My New Year's Resolution - Pizza, Calzone and Focaccia at the Italian School of Cooking

For anyone who follows my blog they may realise that I have a slight obsession with pizza! I fell in love with proper pizza the day I moved to Italy. The thin bases covered with the most amazing toppings were a revelation to a 19 year old who up until then was used to eating the ones that came out of boxes. So on moving back to Dublin I was constantly on the lookout for great pizzas places. And these days I have my favourite places to go in Ireland that fulfill my pizza cravings. But for my New Year's resolution I decided to try my hand at learning to make my own. Probably a bit of a cheat as it's a fun resolution to keep!!

So who better to teach me the skills than the lovely group at the Italian School of Cooking. On arriving we were treated to samples of bruschetta and good quality italian products which went down a treat seeing as all that was left were a few crumbs in the baskets. Then it was down to the hard work. We were shown how to make and knead the dough which was surprisingly easy but it does involve a bit of elbow grease!

What also surprised me was the sheer number of different things you can make out of the one dough. First off we made a margarita pizza and a calzone which I was very happy with as I ADORE calzones. The oozing cheese with mushrooms and ham you cant beat it!!

We then went on to make focaccia which is also very versatile as you can make it plain with just salt and rosemary or you can dress it up with tomatoes and mozzarella and make focaccia ripena which is just a filling between two layers of focaccia. Finally we made 'Treccia' Bread which can be done by twisting two ropes of dough together or as Guiseppe showed us by rolling out the dough, filling it with mozzarella and twisting the dough over it. It's both delicious and impressive looking.

 

So Saturday morning was a morning very well spent. Guiseppe and his team know what they are talking about, put everyone at ease and make cooking italian style very easy. I got to meet some lovely people, have a good laugh and come away with skills that I know I will put to good use! Well that's my intention anyway. Oh and also did I mention that we got to eat everything we made!!

For more info on the Italian School of Cooking and all their classes have a look here.

Beating the January Blues - Eat and drink for only €10

So it's January we're all back to work and broke to boot. Christmas seems like a distant memory and we want to go out but the bank balance says NO. Well I may have the solution!! Having been in town all afternoon  on a last minute christmas shop I was desperately trying to find something to eat around 9pm before heading out for the evening. It turned out to be extremely difficult to find somewhere to get a quick bite to eat that didnt involve sitting down for a proper restaurant meal.

So while wearing the ear off my boyfriend about how hungry I was we stumbled upon a hole in the wall with the delicious smell of fresh pizzas wafting from it. It was a christmas miracle!! It took me a moment but it got even better when I realised that  it was Dave's Wood - Fired Pizza Company who make delicious pizzas but which I have only ever experienced at festivals. This pizza company is now part of  the Speak Easy Bar and Cafe which used to be home to Shebeen Chic. The place was packed and it was obvious why - for only a tenner you can get a delicious pizza and a pint and sit down and eat in a great venue. The menu isn't huge but there is something for everyone on it including a weekly special which when we ordered it included brussels sprouts and stilton. I have to admit that one took a bit of convining on his part to get me to try it but it was delicious and I would eat it again!! The venue has live djs, a really casual laid back atmosphere and you can go there for just drinks or just pizza the staff don't seem to mind.Though I would happily bet that noone leaves that place without having tried at least one pizza!! So banish those January Blues and get yourself down there. 

For more info on the Speak Easy Cafe Bar have a look at their facebook page.
For more info on Dave's Wood - Fired Pizza Company look here

Skinflint

I am a BIG fan of jo'burger and crackbird I love how they have taken one aspect of food and taken it to a whole new funky level - drinks in jam jars, chicken in buckets, spritzy sauce! I am also intrigued by the way that they have used social media to promote the restaurants. So when i found out a third new place was opening in the original crane lane space I hightailed it to Twitter to see what I could find. From previous experience it was here I knew there was the possibilty of bagging myself a free meal!! And EAT FOR FREE we did.

So on a wet, windy, wednesday evening myself and the boyfriend splashed our way along crane lane to be greeted by the lovely smell of pizzas wafting up the street from Skinflint. This place is as quirky as the others with doors as tables and graffiti covered chairs and the food is just as wonderful and unusual. Skinflint have not gone for the standard dreaded pizza combinations so no ham and pineapple if that's what you're into. I ordered myself an Eithne, which was covered in butternut squash, capers and ricotta while he got a Grainne; an amazing combination of bacon and celeriac. The pizzas are grilled so they are thin and crispy and perfect for sharing. Both our pizzas were delicious who would have thought celeriac would work so well as a topping. They also have a chill honey which they are fermenting themselves that you can dip your pizza into. While this may sound odd it was surprisingly delicious and we were wishing we could have brought some home!  On finishing the first slice of his pizza the boyfriend waved a bit of pizza at me and mumbled 'We are coming here again'!! This time all we had to pay for were our drinks but I give it a week till we are back there again and happily paying full price!!

The Grainne

If you would like to see the other delicious pizza combinations on offer at skinflint visit www.skinflint.joburger.ie.  It also tells you how you can eat for free - they are offering a free meal for 2 people on the half hour of every hour so get following Skinflint on Twitter!! Tell them the Purple Page sent you :)

Eithne

Chilli Honey