Adding one surprising ingredient can bring a perfect balance of flavour
Supermarket pizzas can be elevated using one extra ingredient(Image: coldsnowstorm via Getty Images)
After a gruelling day at the office, summoning the energy to whip up a meal from scratch can feel like an insurmountable task. On such occasions, it’s tempting to reach for a convenient ready meal to quell those hunger pangs.
A go-to choice for many on these lazy evenings is a frozen pizza – quick and easy to cook straight from the freezer, but often falling short of that authentic pizzeria taste. However, one food expert has shared a simple trick to elevate your run-of-the-mill frozen pizza into a dish worthy of any Italian restaurant, using just one unexpected ingredient for a flavour explosion.
Christina Manian, a registered dietitian, is a big fan of frozen pizzas for their convenience and the wide variety of options available. Writing for Simply Recipes, she enthused: “But another reason to love this freezer staple is that it’s easy and fun to doctor up at home, something I personally find a lot of joy in doing.”
She continued: “In turn, I have plenty of upgrades for frozen pizza that I use on a regular basis. These range from fun dipping sauces to ingredients added directly to the pizza-usually after baking. One of my favourite-and more unique-topping upgrades is jarred banana peppers.”
Jazz up a frozen shop-bought pizza by adding a simple cupboard ingredient for more flavour(Image: Getty)
Unlike their fiery red counterparts, banana peppers are milder chilli peppers that range in colour from yellow to red. They offer a tangy and sweeter flavour profile, providing a welcome alternative to chillies that pack too much heat and spice, reports the Express.
Naturally, these needn’t be limited to frozen pizza alone; they work brilliantly on homemade pizza as well. Christina suggested chopping the peppers finely and scattering them across the pizza the moment it emerges from the oven.
She added: “This simple addition brings the perfect amount of acidity and a slightly spicy bite to the pizza, cutting through the richness of the cheese and crust and balancing the flavours in the most delicious way. Plus, I almost always have a jar of banana peppers in the fridge or pantry-often forgotten about-and this is a great way to use them up.”
Banana peppers can add a tang and element of sweetness to a boring frozen pizza(Image: Getty)
For an extra flavour boost, you can even splash in a bit of the brine from the jar. The dietician described this game-changing trick as “chef’s kiss”.
Should you struggle to locate jarred banana peppers, suitable substitutes include jalapenos, pepperoncini, or giardiniera.
Dining and Cooking