Budget "Take Away" Pizza

How about making your own pizza from scratch, rather than spending £20! Here's how to do it with using basic ingredients which are cupboard staples, plus whatever you have floating around as toppings! This could include chopped ham, onion, red and green peppers, salami, mushroom, pineapple, olives, anchovies, prawns...really, there are no rules.

Ingredients
2 cups warm water
2 tablespoon dried yeast
2 teaspoons sugar
2 teaspoons salt
2 Tablespoons oil
5-6 cups flour
Method

1. Combine water and yeast in a large bowl and stand for 5 minutes.
   
2. Stir in the sugar, salt, and oil, then add half of the flour and mix.
   
3. Add remaining flour and knead until smooth (about 5 minutes).
   
4. Cover with a clean kitchen towel and put in a warm place to rise for about half an hour.
5. Punch the dough down and split into 2-3 pieces, depending on how big you want your pizzas and how thick you like your crusts. Press onto a greased baking sheet or pizza pan until the dough is about 1 cm thick.
6. Thinly spread your favorite tomato based sauce, sprinkle on mozzarella or grated cheddar cheese, add toppings, and bake at 200 degrees for about 20 minutes.

Creamy Prawn Linguinie

Ingredients

2 tablespoons olive oil
16 king prawns, shelled and de-vained with tails intact
200 grams shrimps
1 onion, finely chopped
2 cloves garlic, crushed and chopped
4 tomatoes, skinned and finely chopped
1/2 cup white wine
Juice of 1/4 lemon
150 grams cream
1 tablespoon chopped Italian parsley
Rocket for garnish
Fresh Parmesan

Method

1. Gently saute onion and garlic till onion is transparent.
2. Add tomatoes and wine and simmer for 10 minutes.
3. While sauce is simmering cook the linguine.
4. When linguine is almost cooked, add cream, parsley, prawns and shrimps and gently heat through.
   
5. Drain linguine and toss with sauce.
6. Serve with grated Parmesan and top with rocket.
   

Creamy Tortollini with Pine Nuts, Bacon and Spinach

Serves 4-6

Ingredients

1 Packet fresh spinach tortellini (roughly a handful per person)
1 tablespoon pine nuts
1 tablespoon olive oil
1 medium onion, finely diced
3 cloves garlic, crushed and chopped
100 grams chopped pancetta or ham
6 buttons mushrooms, thinly sliced
1/4 cup white wine
300 mills cream
1 tablespoon parsley, finely chopped
2 handfuls of baby spinach
Salt and pepper to taste
Freshly grated parmesan

Method

1. In a small, non stick frying pan, dry roast the pinenuts until just golden. Set aside.
2. Heat oil in a medium sized saucepan and gently sweat onion and garlic for about ten mins.
3. Add pancetta, pinenuts and mushrooms, cook for a further 3 mins.
4. Add wine and cream and gently heat through and simmer for 10 mins.
5. While sauce is simmering boil about 2 litres water in a separate saucepan.
   
6. Add tortellini and boil until just cooked.
   
7. Drain and then add to sauce.
8. Add baby spinach and stir through till spinach is wilted.
9. Serve in pasta bowls and sprinkle parsley and parmesan over the top.
   

Creamy Prawn Linguini

Serves 4

Ingredients

2 tablespoons olive oil
16 king prawns, shelled and de-vained with tails intact
200 grams shrimps
1 onion, finely chopped
2 cloves garlic, crushed and chopped
4 tomatoes, skinned and finely chopped
1/2 cup white wine
Juice of 1/4 lemon
150 grams cream
1 tablespoon chopped Italian parsley
Rocket for garnish
Fresh Parmesan

Method

1. Gently saute onion and garlic till onion is transparent.
2. Add tomatoes and wine and simmer for 10 minutes.
3. While sauce is simmering cook the linguine.
4. When linguine is almost cooked, add cream, parsley, prawns and shrimps and gently heat through.
   
5. Drain linguine and toss with sauce.
6. Serve with grated Parmesan and top with rocket.