Food with friends: A recipe for joie de vivre
- Kym at pip nutrition
- Aug 5
- 3 min read
Celebrate friendship, culture and creativity with this new set menu. New recipes from The Sunlight Sets, simple set menus that are light and easy to digest.
You’ve just had a weekend away with the people you like most. A regional city known for culture and creativity hosted an exhibition of one of your all-time favourite artists. Energised by the colourful artworks and full of joie de vivre, you find a table for dinner at an old-school pizzeria – what better meal to cement friendship, and a shared experience? Juicy grilled prawns and peppery rocket draped over a crusty base and your favourite fizzy drink help extend the day’s exuberance, followed by velvety vanilla bean ice cream with fresh honeycomb at the gelateria.
Back home, on a Friday night that needs jazzing up, you recreate the meal in your kitchen. A healthy pizza base topped with luxury ingredients will still be a treat. Lemon, lime and bitters, mix it up. And what about a lighter version of that gorgeous ice cream, with the same delicious flavours?
Prawn, rocket and roasted vegetable pizza
Lemon lime and bitters
Honey vanilla frozen yoghurt
Prawn, rocket and roasted vegetable pizza
Serves 2
Ingredients: 1 yellow, red or orange capsicum · 1 zucchini · 1 red onion · 1 tbsp extra virgin olive oil · 12 medium raw prawns, tail on or off · black pepper · handful rocket leaves Pizza base: 60g wholemeal self-raising flour · 60g white self-raising flour · pinch of salt · 120ml natural live yoghurt · 6 tbsp tomato passata · 1 tsp dried oregano
Method: Pre-heat the oven to 200c. Remove the capsicum's seeds, and thinly slice. Cut the red onion into wedges, and the zucchini into 1cm rounds. Scatter the vegetables in a single layer on a large baking tray and drizzle with olive oil. Mix with your hands to coat the vegetables, and season with pepper. Roast for 15 minutes, turning halfway through.
To make the pizza base, mix the wholemeal and white flour and salt in a large bowl. Add the yoghurt and 1 tablespoon of cold water. Mix again, then use your hands to form a soft dough. Knead for 1 minute on a lightly floured surface.
Using a floured rolling pin, roll the dough until it is about 3mm thick. Make two ovals, each around 20cm wide and 15cm long. Shape them so they both fit on the baking tray you used to roast the vegetables.
Transfer the roasted vegetables to a bowl. Put the pizza dough onto the tray and bake for 5 minutes. Then flip over the dough, spread over passata and sprinkle with oregano. Top with the vegetables and raw prawns. Bake for another 8–10 minutes, until the dough is cooked through. Scatter fresh rocket leaves over the top and serve.
Honey vanilla frozen yoghurt
Ingredients: 250ml natural whole milk yoghurt · 2 tbsp strong-flavoured honey, like wildflower honey · 1 tsp vanilla extract · honey or extra virgin olive oil for drizzling
Method: Mix yogurt, honey, and vanilla extract in a bowl until thoroughly combined. The honey can take a minute or so to mix through. Pour into a shallow non-stick baking pan, and spread the yogurt into a smooth layer. Freeze for 30 minutes, then stir the yoghurt to break up the ice crystals. If it’s not soft serve consistency yet, freeze for another 15-20 minutes. Scoop into bowls, and drizzle with honey or even extra virgin olive oil for a fruity, peppery note. Eat immediately.
Lemon lime and bitters
Ingredients: Ice cubes · 2 dashes of Angostura aromatic bitters · ½ lemon, juiced · ½ lime, juiced · 300ml soda water · lemon slices to serve
Method: Half fill two tall glasses with ice. Add bitters, lemon and lime juices to each glass. Top with soda water and stir. Garnish with a slice of lemon.
Make it work for you
Use gluten-free flour or gluten-free pitta for the pizza base. Lactose-free yoghurt is an easy swap. Use low-FODMAP serves of fresh tomatoes, olives and tomato paste instead of capsicum, zucchini and tomato passata. Garlic-infused oil is delicious drizzled on your pizza, if you can’t eat red onion.
The ritual
Dress your dining table with a cotton tablecloth, big white plates and tall glasses. As you create each place setting, think of the joy you felt that night. Bring that energy to this evening's meal.
Author: Kym Lang. Photography: Kym Lang; AI.
