Pizza Crust

So I may not be from the northeast, but one thing that I think they get absolutely right up here is thin-crust pizza. I also love deep-dish Chicago-style pizza. It’s what I think of as Midwestern pizza that really gets to me (though it’s pretty common in Florida and is what you’ll find as the default from any of the national chains): medium-crust pizza. For me, a pizza is all about its toppings, and if most of what you can taste in any bite is a pillowy mound of crust, then I’m not feeling it.

Chicago-style pizza strikes me as more of a casserole than a pizza pie, and I think of it as its own food group altogether.

It’s possible to get excellent, superlative pizza where I live – it’s one of the things my city is noted for – but that kind of pizza is pretty unhealthy and not an item to indulge in on a day-to-day basis. Making pizza at home gives me more control over the ingredients and allows me to indulge my most fanciful topping whims.

This crust recipe is the product of trial and error. I used this Smitten Kitchen recipe as a starting point, but even this gave me a thicker crust than I wanted. Note that this is not inherent to the recipe itself – one can always roll crust out as thinly as one wants – but I’m using an inverted 12” cast-iron skillet as a pizza stone, so 12” is the diameter limit unless I want cheese and toppings dripping all over my oven floor. Which might have happened the first time I attempted homemade pizza. A man’s reach should exceed his grasp, etc. etc., right?

Vegetable Tart

I bought a new tart pan a while back, and at the time, I had been concerned that this was a frivolous and superfluous kitchen indulgence. Did I really need it? Would I ever use it?

When I married, I didn’t know what size tart pan was standard and registered for (and received) a shallow 11” tart pan. I learned shortly after the wedding that 9” is the norm
and I’ve been kicking myself ever since, though, of course, most tart recipes are adaptable to either size.

Anyway, I bought a 9” pan, and it’s been in near-constant kitchen rotation since I made the ($8) splurge.

Linguini with Tomato Pesto

This pasta is an unlikely-seeming success, but it’s very tasty and easy to throw together on a weeknight. There’s plenty of oil and cheese, but olive oil is healthy, right? There’s also tomato paste and parsley. It sounds like an odd combination, but it works really well.

The best part? It’s a no-cook sauce. You can throw the pesto together in the time it takes to boil the linguini, toss it all together, and you have a meal.

Chik'n Rice

Today, we’re featuring “a recipe you almost certainly will never make,” unless you are among my ten or so Adventist readers, in which case you probably already know how to make it. “It” is a dish that I think of – complete with misspelling and apostrophe – as “Chik’n Rice.”

It can be frustrating to have grown up in a little-known religious subculture. Lacking Mormons’ sexy polygamy history, Adventists don’t have much pop culture currency. People tend to confuse them with other fringe religious groups.

Quiche Squares

This is a recipe I got from my stepmother. She often serves it at holiday breakfasts with bacon, french toast, fresh fruit, and other assorted goodies. I likewise enjoy it for breakfast, but it makes an equally nice  dinner. Paired with a green salad and bread if you want it, it makes a tasty and un-fussy weeknight meal.

Classic Cheese Lasagna

This incarnation of cheese lasagna was the product of fatigue and desperation. Husband and I were having company over, and that company included children. I had decided cheese lasagna would be a good and kid-friendly entree. The problem: I couldn’t find any ricotta at Trader Joe’s, and I utterly lacked the energy to make the trip to another store.

Parisian Gnocchi

This is a relative rarity for me: a recipe that hasn’t been substantially futzed with. It’s a Jacques Pepin recipe, and why muck about with perfection?

Parisian gnocchi are the French version of the Italian classic. These gnocchi involve no tiresome fiddling with potatoes. Instead, you make pate choux – the same dough that is the base for éclairs, gougeres, and chouquettes – boil it, top it with cheese (or sauce if you want), and bake it. The resultant gnocchi are like the decadent love child of pastry and pasta.

Vegetarian Couscous

My vegetarian couscous is modeled after this epicurious recipe, but as per usual, I make substantial modifications. I wanted to basically cut this in half, as I’m only cooking for two most week nights, but some of the ingredients aren’t easily divisible (I’m looking at you, can of chickpeas), so I eyeballed and guessed and gave it my best shot.

This has become one of our favorite weeknight meals. It comes together in about 20 minutes and achieves that holy grail of cooking: it's equal parts tasty and healthy.

Peanut Butter Banana Marshmallow Coconut Quesadilla

This one is pretty much just what it sounds like. If I ever have kids, I’m pretty sure that making this will entitle me to some sort of mother-of-the-year award. I wish I could patent this … well, not quite recipe, but food-assembly method.