Praise indeed

Extra children to feed today, so I made a big pizza. Our 8 year old guest told me it tasted like it had come from a shop - the highest form of praise!

Big pizza

I used my bread machine to make the base this morning and left the dough sitting in the mixer all day to prove. I made a sauce for the pizza by chopping 4 large tomatoes, putting them in a pan on a medium-high heat with a good slosh of olive oil, three crushed cloves of garlic, a squeeze of tomato puree and a teaspoon of honey. Cook for about 15 minutes until everything is mushy and sweet and garlicky. I whizzed it up in a blender for a minute and then spread it over the pizza base, topping with sliced mozzarella, ripped up pieces of ham and some bits of tinned pineapple chopped quite small.  Drizzle with a bit of olive oil and bake in a hot oven for about 15 minutes. This served one hungry 12 year old, two 8 year olds, a toddler and a bit left over for the waitress.

Amber nectar - golden syrup

Last week I promised to share my recipe for perfect flapjacks. Not too gooey, not too earthy... try them and let me know what you think.

Perfect flapjacks

4oz butter
4oz sugar
3oz golden syrup (I love the classic tin, but it's much easier to use the plastic squeezy bottle)
8oz rolled oats

Heat oven to 180/gas 4. Melt together the butter, sugar and golden syrup. Remove from heat, add the oats and mix. Turn into a greased 8" square tin, pat down gently and bake for 25-30 minutes until golden brown. Cut into squares soon after removing from oven but do not remove from the tin until cold. Better slightly under-cooked than over-cooked.