Last week I found myself hurrying along a pretty cobbled lane near Bond Street station to a dream foodie location: La Cucina Caldesi cookery school. The gift company I Just Love It had invited me along to a special event to learn how to make my own personalised pizza – an offer I couldn’t refuse!
Inside the delicious aroma of freshly baked focaccia was too tempting and I happilly tucked in as the rest of our group arrived.
I love cooking focaccia at home, it’s one of the few breads that I make from scratch. It’s a bit fiddly as you have to use lots of oil and proof it twice, but a batch fresh from the oven dipped in oil and balsamic vinegar and sprinkled with sea salt is heaven on earth. Hmm I think I just persuaded myself into making some this weekend…
We mingled and chatted and took lots of photos…
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| Img c/o Luke Carey Photography** |
…as the friendly cookery school team prepared fresh ingredients for us to use later.
Lauren (BrittonLoves) caught me up on her eventful week which you can read/watch here, see if you can spot me in it!
Then we gathered around the cookery table to watch a demonstration from Stefano, our teacher for the evening, who was both charming and hilarious! He explained how to make a perfect pizza dough and then demonstrated how to knead it into shape.
Next he taught us how to flatten out the pizza dough the rustic way by using our hands instead of a rolling pin. This allows you to create a raised crust and is a whole lot more fun! To start off with you use your finger tips to press the dough into a circle, then rotate it over your fists to stretch the dough even thinner.
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| Img c/o Luke Carey Photography** |
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| Img c/o Luke Carey Photography** |
Once our pizza dough was rolled out and shaped we added sauce and toppings. I decided to go for a classic caprese using mozzarella, tomato and basil, but as other ingredients got passed around I couldn’t help myself! Roasted red pepper, capers and pepperoni made it onto my pizza in the end so it was definitely personalised to my taste!
The most challenging part was using a proper pizza shovel – you have to keep it flat or you’ll send your pizza flying. When my turn finally came I somehow managed to get it onto the shovel and into the oven in one piece!
The ovens were set at a red hot 375 degrees and within 10 minutes each pizza emerged perfectly baked (following approval from Stefano’s expert eye).
Mine looked okay but not quite as colourful as I was hoping for. It turns out that I should have left the basil off until after it came out of the oven – what a rookie mistake!
…if you need a tip for how to make a pizza look far healthier and more appetizing here’s mine: just cover it in a big mound of rocket, with a sprinkle of salt and a drizzle of oil – voila instant facelift!
A silence descended as we all tucked in and enjoyed our evening’s work. My pizza may not have been much of a looker but it was delicious.
The prize for best looking pizza went to this heart shaped wonder. Could you imagine it if pizza deliveries looked like this?
Before we left our hosts I Just Love It gave us a goody bag full of items from their website and without wanting to sound overly gushy I adore them!
I think I’m most in love with my very own tasting spoon…
…but it’s a close call between that and my pizza plate!
If that wasn’t enough I received personalised pencils although to be truthful I was just as happy with the box they came in. It feels very special to have that little box with my name embossed on it in gold!
To see the other lovely bits I received make sure you’re following me on instagram and hop on over to I Just Love It to see all of their other beautiful gifts.
I can’t thank Sophie and the whole team at I Just Love It enough for putting together such a wonderful event, and the same goes for La Cucina Caldesi and all the lovely bloggers I met too.
Have you ever made your own pizza? Who would you give these personalised gifts to?
Address: 4 Cross Keys Close, London, W1U 2DG
Nearest Tube: Bond Street
*Items in this post were gifted, but as always they have to get the Loved By Laura seal of approval to feature on these pages!
**Images marked c/o are used with thanks to Luke Carey Photography who was on hand take photos when the rest of us were up to our elbows in flour. (It’s okay he got to make a pizza himself too!) All other photos are my own.
