Quarantine Recipes

Being at home for such a long time can be frustrating, however it can be turned into an opportunity to spend time cooking with your family. For me it’s almost the only thing I do while being quarantined so, here are a few great recipes that I’ve tried so far…

 

First up: pizza dough. It can be challenging to make the ultimate pizza dough since you are working with yeast, which has a mind of its own, but follow the instructions carefully and you will not fail to impress!

 

Ingredients: 

(makes around 8 medium pizzas) 

 

600ml of warm water

1 tablespoon sugar

7g of active dry yeast (approximately 2 teaspoons)

2 tablespoons of olive oil

1 tablespoon salt

5-7 cups of flour

 

Preparation

 

 -  Start by pouring the water to a bowl. Add the sugar and stir, then add the yeast and stir once again. Let it for a while, this process will activate the yeast.

 

 -  In a separate bowl sift 5 cups of flour and combine it with the salt. Create a well in the middle of the bowl and pour in the yeast mixture that you prepared and add the olive oil.

 

 -  With the help of a wooden spoon mix until combined and move the dough to a floured surface. At this point you must knead the dough for exactly 10 minutes (yes it is necessary). While kneading the dough might be sticky, therefore you might have to add more flour, up to 2 cups. 

 

 -  After kneading, divide the dough into two and place them into large bowls. Make sure to grease the bowls with olive oil. Then wrap the bowls with plastic wrap and place them in the fridge. Ideally you should wait for 24 hours!

 

 -  The next day you’ll see that the dough has almost tripled in size. First of all preheat the oven to 200 degrees. On a floured surface place a piece of dough around the size of your fist and shape it into a pizza using your fists. Do not hesitate to check out a few videos to learn the technique.

 

 -   When the dough seems ready transfer it to a parchment paper to easily transfer it into the oven. For the tomato sauce (I prefer a store bought one) add salt, pepper and dried thyme. Place the topping of your choice and before placing the pizza in the oven change the temperature to 250 degrees and if possible to a grill setting. And bake for around 10 minutes or until golden brown. Enjoy :) 

 

Next up: potato gnocchi. This is a classic Italian dish that tastes amazing! Made out of only three ingredients. 

 

Ingredients:

(Makes 4 servings)

 

1 kg potatoes (4-5 medium sized)

1 egg

1 ½ cups of flour

 

Preparation 

 

-  Wash and peel the potatoes and boil them for approximately 30 minutes. Check with a fork after 20 minutes and if the fork goes through you can remove the potatoes to a large bowl. Let them cool for around 20 minutes.

 

-  If you have a ricer I definitely recommend using one however I didn’t have one and a potato masher or even a fork will do just fine. Just make sure to eliminate any lumps. Then seperate the egg yolk from the white and add the yolk to the potatoes. Mix to combine and add the flour. Again mix to combine and transfer the dough to a floured surface. 

 

-  Gently knead the dough and shape it into a ball and divide it into four. Make sure you have a generous amount of flour on the surface because the dough tends to be quite sticky. Take one piece and roll it to a cylinder and cut it into bite size pieces with a knife. And repeat until all the dough is used. Keep the cut pieces on a floured surface!

 

-  Bring a pot of water to a simmer and add the gnocchi in parts. The gnocchi will start to rise to the surface of the water once cooked which will only take a few minutes. With the help of a filter spoon transfer the cooked gnocchi to a heated pan with butter. Do not overcrowd the pan or the gnocchis will stick. Saute them until brown and repeat the process to the remainder. Enjoy :)

 

Moving on to sweets: meringue. Easy, delicious and presentable. Meringues are the perfect desserts to go with coffee, tea or even better, on its own. 

 

Ingredients:

 

4 eggs

1 ½ cups (300g) of granulated sugar

pinch of salt

1 teaspoon of vanilla powder

Preparation

 

-  Start by preheating the oven to 100 degrees celsius after removing one pan from the oven.

 

-  Get a glass or metal bowl and rub the inside with vinegar. Seperate the egg whites and add them to the bowl. Using an electric mixer mix until soft peaks form by slowly increasing the speed. When you have soft peaks continue mixing on a high speed while gradually adding the sugar along with the vanilla powder. Mix on high speed until stiff peaks form. 

 

-  Once you have stiff peaks pour the mixture into a piping bag (if you don’t have one you can use a plastic wrap and cut the tip). To make it easier, place the piping bag inside a tall glass and then pour in the mixture.  

 

-  Place a sheet of parchment paper to an oven pan and start piping the meringue to a little bigger than bite size pieces. The meringue should take a very nice shape since you are piping it. When you are done, bake them for 30-35 minutes. 

 

-  Once they are baked, turn the oven off and let the meringues cool completely in the oven so that they don’t collapse! Once they are cooled take them out and enjoy :)

 

Our final recipe is a classic: homemade brownies. This recipe was given to me by a friend and I couldn’t be more grateful. They are absolutely the best, so here is the recipe.

 

Ingredients:

 

120g of chocolate plus 40g for assembly

125g of butter

¾ cups of flour

2 tablespoons of cacao powder

2 teaspoons of vanilla powder

1 ¾ cups of brown sugar

2 eggs

 

Preparation 

 

 -   Melt 120g of the chocolate using the double boiler method. And soften the butter in the microwave (do not melt it) in a separate bowl.

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 -   In a large bowl mix the eggs and the brown sugar until foamy with an electric mixer and combine with the butter and vanilla powder. Mix once again. Add the chocolate and combine. Gradually sift the flour and the cacao powder in.

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 -   Pour the mixture to a rectangular oven safe pan that is lined with parchment paper and add chunks of chocolate to the top. Next, preheat the oven to 180 degrees for 7 minutes and place the pan inside. Let it bake for around 25 minutes and start checking with a toothpick, it should come out clean. It usually takes 30 minutes but every oven is different so make sure to check.
 

 -  Once it is cooked take it out of the oven and let it cool for 30 minutes. After that you can enjoy your brownies :)