White Swiss Chard and Artichoke Pizza

Imagine your favorite creamy spinach and artichoke dip- creamy, garlicky, full of veggies- but imagine it on a pizza. That's basically what this white swiss chard and artichoke pizza recipe is. I used Swiss chard because that's what the CSA was serving up this week, but I bet you could substitute spinach, kale, maybe even collard greens if you prefer. The only changes I made to the recipe was to use marinated artichoke hearts, to add a little pinch of red pepper flakes, and to forget to add the Worcestershire sauce. I put it on my go-to whole wheat pizza dough from the other Martha.

Asparagus Pizza

Mmmm... asparagus season continues, much to Tim's dismay and my delight.

Slice the asparagus thinly on the bias, mix up some chopped tomato with minced garlic, shallots, red pepper flakes, olive oil and salt & pepper. Throw it on whole wheat pizza dough with some mozzarella. Bake it super hot on a baking stone.
Good stuff.

Homemade Mozzarella and Ricotta!

We had a Yankee swap/White Elephant gift exchange this past Christmas. The gift I threw into the mix was a make-your-own-cheese kit from the New England Cheese Making Supply Company. Secretly (or not so secretly, as it were), I wanted to get my own gift back at the end of the day. While I didn't win it back in the swap, Tim ended up with it and promptly handed it to me (yessssss!).

I finally put the kit to use this past weekend. The Real Martha was in town, so we busted out the kit, bought a couple gallons of whole milk and had at it. We made a ricotta, which is ridiculously easy, and mozzarella, which is only slightly more complicated. Both turned out really great, although the mozzarella ended up with a bit too much salt (due to a typo in the written directions in our kit) and wasn't quite as stretchy as it looked like it should be. But the flavor was great anyway. We used both cheeses that night in some lag roll-ups (which were a hit here a couple weeks ago), a riff off of this Boobs McGee, I mean, Giada De Laurentis, recipe. Yum. Can't wait to make more cheese! Anyone wanna join me?

BBQ Pulled Pork Pizza with Caramelized Onions and Blue Cheese

We had a plethora of delicious, artery-clogging treats at our Super Bowl party yesterday... so maybe the 21 lbs of slow-cooked BBQ pork shoulder was overkill?
We had a bunch of said pulled pork leftover, so Tim and I took a hint from a couple online recipes and made BBQ pulled pork pizzas with caramelized onions, blue cheese, mozzarella, and topped with some cilantro. Pretty good!
We may have overloaded the pizza with tasty, tasty meat, as it was a little floppy in the center, but otherwise pretty damn good.

Pepperoni Rolls for Tim

Tim has been talking about "pepperoni rolls" for months- apparently they're a childhood delight of his. I think he's secretly trying to find a suitable substitute for the pepperoni Hot Pockets he treasures so when he is three sheets to the wind.Conveniently, I made pizza earlier this week and had a bunch of dough leftover... so we gave pepperoni rolls a try. The internets are rife with pepperoni roll recipes, but they all differ- some leave out the sauce, some the cheese. I decided to base mine on a reliable source- yum! Good choice! I think the only change I would make is to add more pepperoni than called for in the recipe, to make the little guys more befitting of the name "pepperoni rolls." Other than that, I think these rolls are ready for center stage on Superbowl Sunday!!Served with a sassy lemon, Parmesan and arugula salad.

Butternut and Caramelized Onion Pizza

Wow, this pizza was pretty awesome... the sweetness of the butternut, creamy mozzarella, spicy/garlicky oil on the crispy crust, earthy sage and caramelized onions. Awesome.

Inspired by, but not adhering to these recipes, I whipped up a batch of the same pizza dough and used the same upside-down cookie sheet method I used a few weeks ago on my kale pizzas. Then I topped the pies with olive oil that had been marinating with red pepper flakes and a ton of garlic, laid thin slices of fresh mozzarella and roasted butternut squash, tossed on some caramelized red onions, and sprinkled it with minced sage, parsley and Romano cheese. So good with a green salad on the side!

White Pizza with Kale and Pepperoni

I had some leftover pizza dough after making some broccoli and mozzarella stromboli the other night (which were good, but messy and difficult to roll up!), so we decided to make a white pizza with crispy kale. Tim insisted that we also put pepperoni on it, because he's a man and men apparently need meat. The pepperoni was good, so I shouldn't complain. We also added some red pepper flakes in with the garlic oil that was spread on the dough. The goat cheese was a tasty and unexpected addition... the tang complemented the earthy flavor of the kale and the salty pepperoni.

I broke my baking stone a while back, so I decided to try a different method for getting a crispy pizza crust: I placed the rolled out dough on an upside-down baking sheet covered in a layer of cornmeal. I think using the baking sheet upside down let the air circulate around the crust a little more- I'd definitely use this method again!

Chicken Sausage Lasagna

For our most recent True Blood TV Club meeting, I decided lasagna would be a good option since it serves a crowd and is delicious. Plus, I had 10 pounds of Roma tomatoes from the CSA to use up, and lasagna uses lots of tomatoes.Ina's recipes are consistently good, so I thought I'd use her lasagna recipe as my jumping off point. I did make a couple changes, though. Rather than use canned crushed tomatoes, I roasted halved Romas at 425 for about an hour, then zipped them in the food processor to make my own crushed tomatoes. Also, I substituted chicken sausage for the turkey sausage Ina recommends, solely because that's what was available (and on sale!) at the Teet.

This recipe was soooo good. Good thing I made a double batch so we had leftovers!!

Eggplant/Tomato/Mozzarella Panini with Artichoke Caper Spread

Got a mixture of different types of eggplant from the CSA this week and was craving something cheesy and melty. Eggplant panini it was!

My first attempt was somewhat of a FAIL, as I cut the bread (a cheapie ciabatta from the Giant bakery... Columbia Heights needs a legit bread bakery like crazy... I heard rumors of one thinking of opening in the area, but it's not set in stone by any means) horizontally rather than vertically, and it was waaaaay too fat... too big to fit in one's mouth (that's what she said!). The second time I cut vertical slices from the bread and it was much easier to manage.

The artichoke/caper/parsley spread was awesome, though. Hearty, a little salty, fresh, a hint of creaminess from the mayo. Based on this recipe, but with the addition of fresh parsley to brighten it up.

The eggplant was sliced thinly, salted for 20 minutes or so, then grilled. Thrown on the bread with some yellow heirloom tomato, the artichoke spread, grated mozzarella, squished and grilled.

Roasted Jalapeno Popper Dip

I am a sucker for pretty much any and all bar food: saucy and messy hot wings, crispy and bacony potato skins, and spicy and creamy jalapeno poppers. When we had an influx of jalapenos last summer, I made creamy corn and bacon stuffed jalapenos. They were tasty, but stuffing them was time-consuming, and for those who aren't enamored of jalapeno, maybe not the best thing. This jalapeno popper dip, which incorporates all the deliciousness of the bar staple, is much easier and more manageable for heatphobes. Doesn't look like much, but it disappeared in about 2.5 minutes, so that says a lot.I messed with the recipe a little bit... instead of pickled jalapenos and canned green chilies, I halved, seeded, and roasted 3 fresh jalapenos (stuck them under the broiler for 7-8 minutes until soft and charred), then minced them. Added the roasted jalapenos to the food processor with some cream cheese, a dab of mayo, a handful of shredded cheddar and mozzarella, salt and pepper. Poured into a lightly greased baking dish and topped with panko and Parmesan. Baked at 350 for 25 minutes.

Awesome! Served with tortilla chips and veggies.

Whole-Wheat Crust Pizza with Arugula, Prosciutto, Tomato and Mozzerella

Made these tasty arugula and prosciutto pizzas last week using the basic whole wheat dough from Healthy Breads in Five Minutes a Day... tasty, although a little poofier than I would have liked. I think I didn't preheat the pizza stone long enough because I was in a hurry.

Chicken Parmesan

In order to use up some more of our myriad tomatoes, a bunch of herbs, and some chicken tenders we had in the fridge, I pulled together this chicken parmesan.

I used the herby breading from this Rachael Ray recipe (includes fresh rosemary, thyme and parsley with the breadcrumbs and cheese), the cooking method of this crispy chicken recipe (baking the chicken strips on a metal rack at high heat to get them crispy all around). Then I put the chicken in one of my new baking dishes, covered it with the homemade sauce from last night and some mozzarella and broiled it.

Served over orzo, alongside some roasted broccoli.

Skillet Lasagna

Made this skillet lasagna after seeing it in Food Network Magazine... we had all the ingredients except ricotta, but Tim humored me and went to Giant to get it. Lots of veggies in there: carrots, zucchini, spinach. I added 3 chorizo sausages, taken out of their casings and cooked in a frying pan.

Also, the recipes called for fresh tomatoes, but I used a 28 oz. can of crush tomatoes, no prob. And shredded mozzarella because our fresh mozzarella had gone moldy on me. Boo.

The recipe was pretty easy and tasted really good... the only problem was that it was a little soupy when it came out (perhaps I could have let it sit a few more minutes before slicing), and the bottom lasagna noodle got a little burnt to the bottom of the skillet. Maybe I should have used a non-stick skillet?

Anyway: tasty nonetheless.