Sunday, October 20, 2013

Spinach Artichoke Pizza

Delish!

Spinach Artichoke Pizza
Ingredients
  • 1 (16 oz) homemade or store bought pizza dough
  • 6-7 oz fresh spinach
  • 2 Tbsp butter
  • 2 Tbsp all-purpose flour
  • 3/4 cup milk
  • 1/4 tsp onion powder
  • Salt and freshly ground black pepper
  • 3-4 cloves garlic, minced
  • 2 Tbsp extra virgin olive oil, divided
  • 4 oz provolone cheese (I1 cup. I used deli slices and chopped)
  • 2 oz shredded low-moisture mozzarella cheese (1/2 cup)
  • 2 oz finely shredded parmesan cheese (slightly packed 1/2 cup)
  • 8-12 canned artichoke hearts, drained well and sliced into bite size pieces (don't use marinated)
Directions
  • Preheat oven to 450 degrees.
  • In a large saucepan, heat 1 Tbsp olive oil over medium-high heat. Once oil is hot, add spinach and saute just until wilted. Transfer to a layer of paper towels and gently press some of the excess liquid out.
  • In a small saucepan, melt butter over medium heat and saute garlic until fragrant. Then while whisking add in flour and onion powder and cook 2 minutes, stirring constantly. Then while whisking slowly stir in milk and increase temperature to medium-high heat and cook, stirring constantly until mixture has thickened well. Season with salt and pepper to taste. Remove from heat and finely chop spinach and stir into mixture.
  • To assemble pizza, spread the spinach béchamel sauce (the white sauce) evenly over pizza crust, leaving the rim uncoated. Sprinkle provolone, mozzarella and parmesan cheeses and chopped artichokes on top. Bake 10 - 13 minutes until crust is golden brown.


Sunday, October 6, 2013

Healthy Maple Glazed Pumpkin Muffins

These muffins are really yummy and the glaze is fabulous!
The original recipe called for ground cloves, but I didn't have any so I added about 1/4 tsp allspice instead.


Healthy Maple Glazed Pumpkin Muffins

Ingredients
For the Muffins
  • 2 cups whole wheat flour
  • 1 1/2 cups all purpose flour
  • 2 teaspoons baking soda
  • 1 teaspoon baking powder
  • 1 teaspoon each cinnamon, and nutmeg
  • 1/4 teaspoon allspice
  • 1/2 teaspoon salt
  • 3/4 cup granulated sugar
  • 2 cups pumpkin puree
  • 1/2 cup oil
  • 1/4 cup maple syrup
  • 3 tablespoons milk
  • 3 eggs
For the Glaze
  • 2 tablespoons butter
  • 1 1/4 cups powdered sugar
  • 1 teaspoons vanilla
  • 1/4 - 1/2 tsp maple extract
  • 1-2 tablespoons water
Instructions
  1. Preheat the oven to 350 F. Mix the dry ingredients (flours, baking soda, baking powder, cloves, cinnamon, nutmeg, salt, and sugar). In a separate bowl, mix the wet ingredients (pumpkin, oil, maple syrup, milk, and eggs).
  2. Combine the dry and wet ingredients in a large mixing bowl, stirring until just combined. Fill each muffin tin almost to the top with a scoop of batter.  Move oven rack to middle (bottoms burn easily).
  3. Bake for 15-20 minutes or until tops are puffy and spring back when you press them. Remove from the muffin pan and let cool before glazing.
  4. For the glaze, melt butter in saucepan. Add powdered sugar and vanilla - it will be thick and sticky. Stir in maple extract. Add water until desired consistency is reached.
Recipe by Pinch of Yum at http://pinchofyum.com/healthy-maple-glazed-pumpkin-muffins

Thursday, October 3, 2013

Turkey Focaccia Club

This sandwich is really good.  I just made focaccia bread using the recipe from the Buckle Family cookbook (go easy on the kosher salt) and it turned out really well.  I forgot to shell pecans so we didn't add those, but I'm sure they would have been tasty.



Turkey Focaccia Club
Ingredients
  • 1/2 cup mayonnaise
  • 1/2 cup whole-berry cranberry sauce
  • 2 tablespoons chopped pecans, toasted
  • 2 tablespoons Dijon mustard
  • 1 tablespoon honey
  • 1 loaf (8 ounces) focaccia bread (if homemade then go a bit light on the kosher salt)
  • 3 lettuce leaves
  • 1/2 pound thinly sliced deli turkey
  • 1/4 pound sliced Gouda cheese
  • 8 slices tomato
  • 6 bacon strips, cooked
Directions
  • In a small bowl, mix the first five ingredients until blended. Using
  • a long serrated knife, cut focaccia horizontally in half. Spread cut
  • sides with mayonnaise mixture. Layer bottom half with lettuce,
  • turkey, cheese, tomato and bacon; replace bread top. Cut into
  • wedges. Yield: 4 servings.