Spelt flour pizza base and stark-raving lunatics
The moon is full tonight. If you have animals anything like ours and had intended sleeping through the night, a word of warning: it ain’t gonna happen. 🙂
The horses will spend all night ‘partying’ (galloping from one end of the field to the other, whinnying to anyone who will listen and ‘fighting’ on their hind legs). They’ll be exhausted by the morning (thank God) and spend the whole day sleeping it off.
The hens are, at his very moment, on the terrace table doing a sort of flamboyant chicken tango, which involves much flapping, flirting, fluttering and hissing. In fact it’s so flamboyant that one of them fell off the table *snigger*.
Which bring me to Hugo. Being a bit of a primo uomo, Hugo makes sure that his behaviour trumps that of the other animals. Having pulled his chair away from the wall with his teeth, he has created a little game for himself. He charges the chair, throwing himself into it heavily to see how far it will ‘skid’ across the tiles. After several good ‘skids’, he runs dementedly around the house, blanket over head, seeking praise for his talent. Just shoot me now.
There are times when only pizza will do. This base, being made from spelt flour, is light, tasty, nutritious and more easily digested than a regular pizza base.
Ingredients (6 slices)
250g spelt flour
½ teaspoon salt
1 tablespoon olive oil
1 sachet bakers yeast (dilute in lukewarm water 10 minutes before use)
pinch of bicarbonate of soda
Sift the flour and salt into a mixing bowl. Beat or knead for about 6 minutes, progressively adding a tiny bit of water, teaspoon by teaspoon. Be careful not to add too much water or the dough will become sticky. Leave the dough to rise at a temperature of 25°C to 35°C for an hour, then re-mix (or re-knead). Put it in the fridge for an about an hour and then roll out ready to apply the topping. I used fresh tomato sauce, black olives, chorizo, anchovies and parmesan. Cook in a preheated oven (200°C) for 15-20 minutes.
14 Comments
apuginthekitchen
Sounds like you are constantly entertained by your furry and feathered friends. They are particularly sensitive aren’t they, I think that those of us that live in the concrete jungle become de-sensitized, jaded to the effects of the full moon, for the pugs it’s just another day or night. The pizza looks amazing, and I’m sure delicious!
The Healthy Epicurean
They are indeed a constant source of entertainment 🙂 I think that humans and animals alike are more in tune with nature once removed from the concrete jungle…
Chez Foti
So how was it then? Presuming eventful? Luckily our dogs are most un-attuned to these things and never appear any different at Full Moon. My son on the other hand turned into Terrifying Toddler Werewolf yesterday badly biting his unassuming sister and myself 🙁
Chez Foti
….and I meant to say also the Spelt Pizza looks divine! We had pizza last night too, Parsley Pesto, Courgette & Feta….plus a Rosemary & Garlic.
The Healthy Epicurean
Utterly exhausting! The horses galloped more or less non-stop and Hugo dutifully barked at them. The hens were very calm by comparison. Wild animals and toddlers – who’d have ’em ? 😉 Léo used to bite too – not good 🙁 Maybe it’s the terrible two testosterone surge? (lucky you :lol:)
laurasmess
Hahaha… your Hugo moments are hilarious! Sounds like life with my husband 😉 This pizza looks amazing. That topping…. ah! It has most of my favourite pizza toppings in one (anchovies, olives, chorizo, parmesan… I would’ve added some artichoke hearts and spinach to top it all off, but I often have a habit of putting too much on pizza. Oops). Thanks for sharing your recipes and stories. Can’t wait to catch up on a few more posts soon xx
The Healthy Epicurean
You can’t beat a good pizza in my opinion. Hugo is a star but my mind boggles at your comment that he sounds like your husband – does he dribble too ;-)?
laurasmess
Haha… it was a loose comment! I’ve been reading all of your Hugo posts and factored that in whilst reading this post! He doesn’t dribble, no (thankfully!) but he was walking around the house with a blanket-like cape yesterday. Mostly as it was cold, but it reminded me of Hugo. And… though I love him to bits, when he gets together with his mates it’s a no-rule party! Two of his friends have chickens and they tend to mimic their behaviour! 😉
The Healthy Epicurean
😆 at your husband! Hugo’s going to argue his case for the defence today…
laurasmess
Haha, go Hugo!
The Healthy Epicurean
Woof !
laurasmess
🙂
Irina @ wandercrush
Ah I’m always looking for a wholemeal pizza base! I love spelt and thin-crust pizza, so this is definitely going on my list to try 🙂 Cheers.
The Healthy Epicurean
I really hope you enjoy it if you make it. Personally I find it so much lighter and more easily digestible than wheat-based crust…