that would take a lifetime to get the hang of and required a precise amount of water and cheese and time and patience. dodged THAT bullet!

so last night, the polenta was back on the menu. phil had never tried it before, putting a ton of pressure on me. but it turns out he enjoyed it very much – now i just need to perfect my frying skills and make it perfectly brown and crispy on the outside.

pan fried polenta

using instant polenta, served with steamed broccoli, spinach, and homemade pasta sauce

the particulars:

1. combine about a cup of polenta with 3 cups of water in a saucepan. this will make 3 servings, by the way. turn on the heat and start stirring.
2. continue to stir while it cooks and thickens for about 5 minutes. at this point, turn the heat off and immediately transfer the polenta to a flat baking tray. spread it out with a wooden spoon to the desired thickness.
3. leave to set for a few minutes. after 5-10 minutes, check on it. you should be able to slice it, pick it up with your hands, flip it… all without it breaking into bits.
4. pan-fry with a little oil for a few minutes on either side until browned and crispy. serve with pasta sauce, veggies… the choice is yours!

and here is phil’s “tricolore” for you (with fresh mozzarella on top):