If Warm Weather was a pizza flavor, this would be it

For almost as long as the husband and I have been together, we’ve made pizza from scratch on the weekends. Our first pizza was made in my tiny post-college apartment and baked on a cheap aluminum pizza pan from Big Lots. He used a crust recipe he found online. We topped it with canned sauce, pre-shredded mozzarella cheese and cheap pepperoni, and thought it was awesome. It had a thinner crust and was much less greasy than pizza shop pizza. Also, there’s just something satisfying about eating a pizza that you have made yourself, from scratch.

Over time, we graduated to a pizza stone and fresher ingredients. The husband has perfected his crust recipe. Usually, I’m the baker. But he always makes the pizza crust because he does it so well. We’ve both started playing with pizza toppings. We’ve made macaroni & cheese pizza, chili dog pizza, taco pizza, buffalo chicken pizza and used any number of traditional toppings in various combinations.

Usually, though, he makes a standard pepperoni or Genoa salami and cheese pizza. My usual go-to pizza was loosely inspired by Greek salad (incidentally, it’s one of the pictures in the rotating header for this blog). I use olive oil and thinly-sliced tomatoes as a base. Then, I top it with mozzarella and feta, onion, kalamata olives, pepperocini and a light sprinkle of lemon-pepper. No red sauce and generally no meat.

You see, I’m not a huge fan of traditional red tomato sauces. I very rarely eat spaghetti with marinara or anything similar. When making pizza, I often completely skip the red sauce. My favorite substitute is pesto, which brings me to this pizza. It is a thin, slightly crispy crust topped with pesto, freshly-roasted red peppers, mozzarella and lots of vegetables. This pizza is perfect for a warm day when a traditional pizza can seem too heavy. I made it for dinner last night and am already looking forward to the next time we make pizza so I can repeat it.

A quick note before I get to the actual recipe and method. The crust recipe will make 2 thin 12″ crusts. You can use the second crust to make another pizza, or freeze it for another day. As I previously mentioned, we use a pizza stone. Since the stone has to be be heated up gradually, I just left it in the oven while I roasted the peppers. Also, I would recommend prepping the pizza toppings while waiting for the dough to rise. That will make the whole process more efficient.

Pesto Pizza with Fresh Vegetables
Makes 1, 12″ pizza

Ingredients
For the crust:
1 c. warm water
2 1/2 tsp. active dry yeast
2 tbsp. white sugar
3 tbsp. olive oil
1 tsp. salt
3 c. bread flour
1 tbsp. oregano
2 tbsp. minced garlic
1 tbsp. crushed red pepper

For the sauce:
1 c. fresh basil, roughly chopped
1 tsp. dry oregano
1/8 c. pine nuts, toasted
2 tbsp. minced garlic
1/4 tsp. kosher salt
1/4 c. extra-virgin olive oil
1/2 c. freshly-grated Parmesan cheese

For the toppings:
1 tomato, sliced very thin
1/2 white onion, sliced very thin
1/2 c. baby spinach, washed
6-8 kalamata olives, pitted and sliced in half
1 red bell pepper, roasted and cut into thick slices
1 c. shredded mozzarella cheese

Directions
Make the crust
1. In the bowl of a stand mixer affixed with a dough hook, dissolve yeast in warm water. Let sit for 10 minutes.
2. Add sugar, olive oil and salt and combine. Add seasonings. Finally, add flour a little at a time until dough is thick.
3. Divide dough into 2 balls, coat each lightly with flour and set aside. Allow dough to rise until it has doubled, about one hour.

While the dough is rising, prepare the pesto and toppings
1. Preheat the broiler on your oven. Wash and chop all vegetables. Shred Parmesan cheese.
2. Place sliced red peppers on an unlined baking sheet and broil for 4-5 minutes. Flip peppers over and broil an additional 4-5 minutes. Place peppers in a tightly-sealed bag to steam for 20 minutes. Set aside.
3. Toast the pine nuts by placing them in a dry pan over medium heat. Gently shake the pan over heat for about 30 seconds, until nuts are lightly browned.
4. Make the pesto sauce. In a small food processor, combine basil, oregano, pine nuts, garlic, salt, and olive oil. Process until pureed, then grated add Parmesan. Set aside.
5. Finally, remove the peppers from their bag, peel them and set them aside.

Spinach, roasted peppers, tomato slices, onion rings & olives. Yum!

By this time, your crust should be ready to finish
4. Reduce oven temperature to 500°.
5. Turn dough out onto a pizza stone and roll it out to about 1/2″ thickness. Bake for 3-4 minutes.
6. Remove pizza from oven. Spread with pesto sauce, sprinkle with cheese and arrange vegetables. Bake for an additional 5-6 minutes. Enjoy!

On January 1, I considered making a traditional New Year’s Day meal. There are certainly enough food traditions revolving around that date. People believe that by eating anything from black-eyed peas and pork to soba and tangerines, they will have good luck in the coming year. However, I’m not particularly superstitious, nor do I like a lot of the traditional American New Year’s foods. But I did want our first dinner of 2010 to be a special one. So, I spent the day in the kitchen making a recipe that I’d had bookmarked for quite some time – handmade ravioli in a decadent cream sauce.

The New Year is now 3 weeks old. The New Year’s Resolution newbies are starting to clear out of my gym. All those goals and promises revolving around crash diets and long workouts are already being forgotten. This is exactly why I don’t make New Year’s Resolutions at all. To me, it’s much better to enjoy all that life has to offer and work to improve oneself on a daily basis. This includes, among other things, enjoying good food and drink, and making time for regular exercise. One of my biggest pet peeves is when people go on and on about how “bad” a food is. No food is bad. If you want a cupcake, eat a cupcake, and do it without whining about how fat it will make you. Just don’t eat ten cupcakes. As Aristotle said (and yes, I am paraphrasing here), moderation is a virtue.

But I digress. Time to get off the soapbox and back to the recipe. It is now Mid-Winter in Ohio. It’s cold and icky outside. Comfort food is the order of the day, especially when that food is a rich, cheesy pasta in cream sauce.

Cheese Ravioli with Spinach Cream Sauce
Makes 4 Servings

Pasta Ingredients
(Makes 1 1/4 lb. pasta)
4 large eggs
2 tbsp. water
3 1/2 c. sifted all-purpose flour
1/2 tsp. salt

Filling Ingredients
2 c. ricotta cheese
1/2 box (approx. 5 oz.) frozen spinach, thawed & dried
4 oz. mozzarella cheese
1/2 c. freshly grated Parmesan cheese
2 tsp. minced garlic
1 egg, lightly beaten
freshly ground salt & black pepper, to taste

Sauce Ingredients
2 tbsp. minced garlic
1 red bell pepper, roasted
3 plum tomatoes
2 tbsp. olive oil
1/2 box (approx. 5 oz.) frozen spinach, thawed & drained
1/2 c. dry vermouth
2 c. cream
1 tbsp. basil
1 tbsp. oregano
freshly ground salt & pepper, to taste

To make the pasta
1. Place all ingredients in the bowl of a stand mixer. Mix on low speed (speed 2 on a KitchenAid stand mixer) with a flat beater for 30 seconds.
2. Replace flat beater with dough hook. Knead on low speed for 2 minutes.
3. Remove dough from bowl and knead with hands for 2 more minutes. Divide dough into 8 equal pieces and let rest for 20 minutes.
*At this point, the dough recipe instructed me to roll the pasta with my pasta roller, then shape it in a ravioli mold. However, I haven’t quite been able to justify the $120 pricetag that the KitchenAid pasta roller attachment comes with yet. As for the ravioli mold, I like unitaskers more than any self-respecting Alton Brown fan should. But I draw the line at things that I will use, at most, twice a year. So, I rolled the dough with my trusty rolling pin and cut it with a round cookie cutter. Here’s how I did it:
4. On a lightly floured surface, roll dough very thinly (most recipes suggest 1/16″, though mine was a bit thicker). Cut out the dough using cookie cutters and set aside.

To make the ravioli
1. While the dough is resting, make the filling by combining all ingredients in the order given. Mix well. Refrigerate until ready to use.
2. Place a dough circle on a flat surface. Top with a small amount of cheese filling. Place a second dough circle on top. Squeeze together, lightly wetting edges to seal. Repeat until all pasta and filling have been used. Place on baking sheets, cover with wax paper, and refrigerate until ready to use.
3. To make the sauce, cut red pepper and tomatoes in half. Roast in the broiler, turning once to ensure that both sides are browned. Skin and thinly slice peppers and tomatoes.
4. Heat oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat. Add garlic, peppers, tomatoes, spinach, salt and pepper. Sauté for about a minute. Add vermouth and cook for another 1-2 minutes, until slightly reduced. Remove from heat and cook the ravioli.
5. Bring a large pot of water to a boil. Add ravioli, being careful not to crowd the pot. Boil for 5 minutes or until pasta is al dente. Remove and drain. Repeat until all ravioli is cooked.
6. Return sauce to a hot burner. Heat sauce, then add the cream. Carefully add ravioli to sauce and cook until sauce is slightly reduced. Sprinkle with Parmesan cheese and enjoy.

My Thoughts & Suggestions:
I served this recipe with a Caesar Salad and my trusty Garlic-Parmesan Bread. Definitely make sure you have some sort of dense, crusty bread available to sop up the excess sauce.

This is a time-consuming recipe. I didn’t time exactly how long it took me to make this recipe. I know I spent over 2 hours in the kitchen, and enjoyed every minute of it. As for my method, there are a lot of ways to actually form the ravioli. I used the one that made the most sense for my situation with the tools that I already had. My only real complaint was that the raviolis came out a little thicker than I would have liked. In spite of that, I’d definitely call this recipe a resounding success. It was a special meal for a special day; and definitely a lot more satisfying than the icky black-eyed peas my dad forced on me as a child.

Recipe Source: Adapted from Homemade Cheese Ravioli with Spinach Cream Sauce at Teri’s Kitchen using the KitchenAid Basic Egg Pasta Dough recipe.

Classic Bruschetta Topping
1 loaf Italian bread
6 medium tomatoes
20 fresh basil leaves
4 tbsp. extra-virgin olive oil
2 tsp. minced garlic
salt & pepper to taste

Directions
1. Seed and dice tomatoes. Finely chop basil leaves.
2. In a bowl, combine tomatoes with olive oil, garlic, salt and pepper. Sprinkle basil leaves on top.

Ricotta Bruschetta Topping
1 loaf Italian bread
15 oz. ricotta cheese, drained
3 medium tomatoes, seeded and diced
1 lemon, juiced
1/2 tsp. minced garlic
1/2 tsp. basil
1/2 tsp. oregano
salt & pepper to taste

Directions
1. Combine ricotta, lemon juice and garlic in a medium bowl.
2. Add tomatoes and spices. Mix well.

Kalamata Bruschetta Topping
1 loaf Italian bread
8 oz. kalamata olives, pitted and chopped
3 tbsp. extra-virgin olive oil
1 tsp. basil
1 tsp. rosemary
1/2 tsp. minced garlic
2 tbsp. toasted pine nuts

1. Once pine nuts are toasted, crush them into smaller pieces.
2. Combine all ingredients, including pine nuts, in a small bowl and mix well.

To Serve
1. Preheat oven to 375º. Slice 3 loaves of Italian bread into 1/4 inch thick slices
2. Toast bread slices in the oven for 3 minutes. Flip and toast for 2-3 more minutes.
3. Arrange toasted slices on a tray and top with bruschetta toppings. Or, place toasted bread slices in a basket and bruschetta toppings in a serving tray.

My thoughts:
I was very happy with the way this turned out. I put the toppings in a serving dish with 3 wells in it. Once the bread was toasted, I put the slices in a basket and covered them with a clean kitchen towel to keep them warm. This way, people could help themselves to the different bruschetta toppings as they pleased.

The great thing about minestrone is that there’s no set recipe for it. It was meant as a way to use seasonal ingredients to create an affordable and filling meal. As long as you have broth, onion, celery, tomato, beans and pasta, you have minestrone. My recipe uses ground turkey for some low-fat protein. It could just as easily be made with ground beef or without any meat and twice the amount of beans. This makes a lot of soup. Fortunately, it’s one of those foods that tastes better the second day.

Turkey Minestrone
Makes 6-8 Servings

Ingredients
1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil
1 lb. ground turkey
1 onion, chopped
2 celery stalks, chopped
2 carrots, chopped
2 tablespoons minced garlic
1 tablespoon oregano
1 zucchini, chopped
1 14.5 oz. can diced, peeled tomatoes
8 cups chicken broth
1/2 cup mini farfalle or other small pasta
1 14.5 oz. can cannellini beans
1 tablespoon Italian parsley
1/4 cup parmesan cheese, freshly grated
kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper, to taste

Directions
1. In a large pot, brown turkey with salt, pepper, onion, carrots, celery, garlic and oregano in olive oil. Stir occasionally.
2. Reduce heat to medium, add zucchini, and cook for approximately 5 minutes.
3. Stir in the tomatoes and chicken broth. Bring to a boil.
4. Add pasta and cook 5 minutes.
5. Add beans and cook an additional 5 minutes.
6. Garnish with chopped parsley and parmesan cheese.

My thoughts:
1. This recipe is a work in progress. I’m very happy with it but would like a little more vegetable flavor. Next time, I’ll make it with half chicken and half vegetable broth.
2. I served this with the rest of yesterday’s garlic-parmesan bread. It was fabulous dipped into the soup.

Normally, I’m a proponent of making baked goods by hand. But it’s hard to argue with the convenience of the bread machine. Put ingredients in the machine and set the timer before you leave for work. Come home to fresh bread. That’s why this recipe is meant for use with a bread machine. It tastes almost as good as hand made bread and worlds better than most of the stuff from the grocery store.

Garlic Parmesan Bread
Makes a 1.5 lb. loaf

Ingredients
10 oz. water
3 cup bread flour
2 tablespoons butter
1.5 teaspoons salt
4 tablespoons freshly grated parmesan cheese
2 tablespoons minced garlic
2.5 teaspoons yeast

Directions
This is where I get to cheat. Just dump everything in the bread machine according to its instructions. Generally, this means add wet ingredients first, dry ingredients second and yeast last. Turn the machine on. Wait a few hours while it does its thing. Profit.

My thoughts:
1. When the bread had about 20 minutes to go, I sprinkled the top with a little parmesan and oregano. This gave it bit more flavor and a lot more aesthetic appeal.
2. This bread goes great with soups and almost anything Italian-inspired. Tonight, I served it with this Roasted Garlic Chicken Recipe from Food Network Magazine and some fresh broccoli tossed with olive oil, kosher salt, black pepper and parmesan cheese.