Cheesy Garlic Bread with Pizza Dough!

We've had some pizza dough in the fridge that we have just been putting off using. Today I was making soup and thought it would be nice to have some bread with it - but I didn't want to go to the store.  I decided to try for some cheesy garlic bread.  WOW!

Delicious.

Ingredients
1lb refrigerated pizza dough, at room temperature
3-4 cloves garlic
2 T butter
1/4 C parmesan cheese, shredded
1 C mozzarella cheese, shredded
flour for rolling

Directions
1. Preheat a pizza stone or upside down cookie sheet in the oven to the highest setting (450-500 degrees)
2. Cut a piece of parchment paper the size of your stone and flour it
3. Roll/Stretch the dough out into the shape of your stone - ours is a rectangle on your parchment paper
4. Crush garlic into a bowl and combine with butter
5. Butter the dough with the garlic/butter mixture
6. Sprinkle the cheese over the butter
7. Bake for 10-15 minutes until cheese is bubbly and dough is cooked through
8. Cut and serve warm

Snake Bite

For some reason this year I'm really into Halloween Food. I became a bit obsessed with some Jello last week that I hope to make and then someone posted a drink recipe that sounds fun, and then I came across Snake Bite Calzone. A recipe I made once before for a Halloween party at work, I remembered it being very good.

And boy was it easy!  30 minutes and on the table--plus no real dishes!

Ingredients
1 tube refrigerated pizza dough (we used Artisan whole wheat)
1 package pepperoni (about 30 pieces needed)
3/4 C mozzarella cheese (we used the new kraft one that has cream cheese in it, melty)
1/2 C ricotta cheese
Yellow & Blue food coloring
1 egg white
cooking spray
pizza or marinara sauce for serving

Directions
PREHEAT THE OVEN TO 350
1. Unroll the pizza dough and roll it out a little bit more so it is big
2. Lay pepperoni in rows along the dough leaving a 1 inch border
3. Mix together cheese and place dollops over the pepperoni
4. Roll lengthwise into a snake, pinch the ends
5. Spray a baking sheet and place the snake so it looks like he's slithering across the tray
6. Cut a piece of pepperoni for the forked tongue and eyes
7. Put one drop of yellow food coloring in the egg white, paint the snake. Add 1 drop of blue coloring and stir. Paint the snake green. Be sure to attach the eyes and tongue if you haven't already.
8. Bake for about 30 minutes until golden brown
9. Warm pizza sauce and serve with the snake

This is enough for 4 with a salad or some other vegetable/fruit side

Variations: We liked this with no changes but it would be good with a little garlic inside or maybe some spices if you want to add some variety.

Pizza Dough Breadsticks

As you know, Trader Joe's is not my favorite ever store. However, I was moved to go there last week to pick up some cookie butter.  I was hungry and picked up a whole slew of other ingredients including their world-famous pre-made pizza dough.

Little known fact: Joey and I have not once been successful at pizza making.  It's true, I know it's tough to even fathom being such cooks and bakers.  We can't believe it either.  Every time we try to roll out the dough it springs back into a small round.  When we finally have it so we think something else goes wrong and our pizzas aren't anything close to the likes of our favorite neighborhood shop.

So when I bought the pizza dough I was a little bit hesitant.  But I got it all the same. Then later in the week I picked up some toppings with every intention of making pizza.  By Monday night we still had no pizza and we decided to just order some because we'd been craving it for days!

With pizza already out for dinner (since we just had it), I knew I had to come up with something to use this pizza dough.  Tonight Joey had to work late so I didn't want to make anything to crazy-complicated for dinner. Plus, we really didn't have any food except the ingredients for pizza and canned goods.

As a result I decided on a light dinner of soup and breadsticks.  I would make breadsticks with the pizza dough.  Has anyone ever done this before I wondered?  I went to my old friend google and searched for "pizza dough breadsticks" nearly the first post was a favorite blog of mine "Playing House" with a recipe for pizza dough breadsticks using TJs dough!

After following the directions and letting the dough rest it was too sticky to roll so I added some flour.  Then I tried again.  I had the same terrible rolling results as usual. Luckily breadsticks are forgiving!  I rolled it to whatever I thought might be big enough, brushed with olive oil, sprinkled on some oregeno, garlic powder and a dash of salt.  I also added a quick shred of Parmesan.  I baked my whole-wheat sticks for 14 minutes and came up with a glorious warm side dish for my soup.  So delicious!  I highly recommend you skip the pizza next time and make these.

New Product - DiGiorno Pizza & Cookies

I'm really interested in new product news--particularly food products, but anything will do. I love to hear what marketers come up with next to make more money. So I had already heard of DiGiorno's new idea to partner up with Nestle and offer a frozen box with pizza & cookies and I went to the frozen pizza aisle particularly to look for the product.

Don't you think pizza & cookies is a brilliant idea? Perfect for any sleepover. They also offer pizza & breadsticks combo and a pizza & wyngz combo (apparently they don't qualify as wings).

I had a most embarrassing experience buying this product. I was walking through the grocery store filling my cart and considering whether or not I should get the pizza/cookie combo. Suddenly I looked up and recognized someone in the store, we said our hellos--it was Alex, an employee at our favorite pizza parlor. Since that is the only Pizza Parlor we now frequent, a lot of the employees know us--but Alex especially. I was immediately embarrassed that I was thinking of getting a frozen pizza but I tried to act cool. Then I went over and got the pizza.

I saw Alex again as I was getting into line...I purposely chose a different line so she wouldn't know I was buying the frozen pizza. I was behind her in another line--I was safe. And then it was my turn and they scanned the pizza and then the bagger announced to the checker at the next stand (the manager, the one working with Alex), "Pizza & Cookies? In the same box?! This is great!" I know our pizza employee heard, I know she knew it was me and I expect to hear about it next time we go in.

But back to the Pizza. The pizza took 20 minutes to cook, it was actually pretty good. The crust was bready which is how I like it, the sauce was flavorful, the textures were great, honestly this was the best frozen pizza I've ever had. The cookies are just the same as the Nestle dough you get in the refrigerated section and those cookies always turn out well.

I highly recommend this *healthy* and innovative new product for your next sleepover.

(but don't tell your local pizza parlor)

Grilled Vegetarian Pizzas

One of my coworkers mentioned that they made eggplant Parmesan over the weekend. Immediately, I started craving eggplant. But here's the crazy thing, I don't even like eggplant! Then Joey got invited to a work dinner to celebrate the end of THE PROJECT tonight and so I had the opportunity to make some of the purple stuff and see whether or not I actually liked it.

Then I was looking at this new site KitchenDaily and I read a recipe about using pitas as the bread for pizzas and then also using the grill to make said pizzas! We have a grill AND pitas. Well actually I had to buy the pitas but whatever. I decided while in the store that a good pizza combo would be grilled eggplant, tomatoes, olive oil, shredded mozzarella, and goat cheese. It was pretty easy to make these and they were pretty good except that I may have cooked the pitas a little long because they were very crispy but I would make these again.

Grilled Vegetarian Pizza (2 pizzas)
2 Japanese eggplants (these are the small ones), sliced into coins about 1/4 inch thick
2 handfuls mozzarella cheese
Desired slices of goat cheese
1 plum tomato, sliced into coins
2 whole wheat pitas
olive oil
salt and pepper

Directions
1. Douse eggplant with oil, salt and pepper. Grill coins over regular heat (I've never used anything besides 400 on our grill) for about 3 minutes a side. These are hard to flip, be careful not to drop them in the grates
2. Remove eggplant from grill and set aside (keep warm)
3. Brush pita with oil on both sides. Grill for 30 seconds. Remove from grill and flip over so grilled side is up
4. Top with some of the mozzarella, eggplant, tomatoes, goat cheese, and more cheese
5. Place pitas on grill and grill about 3 minutes (covered) or until cheese is melted. Enjoy!

Hawaiian Pizza

The holidays have ended and we have a half ham hanging out in our fridge begging to be eaten. Not a fan of straight-up ham, I scoured the internet today in search of recipes in which to use the leftovers. The problem is that a lot of leftover ham recipes look disgusting or bring back painful memories. Ham salad is not my friend.

While searching the internet I came across a Von's ad telling me ideas to do with my leftovers. What a great idea! I searched the site and came across Hawaiian Pizza. The recipe seemed easy enough so I went to the store (and felt bad because Von's wasn't on the way so I didn't go there), got the ingredients and set to work. Our pizza didn't cook perfectly and for the second time I opened a can of Pillsbury Pizza Dough with a hole in it. I totally should've gone for the store brand. But, the pizza turned out edible and a "pretty good" from the toughest critics.

Next time I will:
Better drain the pineapple and make sure they aren't extra wet
Bake the pizza at 450 (instead of 400), despite my pan being non-stick it doesn't qualify as dark
Make sure the cheese is melted

Hawaiian Pizza
1/2 cup pizza sauce (I used the pre-made kind near the Boboli display)
2 C mozzarella cheese
1 C diced ham
1 can chopped pineapples in their own juice
1 pizza crust
Crushed Red Pepper (optional)

Directions:
-Pre-heat the oven to 450
-Spray a cookie sheet with cooking spray. Spread the refrigerated dough in a rectangle on the prepared sheet.
-Spread pizza sauce (you may want a little more) on the dough leaving a half inch or less edge.
-Reserve 1/4 cup of cheese. Sprinkle the remaining cheese over the sauce. Add the ham and pineapple chunks on top. Sprinkle with the reserved cheese.
-Bake according to the can directions 13-17 minutes until crust is golden and cheese is melted
-Slide off the pan to a wood board and let sit a few minutes before cutting, serve.

Fresh Tomato Tart with Basil-Garlic Crust

Tastespotting, is a picture food blog that I browse whenever I am hungry. Recently, while browsing, I came across Ezra Poundcake's recipe for Fresh Tomato tart. I had been seeing lots of tarts lately and was eager to give it a try. Furthermore, it is tomato season, and I have recently found this heirloom tomato seller at the Farmer's Market for good prices.

I decided that it would be a smart idea to make the dough and the actual tart on different days. Pie crust (or in this case tart) is not my strongest subject. The dough, however, was pretty easy. However, they say it is ready when it forms a ball. This recipe calls for 4 T of water but mine formed a ball after only 2 T. Not knowing what to do, I added the additional water and my dough was somewhat of a sticky mess by the end. Probably I should've stopped at 2. After refrigeration, however, the dough was back to normal.

Rolling out the dough, also a weak subject, was really hard. Again the dough became a sticky mess. I ended up finally getting it by rolling the dough between two well floured pieces of plastic wrap and then getting in the tart pan.

This dish was absolutely fabulous when I tasted it after 5 minutes from the oven. The flavors highly depend on good tomatoes, but it is worth it. This is not enough for a full meal but would make a superb appetizer or bread side with roast chicken...or anything else really. After being in the refrigerator, the quality suffers a little but the flavors are still there. I recommend eating it all the first night.

Basil - Garlic Tart Dough
Ingredients:
1/3 C fresh basil
1 clove garlic
1 1/4 C flour
1/2 t salt
8 T unsalted butter, chilled, cut into 8 to 10 pieces
4-5 T ice water

Directions:
1. Process basil and garlic in a food processor until finely chopped. Add flour and salt and pulse to combine.
2. Add butter and pulse about 10 times until the mixture resembles pea-sized crumbs.
3. Add water 1 T at a time while pulsing until the mixture forms a ball
4. Flatten dough into a 5 inch disk. Wrap in plastic and refrigerate for at least an hour (I put my plastic-wrapped dough in a ziploc bag and refrigerated it for 3 days).

Fresh Tomato Tart
Ingredients:
1 recipe Basil-Garlic Tart Dough
8 oz sliced mozzarella
1 pound tomatoes, cored and cut crosswise into thin slices (I don't know how to core an heirloom tomato so I cut some in chunks, but the ones in slices were way prettier
Salt and pepper
1 T extra virgin olive oil
10 inch tart pan with removable bottom (my tart pan is 9.5 inches and worked fine)

Directions:
1. Butter the tart pan. Roll out dough into 12 inch circle and press into the tart pan, refrigerate if your kitchen is hot until needed.
2. Preheat oven to 375 degrees.
3. Line the bottom of the tart pan with cheese slices
4. Place a ring of tomatoes around the outside of the pan and another inner circle until all cheese is topped with tomatoes
5. Sprinkle with salt, pepper and oil
6. Bake until crust is golden brown (it looks a little green from the basil) and cheese is starting to brown--about 35-40 minutes. Cool for at least 5 minutes before serving

Deep Dish Pizza

Day three was a real test. My commute was a half hour longer because of an accident on the major interchange. I re-routed and took a decidedly round about way home a little farther north than I needed to be. I got home at 7, and I was tired and hungry and I was wishing for Joey to say I didn't have to cook. But he didn't, he told me he'd be right over. And so I kept with my pact and cooked.

After two so-so recipe's from Robin Miller's Quick Fix Meals, I knew that this one had to be delicious. The surprise was that it was delicious and very very easy and quick. This was the perfect meal to make when I was tired, it used hardly any dishes to boot!

The recipe calls for 1 pound of pizza dough, but Pillsbury refrigerated dough comes in at slightly under. Instead of buying two rolls, I decided to just go with one. I knew that I could get 1 pound of dough at Trader Joe's but then I would have to roll it out. Pillsbury dough is pre-rolled. Unfortunately, my roll of Pillsbury dough had a hole in it! This presented a problem in trying to divide it into two--it was far less dough than it should have been. As a result my two perfect pizzas became one perfect pizza and one puny kid sister. Portion-wise it was a good size for me.

Deep Dish Pizza
Ingredients:
1 pound pizza dough
1 14.5 oz can diced tomatoes (I bet the ones with Italian seasoning or garlic would add something)
2 T tomato paste
1 t oregano
salt
1 C mozzerella cheese
2 T parmesan cheese, shredded
Assorted toppings (I used pepperoni and bell peppers)
*Robin suggested picking up assorted chopped veggies from the salad bar--had I gone to the store before the salad bar was closed, I would have jumped on this idea!)

Directions:
-Preheat oven to 450F
-spray two 9 inch round cake pans with cooking spray
-Spread pizza dough (divided in two) evenly over the bottom (the non holey piece was easy as pie to spread)
-In a small bowl mix together tomatoes, tomato paste, and oregano. Add salt to taste.
-With a rubber spatula, spread the sauce over the dough
-Sprinkle both cheeses over the sauce
-Add toppings as desired
-Sprinkle with a little bit of the remaining cheese if desired
-Bake for 10-12 minutes until crust is golden brown and cheese is bubbly
-Let sit for 1-2 minutes allowing cheese to set

*It was easy to get the pizza whole out of the pan but not easy to cut it inside the pan. Try moving the whole pizza to a wooden cutting board and serving it at the table for a rustic look

Mexican Pita Appetizer

They may call it an appetizer, but, it was my dinner tonight. The only good thing about Jake missing dinner is that I can make something for myself that he wouldn't consider a dinner! One day last week we had Gyros & I noticed a recipe on the back of the Kronos Pita container that looked simple & good. I make a small adjustment to the recipe & added in some chicken. If I didn't already know that the dough was a pita, I wouldn't have been able to tell. It got crispy in the right places & was very tasty. I would definitely make this again. Next time maybe I will do a BBQ chicken pita/pizza! Oh... & I used my previous salsa post for my salsa.

Click to enlarge:

Grilled Pizza

One of my New Year's Resolutions was to make at least one new dish a month. Recently, I saw Bobby Flay make pizza on the grill and I decided to explore homemade pizza. However, it is not something that you can easily make for one so I invited Kath and Greg over to share my initial pizza venture. I think you will find many "layers of flavor" in this recipe. It got rave reviews so it is on the 'make again' list.

This is one of four small pizzas that the recipe made -- it was very filling so I had the final piece for lunch the next day (reheated at high temperature in the oven).

Grilled Pizza with Hot Sausage, Grilled Peppers and Onions and Oregano Ricotta (Bobby Flay recipe from Food Network website)

1/2 lb Italian hot sausage
1 large red onion, cut into 1/4 inch thick slices (keep rings together for grilling)
2 large yellow pepper and 2 large red peppers -- cored, seeded and quartered (I actually used 1 orange, 1 red and 2 green peppers)
Olive oil
salt and pepper
1 recipe pizza dough rolled into 4 (6 inch) rounds (I used Pillsbury in a tube and divided into four quarters)
1/2 lb grated fontina cheese
1 cup ricotta
2 T extra-virgin olive oil
2 T chopped fresh oregano
Basil vinaigrette, recipe follows

Preheat a grill. Grill sausage on both sides until golden brown and cooked through, about 10 minutes per side (I actually precook the sausage in water or beer so it takes much less time to cook on grill and tends to stay moister). Brush onions and peppers with the oil and season with salt and pepper. Grill until soft, about 3-4 minutes per side. Remove the sausage from the grill and slice into 1/4 inch thick slices. Remove the onions, separate into rings and roughly chop. Remove the peppers and slice into 1/8 inch thick slices. (My peppers were somewhat charred but that was fine -- they tasted delicious).

Heat grill to high. Brush dough with olive oil, season with salt and pepper and grill for 2-3 minutes or until golden brown. Turn over and grill for 1-2 minutes. Remove from the grill and place on a flat surface. (To get on the grill, I sprayed a piece of foil with cooking spray and then put the pizza dough on it. At the grill I flipped the foil over to get the dough on the grill -- I did have to rearrange the dough slightly but it wasn't a problem)

Divide the fontina cheese among the 4 pizza rounds. Divide the sausage, onions and peppers over the cheese. Place the pizza on the grill, close the cover and grill until the cheese has melted, about 3-4 minutes. (you can finish in the oven, but why??? -- 450 degrees for 5-10 minutes on sheet pan)

Mix together the ricotta, extra-virgin olive oil and oregano in a small bowl and season with salt and pepper to taste. Remove the pizzas from the grill/oven and drizzle with Basil vinaigrette. Top with dollops of the ricotta cheese mixture and let rest for 5 minutes. Slice and serve.

Basil Vinaigrette
1/2 cup fresh basil leaves
1/4 cup white wine vinegar
1 T honey
salt and freshly ground black pepper
1/2 olive oil

Combine all ingredients and blend until smooth. Adjust seasoning with salt and pepper to taste.