Bacon & Onion Pizza with Pesto Cream Sauce
c/o Country Cleaver
8 oz of your favorite dough recipe (or store bought… Shh! I won’t tell!)
½ head of roasted garlic
Olive oil
¼ cup ricotta
¼ cup sour cream
½ cup basil pesto
Flour for rolling the dough (~1 Tbls)
¼ lb bacon, in a large dice
1 medium onion, thinly sliced
1 oz whiskey (or 1 heaping tsp sugar)
½ cup mozzarella
Directions
1. Make the dough, if not already prepared.
2. If you don’t have roasted garlic laying around, cut the top off of a head of garlic. Drizzle with olive oil. Bake in a dish at 450 degrees for about 30 minutes or until fragrant. Cool, and remove from the head by squeezing the base of the bulb.
3. In a medium bowl, mix together ricotta and sour cream. Fold in the pesto. Season with freshly ground pepper. Put in refrigerator to meld until assembly.
4. In a large skillet, cook the bacon until crispy (but not burned). Remove from pan in a slotted spoon, and drain on a paper towel.
5. In the reserved bacon fat, start to cook the onions over medium heat. Salt, and slowly cook until just starting to brown (about 20 minutes). Finish the onions by adding the whiskey or sugar. Cook until alcohol is dissolve, or onions are fully caramelized and sugar is cooked down.
6. Assembly! Roll out the dough – I made mine into a square half-sheet pan lined with parchment, but adjust based on your pizza skill.
7. Spread pesto-cream mixture over the dough, be sure to leave room for crust.
8. Sprinkle with cheese.
9. Dot with ½ head of roasted garlic.
10. Sprinkle bacon and onion over the top.
11. Bake at 400 degrees for about 8-12 minutes – but adjust the temperature and cooking time to suit your baking method (my pie took a little longer because of the dark base of the baking sheet). Check often if you’re unsure (with the light, don’t open the door!) or a pizza novice.
12. Enjoy with a glass of wine and a side salad. If you’re feeling REALLY fancy, you can always just
put your balsamic-dressed greens right on top of the hot pizza… but do whatever moves you.
Mushroom Stroganoff
c/o Skinny Taste
- 1 tablespoon butter
- 1/2 cup chopped onion
- 2 tbsp unbleached all-purpose flour
- 2 cups fat-free, less-sodium vegetable broth (or beef if you're a carnivore)
- 1 tbsp Worcestershire sauce
- 1 tsp tomato paste
- 5 oz sliced Cremini mushrooms
- 8 oz sliced baby Bella mushrooms
- 3.5 oz Shiitake mushrooms
- 1/4 tsp thyme
- salt and pepper to taste
- 2 tbsp white wine or sherry
- 1/4 cup reduced-fat sour cream
- 8 oz uncooked noodles
- 1 tbsp minced fresh flat-leaf parsley for garnish
Directions
Cook noodles in a pot of salted water according to package directions, I like to under-cook them a bit so I can mix it with the sauce and let it finish cooking.Meanwhile, while the water starts to boil for the noodles, heat a large nonstick skillet over medium-high heat. Melt butter over medium heat and add onions to the pan. Cook 2 - 3 minutes over medium-low heat.
Add flour; stir with a wooden spoon for 30 seconds. Gradually add broth, Worcestershire sauce, and tomato paste, stirring constantly. Add mushrooms, thyme, salt and pepper; stir and cook 4-5 minutes or until thickened and bubbly, stirring constantly.
Add wine; bring to a boil, reduce heat, and simmer 4 minutes. Remove from heat; let stand 30 seconds. Stir in sour cream; add noodles, mix well and garnish with parsley if desired.
Fried Green Tomatoes
Ingredients
3 large green tomatoes, sliced into 1″ thick slices
1/2 cup panko breadcrumbs
1 cup Italian breadcrumbs
1/2 cup cornmeal
2 tsp. kosher salt
2 tsp. pepper
1 cup buttermilk
2 eggs, beaten
4 cups vegetable oil
Directions
- In a shallow dish, mix together both kinds of breadcrumbs, cornmeal, salt, and pepper. Stir to combine.
- In another shallow dish, mix together buttermilk and eggs.
- Line a baking sheet with parchment paper.
- Dip a green tomato slice in the egg wash mixture then cover with breadcrumb mixture, lightly pressing it onto the tomato. Shake off excess and gently place on prepared baking sheet. Continue until all slices have been coated.
- In a deep pot, bring vegetable oil to 350 degrees using a thermometer.
- Fry two to three tomatoes at a time, you don’t want to crowd the pot too much. Fry each side 3-4 minutes on each side, until golden brown, then flip over and fry the other side.
- Place on a plate lined with paper towels to let excess oil drip off. Repeat until all tomatoes have been fried.
- Serve hot with your favorite sauce. We created a mayo and ketchup based sauce.
