Sweet Honey Ham Pizza with Fig Jam and Carmelized Shallots

Like many in the South, we had a delicious spiral-cut honey ham glazed in a honey mustard mixture for our Easter dinner.  I look forward to it every year, mainly because there are lots of leftovers and since Easter was at my house this year, those leftovers were mine all mine!  I did (begrudgingly) share with my husband this time around and with his love of all things pizza and my love of new recipes, we came up with a good use for the mounds of ham left in the fridge.  Honey ham pizza, who knew?!  I added a few other items that have become staples in my house because they are tasty and can help to create some pretty fantastic dishes:  fig spread and shallots.  I first had fig spread smeared over a hard, sharp Parmesan and served with wheat crackers.  It is perfectly sweet with a melt in your mouth texture which compliments lots of cheeses.  Shallots are a no-brainer.  They are a little milder than a regular onion and truthfully, I think I like them most for their compact size.  Usually one or two are the perfect amount for any dish which means no leftover, diced up, ready-to-dry out onion pieces to store.  But I digress...onto the pizza compilation!


Homemade pizza dough:

1 1/2 cups water (80°-90°)
1 1/2 tsp honey
2 tsp salt
2 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
4 cups bread flour
2 1/4 tbsp active yeast

Mix, knead and rise in a bread maker or add the above ingredients in a stand mixer with dough hook.  Mix until combined, cover with a damp towel in warm spot to rise.  Deflate dough and form into rounded disk.  Cut in 1/2 for two 12" pizzas.  To make a pizza round, form back into rounded disk on a floured surface.  Using fingertips. press edges out all the way around the outer edge, rotating the dough as you press out.  Push the center out and repeat pressing edges out until large enough to cover pizza stone or pan without going over.

Toppings:
extra virgin olive oil
3 tbsp fig spread
1 medium to large shallot, caramelized in olive oil and butter and deglazed with dry white wine (sauté until cooked out)
1/2-1 cup cubed honey ham
3/4 cup pizza cheese blend
2 tbsp freshly grated Parmesan

Transfer formed pizza round to stone or pizza pan.  Add 2 turns of extra virgin olive oil and smooth over entire dough surface, including crust.  Spread fig jam over pizza, add caramelized shallots, honey ham and cheese.  Bake at 400° for about 10 minutes until bubbly in the center.  I like to flip the broiler on at the end and get it nice an browned on top...but that's really up to you and your desire for under or over!

Prosciutto and Spinach Gnocchi

Fluffy, store-bought pillows of potato, slathered in a Parmesan cream sauce and topped with prosciutto and fresh spinach.  It's a delicious Italian dinner in less than 15 minutes, a perfect weeknight meal. Here's how it came together:

1 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
1 oz, thick sliced prosciutto, cut into strips
1 clove garlic, diced
2-3 tbsp chicken broth or dry white wine
1/4 cup skim milk
1/4 cup freshly shredded Parmesan cheese
pepper
1 package store bought gnocchi (go gluten free!)
1/4 cup grated parmigiano reggiano
1 tbsp fresh basil chiffonade

Bring salted water to a boil on the stovetop.  While the water is coming up, start the sauce by crisping the prosciutto strips in a little olive oil in a large sauté pan over medium-hi heat. Once crisp, add in garlic to saute lightly and reduce heat to medium so as not to burn.  When the mixture becomes fragrant, add the chicken stock to deglaze the pan.  Reduce for 2 minutes and add milk. Mix until it starts to bubble and then add the shredded cheese and stir to melt. Season with pepper (the cheese and pasta will be plenty salty so no need to add additional). Reduce heat to low and then drop the gnocchi to cook for 2 minutes in the salted water.  Once they start to float, strain and transfer into the sauté pan with the sauce.  Add the spinach on top, stir to coat until the spinach is wilted.  Top with the parmigiano reggiano and give a final toss. Plate and top with the basil chiffonade.

Football Party Mac & Cheese

Football Mac & Cheese

If you have a guy in your house or kids, this one is a winner. It's a go-to meal because chances are you have the ingredients in your kitchen already, especially if you love cheese the way we do in my house. I call it Football Party Mac & Cheese because it's a manly type meal and perfect for a few friends crowded around a TV rooting for their favorite team.  Check it out:

1 lb whole wheat rotini pasta
5 turkey hot dogs
7 tbsp unsalted butter
6 tbsp all purpose flour
4 cups 2% milk
2 tsp of dried mustard
1/8-1/4 tsp cayenne pepper
1/4 tsp salt
fresh black ground pepper
10 ounces shredded Wisconsin white cheddar
4 ounces shredded extra sharp cheddar
1 cup Italian style breaded crumbs
1/4 cup Parmesan cheese

Preheat oven to 350°. Bring salted water to a boil for pasta and cook to al denté based on package instructions (usually 7-9 minutes).  If hot dogs are frozen, throw into boiling water for the last minute. In heavy bottomed sauce pan, melt 6 tbsp butter over low heat and whisk in flour until fully incorporated.  Stream in milk, continuing to whisk and raise temp to medium to medium high.  Bring milk mixture to a boil, whisking along the way to prevent milk from burning.  Cut back heat to low to low-medium and add in mustard, cayenne, salt and pepper, whisking occasionally until mixture thickens.  Adjust S & P if necessary.

Drain pasta thoroughly and cut hot dogs into small bite sized pieces. Transfer to a large mixing bowl and stir in milk mixture, white cheddar and sharp cheddar.

Grease a shallow baking dish with butter and transfer all to dish.  Mix together bread crumbs and Parmesan and spread over the top of pasta. Cut up remaining tbsp of butter and distribute pieces over breadcrumbs.  Bake for 20-25 minutes, comes out bubbly and golden.  Serve it up alongside a mixed greens salad with a mustard vinaigrette to compliment the flavors in the mac & cheese. 

Dig IN!

Football Party Mac & Cheese

Market Pie - Tomato and Goat Cheese Pizza

We saved this week's Farmer's Market treats for our last possible holiday weekend hurrah, Labor Day dinner.  After a few days of grill favorites, we wanted to turn to another staple - pizza.  Fortunately, our market supplies us with wonderful products outside of the produce stand.  We picked up prebaked pizza dough from the Countryside Bakery's table. Each week they have a great deal on two pizza rounds for only $6. Buying it prebaked saves time and a mess to clean up. We also wanted to savor those heirloom tomatoes a little longer, so we stopped by Amy's Garden and got a basket of varietals. The last stop for this go-round was at a favorite, Sullivan's Pond Farm, to pick up fresh made, straight-from-the-farm, tangy goat cheese.  We've sampled most they have to offer but since I was planning to combine this with other flavors, I went with a plain Isabel-Moonshine chevrette wrapped in corn whiskey macerated corn husks.  Their cheese never disappoints and can be used in a number of different ways, aside from just being enjoyed own its own. Delicious! 

We took these ingredients and put them together for one half of the pizza and for the other half, we used a store bought alfredo and topped with grilled chicken.  Here's how we put together the Farmer's Market pizza (measurements below calculated for a full pizza):

1 Countryside Bakery pizza round

3 tbsp pesto (leftover from last weekend's recipe)

8-10 Roma or cherry tomatoes depending on size

3-4 tbsp Sullivan's Pond goat cheese

Since the dough is prebaked, the ingredients go right on the pizza dough and it bakes in half the time.  Start with a layer of pesto spread thinly over the entire round, add sliced tomatoes and top with crumbled goat cheese.  Bake at 375° for about 8 minutes and if baking in a standard oven, hit it with a LO broil at the end for about 3 minutes to really get the edges brown and the cheese smooth.  Serve it warm and watch out, those tomatoes hold some heat!  I burned the roof of my mouth with the first bite, but it didn't stop me from devouring the entire half! 

These are market vendors we will definitely be visiting again for quick, easy, tasty weeknight meals.

Celebrate Good Times! Pantry2Plate WINS Cuisinart's Get Cooking! Contest

Polenta Fries with Parmesan Dipping Sauce and Basil Oil

I am more than thrilled to announce that Pantry2Plate has won the latest series of Cuisinart's Get Cooking! Contest.  This contest makes it easy to get excited about being in the kitchen and the winning recipe truly came from one of the greatest pleasures of cooking...sharing good food and great times with remarkable friends.  The feedback from the Cuisinart Chefs is on point and something I've heard from another faithful reader (Squints, you call 'em like you see 'em!), so I will work on being a bit more descriptive in my posts.  How about the rest of you?  Anything else you would like to see?  Thanks for your support...I am grinning from ear-to-ear!

Check out the link below for what Cuisinart Chefs had to say:
http://www.cuisinart.com/recipes/get-cooking-contest/winners.html

The winning recipe post can be found in my archives and linked below:
http://pantry2plate.blogspot.com/2010/06/polenta-fries-with-basil-oil-and.html

Cuisinart's 'Get Cooking' Contest - who will be the winner?!

I can't wait to hear the results of Cuisinart's 'Get Cooking!' Contest.  Pantry2Plate was selected as a finalist and they are expected to announce the winner this week!  Have you tried the Polenta Fries yet?  One bite and you'll be hooked! 

Zucchini with Arugula Pesto and Summertime Tomatoes

Summer Beauty!

Summer veggies everywhere!  SOTJ Farmer's Market provided me with a big bag of arugula this past weekend so I, being the lover of pesto that I am, decided to blend it up and make a little peppery delight.  Here's what I did:

Into my Cuisinart food processor, I added two handfuls of arugula, a handful of walnuts, 2 cloves of garlic and a generous heaping of parmigiano reggiano.  The arugula is peppery enough and the cheese is plenty salty so really there is no need for extra seasoning.  While pulsing away, I drizzled in some extra virgin olive oil until it was a beautiful, vibrant green paste.  I could use this on anything (who am I kidding, I could eat it by the spoonful) but this time I decided to add it to the side dish. I topped the hot sauté of summer tomatoes and ribbons of zucchini that had their turn in a hot pan with a couple of turns of olive oil.   While the blend was still piping hot, I added a dollop of the pesto until it lightly coated each bite.  Finished with a sprinkle of the cheese and deliciousness was served!

Polenta Fries with Basil Oil and Parmesan Dipping Sauce

The last time we were in Philly visiting friends, we made a pit stop between sports bars at a swanky little restaurant to get some tasty treats.  One of which came in the form of a french fry served with a fondue dipping sauce and a drizzle of basil oil.  It was probably one of the best small plates I've had so I decided to give it a try for Supper Club.  Still working with the premade polenta I bought last week, I sliced the brick into fry sized pieces and tossed them in olive oil, sea salt and cracked black pepper.  We baked them at a really high temp in the oven until they came out crispy and golden on the outside and still fluffy on the inside.  As a base, I made a parmesan dipping sauce that could be made ahead and warmed through on the stove at a later time.  Here's the fix:

Dice 1/4 white onion and saute in about a tbsp of olive oil.  Once the onions are cooked through, add 1/4 - 1/2 cup milk, 1/4 cup italian cheese blend, 1/4 cup shredded parmesan, cracked black pepper and 1 tsp nutmeg.  Whisk until the cheese is melted completely and the sauce is creamy.  Once at supper club, I transferred the mixture back to a sauce pan and warmed it through again on the stove top.  I started a bit too early so I ended up adding a few tbsps of white wine to loosen it up again.  I am convinced that wine only makes everything better, so I'll add that to the recipe moving forward. Delicious!

The basil oil couldn't have been easier.  I have globe and sweet basil in my garden so I gathered a few handfuls and blanched the leaves in a little salted water.   Once I patted them dry, I added the leaves to a food processor, blended and added oil until I felt I had the right consistency.  The blanching brings out the basil flavor and helps to retain that beautiful green color.

When we were about to serve the 'fries', I placed the glass container of basil oil in a sauce pan with about an inch of hot water to help steep the basil even more.  I left it on the stove for about 10 minutes to warm through.

Plate it up!  I smothered the parmesan sauce over a dinner plate and placed the fries directly on top of the fluffy, creamy goodness.  Topped it all off with a little drizzle of the oil and then I forgot my manners. I couldn't resist grabbing one immediately off the plate before everyone else was served.  Whoops!

And because we take supper club seriously, we had many more delectable delights.  I am hoping Alison will share her bbq sauce recipe...and Squints her gouda mashed potatoes and corn bread...or maybe we can just have another supper club, PRONTO!

Rick Bayless recipe for Chorizo Verde

In keeping with the 'green' theme, I wanted to try a new recipe that uses fresh herbs, peppers, greens and pork...Chorizo Verde. I saw Rick Bayless making this on his PBS show.  The finished product turns to a queso like tortilla filling and is a slightly spicy treat.  I also put together a roasted tomatillo salsa that is super easy and adds a sweet element to contrast the heat.

Chorizo Verde:

1 lb pork

1/2 onion

2 medium poblano chilis

1-2 serranos

cilantro

beer

1 cup to 1.5 cup manchego cheese

2 cups raw spinach

Start by roasting the poblanos over a grill flame until charred. Remove charred skin by running under cool water and peeling off with your fingers. Poblanos then go into a food processor with the serranos and a medium bunch of cilantro.  Pulse until pureed.

In a large skillet, brown pork and then add the 'verde'.  Saute for a bit and add a pinch of salt and the onions.  Onto the queso!   Give the skillet 1 to 2 full turns of beer, enough to almost cover the pork mixture.  Add the shredded cheese and spinach.  Turn the mixture until the cheese melts and the spinach wilts - that's it!

Tomatillo salsa:

In the same food processor used for the poblano mixture (a little flavor will be left over), blend a roasted tomatillo, half to a full jalapeno, 1/4 cup onion, 1/2 pint grape tomatoes, handful of fresh cilantro.  Pinch of garlic salt, cumin and cayenne pepper and the juice of 1/2 a lime.  Pulse, pulse, pulse until it's the texture you like.  I like this one pretty thin.

Put it all together! Warm tortilla, scoop full of the chorizo verde, a few leaves of raw spinach and a couple of slices of avocado.  Yum!  Add the salsa to the tortilla, enjoy the salsa with chips or over some shredded lettuce.  Do whatcha like.  A margarita on the side never hurt anyone either...

Veggie Pesto

Non-traditional pesto has become one of my favorite go-to foods especially when trying to get in my daily 5.  Using veggies along with herbs, nuts, olive oil and good cheese, you can create a lot of different tasty combinations that are flavorful and healthy.  My favorite, as of late, is pea pesto and it whips up in a heartbeat so it's a great quick grab.  I blend it all using my Cuisinart hand blender with the processor attachment and I usually vary the ingredients each time.  However, here's one that is pretty standard:

1 can sweet young peas or 8 oz. frozen peas, thawed and rinsed

olive oil (about 2-3 tbsp)

walnuts (between 1/4 to 1/2 cup depending on how much crunch you like)

parmesan cheese (about 3-4 oz)

a few basil leaves to taste (optional)

1 garlic clove (optional)

salt & pepper

Blend away!  Once it's whipped up, I use it as a sandwich spread (this morning I made an egg salad using 1 hardboiled egg and a tbsp pesto), a dip with crudite, a pasta sauce, a salad topper and occasionally just a bite by itself.  I feel okay about that though...it's a veggie pesto after all!