Potato & Rosemary Pizza

Pizza is a relatively regular staple in our house, regular enough that there are usually some yeast-free bases (for me) lying around somewhere - cupboard, freezer, dog house... O:) We got home last night with nary half an hour to spare before we had to dash off to our first antenatal class (!), and I NEEDED to eat. Lacking anything quicker (toasted sandwiches? No, out of yeast-free bread), pizza it was.

However, I wanted to try out something different for a change. Usually, pizza in our house is also very boring: tomato sauce, pineapple, mushroom, some chunks of cream cheese or feta, some baby spinach if we have any (we didn't), and topped with cheese and oregano/basil. After seeing it goodness-knows-where on the web ages ago, I have made potato pizza once before. This time, though, I did something different. I can't actually recall what I did last time, but this time it was really, really good. Evidence: by the time I went to take a photo of it for the blog, this was all that was left:


Ingredients (for one small pizza)
Garlic
Olive oil
1 small pizza base - I used a thin & crispy-style, because of the whole yeast-free thing
Cream cheese - 2 or 3 tablespoons
Rosemary - 1/2 - 1 tablespoon fresh
3 baby red-skinned potatoes
Sea salt

Mix the garlic in with the oil. Leave to stand for as long as possible (optional: like, overnight, or a week, or just go ahead and buy garlic-infused oil). Spread the cream cheese over the base as you normally would tomato sauce*. Drizzle with oil. Sprinkle with rosemary. Finely slice the potatoes and layer over the base*, overlapping a little to completely cover it. Season to taste with sea salt. Bake at 190C for 20 minutes until potatoes start to turn golden around the edges. Enjoy!

* You want to go as close as possible to the edge on this pizza, otherwise the crust gets too crusty in the time it takes to cook the potato.

Unstuffed Mini Capsicums

Yes, that's right, unstuffed. Because I was lazy ;) :D

Anyway, this came about because the vast majority of my family went shopping together on the weekend at the newly-arrived-and-therefore-exciting (sigh) Costco. Amidst all the kerfuffle, a large box of baby red capsicums (bell peppers :P) were purchased and split up between us. Hence the txt message I received from Mum this afternoon, detailing the delicious feta-and-spinach-stuffed capsicums they'd had for dinner last night.

Plagued by pregnancy cravings and sickness, stuffed capsicums sounded like just the thing for tonight's dinner - only I couldn't be bothered making the stuffing, then stuffing the capsicums, and then baking it all again. Hence, unstuffed capsicums O:) :D


Ingredients
1 onion, finely chopped
5 cloves garlic, crushed
300g mushrooms, thinly sliced
olive oil
1.2c long grain rice
2.5c vegetable stock
12 baby red capsicums
sweet chilli sauce
soy sauce
salt
tarragon
100g cream cheese, cubed
baby spinach, to serve

Method
Saute onion and garlic in olive oil. Add mushrooms; stir until reduced. Add rice; stir for 1 minute to coat thoroughly. Add stock. Bring to the boil. Simmer with a TIGHT lid for 20 minutes. DO NOT OPEN, or you'll lose all the precious steam. If through a tragedy not of your making, the lid gets lifted (hi there, curious meal-eaters *glare*), add some more hot water to compensate. You're basically just making a pilaf, here.

Meanwhile, deseed the capsicums (reserving a 'lid' for each) and rinse them. Shake them dry, though not too dry, and replace 'lids'. The lids help preserve the moisture so they become tender, rather than drying out. Bake in a 200C oven for 15 minutes.

Once 20 mins is up for the rice, turn off the heat and give it a good stir. If, like me, you're unlucky and some stuck to the bottom, transfer to a new pot to avoid contaminating the good stuff with anything burnt. Season with sauces, salt and tarragon to taste, then stir through cream cheese.

Plate up, and enjoy :o)