Sunday night is pizza night

Sunday night is pizza night at our place. Sometimes we get takeaway but more and more I make them myself.This is tonight's effort, in pictures.

The dough has to be kneaded for about ten minutes.

Then it has to sit and rise for 30 minutes.

A punch down, a soft knead and then the dough is rolled out, placed on trays and the topping added.

Whilst it is in a hot oven, get a glass of red and then 'buon appetito'

Did you know that the response to 'Buon appetito' is 'Grazie, altrettanto!'?

Buen viaje! Gute reuse! Buon viaggio!

We are looking forward to a buon viaggio, 'good trip' and as time draws closer we become more excited. Today was Long Lunch day when we got together with our friends Sue & Noel and Jenny & Kevin to celebrate and anticipate our various European trips. We each brought food to the table from one of our destinations. Jenny made German food, Sue made Spanish and my food was Italian. Of course, the men found appropriate wines -- from Prosecco to Riesling to Marsala.

                                                 Pickled herrings and Margherita pizza

                                               Tuscan chicken and beef & chicken tortillas

                                                 Drunken oranges & black forest cake

We had a wonderful long lunch, a midday meal to do justice to the Mediterranean way. In fact, our long lunch lasted six hours!

                                                                               

Carciofi or artichokes

Yesterday we bought two artichokes. 

Kel is a keen fan of artichokes but we have never tried to prepare them ourselves.
What would we do without Google and YouTube? After watching how to prepare carciofi the Italian way, I set to with lemon juice and a sharp knife.
Then it was into the oven with a drizzle of olive oil and some garlic.

They were quite delicious, but next time I will look for smaller and younger artichokes.