Margarita Pizza

When I was little I would always go to this restaurant called Bertucci's. This is a very family friendly Italian chain restaurant. I loved Bertucci's because they used the extra pizza dough as bread that comes to the table to start. We would get the biggest table in the place and my cousins and I would hide until the food came. I would always get the margarita pizza as my dinner and it was amazing. The crust was crispy and the cheese was gooey. So last weekend a friend and I went to Bertucci's and we shared this pizza. This gave me the idea of making my own recipe. I have been making the family pizza dough for years now and I hope you enjoy it!

Crust:
6 cups flour
2 cups water (Luke warm)
2 tablespoon yeast
1 teaspoon salt
1 tablespoon olive oil

Sauce:
1 can tomato puree
1/2 onion chopped
2 cloves garlic
2 teaspoons olive oil
1/4 teaspoon black pepper
1/2 teaspoon salt
pinch red pepper flakes
4 basil leaves

Topping:
1 ball mozzarella
6 basil leaves

ingredients for the dough

In the electric mixer add the water, sugar, and yeast and wait for the yeast to bloom. Once the yeast has bloomed add the flour and salt and combine. Then add the olive oil and mix.

combined dough in the electric mixer

 But the dough into a olive oiled bowl and put into the oven at 90 degrees fahrenheit for about an hour or until proofed.

Dough in bowl

 Once the dough in proofed portion it out and put into the refrigerator until time to use.

Proofed dough

 Then in a sauce pan add olive oil garlic and onion and cook until the onion is translucent. Then add the can of tomatoes, salt, pepper, and red pepper flakes. Let simmer for 10 minutes and then add the basil and the sauce is done.

Then cut the mozzarella and pick the basil leaves and put to the side. Sprinkle some flour onto the dough and roll out. 

Put the sauce onto the dough and then place the mozzarella and basil onto the dough.

 Put into a pizza oven or an oven at 500 degrees fahrenheit on a pizza stone. 

Cook the pizza until golden brown, slice and enjoy!

Eggs Florentine Benedict

For as long as I remember whenever I go to the diner I get an eggs florentine omelet. I just think that  eggs and the spinach are such an amazing combination. As I got older I started to get eggs florentine benedict. Which is eggs benedict, but instead of canadian bacon, it is spinach. Today I decided to make this at home. I hope you enjoy this recipe as much as I do!

Hollandaise Sauce:
4 egg yolks
1 stick butter (melted)
1 tablespoon lemon juice
1/2 teaspoon salt
A pinch of cayenne

Spinach:
1 package spinach
1 clove garlic
1 tablespoon olive oil

Other ingredients:
2 eggs per person
1 to 2 teaspoons vinegar (apple cider preferably)
1 english muffin per person

First get a big saucepan to almost a boil then add the vinegar. Make a double boiler which is a pot of boiling water (just a little water) and a metal bowl on top. Off the heat add the eggs, lemon juice, salt. Then whisk until the mixture has doubled in volume. Put on the heat and keep mixing, while mixing add the melted butter slowly.

 Once the butter is in take off the heat and keep mixing. Add the cayenne and keep in a warm spot until ready for use. Then get a pan and put in the olive oil and garlic. Stir for a minute and then add the spinach. Stir until the spinach is wilted.

 Then crack the eggs into little bowls. Then put the eggs into the pot of boiling vinegar water slowly and close to the water and cook for 3 minutes and 30 seconds. Use a slotted spoon to take the eggs out and put onto the toasted english muffins with the spinach. Finally put your desired about of hollandaise sauce onto the eggs, spinach, and english muffin.

Enjoy!

Bruschetta

Every mothers day my Aunt has a lobster dinner to celebrate my cousin's birthday, and to get all of her family and friends all together. This year she asked me to make an appetizer for this dinner, and I decided to make one of my favorite appetizers. I love Bruschetta because it is so simple yet so delicious. So if you make this recipe just letting you know this is supposed to feed 15 people or more for appetizers. This dish also reminds me of my childhood when I would go to my friend's house and her mom was Italian so she would make bruschetta for us as a snack sometimes. So I hope you enjoy this simple recipe as much as I do. 

Ingredients:

5 Tomatoes

2 Cloves Garlic

4 Basil Leaves (chiffonade)

1-Tablespoon Olive Oil

1 Teaspoon lemon juice

1 baguette

¼ cup olive oil (to brush onto bread)

First pre heat the oven to 375 degrees fahrenheit, and or on broil. Then cut up the tomatoes and garlic and add into a bowl, drain out the water from the tomatoes to make sure the mixture isn't to watery. Then add the 1 tablespoon of olive oil, lemon juice and the basil.  Next mix until combined.

 Cut the baguette and put onto a sheet tray with aluminum foil. Brush the baguette with half of the 1/4 cup olive oil. Put into the oven until brown and flip over and brush with olive oil on the next side. Put into the oven until golden brown. Then top the bread with the tomato mixture and enjoy! 

Penne alla Caprese

Ever since I was little, my parents have made pesto pasta for dinner and it is one of my favorite dinners. Sometimes we have it with shrimp and sometimes we have it with chicken-- it depends on the occasion or what we are in the mood for that day. When I was about about 10 years old, I watched an episode of 'Everyday Italian' with Giada De Laurentiis where she made a dish she called Fusilli alla Caprese. Then, I decided to make this dish a few times and wanted to make my own rendition of it. So I put my love of pesto and the fresh tomatoes and mozzarella from Giada's recipe and made my own dish. Here is the recipe to Penne alla Caprese, I hope you enjoy it!

Pesto Sauce:

3 packed cups of basil

¼ cup pine nuts

2 cloves of garlic

½ cup Parmesan Cheese

¾ cup olive oil

½ teaspoon salt (to taste)

Other Ingredients:

1-pound penne pasta

1-cup mozzarella balls

1 cup grape tomatoes

shredded mozzarella (desired amount)

First pre heat the oven to 375, then start boiling the pasta water. Next put the basil, garlic, pine nuts, salt, and parmesan cheese into the food processor. Once the basil mixture is coarsely chopped start to add the olive oil slowly into the food processor and process until fully incorporated and smooth. 

Next cut the mozzarella and grape tomatoes in half and put into a bowl with the pesto. Drain the pasta and add to the bowl with tomatoes and mozzarella. Butter the individual gratin dishes and put the pasta into the dishes. Then sprinkle with shredded mozzarella cheese.

 Finally put into the oven for 5 minutes or until the cheese is melted, Enjoy!