Pizza Pizza Thick Tomato Paste...

I have this hilarious memory of myself and a bunch of friends when we were younger, maybe 10 or 11 singing a pizza song for some church talent show or something. I can still see this one girl in my mind, she had such enthusiastic actions as we rocked out on stage. Whenever I eat pizza this song goes through my head:

"Pizza pizza thick tomato paste. Lotza mozza all over your face. So hurry up and slice it up there's not a minute more to waste, with 27 toppings you can't miss a single taste"

I want you all to know that I do realize that I've been a slacker on the veggie meals front. Yes, I've posted some snacks and side dishes but we can all make those. I've been looking for some new recipes and am pleased to announce there will be some good ones coming in the future. I have a couple of new cookbooks Ive borrowed from the local library (my favorite building on earth) and I'm looking forward to trying out some recipes. 

This recipe came from a cook book from my own stash. The title is "Claire's Classic American Vegetarian Cooking". I got this free from someone who had posted online that they were giving it away to the first person to respond. I was the first person. And it is actually a great cookbook; simple recipes, meal plans and the font that is used for the recipe headings makes me smile every time. 

Last night I was trying to decide what to make for dinner (yup, you caught me, I didn't meal plan this week again) and I had to stop and think about what I had. Normally I meal plan then shop based on that so I had to find something to make with what I had. This is what I came up with. I didn't follow the recipe much but used it as a guide I guess. I LOVED this pizza. So good. Made it to favorites. 

Spinach, Tomato, and Goat Cheese Pizzas

6-7 8" Greek Pita Breads (I was planning on using these because I usually have some in my freezer but of course last night I didn't. I ended up making my own pizza dough instead. You can find the recipe here)

3 Tbsp of Olive Oil

5 cloves of Garlic (when I saw that this recipe called for 5 cloves of garlic I was thrilled. Garlic makes me happy even with the killer breath)

2 large ripe Tomatoes, finely chopped (I had no fresh tomatoes so I used a can of diced and it worked fine)

Salt and Pepper

2 10oz bags of spinach, well washed and finely chopped (I only had frozen but again it worked great)

5-6 oz of Goat Cheese, crumbled. (improvising again. I used feta and I don't think I would change it)

*I also used about 1/2 a cup of Grated Marble Cheese

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Arrange pita bread in a single layer on a cookie sheet (or roll out your pizza dough on a pizza stone). Set aside.

Heat oil in large skillet over medium heat. Add the garlic and cool 3-4 minutes until soften. Stir in the tomatoes (since i used canned tomatoes I drained them of most of the juice before adding them to my pan).

Add spinach. Cover and cook for about 10 minutes stirring occasionally. Season with salt and pepper.

Using a slotted spoon spread spinach and tomato mixture onto pitas (or pizza dough). Scatter goat cheese (and marble) over the pizzas and bake for 10-12 minutes (or 25-30 if you are using pizza dough that also needs baking). Serve. 

Like I said; we LOVED this. Hazel took leftovers to school for lunch and ate them cold. If I had of had Greek Pita bread this would have been a fast and yummy dinner. Mmmmm, I'm not sure how long I can wait before we have this one again.

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Marinara Sauce

This recipe is from The Italian Chef and is super easy and delicious.

Marinara Sauce

1/4 cup of Olive Oil

4 cloves of Garlic (I know sounds potent. I love garlic)

1 35oz can of Tomatoes

Salt and Pepper to Taste

3 Basil leaves, washed, patted dry, and chopped (I used dry and it turned out great)

1: Place garlic and olive oil in a large sauce pan

2: Turn heat to medium and cook until garlic is soft and lightly browned.

3: Crush tomatoes and and add with their juices (I threw this in my magic bullet and purred until smooth)

4: Fill empty tomato can 1/4 of the way with water and add to tomatoes. Season with Salt and Pepper to taste,

5: Bring to boil, then lower heat to a simmer and cook until thickened, approximately 20-25 minutes. Add chopped basil at the very end, stir in and cook for 1 minute more.

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Vegetarian Lasagna Gone Wrong. But Just Slightly.

First of all, what does everyone think of President Choice cheese. I learned this past week that it is AWFUL. Maybe I've just been spoiling myself with good cheese but I don't think that is it. You will see from my fabulous photography that the mozzarella on this lasagna that the cheese looks almost plasticy . As a house of cheese-lovers we were very unimpressed with the cheese in this dish. So, in other words; don't buy Presidents Choice cheese. Please.

Anyway, besides the look of the cheese on top, the lasagna was actually pretty good. Not my favorite though. This recipe was sent to me by my sister (who hadn't tried it yet at the time). The ingredients were calling my name for months and so last week when I was making my Weekly Meal Plan I thought I'd give it a try. 

The flavor turned out really good, not great but still yummy. The problem that I had with it was in the texture. I think it needed less Tofu and more Veggies. Next time I will double the veggie and perhaps cut the tofu in half and I think that should solve it. Everyone here ate it without complaint or much persuasion, well mostly everybody. We did have one small 5 year old who made some very lippy and bad choices last night which landed her to bed sans supper. But until the attitude came in she was happily chowing down. 

So here it is:

MEGA-VEGGIE LASAGNA

1 9oz package of oven-ready lasagna noodles

3 TBSP of Olive Oil

1 Onion, diced

12 Oz of Unflavored soy ground "meat" I think now is a good time to let you all know my opinion on "meat" products like these. I don't like them. I feel that if you are choosing a vegetation option for your meal, choose vegetarian all the way, even in appearance. And if you are a non-meat eater why are you eating meat flavored products. I know this one is unflavored but in general. I don't get it. If a recipe I am using calls for a "meat alternative" I use tofu. In this case I used frozen tofu and crumbled it.

sorry for going on and on.

1 Green Bell Pepper, Diced

1 Eggplant, skin on and cubed

1 large Tomato, Chopped (I just realized I missed the tomato...oops)

1 cup of diced Mushrooms

1 TBSP of Garlic Powder

4 cups of Marinara Sauce or Spaghetti Sauce will work (I made my own marinara sauce you can get the recipe here)

1 TBSP Dried Oregano

Salt and Pepper to taste

4 cups of Ricotta Cheese

Shredded Mozzarella (not PC brand please)

Directions:

1: Preheat Over to 400*F. Spray a nonstick 9x13 baking pan with nonstick cooking spray (I like PAM)

2: Smooth 1 cup Marinara Sauce over bottom of the pan. Lay down enough lasagna noodles to cover the bottom of the pan. (If precooking your noodles, make sure you do that first.)

3: Heat 2 TBSP of Olive Oil in a large skillet over medium heat and brown your onions for about 1 minute. Add the soy ground "meat" (or crumbled tofu) and saute for 3 minutes. Add the Bell Pepper, Eggplant, Tomato, Mushrooms and 2 cups of Marinara Sauce, and cook for about 5 minutes, stirring occasionally. Stir in your spices.

4: Spoon half of the soy "meat" (yes, the recipe actually puts meat into quotations) and vegetables over the lasagna sheets and top with ricotta cheese. Cover with more noodles and spoon and smooth on the remaining Marinara Sauce. Spoon on smooth out the remaining "meat" and veggies; sprinkle with Mozzarella. Cover with foil (I sprayed mine with PAM on the inside so the cheese wouldn't all get stuck on the foil instead of staying on the lasagna).

5: Bake for about 45 Minutes (If you precook your noodles the cook can be cut in half) or until the top layer of cheese melts and bubbles. Remove from the oven. Serve.

So, though this recipe was good its wasn't AMAZING. I would love it if you would send me your best vegetarian lasagna recipe so I can try it out. Thanks!

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Garlic Tomato Pasta: A lesson learned

This summer my Mother-in-Law sent us a nice little package. In it were some clothes for the kids and also a little Vegetarian cookbook for me. This was right after we had started our new eating foray and so thoughtfully she picked it up and sent it to me. 

 In it was a Pasta recipe that looked AMAZING in the photo and I finally, yesterday prepared it for our family. 

I learned a lesson; 

Don't this that old herbs and spices (and when I say old, I mean years old) will provide any flavor to a dish that needs those spices to make it taste fabulous. 

So, Our meal again turned out pretty bland. BUT, I'm positive that this would have been really good if I had of used fresh garlic (Which I usually always do because it is so tasty but of course I didn't have any last night). The Moral is this: If you decide to try this one out, make sure you have fresh ingredients. Lets hope I have learned that lesson now for good. 

Garlic Tomato Pasta

8 cups of Water  

2 cups of Whole-Wheat Penne Pasta  

(I used regular pasta because I cant stand the texture of Whole Wheat Pasta) 

2 tsp of Olive Oil 

1 whole sliced Red Onion

3 minced garlic cloves (or 3/4tsp of powder)

24 cherry tomatoes, halved

1/2 cup of Chopped fresh Parsley (or 2 TBSP of dried parsley flakes)

1 TBSP of Balsamic Vinegar

1 tsp of Chili Paste (I couldn't find this at the grocery store I was in and so I used 1 tsp of hot sauce)

1/4 cup of Grated Parmesan Cheese

Measure your water into a large pot. Bring to boil on the stove. When the water reaches a rolling boil add pasta. Boil uncovered for about 15 minutes until pasta is tender but firm. drain and return to the same pot. 

Heat Olive Oil in a large frying pan on medium heat. Add onion and garlic. Cook for 5-10 minutes stirring often until onion softened. 

Add next 4 ingredients. Heat and stir about 5 minutes until tomato is starting to soften. Add to pasta. Stir.

Sprinkle with cheese. Makes about 4 cups. (And should be so good that you can't stop eating)

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