Kinda strange to have a pizza recipe on a site devoted to spice! But (just about) Friday night at our home is Pizza night! I start off the bread in the morning before I head out to the studio and tackle it when I get back home to the kids in the afternoon.
The toppings are pretty standard as well… 1x lots of cheese, 1x classic pepperoni, 1x with “the works” which includes pepperoni, chorizo, artichokes, olives, jalapenos, mushrooms, red onions & capsicum. And of course – a drizzle of our scrumptious Hot Stuff!

DOUGH
Warm water 1.5 cups
Yeast 1 capful (about 1 heaped tbsp)
Sugar 1/2 tsp
Salt 1/1 tsp
Olive Oil – a generous splash
* Plain Flour 4 cups

SAUCE
Crushed tomatoes in juice 1 can
Crushed garlic 2 tbsps (about 5-6 large cloves)
Basil 1 tsp
Oregano 1 tsp
Fennel Powder 1/4 tsp
Salt 1/2 tsp
Olive Oil – a splash

Mix it all up. (I don’t even bother cooking this sauce most times as I’m that lazy!)
Add some paprika to liven things up a bit.

– In a large bowl, add the yeast, sugar, salt & olive oil to the warm water.
– Stir and let sit till the yeast bubbles into a nice fragrant mass.
– Add the flour and mix with a wooden spoon till it all nearly comes together.
– Spray some oil onto your hands and knead a few times to make sure that everything is well mixed.
– Using the same bowl, spray the sides and put the ball of kneaded dough. Cover with a Samp tea-towel and let sit in a warm, comfy spot. (In the winter months, I have been known to leave the light on in the oven and sitting the ball of dough to proof there.)
– When nice and fluffy and about doubled in size, pull out the bowl and knead a few times on an oiled surface.
– Divide into 4 portions for nice, large pizzas, or 8 smaller individual ones.
– Sprinkle some flour onto the kitchen bench and using your fingers shape into a flat disk. (I find that hand thrown / molded pizzas to be waaaaay softer and fluffier than rolled ones. They also hold the sauce better.)
– Slather with sauce.
– Sprinkle grated cheese and dollops of mozzarella for extra stretchy gooey-ness.
– Add toppings of choice.

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Hot Cross Buns
(breadmaker recipe)
Makes 12
Difficulty Scale: Easy

FOR THE BUNS
Water* 310ml
Egg*
Melted Butter 2 tbsps
Nutmeg 1/4 tsp
Salt 1/2 tsp
Masala Chai Honey 4 tbsp
High Grade Flour 3 1/4 cups
Yeast 3 1/4 tsp
Chocolate Chips / Sultanas 3/4 cup

*place egg at the bottom of the measuring cup and pour enough water to reach 310 ml
FOR THE CROSSES
Plain flour 1/2 cup
Water 40 ml
Sugar 2 tbsp

GLAZE
Hot Water 2 tbsp
Apricot jam / Breakfast Marmalade 1 tbsp

MAKING THE BUNS
Mix all the ingredients into your breadmaker and follow instruction to make dough.
Once dough is done, knead dough on a well greased surface (I just spray a board with some neutral oil.)
Divide dough into 12 equal sized balls.
Shape into balls and put into a lined and well greased baking dish. (Don’t use a huge dish adn don’t put them too far apart. BUT, leave enough space for the dough to rise and spread.)
MAKING THE CROSSES
Make a paste of the flour, water and sugar.
I like to them roll them into long noodle like strands and place them on the buns.
Cover and leave to rise for an hour or so, under a damp tea towel.
Preheat oven to 180 degrees.
Bake for 30 minutes.
Mix the glaze ingredients and brush over the hot buns.

Eat hot with lashings of butter! Nom Nom Nom

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“Chapati” flour / atta 2 cups
(+ extra for dusting)
Salt 1/2 tsp
2 tbsp
Water 3/4 cups
Ghee / Butter to drizzle

KNEADING THE DOUGH
Add the flour, salt and oil and fluff up.
Add the water and knead, using the balls of your palms and knuckles alternatively to pummel into a nice, smooth, soft dough.
Cover with a damp tea towel and leave to rest to let the gluten do its thing.

ROLLING THE ROTI
Divide the dough into equal parts. The best way of doing this is by halving the dough and then halving it again till you have golf ball sized dough balls.
With firm hands, roll the dough balls once at a time, in the palm of your hands.
Flatten them in dry dough, with the tips of your fingers.
Dust any excess flour off.
Roll into a disk about 3 inches big.
You may need to dust some more dry flour. Make sure you dust any excess flour off.
Roll till you have a roti about 5-6 inches big. Try and roll it evenly across, taking care that you don’t have thin edges and a fat centre as the bread will then cook very unevenly.
I often roll a few and give myself a head start before I start cooking them.

COOKING THE ROTI
Heat a heavy bottomed, flat skillet.
When hot, put a rolled roti on.
Let it sit about 20-30 seconds. You want the surface “sealed”. Let’s call this Side 1.
Then flip it to the other side. (If you want, at this stage, you can lightly spray a little bit of oil on this side; traditionally, we don’t use any oil when making “plain roti”.)
Let Side 2 cook for about 20-30 seconds as well and then flip Side 1 back onto the heat.
(Spray Side 2 with some oil, if you want.)
Cook Side 1 for about 30 seconds again and then cook Side 2.
A cooked roti has evenly distributed brown spots (not black – that’s burnt!).

Basically – each side gets cooked twice.
The first 20-30 seconds is to seal the surface.
The second time is to cook it through.

The reason you don’t cook it all in one go is to ensure that the dough gets cooked evenly through and you’re not left with uncooked doughy bits in your mouth.

Drizzle some ghee / butter / coconut oil if you want, when you pull them off the skillet.
Store these wrapped in a clean tea towel to keep soft and warm.

I often do a big batch and use these instead of store bought tortillas. These are a far healthier and less processed option.

I have also been known to re-heat these in the toaster for a few seconds!

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