Great Cook Books I Cook (and live) by

  • Big Orange Book by Rachael Ray
  • Giada at Home
  • Jamie at Home
  • Look and Cook by Rachael Ray

Wednesday, January 13, 2010

White Chicken and Bacon Pizza

Hello to all!!!! As you all know, I have a new job! But, I will still be blogging about recipes and food ideas, just not as often. Hopefully, you will try today's recipe - it is a pizza recipe my mom used to make for us all the time, and I make for my boys, and they love it! It is a white chicken and bacon pizza! Sooo good!!!!!!

What you will need:

Fresh pizza dough (I make my own, but, that is another recipe!!)
Left over chicken (rotisserie chicken is great for this recipe!), shredded.
Cooked bacon, cut into large pieces
1 tup of ricotta cheese
Fresh garlic cloves (1 or 2)
Parmesan cheese, grated
1 onion, sliced thinly
Balsamic vinegar
Olive oil
Butter (not margarine)

Preheat your oven to 375 degrees F.

Roll out your dough according to the size of your pizza stone. Sprilkle some olive oil on the stone or baking dish and spread the dough out on top. Set aside.

In a pan, drizzle some olive oil, and melt approximately 1 tblsp of butter. Put all the onions in the pan, and let them cook down and caramelize. Drizzle a little balsamic vinegar on the onions and stir. Set aside to cool.

In a bowl, mix the ricotta cheese, a good hand full of parmesan cheese, grated garlic, and salt and pepper. Sprinkle a little olive oil in the mixture and set aside. Mixture will be thick.

Time to build the pizza!

On the prepared pizza dough, spread the ricotta mixture right to the edge, top with onions, shredded chicken, and bacon. Top with parmesan cheese, and then, drizzle with olive oil.

Place the pizza in the oven and bake until dough browns around edges, and is fully cooked. It will depend on the size of your pizza!

Let it cool a little before cutting your slices. Enjoy!

Thursday, January 7, 2010

Fricciolini

Yesterday I posted a pork loin roast recipe, and promised everyone I would post a recipe for the left overs today, so, good morning everyone, and here is the recipe for fricciolini! Fricciolini is an Italian slang word used by my mom's family to describe these little balls of yummy-ness!

There is no measuring in this recipe - EASY!!!!

In a food processor put your left over meat.
Add any left over potatoes if you have any (if not, put a potato in the microwave and cook until very tender)
Add an egg or two depending on how much meat you have.
Add a huge hand full of parmesan cheese, grated.
Add a nice amount of parsley, and salt and pepper.

Once everything is in the food processor, whir it all together. The mixture will start to stick together. Once this happens, make little balls out of the mixture however big or small you like, and put on a cookie sheet. Flatten them out a little. You may put them in the fridge at this point to set up a little bit. Once you are ready to cook them, put some olive oil in a pan, and heat it up. Meanwhile get yourself a little bowl and put some flower in it, mixing it with salt and pepper. Run the fricciolini through the flower to just dust them, and place in the hot oil. Shallow fry them until golden brown on both sides!!!!!!! YUMMY!!!!!!!

Cheers!
Paula

Wednesday, January 6, 2010

Rosemary Thyme Pork Roast

Happy New Year everyone!!! I hope your holidays were very joyous! It is a new Year, and here is a new recipe - very much a comfort food, and I don't know about you, but, with all the snow we have been getting I can take all the comfort I can get!

The recipe originally came from the Rachael Ray Show, which most of you know, I love! But, I tweaked it a little bit to make it easier to cook in a short amount of time! Enjoy it everyone and let me know what you think of it!

Ingredients:

1 pork loin roast (2-3 lbs or so) with silver skin trimmed.
8 cloves of garlic
3 large sprigs of rosemary (or 2 Tblsp if dried)
3 large sprigs of fresh thyme, or (or 2 Tblsp if dried)
Olive oil
salt and pepper

Method:

Preheat your oven to 375 degrees F. Make 8 slits in the top of your roast with the sharp end of a knife and push a garlic clove in each slit. Slather the whole roast with olive oil. In a small bowl combine the rosemary and thyme, and salt and pepper. Add a little olive oil to it to make it into a paste. Using your hand, rub the rosemary mixture onto the top of your roast. Put the roast into a roasting dish, or a baking pan, and cover it with tin foil. Place in the oven for 40 minutes or so, depending on the size. Remove tin foil, and let cook to crisp up for another 20-25 minutes, or until cooked through. The roast should still be a little pink as pork can be tough if over cooked. Serve with roasted potatoes, a salad, and cranberry sauce, or apple sauce! It is MOST yummy!!!!!

Try it and enjoy! Tomorrow, I will post a recipe for "Fricciolini" which you can do with the left overs from the pork roast!

Cheers!
Paula