Spinach Pizza with Crème Fraiche

While getting ready for vacation and having a million things to remember to pack, I didn't want to worry about food very much so we have been eating a lot of pizza, pasta, rice and salads.  It is a great opportunity to use the left over stuff in the fridge and in the pantry.  I enjoy trying to cook meals with what you have as it enforces creativity but the result can turn out to be a disaster sometimes or something "not so tasty".
This is a pizza I've learned from a very good friend, who lives very far away now.  I know she used to call this "Spanish pizza".  I'm not sure if it's the real name or only because she learned it from her Spanish friend.  I never forgot this pizza and I have been making it regularly.  It's so easy especially if you have a ready pizza dough or pastry.  I didn't have any so I made the dough this time.  This is a special pizza with no cheese and I recommend that you eat it cold or even the next day.  It tastes much better when it is colder, because you can feel the taste of the olives, olive oil, tomato and spinach more when cold.  The original version doesn't have any crème fraiche, but I have added it to make it a little bit softer and it made a great combination with spinach.  If you don't have any crème fraiche, then don't use it as it still tastes great without it.

Spinach Pizza with Crème Fraiche

(Makes about 2 round pizzas or one big square one - 2-3 portions)

Pizza dough:

1 1/2 cups of warm water

3 spoons of dry yeast

4 cups of flour (you can also use 2 cups of white flour and 2 cups of spelt or whole wheat flour)

1 1/2 teaspoon salt

1 tablespoon olive oil

Pizza topping:

2-3 tablespoons of crème fraiche

200-300 gram of fresh or frozen spinach

2-3 medium tomatoes diced

1 small onion chopped

1 clove of garlic crushed

A handful of olives with no seeds, chopped

2 tablespoons of olive oil

salt 

freshly milled black pepper

Preparing the dough:

You need to prepare the dough 2 hours in advance.  If you have a ready made dough then skip to the next part for topping. 

Mix all the ingredients of the dough in a pan and kneed very well for about 10 minutes.  Cover it with a clean tea towel and leave it to rise for about 1 1/5 - 2 hours.  Eventually the dough should be doubled in size.  When it is ready, flatten the dough with a rolling pin on a flat surface.  You may need to dust the dough with a little bit of flour for this, but you can also roll it out directly on a baking paper to save time.  

Topping:

First make the tomato sauce by sauteing the onions and garlic for few minutes in a pan with a table spoon of olive oil over medium heat.  Then add the tomatoes in and take it off the heat after few minutes.  The tomatoes shouldn't be too cooked.  Leave the tomato sauce to cool down for a while.

Next prepare the spinach by cooking them in a pan.  After they are cooked, make sure to drain the water from the spinach and leave it to cool.

When you have your pizza base ready and the ingredients are cooled down enough, start with spreading the crème fraiche over the pizza base with a spoon.  Then spread the spinach over and next, spread the tomato sauce over the spinach.  Last thing to put on top is the olives.  Sprinkle some salt and pepper over and put it in a preheated oven at 220° C(425° F) for about 15 minutes.  After you take it out of the oven, drizzle the 1 tablespoon of olive oil you have left over the pizza.

Eat it warm or cold but if you have some left overs, keep it in your fridge for the next day.  Believe me, you won't regret.

Macaroni and Cheese with Spinach

I seem to always have a question in my mind when I'm thinking about what to cook. "Would my children eat this?" They are not picky children, but they are still very small.  I do try to introduce them to a variety of cuisines as much as possible, but it is not always easy to find suitable dishes, especially when one of them has only 10 teeth.  I try to make sure I cook something that is attractive for everybody.  I do the usual pasta dishes once a week or so, but I do get bored of cooking pasta the usual way sometimes and I need a change.  This time I decided to try the famous mac and cheese, but I wanted to add some vegetables in it to make a little bit more balanced meal for the children.  This is quite an easy recipe and kids love it.  You can always try with other kind of vegetables or cheese.  

Macaroni and Cheese with Spinach

300 g pasta (cornetti type)

about 300 g of cooked spinach (you can use fresh or frozen)

100 g Gorgonzola cheese - chopped into little pieces

50 g Mozzarella - chopped into little pieces

70 g grated Parmesan

250 ml milk (about a cup of milk)

2 eggs

salt and pepper

15 gr butter - chopped into little pieces

4-5 fresh basil leaves - roughly chopped

Start with cooking your pasta as usual by following the instructions on the package.  When it's cooked drain and leave it to cool for a while.  In a separate bowl, whisk two eggs, milk, some salt and pepper.  Take a gratin or baking dish and put your pasta, spinach, Gorgonzola, most of the Parmesan (leave about a tablespoon of it for later), basil and egg mixture in and mix them all together.  Next, put the Mozzarella pieces and sprinkle the rest of the Parmesan over, then put the bits of butter on top.  Bake it in a preheated oven at 180° C(356° F) for about 35-40 minutes.  I would check with a fork if it's done inside as well before taking it out.  It goes really well with a mixed salad.  Enjoy!