Tag: dinner recipe

Italian Sausage Detroit Pizza

Italian Sausage & Red Onion Detroit Pizza

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I’m not sure what inspired this but over Christmas I was just absolutely craving a Detroit pizza, having never had one before… For those of you who haven’t had the joy of trying a Detroit pizza, it’s a much breadier version of its Italian counterpart. Think along the lines of a focaccia with pizza toppings. The crust is thick & chewy with big air bubbles – it’s also rectangular. Basically all round delicious – a dream for bread lovers.

For this, I don’t have my own dough recipe as I’m not a bread-master but there’s lots of great options if you search for it. The toppings are a creation of my own though: my marinara, Italian seasoned sausage, red onions & a grating of pecorino once cooked. I’m getting hungry thinking about it…

Italian Sausage & Red Onion Detroit Pizza

Serves 4-6 (4 very hungry people) | 1 hour prep + proving time (depends on dough recipe used)

Ingredients

~700g dough of your choice (see notes)

1x my marinara sauce, cooked for pizza as per the instructions

1x my italian seasoned sausage

500g low moisture mozzarella grated (see notes)

1 red onion, thinly sliced

Grated pecorino to serve

Olive oil for greasing

Pan or pans totalling 1,500-,1600cm² – these need to be a baking tray about 2-3cm deep. I used 2 trays ~20cmx40cm each

Method

  1. Brush you pan(s) with olive oil. Split your dough in half and transfer to the pans. Rub more olive oil on top of the dough. Now leave to rest again covered loosely with cling film for ~1hour in a warm place.
  2. In the mean time, fry the sausage meat in a large pan with olive oil over a medium heat. Break into chunks, and cook until almost cooked through. You don’t want much too colour on the sausage as it will continue to cook in the oven. Set aside
  3. Preheat the oven to 230°C/210°C fan
  4. Push the dough to fill the pan & dimple with your fingertips.
  5. Sprinkle over the mozzarella then spoon over the, marinara in even strips. Next scatter over the sausage and sliced red onion.
  6. Bake until deeply golden (30-40 mins).
  7. Remove from the oven & leave to cool for 5 mins. Remove from the pan, sprinkle over the pecorino and serve!

Notes:

Dough – If you Google Detroit Pizza recipes there are lots of great options for doughs

Mozzarella – In the UK we can’t get blocks of low moisture mozz so we have to use the grated stuff. In this case you’ll need to wash the mozzarella to get rid of the starch (this is used to stop the cheese sticking to itself, but it’ll also stop you getting a nice melt). Put the cheese into a sieve and rinse under cold water until the water runs clear. Spread the cheese in a thin layer onto paper towels and leave to dry.

Italian Sausage Meat

Basics By Meg: Italian Sausage Meat

bakesbymeguk3 Comments

Number 2 in my basics collection is an absolute staple for pizza, pasta, sandwiches etc. etc. – Italian seasoned sausage. This is similar to my Italian sausage roll mix but slightly less strong (i.e. no anchovies & no parmesan) in order to make sure it complements the dishes it’s added to. I love this fried up in chunks & scattered over a pizza, squashed into a patty & fried for in a breakfast muffin, or anything really. I have a few recipes using this sausage coming up so keep your eyes peeled for ideas of how to use it. This can be subbed into any recipe calling for sausage meat if you want to add an Italian twist.

Italian Sausage Meat

Makes 400g | 10 mins prep

Ingredients

400g sausage meat

2 large garlic cloves, minced

Large handful parsely finely chopped

2tsp fennel seeds toasted (or fennel pollen if you can get your hands on it)

1 tsp dried thyme

1 tsp dried oregano

A few shakes of chilli flakes

Salt & black pepper to taste

Method

  1. In a dry pan over medium heat, toast the fennel seeds tossing often until fragrant. Leave these to cool & grind in a pestle & mortar (or coffee grinder, or chop with a knife – be prepared for them to pop out as you chop)
  2. Combine all ingredients in a bowl & mix thoroughly.
  3. Taste & adjust seasoning by frying up a small batch.

Note: I definitely recommend fennel pollen if you can source it as it adds the fennel flavour plus some extra delicious aromatics.

Garlicky anchovy pasta

Speedy Garlicky Anchovy Pasta

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Even when I don’t have much time to cook, I refuse to sacrifice deliciousness. I created this pasta for such situations. I used strong flavours to make it exciting despite its simplicity (think salty, anchovy-y, tomatoey goodness). It uses mostly store cupboard ingredients too so not only is it quick to cook, you might not even need to go to the shop. As the cooking of the pasta is finished off in the sauce, the sauce ends up feeling very luxurious and clings to the pasta. This truly is a speedy dinner as the sauce is cooked in the time it takes the pasta to cook.

Speedy Garlicky Anchovy Pasta

Serves 2

15 mins prep + cooking

Ingredients

150g linguine or spaghetti (or any pasta really, but it works well with a long pasta)

1.5 tbsp olive oil

6 anchovy fillets in oil, roughly chopped

4 garlic cloves thinly sliced (or 2 large cloves)

Juice 1/2 lemon

2 tbsp tomato puree

1 tbsp butter (or more to taste)

4 tbsp grated parmesan (or more to taste, plus extra for serving)

Handful of parsley chopped

Panko breadcrumbs to serve (if you can get your hands on lemon & black pepper breadcrumbs, get those!) see the note for how to make the breadcrumbs a little fancier

Method

  1. Add your pasta to salted boiling water and cook for a few minutes less than the packet says.
  2. Meanwhile, add your oil and anchovies to a frying pan on medium high heat and cook until the achovies dissolve.
  3. Add the sliced garlic and cook until lightly golden
  4. Add the lemon juice to the pan and cook until mostly evaporated.
  5. Add the tomato puree and cook for a few minutes, stirring regularly until the colour darkens slightly. Take off the heat until the pasta is ready.
  6. Once the pasta is cooked, put the frying pan back onto medium high heat and transfer the pasta over being sure to reserve the pasta water. Add 100-200ml of pasta water to the frying pan and bring to a boil, stirring often, until reduced to almost nothing. Repeat this process until the pasta is cooked to your liking.
  7. Take the pan off the heat and add the butter & Parmesan. Stir through and add more butter/Parmesan to your taste. Add the chopped parsley.
  8. Serve with more parm and the breadcrumbs sprinkled over

Note: If you have time, I definitely recommend sprucing up your bread crumbs a little. In a frying pan heat up 1 tbsp oil + 1/2 tbsp butter with 2 minced cloves of garlic. Fry until golden, then add breadcrumbs (NOT panko) and fry those until evenly golden.

Miso Peanut Butter Noodles

Miso & Peanut Butter Ramen Noodles

bakesbymeguk1 Comment

This is one of my all time favourite recipes that I’ve created. When I finally got this recipe spot-on, I knew I’d created something great. So great that I made another bowl of if for breakfast the next day… And then again for dinner later that week… This dish combines miso, peanut butter & mushrooms for a rich, thick sauce that really packs an umami punch. My favourite way to have this is with sausage & a jammy boiled egg, but this can easily be made veggie by swapping the sausage for a different protein & the beef stock for veg stock, and vegan by removing the egg! The ultimate upgrade for your packet ramen. Speaking of packet ramen, you can use whichever brand you like for this dish. I use Chapaghetti because I love the thickness of the noodle (slightly thicker than your average packet ramen). I cannot stress enough how much you need to try this recipe – you will not be disappointed.

Miso & Peanut Butter Ramen Noodles

Serves 1 | 20 Mins Prep + Cooking

Ingredients

1 packet instant ramen noodles (I use Chapaghetti)

1.5tbsp chunky peanut butter (my fave is Manilife Deep Roast)

1.5tbsp white miso paste

2tsp soy sauce

1/2tsp beef stock concentrate

150g Chestnut mushrooms, sliced ~0.5cm thick

1 large garlic clove, minced

A handful of parsley, finely chopped

1 egg

Optional: 1 sausage, removed from casing

Method

  1. Boil the egg for 7 mins, once cooked set aside in a bowl of iced water until ready to use.
  2. Heat a small frying pan medium high heat adding ~1tsp olive oil. Break the sausage meat into chunks and flatten slightly. Fry for a minute or two (depending on how hot the pan is) on each side until caramelised and cooked through. Set aside until ready to use.
  3. Add the mushrooms to the same frying pan, add a little more oil if it’s too dry, and fry until all the water has been released, has evaporated and the mushrooms are starting to brown.
  4. Add your crushed garlic and fry, stirring often, until fragrant.
  5. Next add the miso, peanut butter, soy sauce, stock & enough water so that once the noodles are added, they will be submerged. Stir this until well combined & smooth apart from the mushrooms.
  6. Bring this mix to the boil & add the noodles. Cook this, stirring frequently, until the noodles are cooked through and the sauce has reduced and thickened to the texture of thick double cream.
  7. While this is cooking, roughly chop the sausage into mouth-sized chunks. Peel and half the egg.
  8. Once the noodles are cooked, stir through the parsley. Serve in a bowl with the egg & sausage on top.

Note: If you don’t have stock concentrate, swap the water for stock of your choice

Veggies/Vegans: Make this dish veggie by swapping the sausage for a protein of your choice & swapping the beef stock for veg stock. Omit the egg to make it vegan