Posts Tagged pizza

Individual Hot Pizza Dip

May 15

Posted by Jessie in Jessie Bea Eats! | 1 Comment

I’m sorry about this recipe.  I really am.  It’s freaking delicious and takes about 3 minutes to pull together.  It’s going to be a problem around my apartment.

So here’s the thing: it’s not even remotely fancy or healthy food.  It’s hardly even a recipe.  It’s cream cheese, red sauce, and shredded cheese microwaved and served with pita wedges.  But oh god.  It’s finals, I’m graduating from law school in 2 weeks, starting bar review the day after commencement, moving, and sometimes I just want to eat my anxiety, okay?  And this stuff does the trick.  It’s hot and melty and tomatoey- my definition of comfort.

Hot Pizza Dip

Clearly more excited to eat it than to take a decent photo- or even wipe off the splatter.

Individual Hot Pizza Dip

  • 1 tablespoon cream cheese
  • 2-3 tablespoons marinara sauce
  • dried oregano
  • fennel seeds*
  • crushed red pepper flakes (optional)
  • 1 tablespoon shredded cheese (cheddar, mozzarella, etc.)

In a microwavable bowl (cereal size) spread the cream cheese in an even layer.  Layer on the marinara sauce, a sprinkle of the oregano and fennel seeds and crushed red pepper flakes, if using.  Top with shredded cheese.  Cover with a paper towel and microwave on high for 1 minute, or until the cheese is melted. Serve with toasted pita wedges.

—

  • Okay, so this probably tastes better if you bake it in the oven instead of microwaving it.  But really people, I’m talking 3 minutes until you have hot delicious pizza dip.  Get over crunchy cheese and nuke this.  If you have more time or want to feed a bigger crowd you can make this in a large pan and bake it for a while and I’m sure it will be delicious.

*The fennel seeds make this taste a little like sausage- this is my dad’s trick and I use it all the time on pizza or in pasta dishes.  Crush the seeds lightly in the palm of your hand before you add them to a dish.  I buy mine in the Indian section of the grocery store.  They come in a bag and are much cheaper than the ones in the tiny bottle in the spice aisle.

**In the photo I sprinkled some nutritional yeast on top.  See, it’s healthy now!

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Pizzetta Bianca with Caramelized Onions

Feb 27

Posted by Jessie in Jessie Bea Eats! | 1 Comment

I made pizza dough (I highly recommend this recipe) a few weeks ago and only used about 1/4 of it to make a calzone and 2 mini bread sticks.  So, I wrapped it up tight in plastic wrap and put it in the freezer for another time since pizza dough freezes really well.  Last night I took another 1/4 of the dough out and let it thaw in the refrigerator over night.

So for dinner tonight I knew I was going to have pizza, but the question was what kind?

I didn’t have any cheese on hand save for a bit of parmesan, so I decided to go for something a bit less ordinary than the pizzas I usually make.  I decided to caramelize some onions and add them to a white pizza.  This came out really well, if I do say so myself.
Take your time caramelizing the onions- the longer you let them cook at a low temperature the better.  Don’t fuss over them, the cooking time is long but they really only need to be stirred a few times.  You can put a lid on them and walk away for a while if they are over low heat.

This pizzetta is definitely for garlic lovers!  If you’re less keen on garlic, try using roasted garlic and spreading the mashed cloves over the dough before you bake it.

Pizzetta Bianca with Caramelized Onions

  • 1/4 of this pizza dough recipe (or enough dough to fill an 8×8 square baking pan)
  • 1/2 medium sweet onion, thinly sliced
  • 2 cloves garlic, thinly sliced
  • dried oregano
  • dried basil
  • crushed red pepper flakes
  • parmesan cheese (optional)
  • fresh parsley, chopped (optional)

Preheat your oven to 450 degrees.  Line an 8×8 square baking pan with parchment paper and spray with olive oil.  Stretch the dough to fit in the pan.  Spray with a bit more oil.  Set aside.

In a large skillet over low heat, spray a generous amount of olive oil then add the onions.  Cook very slowly until they turn caramel colored- not crispy!  It should take anywhere from 30 minutes to an hour.

Add the sliced garlic to the pizza dough, followed by a bit of each of the herbs and a shake or two of crushed red pepper flakes.  Then add the onions and the optional parmesan cheese.

Looking a bit... *beige* before baking

Bake for approximately 12-15 minutes, until the crust is golden brown. Sprinkle the parsley over, if using.

I had half of this for dinner tonight with a salad.  If you want to make this to serve 4, just use half of the pizza dough recipe and use a bit more of each ingredient to cover the pizza.

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Mmmm, flatbreads.

Sep 9

Posted by Jessie in Jessie Bea Eats! | No Comments

I love most things bread.  Bagels, english muffins, tortillas, whole wheat, italian… you name it, I dig it.  The most versatile bread, in my opinion is flatbread.  Puffy pitas, naan, roti, tortillas, and fancy dancy ‘wraps’ are are great to have on hand to easy homemade meals.  Most of them freeze really well too (except maybe tortillas), so you don’t have to worry about having them go moldy on you.  The reason I like them so much is that you can make them into sandwiches, eat them plain dipped into soup or a dip, made into garlic bread, as a crust for mini pizzas, the list goes on.

Probably my favorite way to use them for dinner purposes is as a shell for some type of baked flatbread.  My own personal definition of pizza is that it must contain red sauce on the bottom.  White pizza makes no sense to me, but when you call it a “garlic and cheese flatbread” I’m all about it (but will still probably attempt to dip it in marinara).  Weird, I know, but love me anyway.    What were we talking about again?

Oh, this stuff:

Pizza!

Pizza topped with zucchini, red bell peppers, kalamata olives, and red onions

This guy is made on a “pizza parlor” flatbread that I pick up at Wegmans near the pita breads.  They are tasty and can stand up to the millions of toppings I like on my pizzas.  Pizzas can also be made on tortillas, but you have to be a little less generous with the toppings or it won’t get crispy.

This is NOT a pizza, but a baked flatbread.  And it’s damn tasty!  Naan style flatbread, topped with homemade cilantro-almond pesto, kalamata olives, quartered grape tomatoes, and fresh mozzarella.  This guy was tasty as heck.  I highly recommend this combo.  I used this recipe for the pesto and froze most of it in an ice cube tray and then put it in a plastic bag to store.  I actually broke out a cube today to use as a sauce for my gnocchi and it still tasted fresh and delicious.

This one was pretty similar but the base is a laughing cow cheese wedge mixed with some Gorgonzola and cilantro pesto, then topped with tomatoes, olives, and fresh basil.  This one wasn’t as good as the one above, but still pretty dern good.

Did I mention that I make these in my toaster oven so they don’t even require heating up your regular oven?

Go eat some crispy topped bread!

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Work Week Meals

Aug 14

Posted by Jessie in Jessie Bea Eats! | No Comments

By the time I get home from work and go for a run, I’m usually ready to eat anything that looks even remotely edible that is put in front of me.  Thankfully, I’ve started making individual components during the weekend that I use to throw dinner together quickly during the week.

Those chickpea cutlets from the last post are awesome when warmed in the toaster oven and tossed with Frank’s Red hot on top of a spinach salad with zucchini and random farmer’s market vegetables.  I also threw some leftover baked sweet potato slices on top.

The Buffalo chickpea cutlets are also a good example of my theory that a lot of meat-based dishes taste good because of the sauce they are served with.

Another super easy week night dinner is homemade vegetable pizza.  I make this individual pizza in less than 10 minutes with the help of pre-made mini pizza shells that I find in the bread section of the grocery store near the pitas.

I top with sauce (I usually have homemade on hand, but use jarred by all means), vegetables, olives, and cheese if you feel like it.

One last quick meal: Pasta with bean balls and raw vegetables.  I made a full batch of bean balls (posted here) from Veganomicon, on the weekend, so for this meal I really just boiled some pasta, and topped it with the pre-made sauce and balls (tee hee), sliced some raw zucchini and threw some spinach on top. 

Excuse the crummy photo, smudged camera lense!

Excuse the crummy photo, smudged camera lens!

There’s no excuse to hit the drive thru when you can make tasty and healthy (not to mention much cheaper) meals like this in as little as 10 minutes!

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