Meatless Mondays #33 – Poached pear & chocolate pizza

Super sweet tooth this weekend. Maybe it was the macarons that Mister brought back for me from Sydney. Can I just say that Adriano Zumbo is a genius with flavour, balance and texture. Everyone that has a piece of the precious commodity always end up saying ‘OMG! It’s so good.’ The macarons are always the first to go at his shop. If you are in Sydney, make sure you head in before the shop opens.

I was digging through the old Sydney photos and found this. This pinenut millefueille is one of the best cake ever! It looks sickening sweet but it so not. I can’t remember how many layers there are but every layer has a different flavour, different texture. Every layer is like a chapter in a book and together, they told a story. So regret not getting more!

pinenut millefueille

And does this look familar? Is this a V8 with a dark chocolate layer?

Adriano zumbo

We totally skipped breakfast and Mister patiently waited while I made this poached pear and chocolate pizza. Organisation is the key. Poach the pears first and then allow it to cool or chill down in its juices. And don’t thrown the poaching liquid away. You can use it again

I used Green & Blacks Organic dark chocolate. Using the whole block is definitely too much but I didn’t care. I had a couple of pieces before melting it and then left some in the bowl for personal indulgence after

Green & blacks organic

Ingredients:

Poaching pears

• 2 borsch pears
• 1L of water
• 3tsp of honey
• rind of 1 lemon

Kneading dough

Thin crust pizza dough

• 250g of plain flour
• 1 tsp of instant yeast (no need for mixing with water) 0r 7g of yeast mixed with warm water
• 175ml of warm water
• 2tbsp of olive oil
• Nice pinch of salt

Prepping

Method:

1. Stir the honey into water on the stove until dissolve. Throw in the pears and the lemon rind and allow it to come to boil. Turn down the heat and simmer for about 20mins or until pears are al dente. Use a small paring knife to test. Set aside
2. Mix all the dry ingredients. Add the olive oil. Mix and then add the warm water bit by bit. Start kneading as the flour and liquid comes together
3. Flour the table top and knead for about 8-10mins. Great exercise. Or like me, knead in the big metal bowl. Once it looks smooth and shiny and doesn’t stick to hands, set it aside in a warm area with a cloth over the bowl and allow it to proof for an hour
4. Pre heat the oven to 220C. I don’t own a marble or plate. I place my round pizza pan into the oven to heat up
5. Punch the dough and give it another good knead. Split into 2 doughs (I kept one for the next day or you can cook it and then freeze it). Roll on the dough till it is quite thin. Place it on top of a baking sheet. Crimp up the sides and place it in the oven for about 10 mins or until the sides have  a nice brown
6. Take it out, drizzle with load of chocolate. Place the sliced pears on top and drizzle more chocolate. Put it back in the oven for a couple of minutes
7. Remove, slice and indulge

Chocolate & poached pear pizza

I love the crust. It is super thin and crispy! To be honest, there was way too much chocolate and I should slice the pear thinner.

Thin crust pizza

We had poached pear and chocolate pizza for lunch and mochi ice cream for dessert! It is probably not the most healthy weekend but it was sweet. By dinner, we went back to normal Chinese home cooking. I made watercress soup with pork ribs. This is the life of a food blogger on a weekend.

What do you do when you need a big chocolate hit?