Arrabbiata Sauce

Arrabbiata Sauce

A luscious, creamy, garlicky tomato based sauce to have with your pasta. No more introduction is required for the Arrabbiata Sauce!

Ingredients

2 onions, finely chopped

6 garlic cloves, chopped

5 tomatoes, blanched and chopped

3 tbsp tomato puree

2 tbsp olive oil

1 tsp sugar

1 tsp salt

1 tsp black pepper

1 tbsp red chilli flakes

3 tbsp fresh cream

1 tsp dried oregano

Heat the olive oil. Add the garlic and saute. 

Add the chopped onions. Cook till the onions become soft. Add the tomatoes, tomato puree, sugar, salt, pepper and chilli flakes. 

Cover and cook till the whole thing comes together. The tomato should be cooked and mushy. 

Take off the heat and cool a little. 

Take about ¾ of the mix and puree it well in the mixer. Now add it to the rest of the mix. Put it back on the gas again. Check the seasoning. 

Now add the cream and oregano. Switch off the flame. Your Arabbiata sauce is ready. It should be served warm with pasta.

Homemade Tomato Sauce for pizza topping

Homemade Tomato Sauce for pizza topping

There is something bout homemade pizza. Once you start making your own pizza you will never want to go out and eat one. Apart from the fact that they are obscenely costly the very satisfaction of making them yourself is something else. 

The two main ingredients that go into making a great pizza are the dough and the tomato sauce topping. The topping is best made and eaten fresh. The measurements here are for approximately two pizzas.


Ingredients

5 ripe tomatoes
8 garlic pods
2 tsp oregano
Salt to taste
Pinch of sugar

Put the tomatoes, garlic, oregano, salt and sugar to boil with 1 ½ cups of water. Boil till the liquid is reduced to half. Cool. Peel the tomato and discard the peel. Blend all to a fine paste along with the liquid. 
Heat a pan and put the tomato paste to boil till it becomes thick. Your tomato sauce topping is ready. 

Rustic Homemade Pizza Margherita

Rustic Homemade Pizza Margherita

I am now the proud owner of Rose Levy Beranbaum’s The Bread Bible. She is amazing and her recipes are amazing. What I specially love about her books are the explanations she gives. You get to learn so much from her. I have made pizza numerous times earlier and it was had always been good. So what is so special about this recipe, you might ask!

Well first let me tell you how I have made pizza crust till now. Mixing yeast, flour and salt I make a smooth pliable dough. I give it a good knead and let it double in size which takes about 1 to 1 ½ hours. Then I roll out a round disc and bake.
When I started going through this book I realised that the recipe was contradicting everything that I have been doing. The dough is wet, it is not to be kneaded and the gluten is not to be activated. It does not have to be a nice round disc. You use your fingertips to spread the dough just like they used to do traditionally. It is best that the dough be kept for 24 hours to give it a light and chewy crust. 

This I HAD to try. And guess what!! My method of making pizza dough has undergone a renaissance. The lady rocks!!! This pizza has to be eaten to be believed. Sure it takes a lot of time and effort but then good things in life don’t come easy. 

And not to forget the rich and delicious tomato sauce for the topping for the pizza.

Ingredients

¾ cup+1 tbsp all purpose flour
½ tsp instant yeast
½ tsp sugar
½ tsp salt
½ cup lukewarm water
4 tsp olive oil

Whisk together flour, yeast, sugar and salt. Make a well in the center and pour in the water. Gently stir in the flour till the dough just begins to form. It should come away from the bowl and yet stick a little bit.
 Remember you do not have to knead. Do not use a heavy hand. The idea is to just gather the dough into a ball. The dough has to be rough looking and not silky or smooth. Pour the oil into a bowl. Roll the dough gently in the oil, cover and leave for at least 6 hours. 
If you want the yummiest crust leave it for 24 hours. 

When you want to make the pizza, preheat the oven to 200 degrees Celsius. Pour a little dough on the baking tray. Gently put the dough on the tray and using your fingertips start pressing form the center to the edges. Cover and let sit for 30 minutes. 
Put a generous amount of homemade tomato sauce. Then it is totally up to you what toppings you want. 

I started with a basic Margherita with sauce and cheese.

 But then I got greedy and added a lot more.

 Bake for 14 minutes.