Home Made Pizza = Awesome

 I am sure that it is no surprise that I love cooking. I am also a big believer in not paying for anything that I can make at home myself. Today I will bid adieu to all the local and non- local pizza establishments because thanks to Pinterest (another one of my addictions) I found a recipe for great and very easy pizza dough from the blog Kayotic Kitchen. I am so excited I could make more but I really should not for obvious health reasons. Anywhoo here is a nice and easy recipe to make good use of your new found pizza dough making skills.

Semi-Healthy Home Made Cheese Pizza

Pizza Dough (Follow recipe. It will make about 2 medium size pizzas)

Sauce/Base
2 TBSP Butter
3 Small Green Onions (finley sliced)
4 Large Garlic Cloves (minced)
1 Large Carrot (Sliced into 1/4 inch pieces)
2 1/2 Medium Red Peppers (Blanched and skin and seeds removed)

Toppings
2 Cups Shredded Mozzarella Cheese (Whole or skim, your choice)
Add whatever else your heart desires

Preheat oven 350 degrees Fahrenheit.

Divide the pizza dough into two balls  and roll out in whatever shape you prefer. Place on baking sheets lined with parchment paper.

Place 1 TBSP of butter in a frying pan heating it on medium heat to melt. Add the green onions and garlic and saute until well cooked and fragrant.

Place the carrot and red peppers in a food processor adding in the sauted garlic and green onions. Process until all the ingredients are finely ground.

Place the remaining TBSP of butter in the frying pan and saute your paste for about 10 minutes until it reaches a paste consistency.

Once you have your pizza dough rolled out to your satisfaction bush the edges with olive oil. Divide the carrot and pepper mixture in half. Spread on the pizza dough evenly.

 

Divide your cheese in half and sprinkle over each of your prepared pizzas.

Place in the oven one pizza at a time and bake for about 20 to 25 minutes or until the cheese starts to bubble and the edges of the dough start to brown.

Allow to cool for five minutes, cut and serve. 

This recipe is also a great way to get the kiddies eating their veggies and they will love it. My daughter is a really picky eater and she gobbled it up.

Enjoy :)

Chicken Lasagna

This recipe is very special to me because it was one of the things I always loved that my mom made (even though mine will never come close to how good my mom's is). This is the one that I would always request she make on my birthday. Here is my recipe.

Chicken Lasagna

9 inch by 12 inch Baking Dish
Lasagna pasta sheets (you will need enough for a base layer, 3 layers of filling in between and for the top)
3 large Chicken Breast Halves
3 Cups Chicken Stock/Broth 
2 TBSP Olive Oil
2 Plum Tomatoes (Seeded, pealed and finely diced)
1 Large Shallot (Thinly sliced and diced)
5 Cloves of Garlic (Thinly sliced)
2 Green Onions (Thinly sliced)
1/2 Red Pepper (Finely diced)
1 Large Carrot (Grated)
1 lb Shredded Mozzarella Cheese
2 Cups Ricotta Cheese
1 Cup Freshly Grated Parmesan Cheese
Bechamel Sauce (see recipe at end)


Preheat oven at 390 degrees Fahrenheit.

Start by heating your chicken stock  in a medium pot add the chicken breasts and allow to cook through. Once cooked through, remove the breasts from the broth and allow to cool. When they have cooled off shred them as you would pulled pork (you want long stringy pieces).

In a large pan heat your olive oil and add the tomatoes, shallot, garlic, green onions, red pepper and carrot and cook until the onions become translucent. (If your mixture starts to dry out a bit add a bit of the chicken stock used to cook the chicken breasts). Add salt and pepper to taste.

Add the chicken to the vegetable mixture making sure to incorporate the chicken evenly and allowing the vegetable base to coat it. Once this is done set it aside.

In a bowl combine the ricotta and Parmesan cheeses until the Parmesan is evenly distributed into the ricotta. Set it aside.

Now start getting your pasta sheets ready in a large pot of boiling water with a pinch of salt and olive oil (I find it best to cook the pasta in batches on a per layer basis because it prevents the pasta from over cooking). 

Get your baking dish ready by greasing the bottom of it with a little olive oil. Start by laying down a layer of pasta at the bottom. Add half of the chicken and vegetable mix onto the layer of pasta making sure to distribute it evenly. Add the bechamel sauce on top of the chicken vegetable mixture (this will insure that your chicken will not dry out) and top out with a sprinkling of grated mozzarella. Now add another layer of pasta. The next layer is going to be your ricotta Parmesan cheese mixture distributed thinly and evenly. Add another layer of pasta and add the remaining half of your chicken vegetable mixture. Top this layer off with Bechamel sauce and a sprinkling of shredded Mozzarella. Add the last layer of pasta and add the rest of the shredded Mozzarella.

Place your baking dish at the center of your oven and allow the lasagna to cook until you see the ingredients bubbling and the mozzarella on top starts to brown. About 20-30 minutes.

Once ready remove from oven and allow it to rest for at least 15 minutes. Serve and enjoy


Bechamel Sauce (my version at least)

2 Cups Chicken Stock/Broth (you can use the stock/broth used to cook the chicken breasts)
1/4 Cup Heavy Cream
1/4 Cup Flour
Pinch of Nutmeg
Salt and Pepper to taste (if necessary)

In a medium sauce pot, heat up your chicken stock/broth and heavy cream on medium heat until they they start to lightly simmer. Start sifting in the flour while whisking it into the broth and cream. Whisk until you are satisfied that there are no lumps and the flour has been well incorporated into the wet ingredients. Add the pinch of nutmeg. Allow to cook for about five additional minutes stirring frequently. Remove from heat and set aside to be used when needed)

Empanadas

Well it took me long enough but here I am again. As promised I told you I would be delving into my South American roots so here we go. This is a super easy recipe that I concocted from watching my step aunt Lila and my mom make Argentinian style empanadas. I did not make the dough for the empanada exterior (I promise we will get into it at a later date). I just wanted to make sure that you knew that there is an easy way to make these tasty treats so that you can enjoy them rather than feeling spent after making them. Anywhoo here is my little tutorial for how to make these delicious treats:

Ingredients:

2 Packs Goya(or insert your brand here) dough for Turnover Pastries (there are 10 in each pack - find them in the frozen food section)

Filling:

1-2 TBSP Olive Oil

1 Plum tomato (finely diced)

1/2 Large red pepper (finely diced)

3-4 Cloves of garlic (minced)

1/2 Large white/sweet onion (finely diced)

1 Green onion (finely diced)

1 TBSP fresh cilantro/coriander (finely cut)

1 tsp Cumin

2 large chicken breasts (cooked and shredded)

1 Large Yukon Gold potato(cooked and cubed)

1 Hard boiled egg (chopped into very small pieces) 

Salt and Pepper to taste

In a large pan heat your olive oil at medium high heat. Add in all your vegetables and coat them with the oil. Saute your veggies until they have started rendering juices and the onions are starting to become translucent. 

Add the cilantro and cumin and stir to distribute them evenly. 

Add the shredded chicken breasts and potato. Stir in to distribute them evenly and to allow the vegetables and their juices to coat them.

Add the hard boiled egg to the mixture and stir to distribute evenly.

Add Salt and Pepper to suit your taste. 

Once you are happy with the taste take the pan off the heat and let it rest while you get your pastry disks lined up and ready to receive the filling. Make sure that your filling is still moist but not drenched in liquid from the vegetables as this will make it difficult for you to keep the pastry together.

Now it is time for the step by step on how to put these lovelies together. 

Place your pastry disk on the counter and spoon about 

1 1/2 TBSP at the center of the disk

Gently fold your pastry disk in half making sure to 

press the edges firmly together.

Press firmly down on the edges with a fork, 

starting at the center and moving outward

 Once you have completed these steps with all your pastry disks you are ready to either fry or bake these. I chose frying because although I like a baked empanada, there is something about frying these that makes them taste the way I remember them from earlier years in my life (yes I am older than I care to remember). 

If you choose to fry them make sure to use peanut oil/ safflower oil, something with a high heating temperature in order to make sure your home does not turn into a smoky mess. Use about 2 cups of oil in a frying pan about 9 inches in diameter at medium heat or just a little bit above this (you do not want your oil to get too hot or you will have burnt empanadas in no time). Also you want enough oil to immerse the empanadas to allow them to cook and be turned over to get them to a nice golden brown so if 2 cups is not enough for your pan, add a little more.

If you choose to bake these make sure you line your baking sheets with parchment paper and give your empanadas a nice egg wash. Turn your oven on at 350 degrees Fahrenheit and bake the empanadas until they are a golden brown. 

Here is the final result for the fried ones

Like I mentioned in one of my previous posts, there are quite a lot of different styles of empanadas so we will be having a little more fun with these as the year progresses. For now I hope you try these and that you enjoy them as much as my husband and I did.