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Pizzette

As a disclaimer this dish is in no way healthy! However, it is super delicious! It is fried dough with pizza sauce, basil and mozzarella cheese.

Ingredients:

Fried dough:
3 cups bread flour (sifted) and a little extra for kneading
Dash of salt
1 tbsp fast raising yeast
1/4 cup of vegetable oil
1 cup of water (110 degrees exactly)
1/2 tsp of sugar
Olive oil

Pizzette:
Fried dough
Pizza Sauce/Pasta Sauce
Fresh Basil leaves
Fresh Mozzarella cheese sliced

If you are not blessed with a kitchen aid mixer, which I am not, here what you do to make the dough:

To make the dough you combine the sifted flour and salt in a large mixing bowl. Form a well in the mixture and add the yeast and sugar into it. Pour the 110 degree (you need this temp to activate the yeast) water into the yeast/sugar well. Add in the vegetable oil and stir vigorously. Side note: this is a great arm workout! Add in more water or oil depending on the texture you are getting from your dough. It should be a little sticky, but not too dry. Too dry add some water, too sticky add a little vegetable oil. Too moist add a little flour. I suggest mixing with a spoon initially and then your hands.

Once the texture is right, take the dough out of the bowl onto your floured surface and start kneading. Fold the dough into itself and put some muscle into it. You should do this about 5 to 10 mins.

Oil a medium sized mixing bowl with the olive oil (not too much, but just enough). Put your kneaded dough into and turn twice to coat in the oil. Cover bowl with plastic wrap and a clean dry kitchen towel and let raise for an hour. (Sorry this is a slow process). After an hour punch raised dough down, recover and let raise again for another 30 to 45 mins (I find 45 mins helps the dough to get fluffier). This can also be made a day or two ahead of time, just let it sit out of the fridge about 30 to 45 minutes prior to cooking so that it raises and warms again.

Fried dough:
Once the dough is done raising, break off baseball size pieces (or smaller) and flatten out on a floured surface. Once the dough is shaped and flattened, heat over medium heat a mixture of vegetable oil and olive oil in a frying pan. Sprinkle some flour into the oil to see if hot enough (it will make that frying sound and dissolve). Add in your dough and fry a few minutes per side. Dough will puff as it is cooked. Set on a wire rake to remove excess oil.

Pizzette:

Heat sauce in sauce pan. Grease a baking sheet or two. Take freshly fried dough and put on greased baking sheet. Add a piece of mozzarella, ladle on sauce and add one or two leaves of basil. Add some salt and pepper. Then place pan on top rack of oven with the broiler on high. Heat long enough for the cheese to melt.

I suggest eating these right out of the oven! Buon appetite!

Mamma Mia Chicken

So my boyfriend and I had another Costco run and once again he put the giant package of chicken thighs in the cart. This left me with the challenge of trying to find a healthy way to cook them. My previous post with the breaded ranch chicken thighs is not the healthiest of ways, but very tasty. However, we really are trying to get in the best shape possible and eat cleaner. This recipe does not really have a name, it is just something that came to me one day. However, you can use this recipe with any chicken part (breasts, wings, legs, etc). I have done it with both chicken breasts and thighs.

Sidenote: I always trim the fat off of the chicken thighs even if you are not really suppose to.

Ingredients:
1 15 oz or larger can of whole peeled tomatoes, blend half of the can and reserve the other half
1 medium to large onion, sliced
1 to 2 packages of chicken thighs (or other parts of chicken)
1 bag of frozen green beans/peas/okra/etc (use whichever green vegetable you prefer)
3 cloves of garlic, cut
Parsley and basil
salt
pepper
Parmigiano reggiano cheese, grated

Preheat the oven to 425 degrees. Clean your chicken, trim fat, etc. Blend one half of the whole peeled tomatoes in the blender to make a sauce. Pour both the blended tomatoes and the reserve whole peeled tomatoes in a baking dish. Cut the whole peeled tomatoes into chunks (any desired size will do). Add in your garlic and onions. Then stir in your green vegetables (pictured below is green beans), parsley, basil, and salt and pepper.
Add in your chicken thighs next and spoon some of the sauce over them. Bake in the oven for an hour to an hour and 15 mins. Chicken thighs/breasts should be 160 degrees internally when done. Sprinkle with parmigiano reggiano cheese and serve over rice or pasta. Enjoy!

Chicken prior to baking

Old Fashion Chili

Happy New Year! Sorry I have been MIA. We just had our first winter storm and its freezing, which puts me in the mood for some chili!

Ingredients:

1 can (28 oz) Whole Peeled Tomatoes
1 can (10 oz) Diced Tomatoes & Green Chilies, drained (You can use 2 if you like)
1 or 2 cans Red Kidney Beans, drained
1 Green Pepper, chopped
1 Medium Onion, chopped
2 lbs Ground Beef
Garlic Powder
Chili Powder
Cumin
Salt and Pepper

Brown ground beef in a large pot. After mostly brown and in chopped green pepper and onion. Make sure you have drained most of the beef juice before adding in the veggies. While that's cooking, rinse and drain your kidney beans. Also, add the can of whole peeled tomatoes into the blender and blend. Should be a little thick, but not watery.

Season your beef and veggie mixture with garlic powder, chili powder, and cumin to taste. My boyfriend is not a fan of cumin so I do not put too much in since it can be potent. Then add your drained beans and drained diced tomatoes and chilies. Stir together. Add in your blended tomatoes and stir. Season with more garlic and chili powder, and salt and pepper. Cover and let shimmer on low/medium heat for at least an hour. I usually keep mine cooking for 2 hours to ensure all flavors pop. But will be ready as soon as an hour. If you really like spice add in a little Cayenne pepper.

Serve with shredded Cheddar cheese and sour cream. Or with crackers! And Enjoy!

Stewed White Beans with Spinach and Bacon

This next recipe comes from one of my favorite Food Network chefs, Rachel Ray. I have varied from this recipe just a bit, to make it a little more healthy. It is a perfect 30 minute meal for those chilly nights!

Ingredients:

• 8 slices of bacon; Rachel Ray calls for regular bacon, but I like to use turkey bacon or low-sodium bacon
• 1 pound baby red-skinned potatoes, cut into cubes (I don't put this in my recipe all the time, the picture below is minus potatoes)
• 1/2 to whole onion, roughly chopped
• 2 15 oz cans of cannellini beans, rinsed
• 1 cup low sodium chicken broth
• 2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
• Salt and peper
• 2 cups packed baby spinach
• 2 to 3 scallions, thinly sliced
• 1/2 cup grated parmesan cheese

In a large skillet, cook the bacon over medium heat, turning halfway through, until just crisp; drain on a paper-towel-lined plate. Discard all but 2 tablespoons of the bacon grease from skillet. If you want a little healthier version, do not reserve any grease and instead use olive oil. 

Return the skillet to medium-high heat, add the potatoes (if using potatoes) and cook, stirring occasionally, until golden. If not using potatoes, add in the onion and cook until softened, about 5 minutes. Stir in the beans, chicken broth and lemon juice; season with salt and pepper. Simmer until almost all liquid is absorbed. 

Stir in spinach and cook until wilted. Crumble the bacon on top and sprinkle with the scallions and parmesan. Serves 4! 

Baked Ranch Chicken Thighs

Have you ever gone to one of those Superstores (like Costco) and purchased the Chicken Thighs? Yes, the same chicken thighs that has 10 packages in it! Well in a recent trip, my boyfriend threw this into the cart and I have to admit the idea of 5 meals of bbq chicken thighs made me depressed (such a boring meal)! So I sent him on a mission to find me some marinades! We tried the diced tomatoes and veggie baked chicken thighs, which was delicious! But a less healthy version is always more fun!

Ingredients:

• 5-10 chicken thighs (fat trimmed)
• Bread crumbs (for dragging chicken in)
• Ranch dressing (regular, low fat, or non-fat)
• Paprika
• Ground Pepper 

Preheat oven to 375 degrees. 

Mix together bread crumbs, paprika, and pepper in shallow bowl. In a separate bowl put in enough ranch dressing for coating.

After trimming fat off chicken dip in ranch dressing to coat throughly. Then drag chicken in bread crumbs. Place in a baking dish. After finish, bake chickens in oven for 1 hour and 15 mins. Serves about 4.

Serve chicken with some garlic parmigiano green beans! Yummy!

Before cooking

After 

Baked Mostaccioli with ground sausage

One of the downsides to moving away from home is not being able to eat my Nonna's Baked Mostaccioli! So my boyfriend and I began to experiment and came up with our own version! We have made this a few versions of this and all have been excellent! We like to add in any ingredients we can get our hands on! So if you don't want meat, sauté some vegetables! Our first attempt you chopped up mushrooms, peppers, capers and sliced black olives!

The other night we were at the grocery store and purchased the ground sausage since it was on sale. So here is the recipe!
Ingredients:

• 1 lb of mostaccioli (any tubed pasta will do, like penne)
• about 20 oz of pasta sauce (see recipe below)
• 1 lb of ground sausage
• 1 medium onion, chopped
• about 4 cups of shredded mozzarella cheese
• grated parmigiano reggiano cheese (your preference)

Brown the meat in a large sauce pan with the chopped onions. Stir in the sauce and cook on medium heat. Cook the pasta as directed on package. 

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees or if you prefer the broiler on high. 

When the pasta is cooked, drain and mix with sauce. Use your discretion on the amount. You want to coat the pasta, but if you like more sauce then use all. If you don't use all of the sauce, don't worry put reserve in tupperware and freeze! 

In a 13x9 baking dish, spoon the first layer of the pasta, evenly. Then sprinkler 2 cups of mozzarella cheese over the pasta and sprinkle the parmigiano reggiano cheese. Spoon the top layer of pasta over cheese, evenly. Again atop with the rest of the mozzarella and some parmigiano. Put the mostaccioli in the oven and melt and brown the cheese. About 15 mins. Use your discretion. Let sit at least 10 mins, then cut and serve! *Great make ahead and freeze meal* 

Pasta sauce recipe

Ingredients:

• 1 can 20 oz crushed tomatoes
• 1 can 15 oz puree tomatoes
• handful of fresh basil
• chopped parsley
• chopped garlic
• olive oil
• salt
• ground pepper
• red pepper flakes (if desired)

Saute the garlic in olive oil in a large sauce pan. Add in the crushed tomatoes, and puree tomatoes. Stir in basil leaves, chopped parsley, salt and pepper (to taste), if desired red pepper flakes. Let warm for at least an hour. If your sauce is not sweet enough add in 1/2 tsp of sugar. 

Enjoy!