Buonjiourno! This week’s newsletter is all about pizza. Specifically, pizza inspired by a Gordo’s one I had last weekend. This one’s for the tinned fish fans (apparently hot girl tinned fish summer is a thing), and if you make it I’d love to hear about it. Thanks again for subscribing, and for your suggestions - watch this space for ill-equipped-AirBnb-friendly-recipes and a back to school lunchbox special in September.
My guilty pleasure is tinned tuna. Even during my 10 years as a vegetarian, I missed a tuna pasta salad, tuna melt, and even a tuna and sweetcorn sandwich from Tesco. However, what I missed most is tuna pizza. The pizza of my childhood dreams is the source of this love: a tuna and chip pizza specifically requested by me on holiday in Italy when I was around eight years old. Although no pizza will live up to the heady heights of the bliss that was my first bona-fide Italian one, the specials di Gordos pizza at TT Liquor brought back all of the same feelings. This time, it’s spicy anchovies that are the tinned fish of choice, not tuna. What can I say? I’m sophisticated. I enjoyed the spicy, fishy sauce so much I decided to recreate it at home. Personally, I think it’s the perfect summer pizza as it’s a melted mozz free zone, with just parmesan and a drizzle of e.v.o.o to marry together the crispy base and deeply savoury tomato sauce.
Because this recipe is so simple, I’ve used posh tinned tomatoes and proper parmesan, and I think it makes a difference, so I’d recommend using the best ingredients you can afford. You can also used crushed chillies instead of the fresh ones if you’ve got some lying around in your cupboard. In fact, that’s exactly what I’m going to do when I make these for the second time in a week tomorrow…
Spicy anchovy pizzas
Makes enough sauce for 2 pizzas
2 tbsp extra virgin olive oil, plus extra to serve
2 cloves of garlic
2 red chillies
a tin of anchovies
1 tsp tomato puree
1/2 a can of Mutti crushed tomatoes
2 tsp dried oregano, plus extra to serve
50g parmesan
Pizza dough (I use Richard Bertinet’s recipe from Dough, which I love and think is the best bread book ever, but you can just use your favourite recipe, or a ready-made base)
Heat the olive oil in a small pan on a low heat, then finely chop and add the garlic and chillies. Fry for a minute until fragrant - but not brown - then roughly chop and add the anchovies.
Fry for another minute or so, until the anchovies have almost disintegrated into a sauce. Add a teaspoon of tomato puree, then add the crushed tomatoes and simmer for 10 minutes. Season to taste, then allow to cool before adding to your pizza base.
When your dough is ready, spread the sauce evenly between the two pizzas, then sprinkle over the oregano and grate over half the parmesan.
Bake the pizzas for however long your dough recipe instructs (mine says 10-12 minutes), then take the pizzas out and top with the remaining parmesan, oregano and a drizzle of extra virgin olive oil. Dig in.
It’s your lucky day…
Take this as your sign that this week is going to be great, because I’ve got a tasty bonus recipe for you. These coriander and lime potatoes are a worthy addition to any barbecue or summer spread, and work well with any kind of spicy things you’re grilling.
Coriander and lime potato salad
750g baby new potatoes
2 tbsp mayonnaise
2 tbsp natural yoghurt
1 large handful of coriander
1 clove of garlic, chopped
1 lime
Put the potatoes into a large pan and cover with plenty of cold water and a pinch of salt. Bring to the boil, and simmer for 10-15 minutes until you can pierce them with a fork. Drain, then leave to cool completely. You could also do this a day before you need the potatoes.
To make the sauce, add the mayonnaise, yoghurt, coriander and the juice of the lime to a jug or bowl. Use a stick blender to make a smooth sauce, then season to taste.
Add the sauce to the potaotes, then garnish with coriander, lime wedges and sliced fresh chillies.
A word on barbecues: I am by no means an expert, in fact I am probably the opposite (shout out to the garden stool broke down I burnt last April in an effort to keep the flames going). Nevertheless, I try to do them fairly frequently, and usually end up making a variation on the mistakes below:
Leaving it until you’re hungry to light the barbecue
Forgetting you check you have coals/matches/firelighters
Not buying enough of said coals (you need so much more than you think, right?)
Getting impatient and putting things on the barbecue before the coals are white
Basically, I’d recommend not doing those things, and maybe phoning a barbecue-fluent friend (thanks Soph).
Things to watch/read/eat:
Whenever it’s hot (which right now is all the time) I want to eat Vietnamese salads, so a trip to Banh Banh was exactly what I needed, and I’d seriously recommend the green papaya salad.
If you like a slightly depressing read examining modern relationships, grief and difficult family dynamics (who doesn’t…) then you’ll enjoy Bryan Washington’s Memorial, which also has a lovely storyline where main character Ben bonds with his partner’s stand-offish mother through learning to cook her favourite dishes.
I made these Micheladas as a Sunday treat and will be making them as an accompaniment to brunch/crisps/weekend vibes for the foreseeable future.