When it comes to Christmas it’s not just presents that bring the family together, but also food, so why not make use of your Fornino baby oven, or larger wood-fired garden oven to show off exactly what they can do?
We have compiled seven tantalising dishes that you’d either never expect to be cooked in a wood fired oven or that are so delicious when cooked in a wood oven, you’ll never use the conventional kitchen oven again.
Carrot Cake straight from the garden oven
Yes, you read it right, you can bake carrot cake in a wood fired oven and, let us tell you, the flavours a Fornino oven generates are incredible. Use a carrot cake recipe like this one and get the pizza oven fired up and cooled down to an optimum baking temperature between 160˚C and 180 ˚C.
Once the ingredients are prepared and in the cake tin, place the tin in the centre of the Fornino wood fired oven and bake for around fifteen minutes or until a skewer comes out clean. Once cooled, remove from the tin and top with the cream cheese frosting.
All that’s left to do is enjoy a slice of deliciousness with a hot cup of tea and marvel at the baking capabilities of your wood fired oven.
Wood fired Baked Brie
This dish doesn’t require the greatest level of skill but who doesn’t love to indulge themselves on cheese at Christmas and what better indulgence than with a baked brie! Your wood fired oven needs to cool to around 180 ˚C – 200 ˚C and then your whole Brie or Camembert is ready to pop into the Fornino oven. Just load it onto a heatproof baking tray and cook for around 15 minutes.
What’s great about Brie and Camembert is how versatile it is. Check this site out for suggestions on how to prepare the cheese before it goes into the wood fired oven. Whether it’s with figs and honey or rosemary and salt, there are lots of options to make the most of this gooey cheese.
Once cooked, serve immediately with crusty bread. Oh, and by the way, it’s best shared with friends!
Fabulous, Fired-upFoccacia from the wood oven
Before you warm up a Christmas Camembert, why not make the accompanying dipping bread in the wood fired oven too, to really ensure you impress the guests?
Foccacia is perfect for dipping and emits wonderful aromas whilst it cooks. It needs a fairly hot oven to get it right, around 260 ˚C, and requires around 15–20 minutes baking time. It’s not a hard bread to bake though, especially if you follow this easy recipe.
Once baked, dip the bread in your baked Camembert….delicious!
Potato Dauphinoise from the wood fired garden oven
Another great dish for sharing with friends or for cooking as an accompaniment to a steak is that of Dauphinoise Potatoes – a rich, creamy and comforting side dish. Just cool your pizza oven to around 200˚C and bake your Dauphinoise dish for around 50 minutes. Make sure you’re not shy with the cream and Gruyere cheese, as the cheesier the better – no one likes a dry Dauphinoise.
One of the best recipes we have used is this one. Be warned, however, this dish is so delicious, especially when cooked in a Fornino oven, it’s imperative you make double, as everyone will want to tuck in!
Wood fired corn on the cob
Not many people have had the pleasure of tasting corn on the cob as soon as it’s come off the grill, or in this case out of a wood fired pizza oven. The pizza oven encourages a smoky flavour and caramelisation that makes corn on the cob a unique experience for the palate. It’s a great dish to offer to guests over the festive period – warm, wholesome and filling and, when laced in butter, a dish not many would dislike.
This article gives a brilliant step to step guide to cooking this snack that the whole family will enjoy.
Superbly smoked ribs and pulled pork cooked the wood-fired way
This dish requires quite a lot of prep and is cooked the day after you’ve used your garden oven for pizzas, or the like. It’s all about using the residual heat that is still within the Valoriani oven the next day, to smoke ribs and cook delicious pulled pork. You just need to allow the oven to cool to around 200 ˚C, push the coals to the back and add some smoking chips. Put the meat in the centre of the oven and cook overnight.
There’s lots more to do for this recipe and more details for the ribs can be found here whilst tips on the perfect pulled pork can be found here.
Caveman steak – with the wood fired hallmark of culinary excellence
There is something synonymous with masculinity and cooking steak in an outdoor oven. The best cut of meat for this dish is a rib eye steak and the taste you get from charring it directly on the embers in your wood fired pizza oven is so delicious,the dish will be the talk of the neighbourhood.
Steak has a reputation of being hard to cook to perfection so we have sourced this video from Jamie Oliver which might make you consider serving steak this Christmas instead of turkey.
Loving life the wood-fired way
As you can see, there are many mouth-watering recipes out there for your pizza oven, so don’t restrict yourself to just pizza! Think of something you’d like to cook in there, Google the recipe using the key word “wood fired” and you should find guidance on temperatures and cooking times. Be brave and make the pizza oven work for its dough.
Make sure you follow Valoriani UK social media pages on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and Pinterest where you can find lots of tips on how to make the most out of your Fornino wood fired oven.
For more information and prices on our Fornino ovens call 01772 250 0000.