A twofer

I did in fact make the Pizza Pot Pie from two weeks ago, I just haven't had the time to sit down and write about it!

I made the decision to halve the recipe while I was at the grocery store buying the sausages, because 4 lbs of sausages is a LOT of sausage, and while Derek does eat a lot, he doesn't eat quite that much.

Also, I've never really had an easy time with cutting uncooked sausages, so I opted to just squeeze the meat out of the casing and just brown it up.

I was super disappointed that I didn't have enough ricotta (I barely had half!) but, it was what I had on hand, so I used that.

Here's out pot pie, fresh out of the oven.  I sprinkled the top with some sea salt, oregano and pepper flakes, 'cause that's how I roll.

And plated,

(it's sideways, but refuses to upload the way I've got it rotated on my computer.  I have anger)

All in all, we found this to be good, but way too salty.  While it was good at the time (and wonderful as hangover food) I don't think we'll make this again.

Next up, Aunt B's fantastic cookies.

These things are seriously amazing.

I was rather confused while at the grocery store, because they didn't have "hazelnuts" but they did have "filberts", which looked suspiciously like hazelnuts.

ETA: Don't worry, I did bust out my iPhone to double check that filberts = hazelnuts.  They do.

(this picture also refuses to load in the orientation I would like.  Grrrrrrrr)


I was not in the mood for finely chopping nuts today (hehe, I said nuts) so I pulled out my food processor and made quick work of them (after toasting them on the stove until fragrant of course).

The end result is fantastically yummy cookies.  I'm pretty sure Derek and I ate at least 10 between us tonight.  The addition of a bit of Nutella on top just takes them to awesometown.  It should also be noted that I included the option espresso powder.  I'm a big fan of espresso in chocolate things.  I feel that it adds a really great depth of flavour.

There are 28 cookies in this picture, but don't be deceived.  I made a math (or remembering) error when calculating how much weight each cookie should be (I like my cookies to all be the same size, so I weigh the dough, then do the math, then weigh out each portion.  A bit much?  Probably) and made a total of 36 instead of the recommended 28.  But they are small and cute and I love them.  I will most certainly be making these again.  I think they would make a great addition to a holiday baked goods package, since they very much resemble Ferrero Rocher.

A Plethora of Updates

I haven't been on here in awhile...so I have lots of recipes to update. The last three weeks, in fact.

Last weekend I went to Boston to visit a friend and we decided to make the lettuce wraps for dinner one night. We used ground turkey breast rather than pork and were worried about it being too spicy, so we used a sweet chili sauce instead. The result was rather lime-y and not overly thai-tasting. It was alright for a light dinner, but probably not something I would try again. The wine was excellent though.

Then today was a kitchen day! Ed went off to golf for the day and I got the house to myself, so I did some laundry and then played in the kitchen. The same friend from Boston came up tonight and we got to enjoy all of the goodies.

First I made the chocolate hazelnut thumbprint cookies. Let me just say...OH MY GOODNESS! Anything that gets me to buy Nutella is a good recipe for me, but these were divine. I used dark chocolate powder rather than the unsweetened cocoa powder, and I didn't have parchment paper or wax paper, but everything worked out fine. The batter itself was to die for (and yes, I ate it raw eggs and all...I figure with the recent egg scare the eggs are probably safer than usual right now...), and the finished cookies were awesome!

And then finally, I made the pizza pot pie. I didn't measure anything for this recipe, but I used a lot less of everything than the recipe called for. I used fat free ricotta, two egg whites rather than the egg (saved from the cookies, since they only used yolks), low fat mozzarella, chicken sausage and whole wheat pizza crust. I thought it came out fairly well, though if I were to make it again, I think I would put a bottom crust on too for just a little more chewy factor. However, it was a tasty, easy meal that would be great to bring to a potluck sometime...and was an excellent pre-out-to-the-local-bar dinner for my friend and me!

So there it is...three weeks worth of recipes...finally updated!

Pizzzzaaaaa

Victor and I are having a vegetarian week, so I opted to make a meat-free version of this pizza pot pie.

First, I sautéed a red bell pepper, onion, and some king mushrooms with some salt and Italian seasoning.

Pretty, eh?

Into the pan that went with tomato sauce.

My ricotta mixture contained some garlic scapes along with the other stuff. I wasn’t sure what it meant to “dot” the tomato sauce with the ricotta so I plopped it on in generous globs.

Probably not 2 cups of mozza, but I was too lazy to grate more

The topping was Victor’s homemade pizza dough. My last egg went into the ricotta so I brushed the top with olive oil instead. I had some trouble tucking it around the pan so I just hoped for the best…

I think it leaked a little. Oh well.  

I wasn’t really sure what to make of this recipe. It tasted good – especially the ricotta – but it seemed like a rather inconvenient way to eat pizza.

Upside down? With a spoon?

I also wasn’t a fan of the pizza dough as a topping; for me, the pastry top is the best part of a pot pie.

But as I said, I did love the ricotta filling and will probably use that again on future (right-side up) pizzas.

I also found it to be a good make-ahead recipe. I made the ricotta mixture, grated the mozzarella, and sautéed the veggies while Victor made the dough. Then I went out for a run while waiting for the dough to rise. When I came back, all I had to do was assemble the pie, and pop it in the oven. Obviously this is even easier if you use pre-made pizza dough and pre-grated cheese.

Pizza Pot Pie

Okay, it is moving into fall and that means that I am craving some comfort foods. So I hit the cookbooks this week to figure out what I wanted to post for this week's recipe of the week. I came across the Pizza Pot Pie in Julee Rosso and Sheila Lukins' Silver Palate Cookbook (p. 166). This could be easily adapted to be a vegetarian option for those who are interested!

2lbs sweet Italian sausage, in 1-inch pieces
2lbs hot Italian sausage, in 1-inch pieces
4 1/2 cups of tomato sauce (recipe suggests spicy sauce)
2 cups ricotta
1/2 cup freshly grated Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese
3/4 cup chopped fresh Italian (flat-leaf) parsley
2 1/2 tablespoons of dried oregano
2 eggs
Freshly grated pepper to taste
4 cups of grated mozzarella cheese
Pizza Dough for crust

Preheat oven to 350F.

In heavy skillet, saute sausages until brown, drain well, and transfer to a bowl. Add tomato sauce to bowl and set aside.

Mix ricotta, parmigiano-reggiano, 1/2 cup of parsley, 2 tbsp of oregano, 1 egg, and pepper.

In rectangular oven-proof dish (9x13), spread half the sausage/tomato sauce mixture. Dot this half with ricotta mixture and sprinkle 2 cups of mozzarella evenly over surface. Sprinkle with half remaining parsley and half remaining oregano. Repeat.

Roll out dough to about 1/3 inch , being certain dough is about 1 inch larger than baking dish all the way around. Transfer dough to top of pizza and tuck in the excess all around. Beat remaining egg w/1 tbsp of water and brush on top of crust.

(Recipe also says you can reserve some extra dough and cut out shapes to decorate the top, if you feel so inclined)

Bake for 35-45 minutes, then let pizza stand 30 minutes before serving.