Ricotta Pizza with Spinach and Roasted Red Peppers

Posted in Recipes by Annie T

I’ve posted more than a few pizza recipes on my blog, but I’m of the opinion that there can never be too much pizza (especially homemade pizza!!) so I am adding to my pizza repertoire with this delicious white pie that Matt and I made last week. Look at this feast… ricotta, spinach and roasted red peppers covered in mozzarella cheese. I wish I was eating this right now!!

As you’ll see in the instructions below, I find it really challenging to transfer an uncooked pizza with full toppings from the peel to the stone, so my new tactic is to transfer the dough onto the stone in the oven while it’s still “naked” and then add all of the toppings while it’s in the oven. Maybe not the most efficient use of electricity, but this method ensures that my pizzas end up (mostly) symmetrical without half of the cheese and toppings sliding onto the stone or, worse, the bottom of my oven during the raw dough transfer process. Works for me! 🙂

Ricotta Pizza with Spinach and Roasted Red Peppers

You will need…
1 Red Bell Pepper
2 cloves Garlic, pressed through a garlic press
1/2 Yellow Onion, halved and sliced into very thin rounds
1/2 cup Frozen Chopped Spinach (or 2 cups fresh spinach steamed and chopped with excess water squeezed out)
approx. 2 cups shredded Mozzarella Cheese
approx. 3/4 cup Ricotta Cheese
Semolina Flour
1 package raw Pizza Dough
Salt and Pepper, to taste

Directions:
Start by roasting the red bell pepper. There are several ways to roast a pepper, but for this particular pizza Matt sliced the pepper into thirds, removed the seeds and ribs, and placed the pepper pieces on a baking sheet in a preheated 400° oven until the skin was wrinkled and starting to blacken. Then he peeled off the skin, sliced the peppers into 1/2″ strips, and set the roasted peppers aside until it was time to put them on the pizza.

Preheat the oven (with pizza stone inside) to 425°F. Since I’m incapable of transferring a fully topped, raw pizza from the peel to the stone I put the naked dough on the stone and quickly add all of the toppings once it’s already in the oven. To avoid wasting too much heat and energy during this process, I prep all of the toppings in advance and set them next to the oven. With this in mind, arrange the roasted red peppers, minced garlic, chopped spinach and sliced onions on a plate and make sure that the mozzarella and ricotta are open and ready to go.

Next, prep the pizza dough. Again, there are many ways to do this, but for this pizza I sprinkled a few tablespoons of semolina flour on a pizza peel and stretched the fresh ball of dough into a 15″ diameter circle. Carefully transfer the dough onto the preheated pizza stone and use your fingers to quickly spread the minced garlic over the top of the dough, leaving a 1-2″ margin on the edges for the crust. Close the oven.

Working in quick intervals, open the oven, slide the pizza stone rack out slightly, and start adding your toppings and cheese. Start with the onions along with a thin layer of mozzarella and close the oven. After few minutes, add the spinach and 8-9 generous spoonfuls of ricotta. After another 1-2 minutes spread on the roasted red peppers and top with the remaining mozzarella. Once all of the toppings have been added allow the pizza to cook for another few minutes until the crust is fully cooked and the cheese is just starting to turn golden brown.

Use a pizza peel to remove the cooked pizza from the oven (working with a cooked pizza is so much easier than raw dough!!) and season with salt and pepper. Cut the pizza into 6-8 slices and enjoy!

12Nov2013

Rotisserie Chicken Taquitos

Posted in Recipes by Annie T

Believe it or not, one of the most popular recipes on this blog is my take on Rotisserie Chicken Burritos. I’m guessing it must be the combination of cheesy deliciousness and the ease of using precooked rotisserie chicken that makes the burritos so popular. (And did I mention the melted cheese? YUM!) With that in mind, Matt and I set out to see what other easy weeknight meal we could make with rotisserie chicken. These baked chicken and poblano chile taquitos are the satisfying result!

Taquitos are basically little burritos that are bite-sized and perfect for dipping. Just like burritos, taquitos are created by wrapping a tortilla around tasty filling, but unlike burritos the taquitos are baked in the oven (or fried) to give them a nice crispy texture. The firm outer shell of the tortilla helps each little taquito hold its shape as you dip it into your choice of salsa, sour cream or guacamole.

We made our taquitos rather plump which worked out well since they were our main dinner entree. If you wanted to serve these as an appetizer you could make them a little thinner. Also, we made up our filling as we went along and we’ll probably continue to tweak it when we make these in the future, so have fun and play around with your own combination of shredded meat, veggies, and seasonings. Just don’t forget the cheese! 🙂

Baked Rotisserie Chicken Taquitos with Poblano Chiles

You will need…
3 small Poblano Peppers
1/2 Yellow Onion, finely diced
1 clove Garlic, minced
1 large Rotisserie Chicken Breast, meat removed from bone and chopped
1 teaspoon Chile Powder
1/2 teaspoon Cumin
1/2 teaspoon Paprika
1/2 teaspoon Mexican Oregano
Salt and Pepper, to taste
Approx. 1 cup Shredded Mexican Blend Cheese
Handful Cilantro Leaves, roughly chopped
1/4 cup Peanut Oil
12-18 Small Corn Tortillas
Sour Cream and Salsa, for serving

Directions:
Place the poblano peppers on a rimmed baking sheet and broil on the top rack of an oven for 10-15 minutes, turning occasionally, until the pepper skin is blistered and starting to blackened. Remove from the oven and transfer the peppers to a glass bowl. Cover the bowl for 5-10 minutes with a dish towel to hold in the moisture. Then, carefully peel the skin off of the poblanos (it should come off pretty easily), remove the seeds and finely chop.

Saute the diced onions and garlic in a non-stick pan over medium-high heat until translucent. Add in the chopped poblanos, chicken and seasonings (chile powder through salt and pepper) and stir well. Saute until ingredients are heated through then transfer to a large bowl. Stir in the shredded cheese and cilantro to complete your taquito filling.

Heat the peanut oil in a small pan over medium heat. Use tongs to place a tortilla in the oil. The oil is hot enough when small bubbles appear around the outer edge of the tortilla. (It’s too hot if the oil is bubbling wildly and/or causing the tortilla to lift up out of the oil.) Allow the tortilla to heat in the oil for 20-30 seconds, then use the tongs to flip it over and cook for another 15 seconds. Lift the tortilla out of the oil, allow the excess oil to drip off, then transfer to a cutting board. Fill the tortilla with a small amount of the filling (approx. 2-3 tablespoons), roll it up, and place it seam-side down on a baking sheet. Repeat this process with the remaining tortillas.

Bake the taquitos in a preheatead 350°F oven for 20-30 minutes or until the tops are golden brown. Serve with sour cream and salsa.

19Aug2013

Mexican Pizza

Posted in Recipes by Annie T

I love pizza and I LOVE nachos so tonight I decided to combine these two culinary delights into one delicious meal: Mexican Pizza! I made up the recipe as I went along and, after sinking his teeth into the first sausage-y, cheesy, tomato-y bite, Matt declared that this pizza was my best-ever made up recipe of all time!

The ingredients are simple: pizza dough, cheese, and your favorite nacho or taco toppings. I used fire-roasted corn, beans, red onions, green onions, jalapeños (from our garden), cherry tomatoes (also from the garden!), and sausage that was crumbled and cooked with a bit of taco seasoning. The sausage that we had on hand was actually bratwurst which obviously isn’t the most Mexican of sausages but it ended up tasting just fine. If I was going to plan for making this again I’d try some nice fresh chorizo sausage instead. Yum!

Annie’s Mexican Pizza – a The Little GSP original!

You will need…
1/4-1/2 cup Corn (I used frozen corn)
1-2 Jalapeño Peppers, sliced into thin rounds
2 Fresh Sausages, casings removed and roughly chopped/crumbled (I’d recommend Chorizo or Italian Sausage)
1-2 teaspoons Taco Seasoning (optional; good if you’re using a mild sausage like bratwurst!)
1 package fresh Pizza Dough
1/4 cup Red Onion, finely chopped
1/4 cup Black Beans, rinsed and drained (about a quarter of a 15 oz. can)
8-10 Cherry Tomatoes, halfed
2-3 handfuls shredded Mozzarella
1-2 handfuls shredded Mexican Cheese Blend
Sliced Green Onions, to garnish
Cholula Hot Sauce, to taste
Sour Cream, to taste

Directions:
Heat a skillet (I used my wok) over medium high heat and add the frozen corn. Allow the corn to thaw and then dry roast in the pan for approx. 10 minutes, stirring occasionally, until the corn is starting to blacken slightly. Transfer the roasted corn to a bowl and set aside. Put the sliced jalapeños into the hot skillet and roast for 10 minutes, stirring occasionally, until the pepper slices start to soften. Transfer the jalapeños to a bowl and set aside.

Add the crumbled sausage to the hot skillet and spread it out in one layer on the bottom of the pan. Allow to brown for 2-3 minutes, then stir the sausage frequently until browned and fully cooked. If using a mild sausage (or if you want an extra kick), stir in the taco seasoning. Transfer the cooked sausage to a paper towel-lined plate and set aside.

Preheat the oven to 500°F and, if you’re using one, allow your pizza stone to heat up in the oven. Prep the pizza dough according to the package instructions. I used a package of fresh Trader Joe’s pizza dough and made a 12-14″ pizza on our new pizza peel. I used flour to keep the pizza from sticking to my hands and stretched it out in all directions without over-handling it. If you are making two pizzas and/or don’t have a peel, just split up the dough and shape it to fit on a greased cookie sheet. (For more information on how I stretch pizza dough, check out my Homemade TBM Pizza recipe.)

Now here’s the fun part… building your Mexican pizza! I started with a sparse sprinkling of red onion followed by a bit of Mozzarella, a scattering of black beans and a generous helping of roasted corn. Then I added a thin, even layer of Mozzarella over the whole pizza before spreading all of the crumbled sausage onto the pie. After a final sprinkling of Mozzarella I added on the cherry tomatoes, jalapeños, and a few more bits of red onion. Finally, I topped off the pizza with a little shredded Mexican Cheese Blend to give it some nice color.

Bake your Mexican Pizza in the 500°F oven for 10-12 minutes or until the crust is puffed and fully cooked. If using a pizza stone, you’ll have to transfer the uncooked pizza from the pizza peel onto the hot stone in the oven (a skill that we’re still working on!) and then slide the fully cooked pizza back on the peel to be cut. Sprinkle the chopped green onion over the top of the pizza, slice the pizza, and serve with hot sauce and sour cream. Enjoy!

23Apr2013

Stuffed Poblano Peppers

Posted in Recipes by Annie T

On Sunday we didn’t feel like going grocery shopping so we decided to improvise a dinner using the ingredients that we had in the fridge. It just so happened that we had poblano peppers and turkey chorizo sausage, so we created this yummy Tex-Mex style recipe for peppers stuffed with sausage, beans and rice!

Poblano Peppers Stuffed with Chorizo, Beans, and Rice

You will need…
1 tablespoon Olive Oil
1/2 Yellow Onion, finely chopped
1/2 Jalapeño Pepper, seeds discarded and finely chopped
2 fresh Chorizo Sausages, casings removed
10 oz. cooked White Rice
10 oz. (about 2/3 can) Black Beans, rinsed and drained
3/4 cup Frozen Corn
1/2 teaspoon Chile Powder
1/4 teaspoon Cayenne Pepper
1 1/2 teaspoon Cumin
1 teaspoon Mexican Oregano
Salt and Pepper to Taste
3-4 Poblano Peppers, halved lengthwise with seeds and ribs removed
Shredded Cheese (we used a mixture of Mexican blend and Mozzarella)
Sliced Green Onion, for garnish
Chopped Cilantro, for garnish (we didn’t have any but it would be a nice addition!)

Directions:
Heat the Olive Oil in a large skillet or wok over medium-high heat. Add in the onion and jalapeño and saute until the onion softens slightly, about 2 minutes. Use a spatula to push the onion mixture to the sides of the pan, then add the sausage and saute until browned and cooked through, about 8 minutes. Stir the sausage while it cooks to break it up into crumbled bits.

Reduce the heat to medium and stir in the rice, beans, and corn. Sprinkle in the seasonings (chile powder thru salt and pepper) and stir well to combine. Taste the mixture and adjust the seasoning to taste if desired.

Meanwhile, cook the poblano pepper halves in the oven or on a grill. (Although we did not do this when we made the recipe, we later concluded that softening the peppers slightly before stuffing them would improve their taste and texture in the final dish.) To do this in the oven, place the peppers on a baking sheet and broil until the flesh softens but still holds its shape (it’s OK if black spots appear). To do this on a grill, place the peppers over direct medium heat and grill until the flesh softens but still holds its shape Place the cooked peppers on a baking sheet and spoon the rice and sausage mixture into each pepper. Top liberally with shredded cheese, then bake in a 375°F oven for 20 minutes or until the cheese begins to brown.

Transfer the baked peppers to a serving dish and garnish with green onion and cilantro. Enjoy!

29Jan2013

Tasty Treats for the Big Game

Posted in Recipes by Annie T

Have you ever noticed that everyone always refers to this weekend’s championship sporting event as The Big Game rather than just saying the Superbowl? I guess it’s a legal thing – am I even allowed to type “The Superbowl” here without the NFL’s permission?? – but I digress.

For this weekend’s ‘big game’ we’re going bowling at the awesome, tater-tot-filled North Bowl in Philadelphia right before the game and then we’ll head over to Matt’s sister’s house for pizza, beer and ~~commercial~~ football watching. Even though I won’t be doing any cooking of my own, I still wanted to share a few recipes that I know would be delicious to snack on during the Superbowl. Enjoy!

BBQ Chicken Quesadillas – A delightful combination of shredded chicken, cilantro and barbecue sauce, all held together with plenty of melted Monterey Jack cheese!

Jalapeño Poppers – A baked, spicy treat filled with low fat cream cheese and part skim mozzarella (they’re practically healthy!)

Tomatillo Salsa – This bright green dip is packed with roasted tomatillos, cilantro, garlic, onion and jalapeños. Make the day before and serve cold!

Bite-Sized Caprese Skewers – Tomato, basil and mozzarella on a stick! Perfect for healthier eaters.

19Mar2012

BBQ Chicken Quesadillas

Posted in Recipes by Annie T

Over the holidays I discovered a blog called Natural Noshing while searching for a gluten-free meatball recipe to serve to our extended family. Although I didn’t end up making the specific turkey meatball recipe that I found on Nora’s blog, I was enthralled by her beautiful photographs and delicious, clearly-laid out recipes. I began to daydream about creating my own blog and, although I don’t have very much cooking experience and my photography has primarily been limited to dogs flying through the air, I eventually got up the nerve to start this blog!

I had originally planned to make Kung Pao Chicken in our wok tonight since this is one of our favorite meals and it hasn’t yet appeared on TheLittleGSP. I had, in addition to the many sauces and oils needed for Kung Pao, some chicken breast and red bell pepper, and, as of 8:32am that’s what was for dinner. That all changed at 8:33 when I got my automated WordPress notification that a new recipe was up on Natural Noshing. The recipe? BBQ Chicken Quesadillas with (you guessed it!) chicken and red pepper. Perfect!

Before you read any further, you should definitely check out the original recipe and beautiful photos on Natural Noshing. I am pretty stubborn about never quite following recipes exactly (I always tend to add extra onions, extra garlic and a shake or two of crushed red pepper for good measure…) so when in doubt follow Nora’s recipe, not mine! 🙂

BBQ Chicken Quesadillas serves 2-3

You will need…
2 Chicken Breasts
1/2 Red Bell Pepper, diced
1/2 Red Onion, diced
Olive Oil
Salt and Pepper
1/3 cup Chopped Cilantro (apparently I like to be heavy-handed with Cilantro as well!)
Approx. 1/2 Cup Monterey Jack Cheese, shredded (I didn’t have the sharp cheddar that the original recipe called for)
6 Corn Tortillas (ours were Green Chile Corn Tortillas)
Approx. 3 Tablespoons of BBQ Sauce (we are using Homestyle Black Cherry Smokehouse BBQ Sauce from Whole Foods)
Sour Cream and Guacamole (optional but highly recommended!)

Directions:

Bring a large pot of water to a boil and add the uncooked chicken breasts. Boil the chicken breasts for 10-15 minutes or until they are fully cooked through. (I actually lost track of time as my chicken was boiling. This is usually Matt’s job but he was at lacrosse practice so I did it myself. He tells me that you cook them “until they are done” so just do that and you’ll be fine…). Alternatively, you can avoid this chicken-boiling step by just using pre-cooked rotisserie chicken.

Remove the chicken from the water and shred it with two forks until it looks something like this:

Sauté the pepper and onion in a tablespoon or two of olive oil over medium heat until tender. Salt and pepper to taste and then transfer the pepper and onion mixture to a bowl.

To assemble your quesadillas, place a corn tortilla in the pan that you just sautéed the peppers and onions in. You’ll want the tortilla to sizzle in the oil without burning (this is a very fine line on our not-so-sensitive electric range). Top the tortilla with cheese and pour a few drops of BBQ sauce evenly around the tortilla. When the cheese starts to melt place a few pieces of shredded chicken and a thin layer of the pepper/onion mix on one half of the tortilla. Sprinkle with cilantro and fold the “empty” side of the tortilla over onto the full side.