Feta Stuffed Tomato and Basil Phyllo Pizza

Hope everyone had a happy 4th of July weekend! We spent the day relaxing on the beach, basking in the sun and visiting a few local drinking establishments. During those precious moments when I was not relaxing, drinking or sunning myself, I packed (...boxes and boxes of crap)! We are getting ready to move to a new house in just a few short days so sadly cooking has been on the decline.


Everyday, hubby packs up a little bit more of the kitchen and I find myself missing key kitchen items like my food processor, cutting boards, & knives while in the midst of preparing a recipe!

So, to save us both from WWII, we officially "shut down" our kitchen tonight with a very summery Feta Stuffed Basil and Tomato Phyllo Pizza from July's Cooking Light.


Our basil plant's life was coming to an end so we thought we'd give him one last chance to shine along with my favorite cheese, feta. Though phyllo is sometimes tricky to handle, this is a great "throw together" meal that's a perfect appetizer for guests or just a light dinner. As for us, we sat outside with two glasses of white wine, munching away on our last meal in our first apartment as a married couple :) Enjoy!

Click here for the recipe
*The only modification I made was to double the cheese & tomatoes and use full sheets of phyllo instead of halves.

Pesto Sausage and Kale Pizza

With all the smack talk about Giada's bounteous assets, I must admit that 90% of my jesting is driven by pure jealousy. Have you seen her new TV show, Giada at Home? Talk about living in luxury. Giada's home is the epitome of the gorgeous seaside house I'd like to have one day, but probably never will. Ok, I'm also jealous of her big smile. There, I've said it.

Now that I've gotten that off my chest, I can better concentrate on food. Hubby and I have a lot of favorites, but this pizza is certainly up there. It's perfect in that it can be as easy or as complicated as you wish. We've made this with both homemade dough and Trader Joe's dough. The same goes for the sauce. As much as I love making my dough from scratch on the weekends, TJ's refrigerated pizza dough is so yummy & so cheap that it's hard to even think of stressing myself out about how I can get dough to rise while I'm at work.


If you're lucky enough to have a Henry's in your area, please get up and go try their market fresh sausage, homemade each morning. They have quite a few different flavors and our favorites have been the pesto, garlic & herb and sweet Italian sausages. Cooking the sausage in the sauce helps flavor both the sauce and the meat.

*Just a tip for TJ's pizza dough: be sure to prebake it before putting on sauce and toppings. It can get soggy otherwise.

Pesto Sausage and Kale Pizza

Trader Joe's Whole Wheat pizza dough or homemade dough
1 bunch lacinato kale
olive oil
2 large links uncooked chicken or turkey pesto sausage, casings removed
pinch of Kosher salt
1 garlic clove, minced
1 tablespoon of water
1 1/4 cup pasta sauce (I like to use a chunky sauce; use more if you like a lot of sauce)
1 cup shredded mozzarella cheese

Preheat the oven to 425 degrees.
If using TJ's pizza dough, allow it to rest for about 15-20 minutes on a floured surface. On a floured surface, roll out pizza dough. Mine never ends up in a perfect circle, so use your creativity :)

Wash lacinato kale thoroughly and pull leaves off of thick stems. Tear apart into smaller pieces.

In a large saucepan, heat olive oil over medium heat. Add sausage and break up links. Once sausage is browned, but not fully cooked, add pasta sauce and allow to simmer.

Meanwhile, in a medium saucepan heat olive oil over medium heat. Add lacinato kale and allow to sit for about 2 minutes. Sprinkle with Kosher Salt and garlic. Toss the kale and add 1 tbsp of water. Cover and let steam for about 2 additional minutes. Remove from heat once done.

Pre-cook pizza crust for 5 minutes.

Remove from oven and brush with olive oil. Sprinkle with salt if desired. Spread sausage pasta sauce on pizza dough. Place kale on top and sprinkle entire pizza with mozzarella cheese.

Return pizza to oven for another 10-15 minutes, or until cheese is thoroughly melted .

Turkey Feta Pizzas & More DC Happenings

More on this guy later...

Every couple should be forced to spend at least one summer in a studio with no TV. Hubby and I have been more active than we ever could have imagined. Gone are the lazy Saturdays of San Diego, spent lounging in bed all morning, then rolling out of bed to lay a little bit longer on the beach. We've been out and about and DC's great (free) museums have something to do with that. First off, can anyone tell me what's the name of this tree? They're everywhere and absolutely gorgeous.

This Saturday, we visited the US Botanic Gardens to mourn my lovely garden that has surely died of neglect in my absence. We were a little weary of the Botanic Gardens as D.C.'s heat makes for a little bit of a bloodbath and the last thing we needed was to be subjected to any junglesque greenhouse temperatures. I was delighted to see that one of the first exhibits was not only air conditioned, but featured "The Aroma of Food and Drink," showcasing exotic and native spices and plants that go into many of the foods we enjoy. Best of all (well, second to the air conditioning), you could get up close and take a whiff of the spices. Of course, vanilla smelled so good and the thought of French Vanilla Ice Cream was more than I could handle at the time.





Could this place get any better? The orchid exhibit was next, displaying my all time favorite flowers and the main flower of our wedding. See those beauts up top in the banner? That's our wedding cake!


After too much fun for one day, we hiked to the Metro & came home to pass out after all this excitement.

Once I awoke from my nap, I got working on our dinner. A wife's work is never done, huh? :)This treat was inspired by none other than Elle from Elle's New England Kitchen. There are a lot of great blogs out there, so I'd be hard pressed to choose a favorite, but if some crazy man demanded that I choose one or else, I'd say Elle's is definitely up there.

From the moment I saw Elle's post about Turkish Pizzas, I knew that the recipe would hijack all the others on my burgeoning 'to-make' recipe list, and take top spot. Boy, am I glad that these pizzas made it to the top. This was easily one of my favorite recipes to date and I can't wait to have these again.

I followed Elle's recipe for the dough, though I added a 1/2 tsp of garlic powder to the flour. Garlic makes everything better, don't ya think? The crust came out perfectly soft on the inside with a slight crisp on the outside. Fluffy bread like this is the stuff of dreams for carb-a-holics like us.

For the filling, I went ahead and used ground turkey since I purchased a package on sale, and cooked it directly with the spices and other ingredients instead of cooking them seperately. I also added diced red pepper, cilantro, cinnamon, red pepper flakes and a dash of lemon juice to the mixture because I'm crazy like that. Elle mentions in her post that the original recipe suggests feta as an optional add-on, but I would say do not skip the feta as it definitely makes the filling!

This smelled so good while cooking that we couldn't wait to take pictures. The pics were snapped in a little bit of a starvation-half tired from a nap-too much activity for one day-frenzy so pardon if they're a teensy bit of out of focus. I served the pizzas with a side of coucous and we were in heaven...once I put the camera away.

Turkey Feta Pizzas
Adapted from Elle's New England Kitchen & Oriental Basics

Elle's dough recipe (I added 1/2 tsp garlic powder)

Filling:
1/2 large sweet onion, finely diced
1/2 cup red bell pepper, finely diced
2 garlic cloves, minced
1 tbsp olive oil
1 pound lean ground turkey
1/2 cup chopped & seeded tomato
2 tsp tomato paste
2 tsp sweet paprika
1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
1/2 tsp cumin
1/8 tsp red pepper flakes
Kosher salt and pepper
4-5 oz crumbled feta
1/4 cup chopped cilantro (optional)
half of a lemon

1. Heat oven to 450°.
2. Heat a large wok over medium high heat. Heat the oil and saute the onions until they begin to soften, about 3-4 minutes. Add red pepper and garlic and saute for an additional 2-3 minutes, or until red pepper begins to soften. Add diced tomatoes and saute 1-2 minutes. Push the veggies to the side of the wok.
3. Add a bit of oil to the skillet if needed, then saute the meat until barely pink. Mix veggies into turkey and add tomato paste and spices. Mix until incorporated. Remove from heat and add feta. Taste and adjust seasonings.
4. Divide dough into 8 portions and roll out to thin circles. Line 2 baking sheets with parchment, and place 4 dough circles on each one. Spread some of the topping on the first 4, then put the baking sheet in the oven. Have 1/2 cup of cold water ready, and toss it in the bottom of the oven quickly, then shut the door.Bake for 8-10 minutes. Repeat with last 4 pieces of dough. Remove from pan to a cooling rack. Sprinkle with chopped cilantro & lemon juice.

Grilled Pizza Adventure

What had meant to be a quick and relaxing celebration of summer turned into a long & exhausting walking tour of our apartment grounds. Out here in California, we’ve settled into a little bit of a retreat for young, former city dwellers. The sprawling joint is equipped with multiple pools and barbeque grills, lest any of us actually have to actually more than 100 feet from our apartments to enjoy the community amenities. Ritz Carlton, it’s not but it’s certainly a far cry from our previous shoebox sized city apartment.

We had been meaning to make grilled pizza for awhile. Both patience (allotting time for the dough to rise) and a warm evening had been eluding us. A few weekends ago, inspiration hit us and we followed all of the many tutorials that strongly suggested having a mise en place – having all the fixin’s ready at the go.

We marched out to the pool, only to find an army of hungry residents and screaming kids waiting in line at the grills. Usually, we’re greeted with one or two other couples, quietly grilling up a hamburger or two. To make a long story short, we spent the next hour and a half hopping from pool to pool, armed with 2 risen pizza dough rounds and a heavy bag full of sauces and toppings. We soon discovered that our lovely management had closed every pool area for the night. That evening, only? What luck! We even tried to sneak into a neighboring complex’s pool. If only we had succeeded and been detained for trespassing, I’d have a much more entertaining pizza story for you all. Instead I have an UGLY yet DELICIOUS pizza to share.

I was constructed in darkness, please pardon my ugliness.

Despite our setbacks, we managed to have a great time making these pizzas. By the time we secured our own functioning grill, it was nearly pitch black outside and almost bedtime for me. Not knowing too much about grilling pizzas, we forged ahead and created these masterpieces in the dark.

Making grilled pizza certainly isn’t as easy as calling up Papa John’s, but the crust was the perfect combination for us: doughy on the inside (for me), crusty on the outside (for hubby).

We went with our favorite flavor combination, Barbeque Chicken Pizza with a Garlic Herb Crust. Follow these tips & the recipe and you’ll be off to another dreamy land – that’s how good these were. Just make sure you have a grill to use :)

Tips for Grilling Pizza

• Liberally oil the grill grates & pizza dough before grilling
• After grilling one side of the dough, flip the dough onto a flat plate or pizza paddle and place the sauce & toppings on the grilled side. Pulling the dough off the grill allows you ample time to arrange the toppings as you wish
• Once the pizza has been “dressed” return the dough to the grill and close the lid to allow the toppings to warm and the cheese to melt.

The recipe below is for the garlic herb crust. Play around with the toppings as you like. For the Barbeque Chicken Pizza, we simply used Sweet Baby Ray’s BBQ sauce, grilled chicken (cooked on the grill), sauté mushroom and sweet onion (cooked inside), Monterey jack cheese, and lots and lots of cilantro.

Grilled Garlic Herb Pizza Dough
Adapted from Allrecipes.com and Cooks Illustrated

Pizza Dough
1 (.25 ounce) package active dry yeast
1 cup warm water
1 teaspoon granulated sugar
2 tablespoons olive oil
2 cloves garlic, finely minced
2 teaspoons Kosher salt
1 tablespoon olive oil
3 1/3 cups bread flour
1 tablespoon chopped fresh basil
Cornmeal for dusting

Garlic Oil for grilling
½ cup olive oil
1 teaspoon minced garlic

1. In a bowl, mix yeast with warm water and mix in sugar. Let stand for 10 minutes, or until frothy.
2. While yeast is proofing, heat 2 tablespoons olive oil in a small skillet. Add garlic and sauté over low heat until garlic softens, about 4 minutes. Remove from heat and allow garlic and oil to cool.
3. In a mixing bowl, combine yeast mixture, salt, garlic oil, and flour until dough pulls away from sides of bowl. I used a Kitchen Aid Mixer with a dough hook to complete these steps. Knead until smooth, about 8 minutes. If dough is too dry, add 1 tablespoon of water at a time. Place dough in a well oiled bowl and cover with a damp kitchen towel. Set aside until doubled, about 1 hour. Punch down and knead in fresh basil. Cover and set aside to rise for 1 more hour, or until doubled in size.
4. Heat ½ cup olive oil and garlic for 30 seconds in the microwave and set aside to cool. Punch down dough and divide in half. Roll each into a round shape about 3/8 – ½ inch thick. Sprinkle a plate, cookie sheet or parchment paper with flour & cornmeal. Place dough round on sheet.
5. Heat grill and brush grill grates with garlic oil. Brush tops of dough with garlic oil and sprinkle with Kosher salt if desired. Grill oil side down until grill marks begin to appear and the crust is lightly browned, about 3-4 minutes. While pizza is grilling, lightly brush the other side of the dough with olive oil.
6. Carefully remove dough from grill and place onto a flat plate or cookie sheet, grilled side up. Dress pizza dough with sauce and toppings. Return pizza dough to the grill and close the cover to allow the toppings to heat and the cheese to melt, about 2 – 3 minutes.