Last
night I went to Italy without evening having to board a plane or ship or even
take a step out of this country!!
I
did of course only land in Southbank to a Pizza Masterclass thanks to Keep Left
and all their amazing clients.
They
are super cute and set up a little Italian laneway style romantic dinner
setting, with backdrop and all. Then to the left they had all the clients set
up and ready to talk to you and teach you everything there is to know about
their goodies. Then further down we were greeted to a table loaded with lots of
fresh goods ready for our pizza J And just to the left of
that there was a little kitchen with benches all set up! Where your ears were
greeted with Italian music and your nose was greeted with the smell of fresh
produce!!
To
begin with we were invited into the viewing room where the first thing I could
smell were fresh mushrooms, with the light linger of salami.
But here is where
we got to meet those brands that we would work with on the Masterclass. These
brands were:
Woolworths
which included- Bertocchi, Costas (who supply Woolies with their
Mushrooms.
Perfect Italiano (Which you can find in Woolies.)
Leggo’s
Sauces and pesto’s (which you can also find in Woolies.)
Baker
Delight- Who supplied the Pizza Bases for the night.
Bertocchi
(Woolworths) Who supplied all our meat and yummies.
And
then of course my favourite Dan Murphy’s- Who supplied the alcohol.
The
first brand I want to talk about is the Perfect Italiano cheese. The reason for
wanting to talk about this brand first is because at the start of the cooking
class
Tasty
vs mozzarella... Never using tasty on a pizza or in cooking full stop as in the
demo the oil just drops off. And basically turns to plastic, where as the
Mozzarella turns creamy and string like those you see in restaurants. Perfect Italiano also have some truly amazing
Parmesan products, and a nifty little parmesan grater that you pop your block
of parmesan straight into, which I thought was pretty cool! I was also taught a really tasty trick and
that was to mix some pesto through your mushrooms to get a real full flavour.
The
Dan Murphy’s tastings with Peter Nixon, were super tempting and I was
regretting not leaving my keys at home.. I started with a glass of
P.Louis
Martin Brut Champagne
Now
this is a champagne I could easily sip on all day (If I could keep my feet
hehe.) So smooth and crisp with no bitter after taste. I have only recently
taken a liking to Champagne so I have really been starting from the el cheapo
up. But now I am not too sure how I will be sipping anything other then this
champagne. So classy and so delicious and was paired nicely with my Pizza.
There
were also lots of other beers and wine to choose from there, but I could not
stray away from the Champagne.
The
Leggo’s setup had me very intrigued as they had a bunch of super cute blow up
cherry tomato’s above the stall.. But then I saw the amazing products, and
learnt so much about their range and how to use certain sauces. The favorites
from this stand were definitely the pesto’s as you can add them to just about
anything, or even eat them as they are on a cold meat platter.
Ok,
now I have never in my life met a more work passionate person then Jim the Tall
Texan Mushroom man. He is from Costa’s who supply all Woolworth’s with their
yummy amazing mushrooms.
I know
I may start some controversy here but I will never in my life peel my mushrooms
after speaking with Jim. Before last night I would religiously peel my mushrooms,
as the brown skin did not appeal to me one little bit. Then I found out that this
is where all the vitamin D and nutrients are… The
skin is what can help prevent prostate cancer in men and breast cancer in women
J I am so glad to have met an amazing man so passionate about his
mushies. PS- Mushrooms are not grown in shit but actually grown in wood or
straw.
Ok
now I am going to tell you something I know not many people knew about (inc
me.)
Bakers
Delight sells Pizza bases… WHAT THE!!! How did I
not know this, and why have I never seen it before.
They
come in a pack of two and are so thick and yummy, and make for the perfect
Pizza. I think for my daughters 5th birthday we are just going to
have a Pizza party, where we pop all ingredients on the table. And the guests
can create their own pizzas and try how delicious these bases are. They are
also very filling, after only eating three pieces of my home made pizza I seriously
could not fit anything else in my belly.
I
almost forgot a very yummy supplier to Woolworths and that was the delicious
Bertocchi.
This
is one of the first things I could smell when I walked in the door, and was
instantly drawn straight to the little setup where we were invited to sample
their cold meats. I found a new love, and that was pancetta (hence the reason I
used it on my pizza.) But I did learn of all the ways that the meat was cured and
how it turns out the way it does. I never used to be much of a savoury person
and stuck to my sweets and cakes. But now that has totally changed and I am not
much of a sweet person, and love my cold meats, cheeses and dips.
It
was so much fun being able to connect with my inner messy chef and create my
very own pizza without sticking to any recipes and there were NO RULES. I will
also be investing in a little stone Pizza Oven as they cooked my pizza in just
under 6 minutes and cooked it better then any oven.
One
last thing I would love to add before letting you know what I popped on my
pizza were the beautiful boards, pizza cutters and Rolling Pin supplied by
Maxwell and Willaims. They are not a client (YET) of Keep Left but added a
beautiful touch to the Pizza
Masterclass. It was so funny cutting a
pizza ,while you watched the little smiley face printed onto the cutter roll
around and sink into the pizza and then pop back out again.
How to re-create my Pizza
1 Pizza Base from Bakers Delight
(rolled out to thin.)
Large handfull of Mozzarella cheese
2 Tablespoons of Perfect Italiano Ricotta
4 strips of thinly cut Pancetta thanks to Bertocchi
3x Woolworth’s Cherry tomatoes
Small Handfull of Woolworth’s Spinach
2x Leaves Woolworth’s fresh Basil
4x Woolworth’s/Costa’s Button mushrooms
Half a Cup of Caramalised onions
Half a fresh brown onion
2 tablespoons of Tomato paste
Half a Fresh capsicum
There are not many steps to this. All I did was pop the paste on the
base, then throw the ingredients on top and top it off with Mozzarella cheese… MMMmmm
