Pizza, Pizza, Pizza!

Anyone that knows me knows that I make a ton of pizza. My love for making pizza grew exponentially once I realized how much room for creativity there truly is. You can put whatever you want on pizza and I've tried nearly every concoction that I could think of. The other day I was eating a salad at Za in Arlington Massachusetts and was inspired to try squash and apple on a pizza. Obviously, this isn't enough for one pizza so I thought about it some more and decided to add sage, pistachio nut, mozzarella and gorgonzola. As I invited friends over for dinner I thought of a regular favorite I could make and two other new recipes; Roasted veggies with pesto and goat cheese, Spinach mushroom and asiago, and Jalapenos kalamata olives and garlic. With my recipes all set up I was ready to go and now I'll share them with all of you.

Roasted Squash and Apple Pizza
1/2 acorn squash (originally I wanted to use butternut squash, but they didn't have any at the grocery store)
1/2 apple diced (I used cameo, but you can use whatever apple you want)
1/4 cup pistachio nuts
15 leaves of sage minced
1 cup of shredded mozzarella cheese (this is an approximation)
A couple handfuls of gorgonzola cheese
1 pizza dough (recipe to follow)

First thing to do is roast your squash. Set the oven to 350, cut your squash in half and scoop out the insides of side you will be roasting. Don't scoop out the seeds from the side you will be putting in your fridge. For some reason the squash keeps better with the seeds in it. Next brush some olive oil on both the inside and outside of the squash. Place the squash with the flesh facing down on your cookie sheet and roast for approximately 45 minutes. Its ready to come out when you can pierce the skin with a fork and it feels soft and a little mushy. When you take it out the inside should look like this:


Set the squash aside and let it cool. Once it is cool enough to work with again, peel the skin off. This will be really easy to do. You just use your hand and slowly peel the skin back. Then dice the squash into edible bites. Once your squash is done, you are ready to make your pizza. Take your pizza stone out, or if you don't have one you can use a large baking pan, and spread some corn meal on it so your pizza doesn't stick.


Then you're going to grab your dough ball and cut it in half. Save the other half for your next pizza. Roll out the dough so it is a little bit bigger than your pizza stone. I still can't roll my dough into a perfect circle, so don't worry if you can't either. Then transfer your dough onto your stone. It should look something like this:


Next you are going to take your edges and roll them into the dough to form a crust. Some sections may have more dough to work with then others. Just rip off some the excess dough and work it into a another area of your crust. When you have the crust all worked out seal the edges into the dough. Ultimately, it should look something like this:


Now you're ready to put your toppings on. So take the cup or so of mozzarella and evenly spread it across the dough. You can use more if needed. Essentially, you just want a nice even layer of cheese which covers your dough. Next spread out your squash. I had a little left over, so you may too, but just put it into a little container and save it for later. Then add your diced apple. Sprinkle with your pistachio nuts and sage. Now you're ready to add the final touch, the gorgonzola cheese. Using a couple of handfuls slowly top with gorgonzola. Keep in mind that this is a potent cheese, so try not to add too much or it will overpower the flavor of everything else on the pizza. Before you put it in the oven it will look like this:


Place the pizza in the oven and set to 400. It is important not to set the oven before placing the stone in the oven. It can crack the stone. Even if your not using a stone, its better to wait to turn the oven on until the pizza is in because it cooks more evenly that way. The pizza will take approximately 30 minutes to cook. If your oven is like mine, you'll want to rotate the pizza for an even cook. To check the pizza, flick the dough on each side. When the dough is cooked it will be hard and have a somewhat hollow sound to it. Make sure the cheese is melted and your toppings look nicely cooked before taking it out. Now you have lovely pizza to share!

Mushroom and Spinach Pizza
4 oz of portabella mushrooms diced
5 oz of spinach sliced finely
1 small onion diced
2 cloves of medium garlic minced
3 tablespoons olive oil
1 head of roasted garlic chopped
1 cup of mozzarella cheese (approximation)
A couple of handfuls of shredded asiago cheese
1 pizza dough (recipe to follow)

Pizza Sauce (enough for 2 pizzas)
15 oz can tomato sauce
6 oz can tomato paste
2 cloves of garlic minced
1 tablespoon of fresh basil chopped
1/2 tablespoon of fresh rosemary chopped

Although I came up with this recipe last, it turned out to be the best pizza of the night. The mushroom and spinach flavors really shined through making it an amazingly delicious pizza. A shout out to my friend Steve for the thumbs up.

So the first thing you're going to do is roast the garlic. If you are making the roasted squash and apple pizza, you can do this at the same time you roast your squash. Take a head of garlic and cut off the top and place it into a piece of tinfoil. Drizzle one tablespoon of olive oil over it like this:


Roll the tinfoil up, so your garlic looks like this:


Place this in the oven between 350-400 and roast for about 40 minutes. Just until the tops of garlic start to brown. Then pull it out and set it aside. Once the garlic is cool enough to work with, pop them out of their skin and coarsely chop them.

Next you are going to saute your mushroom and spinach. But before we do that, I want to show you an easy way to diced your onions. Cut your onion in half. Take each half and run your knife through making some slits, but not cutting the onion all the way through.


Now run your knife horizontally through the slits, again making sure that you don't cut the onion all the way through.


After that is done, you can just dice the onion as you would normally, but now you have perfectly shaped pieces.

Okay, so now we are going to saute the mushroom and spinach. Put a pan on medium heat and heat up your remaining olive oil. When it is heated add your onions and minced garlic. Saute for a couple of minutes until your onions are soft and translucent. Then add your mushrooms. Saute them until they are slightly brown and have released most of their juices. This should take about 5 minutes.


Then add your spinach and saute until it is just wilted, which will take about another 2 minutes. You still want the spinach to have that nice vibrant green color to it.


When this is done, set it aside and get to work on your sauce. With the sauce you are just going to add all your ingredients together and stir. Make sure to work the sauce well to combine the tomato paste with the tomato sauce. You don't want a lumpy sauce.

Once this is all set you are ready to assembly your pizza. Follow the instructions listed above. Once your pizza dough is on your stone and has a nice crust, then evenly spread out half the pizza sauce you just made. On top of that spread out your mozzarella. You may want to use more. Essentially, you are looking for a nice coating of cheese. After you mozzarella is on, add your mushroom and spinach mixture. Sprinkle your roasted garlic and asiago cheese and set in the oven at 400 degrees for about 30 minutes. Viola, pizza is served!

Jalapeno Garlic Kalamata Olive Pizza
1 medium jalapeno thinly sliced
12 kalamata olives sliced into 4 pieces
4-5 cloves of garlic minced
1 cup of mozzarella
1 cup of cheddar cheese
A couple of handfuls of feta cheese
1/2 of sauce made in Mushroom and Spinach Pizza
1 pizza dough (recipe to follow)

Once you have all of your ingredients sliced and diced you are ready to assemble your pizza. Spread out your sauce on your dough. Mix together the cheddar and mozzarella cheese and spread onto the pizza. Next place your slices of jalapeno around the pizza. Sprinkle with the kalamata olives and minced garlic. Then top with a couple of handfuls of crumbled feta cheese. Pop this into the oven at 400 degrees for about 30 minutes and you have nice spicy pizza.

Roasted Veggie Pesto Pizza
For this pizza you can roast whatever your favorite vegetables are. Ultimately you want to end up with about 2 cups of roasted veggies. Here is what I used:
1/2 eggplant diced
1/2 zucchini diced
1/2 summer squash diced
1/2 red pepper diced
1/4 sweet potato diced
1 small onion quartered
5-6 cloves of garlic

2 tablespoons of olive oil
1 tablespoon of balsamic vinegar
1 cup of pesto
1 cup of mozzarella cheese
4 oz of goat cheese

The first thing you need to do is roast your veggies. Once you have all your veggies diced place them into a baking dish and toss with olive oil and balsamic vinegar.


Place the veggies in the oven at 350 for about 40 minutes. Toss them a few times while they are roasting. You want them to be soft and well roasted, but not too mushy. They should look something like this when they are done:

While your veggies are roasting you want to make your pesto. Just click on the pesto link and follow the directions included in grilled veggie sandwich. Once your pesto is ready you are all set to assemble your pizza. Roll out the dough, transfer to your pan and form a good crust. Once this is all set, spread out your pesto base. Top the pesto with an even layer of mozzarella cheese. Next add your roasted veggies. You may have some left over. If so just pop them in the fridge. These go great with some freshly made ziti and a little bit of olive oil and Parmesan cheese. After your veggies are on, crumble up 4 oz log of goat cheese and sprinkle on top. Pop this in the oven at 400 for about thirty minutes and presto, you have veggie pesto pizza.

Pizza Dough
The best pizza dough recipe I have found came from John Robbins' book May All Be Fed. For anyone of you out there that are thinking of becoming vegetarian or already are, this is a must read book. Actually, all John Robbins' books are pretty amazing. But anyhow back to pizza dough.

2 cups of whole wheat flour
1 1/2 cups of all purpose white flour
2 1/2 teaspoons of yeast
1/2 cup of lukewarm water
1 teaspoon of maple syrup
1 cup of water
1/4 cup of olive oil

In a medium sized bowl add the yeast, warm water and maple syrup. If you don't have maple syrup, you can use agave nector, honey or regular sugar. The sugar is only there to activate the yeast. Let that sit for about 10 minutes until the yeast grows like this:


While you are waiting for the yeast to do its magic, in a large bowl combine your two flours. Once your yeast is ready add to it the remaining water and olive oil. Once these ingredients are combined you can add them to your flour. Mix these with a wooden spoon until the ingredients just start coming together. Dump the dough onto a floured surface and start to knead it. Kneading should only take about 2-5 minutes.

Once your dough is nice and elastic, form into a ball like this:

Place the dough into a slightly oiled bowl and cover with a damp cloth. Place the bowl into a warm location and let the dough rise for one hour. After that hour the dough should have doubled in size and will look like this:

This dough is good for two pizzas or two calzones. Once it has risen cut it in half, roll it out and cover with the toppings of your choice. Enjoy!

Grilled Veggie Sandwich with Spicy Sweet Potato Fries

This sandwich is one of my favorites. I usually make it in summer time when there is an abundance of wonderful fresh veggies, but yesterday was so beautiful. I simply couldn't resist the urge to make them. I love sweet potatoes and don't use them as much as I'd like to, so I thought the fries would be a great addition to the meal. Although this recipe does have cheese in it, it is easy to veganize by omitting the Parmesan cheese from the pesto and by substituting the goat cheese for your favorite vegan cream cheese.

Grilled Veggie Sandwich
2-3 tablespoons olive oil
1 loaf fresh baguette bread
1/4-1/2 cup fresh pesto (recipe to follow)
4 oz log of goat cheese (I used one with garlic and herbs)
1/2 medium eggplant
1 medium yellow onion
1/2 medium zucchini
1 small yellow summer squash
1 tomato (thinly sliced and cut in half)
handful of fresh baby spinach


Before doing anything, make the pesto (the recipe is below). After your pesto is all set, place your grill pan on the stove and turn the heat to medium. You can use an outdoor grill too, but I live in New England and its the middle of March, so my grill has not come out yet. Once your grill pan is starting to heat up start chopping your veggies. I cut mine about half an inch thick, like this:


For the eggplant, your rings are going to be big, so I recommend cutting them into fourths, which makes it easier to build the sandwiches. Depending on the size of your squash and zucchini, you may want to do this as well or cut them in half. After you have all your veggies sliced, place them in a bowl and toss them with the olive oil until they are evenly coated.


Then you can start grilling. Try to space them evenly on the pan, so there is plenty of room for everyone. They are ready to be flipped when they look like this:


Your veggies may need a couple of turns on the grill. You want some nice grill marks and you want them to be a little soft too. When your veggies are all done, they should look like this:


I think what really makes this sandwich is toasting the bread on the grill pan. It gives it a great flavor and a great crunch. So once your veggies are done, cut your baguette bread into the sandwich sizes you want and spread a little olive oil on the fresh side. I love sourdough, so when I saw fresh organic sour dough baguettes at the store I immediately picked them over the whole wheat, but you can use whatever kind of baguette your heart desires.


Then start grilling. Keep an eye on these guys. You don't want to burn them and you want to make sure they are getting evenly toasted. When they are ready they should look something like this:


Once the bread is toasted you can start assembling your sandwiches. Spread some of your pesto on what is going to be your bottom side of the sandwich and on the top side spread some goat cheese. On top of the pesto build a layer of your grilled eggplant. On top of that build a layer of your zucchini and squash, alternating between the two. Top with a couple slices of your tomato and a few fresh spinach leaves. Place your prepared goat cheese top on your sandwich, pressing down a little, and your ready to gobble this sandwich up!

Pesto
4 oz fresh basil thinly chopped
1 garlic clove (minced)
1/4 cup Parmesan cheese
1/2 cup olive oil
1/4 cup pine nuts (coarsely chopped)

The first thing you want to do is chop your basil. It can be kind of difficult to chop this much basil, but I picked up a trick from Rachel Ray. Take some of your basil leaves and stack them, like this:


Then roll them like cigar leaves, so you have a long "tube" that looks like this:


Then you thinly slice the basil. Once you have the basil sliced, dice it slightly by giving a few chops length wise, so your basil now looks like this:

Keep working the basil like this until you have it all chopped. Then combine the rest of the ingredients, in your blender, food processor, etc. I place everything in a Pyrex container and used a hand held blender. It makes clean up super easy and I can just cap the left over basil and place it in the fridge for next time. Once all your ingredients are combined, blend them. You want a creamy consistency, so try to make sure there aren't any stray basil that didn't get blended. In the end your pesto should look like this:

Although this is enough pesto for these sandwiches and probably for a pizza sauce, it is not enough if you are going to use it as a past sauce. If you want to make pesto for pasta double the recipe, except for the garlic. This is a raw sauce, so one clove of garlic goes a long way.

Spicy Sweet Potato Fries
1 1/2 large sweet potatoes
2 tablespoons olive oil
1 tablespoon brown sugar
1/2 teaspoon cayenne
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon of sea salt

Sweet potatoes are like butternut squash, a little difficult to cut. Just use a big knife and slowly cut them into fourths. After they are in fourths, they are more manageable and you can switch back to your normal knife. Slice the potato pieces about half an inch thick and then cut each slice into half inch pieces, so you have a fry. Ultimately your fries should look like this:

Once all your fries are made, place them in a bowl and pour on the other ingredients. They may sound like your fries are going to be too sweet, but trust me the 1/2 teaspoon of cayenne goes a long way. Combine all the ingredients with your hands to make sure the fries are evenly coated.


Then spread them evenly on a cookie sheet and bake them at 400 for 20 minutes, flipping them after 10 minutes. I recommend making the fries before your sandwiches and placing them in the oven after you place your veggies on the grill. That way they come out of the oven at the same time that your sandwiches are ready. Dinner is served!

Zucchini Banana Walnut Bread

I had bananas and zucchini that were on their way out if I didn't act quickly. It did not take long to get an idea. I had never combined the two in bread before but I thought, why not? Essentially I took a little from zucchini bread recipe and a little from banana bread recipe and made some killer bread. Mine came out looking like it might be on steroids and took much longer to bake than normal, so I'm going suggest you make two loaves with this recipe.

Zucchini Banana Walnut Bread
1 3/4 cups all purpose flour
1 cup sugar
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon of nutmeg
1 tablespoon of cinnamon
1/3 cup of soy milk
1 teaspoon of apple cider vinegar
2-3 bananas
1 1/2-2 cups shredded zucchini
1 teaspoon vanilla
1/2 cup of canola oil
3/4 cup chopped walnuts

The first thing you do for any baking endeavor is oil your cooking apparatus. I use a organic canola spray. So get your bread pans oiled down and set your oven to 325 degrees.

For some reason I find that soy-buttermilk makes vegan bread so much more delicious. I don't know the science behind, but it just makes everything better. So make your soy-buttermilk first by combining the soy milk and apple cider vinegar and give it a couple of whisks. Set this aside and combine all of your dry ingredients. Then add your mashed bananas and shredded zucchini to your soy-buttermilk concoction. Try to get the lumps out of the bananas as best as possible. Then you'll add your vanilla and canola oil. You can use another type of vegetable oil but I don't suggest olive oil for baking. After all your wet ingredients are combined, add them to your dry ingredients and combine thoroughly. Add your chopped walnuts and now this is good to pour into your prepared bread pans.

Cook at 325 for 1 hour and 15 minutes. It's ready to come out when a tooth pick comes out clean. If it takes longer to bake, so be it, but don't take it out early, the middle will not be cooked all the way through. Enjoy!

Popcorn Please!

I recently read that movie popcorn + 1 soda has 1,600 calories, which is the equivalent of 3 quarter pounders with cheese. But popcorn can be a wonderful healthy snack that is incredibly easy to make. You can put anything you want on it. This is how I roll.

Popcorn
1/2 cup popcorn
3 tablespoons of canola oil
Little bit of olive oil
Couple of shakes of Parmesan cheese
Pinch of salt
Couple of shakes of dried oregano
Pinch of red chili flakes

Put three kernels of popcorn in the pan with oil, cover and put on medium heat. Once all three have popped, remove the pan from the heat and count to 30. Yes, that may seem weird, but its the secret to getting all of your popcorn to pop at the same time. Then pour the popcorn into the pan, cover and return to the burner. Once the popcorn starts to pop gently move the pan back and forth over the burner until the popping slows down to several seconds between pops. Then remove from heat, pour into a big bowl and put on your toppings. Give it a good couple of tosses and sit down with your new found treat. :)

Ventures into Indian Cooking

I love Indian food, but I tend to feel guilty after eating it at a restaurant. The majority of the time the food is loaded down with cream and oil and isn't all that good for you. So I figured how hard could it be? I'll test it out in my kitchen. It'll be a great way to start off my blog. So I set out to make basmati rice with peas and dill, bhindi masala, chana daal and paalak, and aloo parathas. If you are anything like me, you will not be able to pronounce any of those very well. But luckily I have an Indian friend that pronounces them for me.

It was a big bite to take, but on my first try everything came out delicious. There were a few bumps in the road, but I'll point them out to you as we go, so it'll be easier for you guys to make. And away we go!

Garam Masala
This is an Indian spice that you will need for all of these dishes. I have to admit I took a short cut on it. Usually you toast fresh spices and grind them. But sadly, I am without a coffee grinder, so I mixed already ground spices, which consisted of:
1 tablespoon cumin
1 1/2 teaspoon coriander
1 1/2 teaspoon cardamon (I didn't have this in my pantry so I used 1/2 teaspoon of ginger, 1/2 teaspoon of cloves and 1/2 teaspoon of cinnamon for a substitute)
1 1/2 teaspoon freshly ground pepper
1/2 teaspoon cloves
1/2 teaspoon nutmeg

Whole Wheat Aloo Parathas
1 cup of whole wheat flour
1/3-1/2 cup of water
3 teaspoons of olive oil
pinch of salt

For the filling:
2 medium potatoes
1/2 cup of peas (make sure to cook them before adding)
2 cloves of garlic (minced)
1/2 teaspoon garam masala
1/2 teaspoon cumin
1/4 teaspoon tumeric
1 tablespoon cilantro (fresh is best, but I didn't have any)
pinch of salt
pinch of red chili flakes

Combine flour, salt and olive oil. Add the water a little at a time. You want just enough water so your dough will stick together and be nice and elastic. If you add too much water, just add a little more flour to even it out. Need the dough for a couple of minutes until you can form it into a ball that looks like this:



Then cut the dough into 8 pieces and roll into eight little balls. Place the balls in a oiled bowl and cover with plastic wrap. They should look like this:



Now you want to chop and boil the potatoes for the filling. Once they are fork tender pour them into a colander and rinse with cold water. Using a potato ricer mash the potatoes so they are nice and smooth. Add the remaining ingredients and mix together. Then form the mixture into eight balls that are slightly smaller than your dough balls. You may have left over filling, but just store it in your refrigerator for next time. When your done, your balls should look like this



Next you'll take your dough balls, roll them in some flour and roll them out so they are big enough to stuff with your filling balls. As you wrap the filling balls make sure to tuck in the edges of the dough as you go. This process will look like this:



Once your filing has been successfully wrapped, roll this in some flour and roll it out lightly into an approximate 6" disk, like this:



As you can tell from the picture, I had a slight problem of the peas poking out of the dough. The next time I make these I'm going to mash the peas in my food mixer or blender to avoid this.

Once these are ready to go, cook them in a pan with a little bit of olive oil. The signature sign of when parathas are ready to be flipped is when they puff up, but, something about using whole wheat flour prevents them for doing this. Since these parathas don't puff, keep an eye on them and when they have a nice golden color with sporadic black dots they are ready to be flipped. When they are done, you will have these yummy guys to devour!




Basmati Rice with Peas and Dill
1 cup of peas (fresh or frozen)
2 cups of basmati rice (you can substitute with other types of rice)
3 tablespoons olive oil
1/2 teaspoon of garam masala (recipe to follow)
4 tablespoons of fresh chopped dill
3 cups of vegetable stock

Heat oil in a medium size pan. Flick some water into the oil to test it. When the water sizzles you know the oil is perfect for frying. Then add the rice and peas. Stir fry this for about 3 minutes. Add the garam masala and dill and stir fry for another 1-2 minutes. Now add the stock and bring it to a boil. After it boils, turn the heat to the lowest setting, cover and let it simmer for about 25 minutes. Voila, now you have delicious basmati rice!

Bhindi Masala
2 tablespoons of olive oil
2 medium yellow onions
1 thumb sized piece of fresh ginger minced
1 15 oz can diced tomatoes (I'd prefer fresh tomatoes, but I have so many cans in my pantry that I felt obliged to use one up)
40 okra (trimmed and cut up into small pieces_
1 green bell pepper diced
2 medium cloves of garlic minced
1/2 teaspoon turmeric
2 teaspoons coriander
2 teaspoons cumin
1 teaspoon chili powder
1 teaspoon of garam masala

Heat the olive oil in the pan over medium heat and saute the garlic, onion and ginger until the onions are translucent and soft. Add the turmeric, coriander, and cumin and stir fry for another 1-2 minutes. Then add the can of tomatoes, with juice, the green bell pepper and the chili powder. If you are using fresh tomatoes instead of canned, add a little bit of water. Stir fry for another 1-2 minutes, then add the garam masala. Cover and cook for 15-20 minutes, stirring occasionally and then you'll have this wonderful okra dish.

A note on the okra. Apparently many people are either afraid of cooking okra or don't like to because it can get kind of slimy. To avoid this, after you wash the okra make sure they are completely dry before cutting. This will definitely cut down the slime factor.

Chana Daal and Palaak
(translated: chickpeas, lentils and spinach)
1 tablespoon olive oil
1/2 cup of lentils of your choosing
1 15 oz can of chickpeas (I'm working on moving into the dried bean world, but haven't made it just yet)
1 large onion
1 15 oz can of diced tomatoes (can use fresh too!)
5 oz of baby spinach finely chopped
1 thumb size piece of ginger minced
2 cloves of garlic minced
2 green chilies diced (I used serrano)
3/4 teaspoon coriander
1/2 teaspoon of chili powder
1/2 teaspoon of garam masala

Start off by cooking the lentils as indicated on the package. Once the lentils are done set them aside. Heat the olive oil in a pan over medium heat and stir fry your diced onion until translucent and soft. Then add your green chillies and ginger and stir fry for 1-2 minutes. Add the can of tomatoes, with juice, and rinsed chickpeas and stir fry for another 5 minutes. Next add the coriander, chili powder and garam masala. Once the spices are properly mixed you can add your chopped spinach. Cook the spinach for a few more minutes so it wilts a little, but try not over cook it. Spinach has great nutritional value and the shorter the cooking time, the more nutrients it retains. Once the spinach is done, add your cooked lentils and cook until just heated through and serve!

In the end you have this fantastic meal to share with family and friends. Enjoy!

Hello all

Hey guys! I'm new to the blogging world, but I'm excited to get started. I am by no means a chef, but I love cooking and, for the most part, do it well. I am looking forward to sharing my recipes and food with all of you. So lets get started!

Disclaimer: I am a queso vegetarian lol, so you will not find any recipes with meat, milk or eggs. But yes, cheese.