Tuesday, September 30, 2008

Pizza!

Ingredients
Pizza Dough: Makes enough dough for two 10-12 inch pizzas

1 1/2 cups warm water
1 package (2 1/4 teaspoons) of active dry yeast (check the expiration date on the package)
3 1/2 cups bread flour (can use all-purpose but bread flour will give you a crisper crust)
2 Tbsp olive oil
2 teaspoons salt
1 teaspoon sugar
Pizza Ingredients

Olive oil
Tomato sauce
Mozzarella or Parmesan cheese, shredded
Mushrooms, thinly sliced
Chopped fresh basil
Onions, thinly sliced

Sprinkle on the yeast and let sit for 5 minutes until the yeast is dissolved. Stir to dissolve completely if needed at the end of 5 minutes. Add in the rest of the ingredients to make the dough. Place ball of dough in a bowl that has been coated lightly with olive oil. Turn the dough around in the bowl so that it gets coated with the oil. Cover with plastic wrap. Let sit in a warm place (75-85°F) until it doubles in size, about 1 to 1 1/2 hours. If you don't have a warm spot in the house you can heat the oven to 150 degrees, and then turn off the oven. Place the bowl of dough in this warmed oven to rise.

At this point, if you want to make ahead, you can freeze the dough in an airtight container for up to two weeks.

Preparing the Pizzas
1 Place a pizza stone on a rack in the lower third of your oven. Preheat the oven to 450°F for at least 30 minutes, preferably an hour.

2 Remove the plastic cover from the dough and punch the dough down so it deflates a bit. Divide the dough in half. Form two round balls of dough. Place each in its own bowl, cover with plastic and let sit for 10 minutes.

3 Prepare your desired toppings. Note that you are not going to want to load up each pizza with a lot of toppings as the crust will end up not crisp that way. About a third a cup each of tomato sauce and cheese would be sufficient for one pizza. One to two mushrooms thinly sliced will cover a pizza.

4 Working one ball of dough at a time, take one ball of dough and flatten it with your hands on a slightly floured work surface. Starting at the center and working outwards, use your fingertips to press the dough to 1/2-inch thick. Turn and stretch the dough until it will not stretch further. Let the dough relax 5 minutes and then continue to stretch it until it reaches the desired diameter - 10 to 12 inches. Use your palm to flatten the edge of the dough where it is thicker. You can pinch the very edges if you want to form a lip.

5. Brush the top of the dough with olive oil (to prevent it from getting soggy from the toppings). Use your finger tips to press down and make dents along the surface of the dough to prevent bubbling. Let rest another 5 minutes.

6 Lightly sprinkle your pizza peel (or flat baking sheet) with corn meal. Transfer one prepared flattened dough to the pizza peel. If the dough has lost its shape in the transfer, lightly shape it to the desired dimensions.

7 Spoon on the tomato sauce, sprinkle with cheese, and place your desired toppings on the pizza.

8 Sprinkle some cornmeal on the baking stone in the oven (watch your hands, the oven is hot!). Gently shake the peel to see if the dough will easily slide, if not, gently lift up the edges of the pizza and add a bit more cornmeal. Slide the pizza off of the peel and on to the baking stone in the oven. Bake pizza one at a time until the crust is browned and the cheese is golden, about 10-15 minutes. If you want, toward the end of the cooking time you can sprinkle on a little more cheese.




Thursday, September 25, 2008

More Italy pics









Tuesday, September 23, 2008

Back

I'm back from Italy. I had an amazing time there. Food, scenery, friends, what more could someone ask for. The places we visited were, Rome, Cinque Terre, Pisa, Salerno, Almafi, Positano, Naples, & Pompeii. By far my favorite time was in Cinque Terre. This place was so beautiful, it was a small quaint town, I will def go back one day. Here are some pictures.










Thursday, September 11, 2008

I'm off

To Italy that is!!! Whoohoo cant wait, I will put up tons of pics when I get back.

Friday, September 5, 2008

Birthday fun

I went out to Tao for my bday, yum!! Then on friday night Sara came over and we went and had yummy frozen strawberry margaritas then a dive bar afterwards...Happy birthday to US!!!



Labor Day weekend!

I went on my friends boat in Long Island all day, it was goregous out, so I was trying my best to get a little color :) I didnt go in the water because there were soooo many jelly fish out. Jelly fish are so gross looking.






Tuesday, September 2, 2008

Lasagna


Ingredients:

1.5lbs of ground beef
2 cloves of minced garlic
1 12.5 oz can of whole tomatoes
1 6oz can of tomato paste
1 teaspoon of salt
2 tablespoons of dried parsley
2 table spoons of dried basil
10oz package of lasagna noodles
.5 teaspoon of salt
3 cups lowfat cottage cheese
2 eggs
.5 cup of parmesan cheese
2 tablespoon dried parsley flakes
1 teaspoon salt
Mozzarella cheese slices


DIRECTIONS


In a skillet, combine 1 1/2 pounds ground beef, 1 pound hot breakfast sausage, and 2 cloves minced garlic. Drain out the fat, add one 14.5-oz cans of whole tomatoes, one 6-oz cans of tomato paste…2 tablespoons of dried parsley flakes, 2 tablespoons dried basil…And 1 teaspoon salt. Mix together thoroughly and simmer, uncovered, about 45 minutes…Stirring occasionally.

In the meantime, boil a 10-oz package of lasagna noodles. Add 1/2 teaspoon salt to the water, as well as 1 tablespoon olive oil to keep the noodles from sticking. Cook the noodles "al dente" so they’ll still have quite a bite to them. When they’re finished cooking, drain, rinse with cool water, and lay the noodles flat on a sheet of aluminum foil. That way, they’ll be easier to handle later.

While the meat mixture and noodles are cooking, mix 3 cups lowfat cottage cheese in a bowl with 2 beaten eggs. To the cottage cheese, add 1/2 cup Kraft Parmesan Cheese…2 tablespoons dried parsley flakes, and 1 teaspoon salt. Mix together.

Lay four cooked lasagna noodles in the bottom of the pan, overlapping as you go. Spread half of the cottage cheese mixture evenly over the noodles…Then lay 1/2 pound of mozzarella cheese slices on top of the cottage cheese mixture. Spread a little less than half of the meat mixture over the mozzarella cheese slices…Now it’s time to repeat the process! Add another layer of four lasagna noodles…Now grab Kraft Parmesan Cheese and start sprinklin’! 350-degree oven for 20-30 minutes, until hot and bubbly.