Food Porn & Staying Sexy: Courgette and olive pizza

I lost my mojo. My food mojo that is. Let's not kid ourselves into thinking that food isn't sexy. It's damn sexy and beautiful and exciting and inspirational and pretty much has all the same qualities as a lover. Food can comfort, can challenge your preconceptions and your taste buds and teach you to explore the world around you. Food can encourage you to travel, to ask questions, to seek out new experiences. It can teach you to trust your instincts when they're necessary and throw them out the window when they're not. Food facilitates learning about yourself, what you are interested in, how the world can make you curious and teach you lessons about life, sharing, love, community, hardship and some more love for good measure.

I was at a nightclub recently and realized just how much more I'm aware of myself. In my late teens and early twenties, I went along with the nightclub saga of endless nights out, listening to shit music and standing uncomfortably with friends I had nothing in common with, feeling completely awkward but feeling like it was somehow necessary. Necessary to have friends, to maintain a social life and to find a guy. Saturday night revealed a few things to me. Firstly, that's the last time I'll step foot inside a nightclub. Secondly, I have much better friends now than I ever did then because when I chatted to them for a while, had a few drinks and then decided to leave, they accepted it, gave me a big hug and let me go. Thirdly, I realized I was lonely.

A great friend of mine at the party asked me what I looked for in a guy. I was stumped. I've been trying really hard not to think about it for the last few weeks. Partly because of how things are with my mamma being ill (and that as a result, I've convinced myself no one in their right mind would want to go out with me right now) and partly because, even as I spoke, I realized I'd lost a belief in the whole notion that I would find a guy for even a little long term spell. I spluttered an answer but it sounded and felt contrived, like I was making up some man that doesn't exist and was basing that view on the past hurt. In other words, a reaction to being on the receiving end of a selfish and self centered individual. "I'd love to be with a guy who's a man, who knows what he wants, is copped on and isn't afraid of an independent woman", I stuttered. "I'm sure there are plenty of guys out there like that", was his response but I've given up. I've fallen for the idea that every man needs to feel important, that he has a place and that I don't need to be rescued or someone to change the wheel on a car or build a decking. I can do all that myself. I need someone steady and ever present as an anchor out at sea. Someone who gently keeps me safe but free to be inspired. I'd like someone who inspires me and pushes me the way food has and wants to be in love with the world just as much as I do. On Saturday night, I realized that I had accepted at some point over the last few months, that he just isn't around.

I know I'm uninspired when I don't take photos of food, when my compost bin is emptier than usual and the packaging of more convenient food in my recycling bin is full. I'm not talking pizza boxes but just a lot of easily bought foods rather than fresh veggies from the market. I can tell when things are topsy turvy in my life when I've lost my food mojo. It's a pretty good indicator of my mind's preoccupation with matters out of my control. So today, after over three weeks of no food blogging, I decided to give myself a push and get over this dude who seems to want to remain hidden from my sights and push myself to search for a recipe that focused on how taking time and keeping things simple is perfectly acceptable, if not delicious.

So what if I don't have a guy in my life? I can still travel, surf, cook, go out, chill, explore and most importantly, be inspired. I put a lot of love into these pizzas today and took my time making them as beautiful as can be. This pizza is fresh with gluten free, nutty bases topped with fiery tomato salsa, olives and edible flowers from the garden. I think I'll refer to it as my no-bullshit, keep it simple fiery pizza with attitude, my 'I've got feminine soul goin' on, don't need no man' pizza. If that's not sexy, I don't know what is.

Courgette and olive pizza: Makes 2 large or 4 small pizzas

Ingredients:
2 cups of yellow PAN flour*
2 and 1/2 cups of warm water
2 tablespoons of olive oil
1 big pinch of salt

1 can chopped tomatoes
3 cloves of garlic (crushed)
1/2 tsp dried chili flakes

1/2 courgette, cut into slices and then into strips (approx 1 cm thick)
a handful of olives
1 sprig of fresh oregano (broken up)
1 calendula flower (or other edible flower-optional but very pretty)

Method:

In a large bowl, place the water, olive oil and salt. Mix in the flour gradually and stir until a thick dough has formed. Once mixed through, the dough comes clean from the bowl. Knead for a minute or two and then portion out into balls for your pizzas (2/4 bases)

In a pot on a medium heat, pour 2 tablespoons of olive oil and add garlic and chili flakes. Fry gently for 2/3 minutes to allow the garlic flavor to come out. Add the chopped tomatoes and some salt and pepper and cover with a lid to simmer for 10 minutes.

On a floured surface, roll out the dough into very thin bases. Using a hot frying pan, fry the bases 2 minutes on each side, then place onto a baking tray.

Place 2 tbs (more or less) of the tomato sauce onto the base, then add some courgette strips and olives. Drizzle with a little olive oil and place under a grill on high for 7 minutes until the courgette is heated through. Once out of the oven, sprinkle with the oregano and calendula and serve.**


* PAN flour is the only one to use. It's a corn flour that is naturally gluten free and is perfect for these thin, crispy pizza bases. You can buy a packet for super cheap in any Asian supermarket or health food shop

** This is great for dinner or lunch but also to bring to work for lunch. Once fried, the pizza bases keep in the fridge for up to four days and the sauce is perfect for 3-4 days in a jar. Simply heat them up and layer on whatever toppings you like.