Focaccia

Hi all. Sorry the photo's aren't that great quality, It's been a while since I picked up a camera and there was so much going on at the party, it was hard to concentrate on taking good photos.

I'm here with the highlights from Meshy's birthday party. It was so much fun to get everyone together and all the food was a success. I want to focus on the focaccia's I made for the party. They are the easiest dishes to make and are also fun to eat for a casual get-together. The trick it to buy a ball of pizza dough from your local grocery store (near the baked bread section). It tastes great and saves you a ton of time rather than making dough from scratch. I made two focaccia's for the party – one topped with goat cheese and zucchini and the other pesto and eggplant. It was delicious, I think I like the zucchini one a little bit better because I looovee goat cheese but both were superb and eaten right up. I just rolled it out the dough as thin as I could (which didn't end up mattering because the dough puffed up so much anyways) topped it with the toppings and baked both at the same time for 12-15 minutes. It's the perfect party food because it doesn't take much time if you already have your ingredients prepped. I sliced and roasted the eggplant the night before, and sliced the zucchini before as well. Some other party foods on the menu was pea pesto, stuffed mushrooms, and kataifi wrapped shrimp and fennel and orange salad. What are some of your party food favorites?

Pizza Bake-Off!

A few weeks ago, my friend Amy and I planned a pizza bake-off party. Each of us would bake our own pie's at her and Michaels place while the boy's played with the dogs, drank beer and took some shots of us prepping. It was so fun!!

Here's how it went down:

This is Amy. She is sweet, kind and a fantastic cook.

This is me stretching out my dough.

This is amy stretching out her dough. She split hers in two to make two different pizza's: one she was going to grill and the other to bake. Just for kicks!

This is me brushing my dough with garlic infused olive oil. Mmmm.

Oh. I should probably introduce the pooches. This is my dog, Meshy. She is hyper, loves food, and loves to snuzzle.

This is Maddie, Amy and Michael's dog. She is super affectionate has the sweetest smile!

This is Amy's baked pizza with sauteed mushrooms and onions. Delicious!

This is Amy's grilled pizza with homemade tomato sauce basil and mozzarella! The tomato sauce really made it special.

This is my pizza with roasted tomato, basil and goat cheese. I loved the warm golden goat cheese on top. Next time I might add tomato sauce or pesto instead of tomato slices.

Overall it was a great night and so much fun making dinner with friends. What pizza would you make for your own pizza bake-off?

Red Onion and Bleu Cheese Pizza

Frozen pizza is by far the one of the easiest & quickest dinners for us. There are just some nights you want to take the night off. Well believe it or not, making your own pizza takes the same amount of time as baking a frozen one. You can find pre-made pizza dough in the refrigerated deli section of your grocery store. It's a great way to use up some loose ends in your fridge. You could scatter small chunks of chicken breast, frozen veggies, whatever you like. I've done a BBQ chicken pizza (use bbq sauce instead of marinara), a hard-boiled egg pizza, and a Eggplant & Olive puff pastry pizza. This time I went for a caramelized red onion and bleu cheese pizza. It was fantastic! The crust was perfect and I love those big bubbles in the edges of the pizza. Don't be scared of pizza dough, it's really fun to play with!

Red Onion and Bleu Cheese Pizza
pre-made pizza dough
Half red onion, sliced
Blue cheese crumbles, around 1 cup

1 Preheat oven to its highest temperature, mine is 500 degrees. Take pizza dough out and place on the counter while you prepare remaining ingredients. (hint: pizza dough is always best used a few days after its made)
2 Heat a medium skillet with olive oil and saute red onion until caramelized and wilted, about 10 minutes. You can sprinkle some brown sugar to help the process going.
3 Roll out the dough by gently stretching or using a rolling pin to the desired thickness and size. I kind of go for the odd-sized shape to make it look more homemade. Place on large baking sheet and brush some olive oil and season with a little salt.
3 Scatter the red onions evenly around the pizza, then with the bleu cheese crumbles.
4 Place in oven and bake for 12 minutes or until hot and bubbly. Enjoy!

Eggplant, Olive & Pesto Pizza

This doesn't look like just any pizza, does it? Let me tell you that it's not. For one thing, it is jam packed with all things yummy — silky roasted eggplant, garlic spiked roasted tomatoes, salty kalamata olives, buttery pesto (seriously, I licked the spoon and said, out loud, 'omg, that is like butter!'), tangy feta cheese and lots of grated white cheddar (it's all I had left in the fridge). The next thing about this pizza that makes it special is the crust. It is made of puff pastry. Of course I didn't make it from scratch, I defrosted a frozen puff pastry sheet and there was my crust — light, airy and crispy. This crust can work with any toppings you want, how simply and easy!

Eggplant, Olive & Pesto Pizza

1 puff pastry sheet - yields 6 square pieces

3 korean eggplants (they are smaller and narrower than regular american eggplants, but those will work as

well)

1 tablespoon butter, melted

Pinch of cumin

olive oil

1/2 lb grape tomatoes, sliced lengthwise

1 garlic, chopped finely

spoonful of pesto (mine is from tj's and is awesome)

shredded cheese, any will work

kalamata olives, pitted

feta cheese

1 Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Take out 1 puff pastry sheet and defrost on the counter, this will take about

40 minutes.

2 Slice the eggplant in half lengthwise and brush tops with melted butter and sprinkle with cumin.

Do this with all 6 halves. Broil for about 10 minutes on each side until soft and bruised. (I did this the night before using the

toaster oven and kept the roasted eggplants in the fridge overnight but you can do this the day of as well).

Cube up the eggplant and set aside.

3 Slice up the tomatoes and chopped garlic and mix. Broil for about 5-7 minutes until softened and starting

to break down. (you can broil the eggplant and tomatoes at the same time)

4 Once the puff pastry is defrosted, roll it out a bit thinner and prick with a fork all over. Brush the

outer edge (what will end up the crust) with olive oil and cover the interior with pesto, smoothing with the

back of a large spoon.

5 Next, top with shredded cheese then the eggplant, tomato/garlic mixture, then the olives then the feta and

then top with more shredded cheese!

6 Bake at 400 degrees for 12-15 minutes.

Hard Boiled Eggs & Pesto Pizza

There are many things I often reminisce about my trip to Miami. The clear warm turquoise water, running my fingers through the fine sand, smelling like the beach, the cold refreshing drinks, and....this pizza. I know it might sound weird, but when I saw it on the menu I knew I would fall in love. I love finding unexpected ways to incorporate eggs into dishes and this one is a definite winner. The one I had in South Beach had some hard boiled eggs, mushrooms, and other goodies I can't remember. I decided to switch things up and put my own spin on it. I chose pesto and hard boiled eggs on my pizza— simple flavors so that the eggs will really shine. The pesto really added a nice flavor with the eggs, gooey cheese and hot tomato basil marinara sauce. Is there a dish that you've had dining out that you can't wait to try at home?

Hard Boiled Eggs & Pesto Pizza

1 store bought pizza crust, or make your own dough. (I bought whole wheat and I couldn't even tell the difference)

Marinara sauce, enough to cover entire pizza surface

3-4 hard boiled eggs, a great tutorial can be found here

A couple of tablespoons of pesto

About 2 cups shredded mozzarella

1 Preheat oven to 450 degrees.

2 Slice already cooled hard boiled eggs into thin slices, keeping the yolk and egg white intact in each slice. Set aside.

3 Spread marinara evenly onto pizza dough.

4 Sprinkle the mozzarella cheese Next, dollop some pesto wherever you want it. Top with egg slices and pop into oven for 8- 10 minutes.