FROM ninja pizzas to bunny cakes, third-year pupils at Springburn Academy dreamt up some daring dishes during a recent project.

As part of an initiative looking at the Scottish Dietary Targets, the young Home Economics students had to design a dish that would encourage young children to eat healthily.

Class teacher Nicola Lockhart explained: “If pupils want to study Health Food Technology in fourth year, they have to create new product ideas in response to a brief as part of the course assessment, so this project was designed to prepare them for that task.

“Relating it to young children allowed the pupils to be more creative and they had a lot of fun.

“They had to work as a team and the ideas they came up with were fantastic.”

The tasty inventions included a colourful take on veg sticks and dips, a fish dish in the shape of a bunny’s face, fruity flower pots and the clever ‘ninja’ pizzas, designed to look like the faces of Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles.

The creative students who came up with the idea for the latter dish were third-years Callum Law, Max Wilson, Lauryn Rankin and Sean Gaffney.

Callum said: “The project was great, it made learning about healthy food fun.”

Lauryn added: "It made understanding dietary targets easier and the activity was fun to do."

Don’t miss the Evening Times Eat Better Feel Better column every Thursday. As well as providing recipes for healthy, balanced dishes that can be made at home, we’ll be including tips on how to save money and get the kids involved in cooking. Discover more online at eatbetterfeelbetter.co.uk and eveningtimes.co.uk

This week, inspired by the pupils at Springburn Academy, we have decided to focus on pizza, although ours is not quite ninja….

Vegetable Pizza

Ready in 40 mins

Serves 4, costs less than £4

Ingredients

2 Plain Shop Bought Pizza Base, Large (600g)

1 Tin Chopped Tomatoes (400g)

1 Tablespoon Tomato Puree (15g)

1 Teaspoon Mixed Herbs (1g)

2 Red Peppers, Medium Sized (320g)

8 Mushrooms, Medium Sized (80g)

4 Tomatoes, Medium Sized (340g)

2 Red Onions, Small Sized (120g)

2 Tablespoons Cheddar Cheese, (Grated) (20g)

Method

Heat the oven to 190°C / 375°F / 170°C fan oven / gasmark 5 - follow the temperature instructions on the back of the pizza base box.

Drain the chopped tomatoes of some juice and add to the pan with the tomato puree and dried mixed herbs. Simmer over a low heat until slightly thickened.

While the sauce is simmering, wash and slice the peppers and tomatoes. Rinse or wipe the mushrooms and slice them. Peel and chop the red onions and grate the cheese.

Spread the tomato sauce onto the plain pizza bases and dress the pizzas with the pepper, mushrooms, tomatoes and red onion.

Finish with a thin layer of grated mature cheese.

Bake in the oven for 15-20 minutes and enjoy hot.

Time saver tip: Buy a pre-made cheese and tomato pizza and add your own toppings.

Tip for kids: Choose their favourite toppings and get them to decorate the pizzas!