Shrimp Naan Pizzas

 Happy Monday guys!  How was everyone's weekend?!

We got a TON of work done, let me tell you.  I practically rearranged our bedroom this weekend, and I'm still not complete.  I got a couple of things to spice up the room (some artwork, flowers, etc.), so it looks like an actual bedroom, instead of a bare prison cell.  Will definitely have to post some before/after pictures tomorrow.

We're also preparing for some garden work!  We went to Lowe's (which was a madhouse!), and Andy did some mulching and yard work.  I'm planting my seeds indoors this week, and tilling up the rest of my garden bed outside, so hopefully everything will be ready for the end of this week or next.  It's so exciting having a garden!  And the spring weather is absolutely amazing too - although it's raining a tad today.

Oh, and yeah, I'm on VACATION!  It's amazing, and kind of sad having to still go to class this week, but at least that's only 2 hours out of the day for 3 days.  I can live with that.

So on to today's recipe.  Last week's naan was a big hit with you guys and I'm glad!  And the whole reason I made the naan, was so that I could make these pizzas, from the same blog (Food For My Family) that I got the naan recipe from.  If you haven't checked out Food For My Family, I highly suggest you do!  It's full of awesome goodies, definitely kid friendly too!

Ingredients:
Adapted from Food For My Family's recipe

2 tablespoons olive oil
5 cloves garlic, minced
2 pieces of naan bread
about 12 pieces of rock shrimp, cleaned
1/2 cup pecorino romano cheese, grated
1/2 cup parmesan, grated
1 teaspoon dried parsley

Preheat oven to 400F.

In a small bowl, combine olive oil and garlic.  Mix well and let sit for about 10 minutes, in order to let the flavors infuse in the oil.

Lay out naan on a baking sheet and spread about a tablespoon of the olive oil mixture on each piece.  Top each piece of naan with about 6-7 rock shrimps.  Sprinkle about 1/4 cup each of pecorino romano and parmesan on each piece, as well.  Divide the dried parsley among the two pieces of naan, also.

Bake pizzas for about 10 minutes, or until shrimp is cooked through and cheese is melted.  Let sit for about 5 minutes, to cool, and then slice into pieces.

This is a perfect appetizer for dinner parties, or if you don't want to share, you can easily eat the whole thing for a light lunch - which is what I did.  Yes, I'm selfish.  And I'm proud. =)  But I'm sharing with you... so now we're even, right?

Enjoy your Monday guys!  I know I'll be doing some homework (which I should have done this weekend!) and some more cleaning/gardening!

Pizza Frittata

Happy Monday everybody!  It was an exciting weekend for sure!

 I went to an open house for the Culinary School I applied to and learned so many cool facts about the school:

- The head of the Professional Catering department was actually one of the heads of the catering for the past 2 Olympic games.
- The school is actually one of the Top 5 best Culinary Schools in America (it's not a large school, but I actually like that)
- One of their recent graduates is the personal chef to Jimmy Kimmel.

So yeah, just some fun facts, but most of all, the open house really proved to me that this is what I really want to do with my life.  I understand the long hours and the fast paced work environment, and I want it.  There's no greater feeling than really believing in yourself!

 Anyway, today is a major day for the blog.  The first EVER video!  So enjoy me and my nerdy-ness (I'd love to hear some feedback on this!) and the recipe is below!

Ingredients:

This is some seriously delicious stuff!

1 green bell pepper, seeded and chopped
8 oz. portobello mushrooms, sliced
1 garlic clove, minced
1/4 cup Newman's Own Family Recipe Italian Dressing
6 eggs
6 oz. cream cheese, softened
salt and pepper, to taste
2 tablespoons unsalted butter
about 10-15 pepperoni slices
1/4 cup Pecorino Romano cheese, grated
Newman's Own Tomato & Basil sauce, optional

In a medium bowl, combine green bell pepper, mushrooms, and garlic.  Drizzle Newman's Own Family Recipe Italian Dressing over mixture and toss to coat.  Let sit for about 5 minutes.

Meanwhile, in another medium bowl, combine cream cheese and eggs.  Beat on medium speed until combined, about 2-3 minutes.  Season with salt and pepper.

Heat a large cast iron skillet (or other oven-proof skillet) under medium high heat and melt butter.  Add peppers and mushroom mixture.  Saute vegetables until softened, but still slightly crisp, about 5-7 minutes.  Add pepperoni and then pour in egg mixture.

Cover skillet with lid (or, in my case, if you don't have one - some foil) and cook for about 5 minutes, or until center is almost set.

Meanwhile, preheat your oven broiler on high.

Uncover foil from skillet and sprinkle Pecorino Romano cheese over top.  Carefully place skillet in oven under broiler for about 2-3 minutes, or until top is starting to brown.

Cut into slices and serve with Newman's Own Tomato & Basil sauce on the side.

Verdict?  This was "awesome" - just like Andy said.  And of course, if Andy likes it... it MUST be good!  (I know, shameless plug - go me!)  Hehe.   Hope you guys had fun, I know I sure it!  Maybe I won't be such a dork in my next video!

Happy Monday and be back tomorrow to announce the CSN giveaway winner!

Disclaimer: I was provided a Flip video camera & an assortment of Newman's Own products as part of Foodbuzz's Tastemakers Program.  The opinions and recipe in this video/blog post are my own.

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!

Homemade Pizzas

Everybody loves a good pizza pie. Throw anything you want on there and bam, the perfect pizza. But it all starts with a good dough. And a good sauce. Then you can do your thing. For this recipe, I saw a good video tutorial about tomato sauces, and within that, there was a pizza dough recipe. So I figured I'd give it a go...

Dough Ingredients:

1 & 1/4 cups warm water
1/2 teaspoon sugar
2 teaspoons instant dry yeast
2 tablespoons olive oil
1/2 cup all purpose flour
3 & 1/4 cup bread flour
2 teaspoons salt

In a large bowl, combine the water and the sugar. Sprinkle the yeast on top and wait for it to dissolve. Then add olive oil, and half of each flour. Stir a few times and add the remaining flours and salt.

Bring dough together and knead on counter top until it feels smooth. Form dough into big ball, cover lightly with olive oil, and place in bowl covered with plastic wrap. Place in fridge and leave there over night. This step is VERY important. I once only let my dough sit in the fridge for a few hours, maybe 3 or 4. NOT ENOUGH. You won't get the air pockets or the texture of a perfect pizza! Trust me, this is not a step you want to cut corners on! Or you'll regret it. There's my warning, what you do after this is not my fault.

Dough will be about double in size the next day.

Tomato Sauce Ingredients:

1 can crushed San Marzano tomatoes
2 garlic cloves, thinly sliced
1 teaspoon salt
freshly ground black pepper
4-5 basil leaves, roughly torn
1 tablespoon olive oil

Combine all ingredients in medium bowl, and there you have it, pizza sauce. Simple, right?!

Roll out dough to about 8-10 inch rounds. Roll it out pretty thin. You can be all fancy and spread it out with your fingers, but I took the rolling pin approach because I tend to be hasty with the other method and always end up with holes.

The topping of the pizzas are pretty much up to your own preference.

Personally, I made three pizzas all together, the dough will make four, but with the fourth ball I made breadsticks because I had TONS of left over sauce. And 3 pizzas was way more than enough for the two of us.
Two of the pizzas were prosciutto, mozzarella, and parmesan.


The 3rd pizza was a sinful mouthful of heat. I had some shredded chicken, buffalo sauce, cheddar and mozzarella cheese, and Serrano peppers.


Make sure you put a THIN layer of tomato sauce on the pizzas. Too many people put too much sauce and it weighs AND waters down the pizza. In other words... it won't be perfect and it won't cook properly.

Preheat oven to 450 degrees and cook each pizza for about 10 minutes or until done to your liking. And no, I didn't have a pizza stone, I just put the pizzas on a baking sheet, but I'm sure they would have been even better on a stone, but you have to improvise when you have little to work with. Enjoy!