Mama Mia! I finally made a great pizza crust!
OK, so I didn't invent the recipe, I got it where I get all my info...the WWW! No matter how old I get, I will still love and be amazed by the Internet!
Not one to be selfish, I am posting the link to the recipe. If for some strange reason the link doesn't work, it's Tyler Florence's pizza dough recipe on the Food Network site.
Tyler Florence Pizza Dough - 5 Stars!
This is the easiest recipe I have ever made for pizza dough and it worked just like it was supposed to! I used my stand mixer, just like the recipe is designed for. When it was ready to come out of the mixer, I kneaded it 20 times, rolled it a ball, let it sit and rise for about three hours - only because I was out running errands!
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| My dough when it was done rising, in my Grandma Grace's bowl! |
When I took the dough out of the bowl, I kneaded it 20 more times, cut it in half w/a sharp knife and let it rest for 10 minutes. Then, I used a rolling pin to roll the dough out. You can see by my pizza shapes, I have no idea how to roll a circle!
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| The crust on the right just came out of the oven after pre-baking for 5 minutes. |
At this point, I decided to try my own little experiment (Read: cannot follow directions!). I dusted the cookie sheet with corn meal for one crust and left the other with just the flour that was sticking to it. The crust with the corn meal on the bottom, I put in the oven for 5 minutes before topping it, and then baked it for 10 minutes more. The second crust, I topped and baked for 15 minutes. Both crusts were baked on cookie sheets (the kind made specifically for cookies), at 400 degrees using the convection setting on my oven. I don't have a pizza stone to pre-heat to 500 degrees as the recipe suggests.
The Verdict
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| The pizza w/the pre- baked crust |
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| The pizza that was topped w/no pre-baking |
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| The pizza on the left was not pre-baked. Yes, we like our cheese this way! |
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Sometime Spring '11
I really like to cook and friends are often asking me for my "recipe." The problem is, I don't really have any. I don't measure anything, I eyeball seasonings, and I always use whatever I happen to have in the house which translates to you never know what kind of cheese will be in the homemade mac 'n cheese!
But, at the request of some persistent friends, I will attempt to share my "recipes." Luckily, I also have some really great family recipes that happen not to be National Secrets. So, I'll share those too. You do not want to miss my Aunt Cheryl's brownies, trust me you will never buy a box brownie mix again!
Pasta Primavera
Three of my favorite foods: pasta, fresh veggies & cheese! Put them together and Presto! Pasta Primavera! I love it and my family loves it. It is an easy week-night meal that can stand alone with a salad or be served with grilled chicken, steaks, or shrimp. It also works well as a side dish for dinner parties or cover-dish dinners.
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| This is the pasta primavera I made recently with very thin linguini noodles. |
Like with everything, I use whatever noodles and veggies I have on hand. I also use pretty much whatever white cheese I have on hand. With the cheese I try to stick to an Italian blend, or mozzarella and Parmesan, or swiss and Parmesan.
In a skillet on medium, in olive oil, I saute garlic, and all my veggies with some salt and pepper. In the above dish, I used broccoli, zucchini, red peppers and carrots. I also only cook with kosher salt and fresh ground pepper. I really think it makes a big difference. I would love to use fresh garlic, but Big D hates the smell of garlic so I have to sneak it in. I always use Tastefully Simple's Garlic Garlic.
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| Mmm, fresh veggies! |
I put my water on to boil at the same time. When I put the pasta in the water, I start the cheese sauce.
In a sauce pan I melt butter (margarine) and flour to make a rue, when it is whisked smooth I start adding milk and cheese, constantly whisking until I get the consistency I want. It's really that easy.
Sometimes I mix everything together, sometimes I just mix the sauce and pasta and put the veggies on top. I also put parsley on everything Italian. I also like to use filled pasta in this recipe, like cheese ravioli or tortellini. Homemade cheese ravioli are my favorite and are quick and easy to make. I will add that recipe in the future.
Wikipedia: "Pasta primavera is an Italian-American dish that consists of pasta and fresh vegetables. A meat such as chicken, sausage or shrimp is sometimes added, but the focus of primavera is the vegetables themselves. The dish may contain almost any kind of vegetable, but cooks tend to stick to firm, crisp vegetables, such as broccoli, carrots, peas, onions and green bell peppers, with tomatoes. Pasta primavera is usually highlighted by light flavors, aromatic herbs and bright colors ('primavera' meaning the season of spring). Classic primavera sauce is based on a soffritto of garlic and olive oil, and finished with Parmesan cheese. But versions further enriched by, or based on, a heavier cream or Alfredo sauce are also common."
