Pizza Night with Ffedog
Pizza is a special dish for us in the Harris household. It's on both mine and Sam's 'last supper' wish list - pepperoni with extra cheese for Sam and ham and pineapple for me. He laughs at me whenever I remind him of this choice but it brings back memories of a Summer's night when I was about 7, the garden grass was freshly cut and Mum served it up with buttery baked potatoes and salad cream on the side. You just can't deny a happy food memory!
Such is the love for this Italian wonder that when the kids were much younger Sam and I both decided that we'd make Pizza Night a regular thing. If we're lucky they'll look back one day with their own happy food memories and smile at the fun we had making them.
I recently came across a Welsh independent brand called Ffedog, makers of 'the ethical apron.' As soon as I saw their beautiful denim aprons with leather detail I fell in love and knew they'd be perfect for family cooking.
Ffedog (Welsh for apron) is a mother and daughter team that started in the Autumn last year. When I first chatted to Lindsay (Lady Ffedog Junior) I was instantly impressed (and slightly awestruck) at the fact that she was a trained chef. With a passion for food and always in need of an apron, when Lindsay couldn't find a stylish and ethical apron on the market she set about, with her Mum, to make one. Like my Mum, Lindsay's has been sewing most of her life and, like mine, even made her wedding dress! If she ends up telling me ham and pineapple pizza is on her wish list too, then that'll be our friendship cemented. Although I can't see a trained chef going for that one!
What I love about the aprons is the attention to detail. The fabric is ethically sourced and is both organic and fair trade and the leather is vegetable tanned. The denim material gives it added style but also makes them really durable and the darker colour hides the inevitable splashes of food. However, the clincher for me is that they make adult sizes with mini versions to match! If you love them as much as I do, then READ ON, as we're giving you the chance to WIN a matching pair!
We had a lot of fun using ours this past weekend for pizza night, as usual there was flour EVERYWHERE and Anwen sprinkled a pot of yeast around like confetti! Sam and I shared the grown up size - I got the messy job with the kids while the Kamado Joe boss did the important bit. I thought I'd share a few photos with our favourite dough recipe and some topping ideas, in case you have a pizza night planned anytime soon.
We use a basic recipe from BBC Good Food which you can find here. We've used a few different recipes in the past and this has been the best so far. The key is using '00' flour which has been a game changer for us (we get ours in Morrisons so it's readily available). Using a free standing mixer to knead also helps, and saves your arms the workout!
Our favourite toppings include:
BBQ sauce, red onion, pulled pork with extra cheese and coriander on top (you can find our pulled pork recipe here)
Passatta, pepperoni, cheddar, mozzarella (grated and in a ball)
Pesto, mozzarella, pine nuts and fresh basil.
The world is your oyster though and we'll often just throw on things we've got in the fridge - chorizo, ham and peppers are often likely additions.
Another game changer in our pizza making endeavors (and probably pretty obvious) is to have them cooking over a ROARING heat! We've used the oven loads for them and have had some great results with the heat whacked up. Now we have 'the Joe' though, Sam will barely cook on anything else! We were recently sent this charcoal from The Green Olive Firewood Company to try out and Sam is highly impressed! It gets up to temperature really quickly which means we don't have to wait too long to get our pizzas on. It also burns really slowly so has been great for slow cooking meat. Their smoking woods have been a hit too - expect a recipe for the best Apple Smoked Mac N Cheese in the Autumn!
GIVEAWAY!
I'm delighted to be partnering with Ffedog to give you the chance of WINNING a matching pair of aprons (one adult's and one child's size) in a colour way of your choice.
To enter simply head over to our Instagram page here and:
- like the image of our two chefs (shown below)
- leave a comment on the Instagram post telling us which colour way you'd choose if you won AND tag in one foody friend
- make sure you're following both us and Ffedog on Instagram
For a bonus entry, leave a comment below telling us your favourite pizza topping, go on hit me up with some ideas for our next pizza night!
Giveaway is UK only and will run until midnight Wednesday 2nd August. A winner will be selected at random and announced on our Instagram page later the same week. Good Luck! X
This post has been written in collaboration with Ffedog however, as always, all words and opinions are my own.