This is an older recipe of mine that I use so often that I thought I would share another version of it.I usually make these with leftovers, like chili, but this time I made a quick lentil soup instead.You can use pie crust or puff pastry whichever you have on hand; they are both yummy and quick.
I used chimichurri salsa to season my soup, but you can use fresh parsley if you have it.
After a small impromptu BBQ this weekend we found ourselves with too many leftovers.With some of the leftover corn on the cob we made delicious lasagna.It took almost no time to cook and was such a great way to change up the leftovers.
Ingredients:
Grilled Corn on the Cob, removed from cob
Ricotta cheese
Mozzarella Cheese
Onion
Spinach
Lasagna noodles, cooked until slightly tender
Sweet Italian Sausage
Salt/pepper
1 egg
1 can of chopped tomatoes
Fresh Parsley
Directions:
Combine Corn, onion and salt and pepper and allow to sit for at least an hour in the refrigerator.
Mix ricotta, egg, mozzarella, salt and pepper until combined.
Layer in casserole dish as follows.Pasta, corn mix, cheese mix then another layer of pasta.Repeat this process until the cheese and corn are all in the dish.Then layer spinach and mozzarella cheese topping with the sausage tomato mix.
I’m finally posting my Barefoot Bloggers recipe from last week.I love, love, love the recipe that was chosen for last weeks challenge.I know your saying to yourself “ if she loves it so much then why didn’t she post on time?” well, good question.We make this recipe at least once a week and sometimes the kids want it so much that we’ll have it more than once.The recipe is for Pizza.That’s right. How simple? Pizza.This recipe was picked by Andrea of Nummy Kitchen.The recipe is White Pizza with Arugulaand it can be found in Back to Basics on page 82. For those of you who have not seen the posts “around town” Barefoot Bloggers are a community of bloggers that make and post reviews of Ina Garten recipes twice monthly.Now back to the pizza.
What I love about this recipe is the dough.Each and every time I make this recipe the dough turns out perfect.I have made the dough with all-purpose flour, Whole-wheat flour and ½ all-purpose ½ whole-wheat.No matter what you choose this is a very good and very easy dough recipe.Ina suggests to make a garlic/pepper infused oil to spread on the dough.I agree the oil makes the difference between a good pizza and a great pizza.Again, we play with different flavors for the oil.Sometime rosemary/garlic, sometime pepper/garlic and other times just garlic.Have fun with the flavors of the dough and the oil. The only other change we made to her recipe is to grill it.If you have never grilled a pizza, DO!
There is nothing better than grilled pizza.OH and I almost forgot.This pizza dough is a great way to use up leftovers or things that need to be used in your refrigerator.Again, HAVE FUN!
Finally, unfortunately I don’t have a picture of our arugula pizza but the lemon with the Fontina cheese is so very summery and refreshing.
11 ounces creamy goat cheese, such as montrachet, crumbled
For the vinaigrette:nocoupons
1/2 cup good olive oil
1/4 cup freshly squeezed lemon juice
Freshly ground black pepper
8 ounces baby arugula
1 lemon, sliced
Directions
Mix the dough.
Combine the water, yeast, honey and 3 tablespoons of olive oil in the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with a dough hook. When the yeast is dissolved, add 3 cups of flour, then 2 teaspoons salt, and mix on medium-low speed. While mixing, add up to 1 more cup of flour, or just enough to make a soft dough. Knead the dough for about 10 minutes until smooth, sprinkling it with the flour as necessary to keep it from sticking to the bowl.
Knead by hand.
When the dough is ready, turn it out onto a floured board and knead it by hand a dozen times. It should be smooth and elastic.
Let it rise.
Place the dough in a well-oiled bowl and turn it to cover it lightly with oil. Cover the bowl with a kitchen towel and allow the dough to rise at room temperature for 30 minutes.
Make garlic oil.
Place 1/2 cup of olive oil, the garlic, thyme and red pepper flakes in a small saucepan and bring to a simmer over low heat. Cook for 10 minutes, making sure the garlic doesn't burn. Set aside.
Preheat the oven to 500 degrees. (Be sure your oven is clean!)
Portion the dough.
Dump the dough onto a board and divide it into 6 equal pieces. Place the dough on sheet pans lined with parchment paper and cover them with a damp towel. Allow the dough to rest for 10 minutes. Use immediately, or refrigerate for up to 4 hours.
Stretch the dough.
Press and stretch each ball into an 8-inch circle and place 2 circles on each sheet pan lined with parchment paper. (If you've chilled the dough, take it out of the refrigerator approximately 30 minutes ahead to let it come to room temperature.)
Top the dough.
Brush the pizzas with the garlic oil, and sprinkle each one liberally with salt and pepper. Sprinkle the pizzas evenly with fontina, mozzarella and goat cheese. Drizzle each pizza with 1 tablespoon more of the garlic oil and bake for 10 to 15 minutes, until the crusts are crisp and the cheeses begin to brown.
Make the vinaigrette.
Meanwhile, whisk together 1/2 cup of olive oil, the lemon juice, 1 teaspoon salt and 1/2 teaspoon pepper.
Add the greens.
When the pizzas are done, place the arugula in a large bowl and toss with just enough lemon vinaigrette to moisten. Place a large bunch of arugula on each pizza and a slice of lemon and serve immediately.
TIP: Make sure the bowl is warm before you put the water and yeast in; the water must be warm for the yeast to develop.
TIP: Salt inhibits the growth of yeast; add half the flour, then the salt, and then the rest of the flour.
TIP: To make sure yeast is still "alive," or active, put it in water and allow it to sit for a few minutes. If it becomes creamy or foamy, it's active.
Please accept my apology for the tragic neglect and lack of involvement I've given you all and myself over the past few months. I would love to give you the simple version and say "I told you I was a Foodie with Little Thyme" but I feel I owe you and me more than that. I'll try to be brief and still give you the full run down. I think the best way to tackle this pile is with bullet points just like I would a recipe. So here goes...
Lost my camera.
I don't know why but for some odd reason losing my camera really derailed me. I thought I could work through it until I found a new camera but half the fun of cooking is taking pictures. Strange??? I know you guys all get what I'm saying and take the same sick pleasure out of food pictures as I do.
Bake Sale
I joined the Sharing our Strengths Great American Bake Sale. With the help of family and friends we were able to pull off a couple of bake sales and raised more than 500 dollars towards feeding hungry children in the US.
Swimming
The end of Kindergarten marked the beginning of my son's love for competitive swimming and the rebirth of my own. I swam competitively for more than 15 years. I walked away from swimming because it's hard to build a life and still swim and run competitively. Running I can do no matter what state I live in or where I vacation and with little effort. With some pressure from a good friend and a six-year old boy, I entered the pool again. I competed in 4 meets and regionals. I walked away with 9 first place ribbons, 1 second place ribbon, 1 forth place ribbon, a bronze medal from regionals and a seat to swim in the Summer Games(state). More than anything I walked away with my love of swimming renewed. Anthony and I are looking for a club team to join so that we can continue to train and compete together. I do still have the problem with THYME! I'm looking for a way to make gym work-outs, swimming, running, blogging, mothering and being a friend, daughter and wife fit into the day.
Stitches, Ear Trouble and the loss of Noel.
Finally, we have had a set of stitches. It's true don't run around the pool or you will fall and bust your lip open. My children like to learn the hard way. I think they must get the hard head from their father.
Our 4 year-old was deaf at birth and we have been battling his ear structure ever since. He can't hear unless he has tubes to create an opening to his ear drum and his little body does not like to keep the tubes in. You guys may remember he had ear surgery a few months ago and already he is losing his hearing again. The good news is that we will stay on top of the issue and find a way to keep him hearing.
Our 12 year old greyhound Noel passed away after a long and mostly happy life. If you ever have an chance to know a greyhound, enjoy it. They are such sweet and gentle dogs. Their life on the track is hard and they are left with a life time of track related illnesses that they handle with such grace and elegance.
Noel is missed. I long to hear her toe nails tapping on the wood floors.
OK, now back to the blog. I have been following your blogs. I have read about all your vacations, puppy up dates, street work, new jobs and new recipes. I have made many of your recipe and have some new favorites too. I will get back to posting my monthly blogger finds to feature them. Thank you for your encouragement as I started back swimming. We are back on track! I even have a new camera.
I will leave you with a easy comfort food recipe. I've debated sharing this with you but if the big guys can do it so can Foodie with Little Thyme!
Not your Mama’s Mac and cheese
This is my Mama and my two-year old.
It’s seems to me that every cookbook and professional chef has a macaroni and cheese recipe.So I’m jumping on the bandwagon and my soapbox, and sharing my macaroni and cheese with you guys.I’ll go on record to say that as a child I never had Mac and cheese from a box and my kids have never had it either.I have never understood the mass appeal of boxed pasta.I cook macaroni and cheese using fresh ingredients in the same amount of time that it takes to cook the boxed kind.The great thing about making fresh/non-boxed is you can use and add all kinds of different ingredients with none of the additives and yucky stuff. You can use homemade pasta, fresh or frozen veggies and even leftover meats.The possibilities are endless.
Here is how I make Mac and cheese at our house.
Cook pasta in salted water until al dente.
Any pasta will work but I stick with the smaller pasta for the simple fact that the kids can feed themselves.
When the pasta is finished, drain the water from the pan but leave the pasta in the pan.
Return to the burner (burner on or off, it doesn’t matter), add milk, butter, cheese, salt and pepper to the hot pasta and stir until you have a nice smooth, creamy and cheesey macaroni and cheese.
The key to success is to have fun and get creative. OH! and use shredded or grated cheese.This whole meal takes 20 minutes and always turns out perfect.You can use any cheese and it’s always yummy.Come on people just say NO to the box!
I feel like I've been playing catch up ever since our computer died a few weeks ago. I'm working to get back in the groove, which is not easy now that I've lost my camera too. It's been a bit of a technology black hole at our house. First the computer, then my daughter put my cell phone in the toilet and now I've lost my camera. Anyway, the short of it is that I'm trying to get back on track and hope you all understand why I've been a bit flighty lately. Don't forget you don't need glasses it's just the stinky pictures from my cell phone. Stacked Burrito Pie. Adapted from " family-fun Magazine"
Ingredients 1 Medium Onion, chopped 2 Cloves of Garlic, Chopped 1 lb ground beef. (I used chicken this time. We had some leftover from grilling) 2 Tsp Chili Powder 1 Tsp Cumin 2 tsp paprika Salt and Pepper 1 Can Black beans, drained and rinsed 1 Can Corn (I cut mine off the stalk. again leftover from grilling) 4 - 10 inch flour Tortillas Sour Cream Salsa Cheddar or Monterey Cheese ( I used the Mexican blend that Costco sells)
Directions: Saute in skillet garlic and onion. Once soft add spices and brown. When the meat is browned, add the beans and corn and cook until almost all liquid is evaporated. Let cool 10 minutes or so. Using a spring-form pan, greased on bottom, begin to layer. Spread a thin layer of sour cream, Salsa, beef and then grated cheese. Repeat three more times ending with cheese. Bake at 350°f until heated through (about 30 minutes). Allow to cool another 10 minutes then carefully remove from pan. I left the outer rim of the pan loosely in place while I was cutting.
With a lot of ham left from our Easter dinner, I wanted to make something a little different than my normal ravioli or macaroni and cheese.I just didn’t want to loose the convenience of leftovers.So, here is what I came up with, my son calls this bird nests so let’s go with that.
Ingredients:
Leftover Ham, cubed
Green Bell Pepper, chopped
4 Green Onions, chopped
Two Roma tomatoes, diced
Cheddar, garlic and dill cheese
1 Box Puff Pastry Dough
Directions:
In a large bowl, combine ham, pepper, onion, tomatoes and cheese and mix.
Roll dough out large (enough to fit across a large muffin pan)
Cut the dough around each muffin cup and allow the dough to fall down into the cups.
Fill each cup with ham mixture
Bake according to the dough instructions.
I served the nests with roasted carrots and asparagus.The kids loved this meal and you could easily change the ingredients to use any leftovers you have.
Did you make meringues this week? Do you have 6 egg yolks hanging around that you just can’t bring yourself to throw down the disposal? Well, I did so I used them to stuff some peppers. Mostly what I did was clean out my refrigerator. I didn’t prepare to make these or go buy anything new. I love to just hunt the pantry and refrigerator and see what comes of it. Ingredents:
4 Poblano peppers 6 leftover egg yolks Kosher salt Black pepper corns Red pepper flakes Paprika Chopped Prosciutto Cream Cheese Remnants from a bag of tortilla chips
Directions: Slice Peppers in half, scoop out the seeds and set aside until you are ready to fill them. Combine all ingredients and mix with a fork. Spoon mix into Peppers and bake at 425ºF until the filling starts to brown. Sprinkles crushed tortilla chips on top and bake a few minutes more.
Meatball subs are a BIG treat at our house. I only make meatballs a few times a year but when I do I always make extras to freeze for subs later. If you’ve been following this blog at all then you know by now that I often make things that seem hard but really only take a few minutes. My goal is to feed a family of five fast, easy, healthy, and yummy meals. That being said I freeze a lot of things for later use. It’s amazing how many different meals you can make from the original one.
We annually host our extended family for Christmas Eve dinner. The meal is one that I treasure and look forward to all year. The cooking and preparation for the meal takes several days, so if I can save some for later meals I do. I come from an Italian American family so we have a LARGE pasta meal for Christmas Eve. One of the entrees is of course meatballs. I made about 6 pounds of meatballs this past Christmas. I saved approximately 30 of those meatballs for subs.
Meatball Recipe: 1 lb Ground beef 1 Egg Breadcrumbs Basil Parsley Salt and Pepper
Mix all ingredients and form into small bite size balls. Place them in a large pan and broil until they are cooked through but not WELL-DONE. For sub making, I steal some at this point to freeze. Add them to sauce and simmer all day. Sub Recipe: Frozen Meatballs Frozen Tomato Sauce Mozzarella Cheese Bakery Fresh Rolls Make sure you use fresh baked rolls. They make all the difference. Cut the rolls lengthwise Add thawed meatballs. I cut them in half so they don’t fall out when you take a bite. Spread thawed tomato sauce onto the meatballs. Top with loads of mozzarella cheese. Broil until well toasted and cheese is melted.
These are so easy and yummy! My six-year-old even loves to take them to school the next day for lunch. What a great feeling when your son says “MOM CAN I HAVE THIS IN MY LUNCH BOX?”. I think he also likes it because the kids always ask if he got them from Subway and he likes to say “NO, my mom made it.”
These would be a nice treat for Super Bowl Sunday too!
Whenever I cook things like tomato sauce, chili, or things that simmer a few hours, I make enough to freeze and use for another time/another meal. Pizza is one of those meals. The kids love to be involved in the making of pizza. It’s an easy way to spend quality time as a family. The kids think of it as a game or art experience and we as parents revel in knowing that we are investing in their future love of cooking.
Pizza Recipe: Frozen Chili Mozzarella cheese Pizza crust
Thaw frozen chili spread onto pizza crust and top with cheese. Bake until your crust is done and cheese melted. Easy and fun! Pizza crust Recipe: Pizza crust is fun an easy to make but if you are in a hurry then pre-made crust works well too. I use pre-made often. It freezes well and thaws fast.
Here is a recipe adapted from Fleischmann’s. I used my Kitchen Aide to make the dough and I only let the dough rise once.
2-1/2 to 3 cups all-purpose flour 1 envelope FLEISCHMANN'S RapidRise Yeast* 3/4 teaspoon salt 1 cup very warm water (120o to 130oF) 2 tablespoons olive or vegetable oil Cornmeal Combine 2 cups flour, undissolved yeast, and salt in a large bowl. Stir very warm water and olive oil into flour mixture. Stir in enough remaining flour to make soft dough. Knead on lightly floured surface until smooth and elastic, about 4 to 6 minutes.
Cover; let rest on floured surface 10 minutes.
Lightly oil 1 (14-inch) or 2 (12-inch) round pizza pan(s). Sprinkle with cornmeal. Shape dough into smooth ball. Divide and roll dough to fit desired pan(s). Let the dough rise for 20 to 40 minutes, depending on your preference for a thin, more dense crust or a thicker crust. Bake the crust in a preheated 400oF oven for 10 minutes.
Remove from oven and add desired toppings Return pizza to oven to finish baking for another 10 to 20 minutes, or until done.
Baking time depends on size and thickness of crust and selected toppings.
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