Tuesday, October 28, 2008

Potato & Pancetta Pizza

Ate this at Destihl in Bloomington, found a generic recipe for it online, modified it a bit and here you go:

1 pre-made pizza crust (the non-cooked kind)
olive oil
Seasonings: whatever you like, I used garlic, pepper, and pizza seasonings
4-5 red potatoes
1 package of Pancetta (I used bacon)
Romano cheese (I used pizza cheese and parmesean)

Boil water and put in your red potatoes. If they are large, slice them up and put them in water to soften.
Unroll the pizza crust and "smoosh" it out until it is the thickness you enjoy.
Brush on some olive oil.
Sprinkle on your spices and some parm cheese.
While you wait for potatoes to soften, cook 10 strips of bacon either in a skillet or microwave. I use the microwave because it is faster, also, they don't have to be completely 100% crispy, they will crisp up in the oven.
Slice softened potatoes and cover pizza crust in an even layer.
Top with bacon and cheese.
Place in a pre-heated, 400 degree oven for about 10-12 minutes.

Enjoy!

Monday, October 27, 2008

Meat and Rice Casserole, Max-style

This one comes courtesy of Dad's "No-Salt, Lowest-Sodium Cookbook". Sounds yummy, doesn't it? Actually, this recipe is really good! I have to admit, though, when I made this casserole, I didn't use half of the ingredients in the published recipe, so I'm calling this "Max-style" because Dad told me the version he uses! Make sense?

  • 1 lb. ground beef or turkey
  • Dill dip mix (or you could just use a little dill seasoning)
  • Onion powder (I used chopped onions)
  • 1 c. rice (I used jasmine and it was great!)
  • 2 c. chicken broth or bouillon
  • Mushrooms (optional)
Preheat oven to 375. Brown the ground beef or turkey in a skillet. Drain. Add the onions/onion powder and dill/dip mix to the meat. Add mushrooms, if you like that sort of thing.

In a casserole dish, put the 1 c. rice. Pour the 2 c. broth or bouillon over the rice. Add the ground beef. Cover and bake for 40-45 minutes. Covering is important so the rice will cook! Don't get fancy, just use aluminum foil!

When the casserole is done, you can serve it as is or you can get wild like Max and add some frozen peas STILL FROZEN to the top. Recover and let those puppies cook on their own. No need to keep the stove on!

Serve with some light sour cream or dill dip on the top. Delicious!

Thursday, October 23, 2008

Italian Wedding Pasta

I have not made this yet, but plan to and thought it looked good enough to share!
(it's from a "healthy pasta dishes" list from msn.com)

1 lb. ground turkey
1/4 cup plain dried bread crumbs*
1/4 cup fresh chopped parsley
1 clove garlic, crushed with a press
1 clove garlic, thinly sliced**
1 large egg
1 cup freshly grated Romano Cheese *+
1 package farfalle pasta (or bow-tie)
1 Tbsp. cornstarch
1 1/2 cup reduced fat milk
1 14 ounce to 14.5 ounce reduced-sodium chicken broth
1 bag baby spinach *++
ground black pepper

Preheat oven to 400, line a baking pan or cookie sheet with foil or parchment paper.

In a medium bowl, mix turkey, bread crumbs, parsley, garlic, egg, 1/4 cup Romano cheese with fingertips. Do not over mix. make 36 (!) 1" meatballs and place in lined pan. Bake 20 min.

Meanwhile, cook pasta (al dente), drain, return to pot

Whisk cornstarch into milk. Add that mixture and chicken broth to pasta pot. Heat to boiling over medium-high heat, stirring frequently. Allow to boil 1 minute to thicken sauce, then remove from heat.

Stir in spinach, 1/2 cup Romano cheese, 1/4 tsp. pepper. Add meatballs and gently toss to combine.

Transfer to a 3 quart baking dish and sprinkle with remaining cheese. Bake 20 minutes.

*Would you ever not use "dried" bread crumbs? Is there a use for wet bread crumbs?
**I see no need for 2 different types of garlic in this recipe. I say, chop 2 cloves and be done with it.
*+Freshly grated? Please. I will use the already grated and be fine with it. Otherwise, change step 1 to: freshly grate some Romano cheese.
*++ I will not be using spinach at all. Feel free to do the same, or be a grown up and add it.

Good luck to this recipe!
I'll follow up with feedback!

erin

Sunday, October 5, 2008

Homemade (sorta) Pizza

Take THAT, frozen pizza post! Okay, tonight I made a semi-homemade pizza...and, no, Sandra Lee did not show up, NOR did I create a lovely and festive themed tablescape!

Basically, I bought a set of 2 premade pizza crusts with pizza sauce at Walmart. I can't remember the brand right now (they were not Boboli), but these are my favorite premade pizza crusts ever! I spread the sauce, sprinkled some Parmesean cheese, garlic powder, and oregano all over, then put mozzarella cheese down. I added some pepperoni and some leftover BBQ spit chicken from the other night and added a little more cheese. It was SO good! We shared with two guys who've been helping with the move, and they also really loved it! I wasn't up there while they were eating, but I was told that one of them said he'd pay to eat that pizza every day!

This could be my next business...

(Also, I just wanted to say that it's funny to me that under the "Labels for this post:" area, the examples are scooters, vacation, fall. Because I write a lot of posts about scooters...)

Friday, October 3, 2008

Frozen Pizza

I'm just sick of seeing "stuffed pork chops" as the tag line on this blog!

But seriously here are some great ways to jazz up a frozen pizza:

-Your basic cheese pizza (can be thin or self-rising - those fill you up faster - those thin ones are like 1 serving to me...sorry Mom...we seem to say that a lot about food)
-Various toppings:
tomatoes, left over chicken, bacon, artichoke hearts, onion, ground beef (like leftover burger meat), scallions (which is like onions), extra shredded cheese, pineapple, ham
-Various seasonings:
garlic, basil, italian seasoning, pepper, oregano, parm. cheese, red pepper flakes

So there, if you have leftovers and frozen pizza, you've got a meal! Throw in some fruit or a side salad, or at least tell your mom that you did that and viola! Dinner is served!

So take that stuffed pork chops...and geez sister, what are you moving or something? Let's get a "first night in my new house" recipe up here pronto!

erin