Bantam Boy's Birthday.

It was Bantam Boy's birthday on Thursday a pizza night was requested. Originally we planned to go out for dinner at a local cafe but I decided that I'd do it myself. I took a day of short leave in order to take BB to some appointments that he had - including one to change his phone plan so that he will be able to live to see his next birthday after the last bill- see previous post.

Having the afternoon free I was able to make pizza dough from scratch using spelt flour - for Tim's allergies and made sure I had a low point vegie option for me. I rolled the crust as thin as I could, no one was any the wiser (I've not told my wider family or friends that I'm doing weight watchers as I know it will be a long haul and if I decide to splurge here and there I want to be able to do it without any judgment) And splurge is exactly what I did on Thursday.

I made 4 pizzas. Potato and rosemary pizza is a long standing family favourite especially for Chicky babe.A plain basil and bocconcini one and another with prosciutto and roasted eggplant.  

My low point option was actually a hit with everyone and by the time the photo was taken it was almost all gone! I roasted small cubes of pumpkin and slices of capsicum in a hot oven and put heaps of them on the pizza base lightly spread with tomato paste added asparagus spears and sprinkled it with reduced fat fetta. Yum! I'll make that one again.

As you can see from the photo it was a very relaxed occasion - we ate straight from the pizza trays - no fancy platters and enjoyed some good red wine. Mum has booked me to cook when her new house is built and she has a house warming party and deemed that my cooking actually surpasses that of her favourite grandmother. A high compliment indeed!

Spelt flour Pizza dough (very easy)

Makes 2 30cm thin crust pizzas

• 2 cups spelt flour
• 8g sachet yeast
• 1/2 teaspoon caster sugar
• 3/4 cup warm water
• 2 tablespoons olive oil

Put flour in a bowl make a well. Sprinkle in yeast and sugar. Pour in water and oil and mix with a large metal spoon. Knead gently for a minute or two until dough is well combined and smooth.

Cut dough in half and roll out on a well floured board.(Spelt flour tends to be a tad stickier than regular flour I have noticed but not too hard to manage, I had to be a bit careful when rolling it out and found that sometimes thin spots or tears happened in my first couple of bases I just pulled a little off the edge and patted it over the hole once the topping went on no one was any the wiser! )