October 2014 - Page 2 of 2

From Zita West’s Eat Yourself Pregnant.

Who says you can’t have a healthy pizza? This version is packed with an array of fresh fertility-boosting foods on a delicious spelt base – perfect for when you want a carb fix. We’ve put the recipe below, but for a video of Zita making the pizza, and explaining why these ingredients are so good if you’re trying to conceive, click here. You’ll also find videos of some of the other delicious recipes from the book.

Fertility Pizza

Serves: 2

Preparation time: 20 minutes, plus 1 hour proving

Cooking time: 20 minutes

For the base:
100ml/3½fl oz/⅓ cup plus 2 tbsp warm milk
7g/¼oz dried fast-acting yeast
200g/7oz/1⅔ cups spelt flour
1 tsp sea salt
1 tbsp olive oil, plus extra for greasing
polenta, for dusting

For the tomato sauce:
200ml/7fl oz/scant 1 cup passata
4 sundried tomatoes
a pinch of dried chilli flakes
1 garlic clove, crushed
a pinch of xylitol (optional)
2 tbsp chopped basil leaves
sea salt and ground black pepper

For topping:
2 cooked artichoke hearts, thinly sliced
150g/5½oz buffalo mozzarella cheese, sliced
4 slices of prosciutto or Parma ham, ripped up into bite-sized pieces
2 figs, quartered
a drizzle of olive oil
1 handful of basil leaves, to serve

1. Pour the milk into a jug and sprinkle over the yeast. Leave to stand for 5 minutes. Put the flour, salt and oil in a large bowl and add the milk mixture. Stir well to form a dough. Knead well for 5 minutes. Alternatively, use a mixer and process for 5 minutes.

2. Coat the inside of a bowl with a little olive oil, put the dough in the bowl and cover with cling film. Leave it to rise in a warm place for 1 hour.

3. Make the tomato sauce by putting all the ingredients in a food processor and blending until smooth.

4. Preheat the oven to 220°C/425°F/Gas 7. Sprinkle a baking sheet with a little polenta. Turn the dough out onto the baking sheet and roll out the dough to form a rectangle or round.

5. Spread the tomato sauce over the dough base, leaving a 2.5cm/1in border. Top with the artichokes, mozzarella, prosciutto and figs. Drizzle the pizza with oil and season with salt and pepper. Bake for 15–20 minutes, or until the bread is crisp and golden brown and the cheese has melted. Scatter basil over the top of the pizza and serve.

Fertility and nutrition are inextricably linked, and equipping your body with the essential nutrients will increase your chances of conceiving naturally. Zita West, the UK’s most trusted fertility expert, explains how the chemistry of babymaking works and offers indispensible advice on how to prepare your body for a successful pregnancy. Also included are 65 inspiring and mouthwatering recipes that ensure that you are including all the vital nutrients for conception in your diet.

“Zita shows you how preparing for pregnancy and good nutrition is one of the most important investments you can make towards the health of your baby. I love to cook and the recipes in this book are great.” – Kate Winslet

Eat Yourself Pregnant by Zita West

160 pages • Illustrated

£14.99 | Buy the book now!

From Nicola Graimes’s New Vegetarian Kitchen.

Today is World Vegetarian Day so, to mark the occasion, we’ve dug out this delicious recipe from Nicola Graimes’s brilliant New Vegetarian Kitchen, which shows you how to really make the most of your veggies. It’s packed full of comforting flavours – butternut squash, thyme, cider, cream! – and is the perfect hearty, warming supper as grey days begin to creep in…

Stove-Top Squash Scones with Cavolo Nero in Cider Sauce

Serves: 4

Preparation time: 15 minutes

Cooking time: 50 minutes

250g/9oz butternut squash, peeled, deseeded and cut into bite-sized pieces
185g/6½oz/1½ cups plain flour
½ tsp salt
½ tsp bicarbonate of soda
1 tsp baking powder
80g/2¾oz butter
1 large egg, lightly beaten
2 tbsp milk
3 tbsp olive oil
2 leeks, sliced
350g/12oz cavolo nero, sliced crossways into thin strips
1 tbsp thyme leaves
200g/7oz/scant 1½ cups cooked butter beans
200ml/7fl oz/scant 1 cup dry cider
1 tsp Dijon mustard
4 tbsp double cream
salt and freshly ground black pepper
leaves from a few parsley sprigs, chopped

1. Steam the squash until tender, then transfer to a bowl, mash with a fork and set aside to cool.

2. Preheat the oven to 70ºC/150ºF/gas ¼. Sift the flour, salt, bicarbonate of soda and baking powder into a mixing bowl. Melt 50g/1¾oz of the butter and stir it into the dry ingredients, along with the mashed squash, egg and milk. Stir to make a soft dough.

3. Heat 1 tablespoon of the oil in a large, non-stick frying pan over a medium heat. Spoon a quarter of the dough into the pan and, using a spatula, flatten into a 1cm/½in-thick round. Repeat to add another scone to the pan, reduce the heat to medium-low and cook for 4–5 minutes on each side until golden. Reduce the heat to low if the scones are browning too quickly. Transfer to an ovenproof plate, cover with foil and keep warm in the oven while you cook the remaining 2 scones, adding another spoonful of oil to the pan. Keep the scones warm while you make the sauce.

4. Heat the remaining oil and butter in a large frying pan over a medium-low heat, fry the leeks for 4 minutes, stirring occasionally. Add the cavolo nero and thyme and cook, stirring, for 3 minutes, then stir in the butter beans and cider. Cook over a medium-high heat for 5–10 minutes until the cider has reduced by half. Reduce the heat to medium-low and stir in the mustard and cream. Season with salt and pepper and warm through. Serve the scones with the sauce and sprinkled with the parsley.