Valentine's Day Cheeseburger Pizza

Yes, I know.  It's well past Valentine's Day.  I just couldn't help but share with you guys what I made for Andy on Valentine's Day.

And some of you may turn your nose up to some of the ingredients... well, one in particular - Velveeta.  Yes, I know, it's not real cheese.  But to Andy.  It is real cheese.  In fact, he thinks it's the best cheese.  While we don't obviously share the same opinion regarding this, Valentine's Day is a day of love.  And because I love that man, regardless of his food and cheese preferences, I set my food snobbishness (or well, real sensibility, hehe) aside, and made this heart-shaped pizza for him using one of his favorite things... Velveeta.

Hope you guys have a great weekend, and I promise to post those Nutella cupcakes next week!



Ingredients:
Adapted from a Taste of Home recipe

2 cups bread flour
2 tablespoons sugar
1 & 1/2 tablespoons active dry yeast
1 & 1/2 teaspoons salt
3/4 cup warm water
2 tablespoons olive oil
1 lb. meatballs, about 10-15 (you can use homemade or frozen - just make sure to defrost them a little if they're frozen), chopped
3 garlic cloves, minced
salt and pepper, to taste
1 cup Pecorino-Romano cheese, grated
1/2 cup homemade tomato soup, or sauce (I made a tomato soup recently that had a pizza sauce taste, so I used that)
1/2 onion, sliced
4 strips bacon, cooked and chopped
1/2 cup Velveeta cheese, chopped
1/2 cup pepperjack cheese, shredded

Start by making the crust. In a large bowl, combine the bread flour, sugar, yeast, and salt.  Add the warm water and oil.  Mix until the dough is smooth.  Add additional flour if dough is still sticky.

Knead on a floured surface for about 5 minutes or until dough becomes elastic and smooth.  Cover with a warm damp towel and let rise for about 10-15 minutes.

In a large skillet, cook the chopped meatballs and garlic.  Season with salt and peppper, if desired.

Preheat oven to 450 F.

On a floured surface, roll out the dough into a large circle, about 1/4 inch thick.  Or if you like a thicker crust, you can always make a smaller circle.  If you want to be cutesy like me, you can make the circle into a heart shape, but it's not necessary.

Roll the edges slightly to form a thicker outer edge.  Poke the dough with a fork. 

Place crust on a greased baking stone or baking sheet.  Bake for about 7-10 minutes, or until crust is slightly browned. 

Sprinkle the crust with the pecorino cheese and top with tomato sauce/soup.  Add meatball/garlic mixture, onion, chopped bacon, and Velveeta and pepperjack. 

Bake the pizza for about 15-20 minutes or until cheese is melted and golden.  Slice and serve.

Seriously.  This was a 'man' pizza.  Andy said he liked it a lot.  I could give or take on it.  We both agreed that the crust was different and unusual.  Not something you associate a pizza crust with being, but it was pretty tasty.  The toppings, of course, could be alternated to suit your tastes.  This was a winner in Andy's book, and seriously, that's all that mattered to me. =) 

So have a great weekend guys and I'll see you back on Monday!

Mushroom & Yellow Squash Enchiladas

Happy Monday!  And if you're in any snow-ridden areas, like we are, hope you're not snowed in (unless you want to be!)!    Thankfully, I'll be at home all day, and all day tomorrow, safe and warm... making duck confit - definitely excited about that.

How was everyone's weekend?  Ours was pretty relaxed, just went out to dinner on Friday (at a local joint, the Bard's Town, which was just so-so - slow service ruined it for me, but Andy didn't seem to be phased by that!).  Saturday we went out for some celebratory drinks with our friend's Ike and Becca (who just got engaged so congrats to them!).  And Sunday was just spent grocery shopping, baking cookies, and watching football (Go Eagles!). 

And last week, I experimented with a few vegetarian dishes for dinner, which mostly went over well with Andy.  (Trust me, he wasn't excited at first, but after putting the plates in front of him, he gladly dug in!).  By far, these enchiladas were the fave, so I thought I'd share them with you all!



Ingredients:
Adapted from Closet Cooking's recipe

2 tablespoons olive oil
1 onion, sliced thinly
8 oz. portobello mushrooms, sliced
1 lb. yellow squash, chopped
2 garlic cloves, chopped
3 thai chiles, chopped
1 teaspoon ground cumin
1 teaspoon oregano
1 cup salsa verde
5-6 small corn tortillas
1/2 cup shredded pepperjack cheese
1/2 cup shredded cheddar cheese

Preheat oven to 350 F.

Heat the olive oil in a large skillet under medium high heat.

Add the onions and cook until soft and translucent, about 5 minutes or so.  Then add the mushrooms and cook for about 10-15 minutes, or until they've softened, as well.

Add the yellow squash and cook until just tendder, about 4-5 minutes.  Then stir in the garlic, peppers, cumin, and oregano.  Cook for about a minute.

Remove from heat and mix in 1/2 cup of the salsa verde.

Spread 1/4 cup of the salsa verde over the bottom of a ceramic baking dish.

Carefully fill the corn tortillas with filling (I didn't do a good job of this, my tortillas kept breaking, but the cheese does a good job of covering up those imperfections!), and roll them up and place them in the baking dish with the seam on the bottom.

Pour the remaining 1/4 cup of salsa verde over the tortillas and sprinkle on the cheese.

Bake for about 20-25 minutes, or until the cheese and edges of the tortillas have started to brown.

Plate the enchiladas and dig in!

This dish packed some heat and definitely gave me the comfort that a good old meat enchilada would have!  It was like I didn't even miss the meat!  And Andy was fully impressed with the dish too!  My little carnivore ate a vegetarian dish!  Woohoo!  Enjoy guys!