Tag: seasonal eating

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What makes a Perfect Pizza part III Mistakes!

Verdmont Acqui Terme

So now you have the basic dough recipe we can show you what to avoid.

We did a little reseach on this topic and have found some common mistakes

Making pizza at home can be fun and rewarding, but also challenging. We list below some mistakes we help you to avoid during our Pizza Experience!

  • Using too much yeast, flour, or cheese. These can make your pizza dough dense, soggy, or greasy. Use a small amount of yeast and let it ferment slowly for more flavor. Use less flour and fold the dough well until it is smooth and supple see previous post .
  • Use just enough cheese to cover the sauce and choose a low-moisture mozzarella.
  • Overstretching or rolling the dough. This can cause tearing and thinning of the dough, which can affect the texture and baking of the pizza. Stretch the dough gently by hand and avoid using a rolling pin, which can deflate the dough and make it tough.
  • Not pre-cooking your toppings. Some toppings, especially meat and hard vegetables, need to be cooked before adding them to the pizza, otherwise they may not cook properly in the oven or release too much moisture. Cook your toppings in advance and drain any excess liquid or fat.
  • Skipping the cornmeal or semolina. Sprinkling some cornmeal or semolina on your cookware before adding the pizza dough can prevent it from sticking and also add some crunch and flavor to the crust. You can also dust some on your work surface and your hands when handling the dough.
  • Working with cold dough. If you refrigerate your pizza dough, you need to let it come to room temperature before shaping it. Cold dough is stiff and resistant to stretching, and may shrink back or tear. Let your dough rest on the counter for an hour or two before using it.
  • Using too many or incompatible toppings. Adding too many toppings can weigh down your pizza and make it soggy or unbalanced. Choose a few toppings that complement each other and the sauce, and spread them evenly and sparingly over the pizza. Less is more when it comes to pizza toppings.
  • Not seasoning your sauce or toppings. A bland sauce or topping can ruin your pizza, even if you use high-quality ingredients. Season your sauce with salt, pepper, garlic, herbs, and spices to your taste. Season your toppings as well, especially cheese, which can be bland when melted. You can also drizzle some olive oil, balsamic vinegar, or spicy garlic oil over your pizza for extra flavor.
  • Not preheating your cookware or oven. A hot surface and a hot oven are essential for a crispy crust and a well-cooked pizza. Preheat your baking sheet, pizza stone, or cast iron skillet in the oven for at least 15 minutes before placing your pizza on it. Preheat your oven to the highest temperature possible and bake your pizza for 10 to 15 minutes, or until golden and bubbly.

I hope these tips help you make a delicious pizza at home. Enjoy!

You can find both the pizza dough recipe and the sauce recipe in our Ricettario (Verdmont Recipes section).

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Quince or Mele Cotogne, an Ancient fruit

Verdmont Acqui Terme

I am currently contemplating 8 kilos of fruit, Quince or in Italian Mele Cotogne in the hallway. The good thing is they are so floral and fragrant it’s a joy, the bad news is I probably have to get them canned into jelly sooner rather than later and it is a big job.

Organic Quinces from our trees at Verdmont

Inedible and rock hard raw they need to be peeled, chopped or grated and cooked thoroughly before canning. I expect it will take some hours.

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Recipe – Beautiful Puntarelle what to do with it?

Verdmont Acqui Terme

This vegetable appears in late winter early spring and its really exotic looking at least to my eyes. It has a slight bitter flavour its called Puntarelle, it is part of the chicory family so be away it has a lightly bitter taste. Here are a couple of ways to prepare.

Strangely the most labour intensive way is in raw in a salad. This means take the head and slice chop finely and immerse it in ice water for an hour, this shoould release some of the bitterness, then you can drain it and drizzle with oil lemon or dressing of choice, many will add anchovies for the strong flavour.

into the pan not for long we don’t want soggy vegetables
Done our version was with taggiasche olives and capers and a drizzle of sweet balsamic dressing

My preferred way is to to lightly pan sear and then add a dressing with capers, olives, (anchovies optional) lemon and olive oil. You can serve this as a mineral rich super food side dish on pasta or rice.

Health is wealth!

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The Food Market / Il Mercato

Verdmont Acqui Terme

The food markets in Acqui are actually far more than just food there also have all manner of fabric and clothing and household items. They take place every Tuesday and Friday morning except national holidays, parking will be scarse and the market dominates the town for a few hours.

Seasonal fresh vegetables

The Biological market which has a wider range (not produce more honey, flour, legumes, wine) is on the first Saturday of each month. link here for more info and updates

The place we go is tucked away from the main market but it focusses on local growers ( in contrast to retails who may or may not grow some or all the produce).

This is truly local, faithfully seasonal eating as throughout the year the produce changes. Personally I don’t find that a restriction I find it refreshing and interesting to change diet and recipes with the seasons. it is built in variety without even trying!. Those growing locally will not have tomatoes and pepper and aubergines. Right now in late winter it is alot of root vegetables, leafy greens, squash and mainstays. But also interesting vegetables like this one pictured Puntarelle, I will post a recipe in the coming days .

A personal favourite is the roast beetroots chopped into a salad or a soup they are perfect and the colour is amazing. I wont find them in A few months so I am enjoying it now. Another really delicious idea is using the cavolo nero in the grill. It is super simple and delicious there will be a recipe to follow just search our blog I hope to publish in the new weeks.

Soon the fresh asparagus will arrive and for a few weeks we will have abundant dishes with that!

We live in an age of globalization, speed, on demand. We want to get every desire met right now no matter where it came from. We do not like planning or waiting, we demand service and convenience. We have forgotten simple things like seasonality. The fact that it migt be fine to wait for the the right season, it might taste better and make less impact is ignored. But I think this is flawed.

The waiting makes the arrival of the best and freshest sweeter. Health is wealth!