Monday 1 July 2013

Christina's Italian Sausage Pizza as seen on Masterchef Australia 2013

Makes: 4 x 23cm pizzas

Ingredients

Pizza dough
  • 280ml warm water
  • 3g fresh yeast
  • 5g gluten flour (optional)*
  • 1 teaspooncaster sugar
  • 1 teaspoon fine sea salt
  • 550g 00 pizza flour, plus extra, for dusting
  • 3 teaspoons extra virgin olive oil, plus extra, for greasing
Pizza topping
  • 20g butter
  • 1 tablespoon olive oil
  • 4 pork sausages, casings removed, roughly crumbled
  • 1 small onion, finely chopped
  • 1 garlic clove, finely chopped
  • 1 roasted peeled capsicum, finely diced
  • ½ teaspoonsmoked paprika
  • 1/3 cup roughly chopped parsley
  • Coarse semolina, for dusting
  • 2/3 cup (200g) tomato passata
  • Chilli oil, to drizzle
    1 cup (240g) Perfect Italiano Mozzarella, coarsely grated

Method

Pizza Dough

1. Place water, yeast and gluten flour in the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with a dough hook. Mix vigorously until the mixture is full of bubbles, yeast is dissolved and well combined. Add sugar, salt and 450g flour to the bowl, and mix until the dough starts getting smooth, then add remaining flour to the bowl. Mix until the dough has formed and is smooth.
2. With the mixer running, add the oil, mixing to combine. Dust dough with flour, then stop the machine.
3. Place a tea towel over the dough and set aside to prove for 1 hour.
4. Knock back the dough during this time if it is rising out of the bowl. After 1 hour, empty the bowl onto a clean work surface, dusted with flour, and knock the dough back, then roll into 190g balls. Place on lightly greased large trays, dust with flour, cover with a tea towel and set aside for 30 minutes or until doubled in size.

*Gluten flour is used in pizza dough to increase the chewiness but is not essential

Pizza topping

5. Heat butter and oil in a deep frying pan over medium heat. Add onion and garlic and cook for about 5 minutes or until softened. Add sausage and cook for 5 minutes until sausage is lightly browned, slightly breaking down the meat with a wooden spoon. Add capsicum and paprika and cook for 3 minutes or until sausage meat is almost cooked. Transfer mixture to a heatproof bowl, set aside to cool completely, then stir through parsley.
6. Meanwhile, place a pizza stone, tray or terracotta tile in the oven and set to 220C-240C fan-forced. Pad out dough ball with your fingertips, gently stretching out base with your hands, leaving a rim for the crust. Transfer dough base to a semolina-dusted board.
7. Top base with 2 tablespoons passata, then drizzle with chilli oil. Scatter 1/8 of the Perfect Italian Mozzarella over base, ¼ of the sausage mixture, then scatter with another 1/8 of the Perfect Italian Mozzarella. Slide pizza from the board to the hot pizza stone and cook for 4-5 minutes or until golden brown. You may need to rotate the pizza to cook evenly. Remove pizza from oven and serve. Repeat with remaining bases..






    Christina's Creations

    A stack of zucchini and haloumi fritters with poached egg, rocket and paprika aoli.
                                                                     
                                                                  
                                                                      

    3 ways with rabbit and carrot or "what's up doc" rack of rabbit on carrot purée, roulade of rabbit and orange glazed Dutch carrots, braised rabbit with crispy carrot ribbons.



     
    sesame crusted seared tuna on a bed of baby asparagus topped with micro herb salad, with pineapple tea added.
     
     

                                       Trio of mousse: milk, white, mocha...on strawberry coulis.  



                                            
             
                                   fresh garden salad topped with a pan seared snapper fillet topped with crispy fennel chips and drizzled with garlic butter sauce.



                                                   

                                 Confit salmon on a bed of fennel and citrus salad and basil oil.




                               
     
    pork and apple 3ways: Asian style sticky pork spare ribs; pork roulade with blue cheese, ricotta and spiced pear paste, wrapped in sage and prosciutto; pork belly with apple chips, all served with homemade apple sauce.
     
     
     
     
    Home made ricotta ravioli with sautéed mushrooms, crispy prosciutto, fresh grated parmesan cheese.
     
     
     
     
    Poached pear, home made vanilla bean ice-cream, spun sugar and chocolate cracker.
     
     
     
    Pear tarte tatin.
     
     
     


    Mini hamburger cupcakes.

     


     

    Christina in Newpaper Articles and Clippings and even on the back of Buses

     
     
                                                         
                                                                    

    Christina's Masterchef Journey 2013




                                               Battle of the Sexes
                                                   

                                                   The Girls go into Battle against the boys.
                                       
                                         
                                                 Lolliebag Challenge

                                            
     
     

    Meet Christina Batista: Masterchef 2013 Contestant



    Stay-At-Home Mum
    State:
    NSW
    Age: 31
    Christina is a modern day mum with 1950s style. She lives with her partner, Kate, and her two children, Damian (9) and Anabelle (6). Her kids are her world and if she’s not spending time with her children she is either watching cooking shows or cooking.
    Christina was married to her children’s father and although she had a good life she was very unhappy. Her marriage ended and she then met the love of her life, Kate. Christina is also very close to her two sisters and her mum. Her parents split up when she was 14 and it was a challenging time for herself and her older sister, who both had to work part-time to help support the family. She grew up quickly, but it has given her the strength of character she has today.
    Cooking is therapy for Christina, and she loves that you learn by making mistakes and experimenting with food and flavour.
    When her son Damian was diagnosed with autism, it became necessary for her to be a stay-at-home mum. He is now in a good place and she feels able to follow another path. She wants her children to know that you can always follow your dreams no matter how old you are.
    “I want to prove to myself that I am more than what I am now. I know that being a mum is one of the most important jobs in the world, but I know that I can be more.”
    Christina’s dream is to open up a funky cafe that plays on her love of 1950s fashion and style.
    “I would love to move to London and open up a little cafe there with Kate, Damian and Anabelle. I want to be able to give other mothers opportunities to interact with other people, and I would eventually love to run cooking classes from the cafe at night and spread my love of food.”


    Christina's Profile courtesy of Masterchef Australia 2013