Vegetarian Pepper Pizza with Acorn Squash Sauce

Pizza is popular in nearly every country and among all age groups. Who can resist a chewy doughy crust, tangy or creamy sauce, and toppings to make your mouth water? With infinite variations, pizza can range the gamut from a whole-grain & veggie-packed near-health-food to an unapologetic grease-laden diet disaster. Everyone has their own favorite topping and style.

Of course most people know that pizza is native to Italy. The History Channel website wrote up a nice article about the history of pizza you should check out for more information. The city of Naples, founded in 600 B.C., was home in the 18th & 19th centuries to a large working-class poor population. As such, they needed food which was cheap and easy to eat quickly. Flat bread baked with various toppings such as tomatoes, garlic, olive oil, and cheese, met this need. However, pizza did not catch on worldwide until the late 1940s.

Italian immigrants to America brought these recipes with them when they immigrated in search of jobs. Quickly, the smells and tastes of these flat breads began to grow in popularity, and local custom varieties began springing up. Toppings branched out from the typical tomato, basil, cheese, or anchovies and grew to include things like pineapple, BBQ chicken, bacon, and even dessert pizzas. Chicago became known for its "deep-dish" pizza with inches-thick crust, while New York City style meant thin crust pies with a slice bigger than your face. Chains spring up and now popular American-founded brands are represented in over 60 countries worldwide. 

This pizza I came up with was made with a bare minimum of ingredients, the dough does not need time to rise, and I packed in the veggies. The acorn squash hidden in the sauce makes it a bit sweeter than I'm used to, which I didn't mind. But if it's too much, try adding tomato paste and olive oil rather than diced tomatoes. And as always, don't be afraid to experiment! Have some asparagus left in the fridge? Ran out of mozzarella but have some blue cheese? Want to spice it up with jalapenos? Go for it!

Ingredients:

DOUGH

2 1/2 cups flour

1/2 tbsp sugar

1 tbsp salt

1 1/2 cup warm water

SAUCE

1 can diced tomatoes

1 acorn squash

Dash Italian seasonings

Dash garlic salt

TOPPINGS

1/2 cup spinach

1/2 jar roasted red peppers

Handful banana pepper rings

~2/3 cup mozzarella cheese

Step 1: Cut the squash in half and microwave 5 minutes, cut side up, with water in it. Flip and microwave another 5 minutes. Repeat until the squash is fork-tender and peels easily.

Step 2: In a blender, combine the can of tomatoes (with juice) and squash. Blend until it makes a smooth puree. Add spices here.

Step 3: In a large bowl, mix the dough ingredients. If too stiff, add more water or olive oil. If too wet or sticky, add extra flour. Sprinkle some flour on a flat surface and roll the dough out. Use your hands to shape it into a circle.

Step 4: Spread the sauce over the dough, leaving about 1 inch around the edges for crust. Layer on the toppings.

Step 5: Cover it all in cheese. You can substitute vegan cheese or just leave it off for a vegan pie.

Step 6: Bake on a pizza pan or cookie sheet at 350 for about 40 minutes, or until golden brown and bubbly.

Let it cool on a rack if you can wait that long!

Thanks Italy! 

What's your favorite kind of pizza?

Broccoli cheddar rice

Everyone has days when they just don't know what to make with dinner. Maybe you have a perfect roast in the crock pot, or stopped on the way home for burger meat but don't know what to go with it. This is a recipe for one of my go-to side dishes, broccoli cheddar rice. A while back I posted on how to make it in a slow cooker, now I'll tell you it can also be done in the oven! This was perfect because I had a whole chicken roasting in the oven, so I just whipped this up and popped it in there with it. Super simple, filling and tasty.

Ingredients:
1 cup rice
1 cup milk
1 cup water
1/2 cup shredded cheese
1 cup broccoli florets
About 3 tbsp butter/margerine
Garlic salt

I don't know why it won't let me flip the photo. I tried uploading it four times...

Step 1: Into an oven-safe dish (small-ish, or double/triple the recipe and use larger) pour 1 cup water, 1 cup milk and 1 cup rice. Mix it up well. Add a few tbsp margarine, broccoli and cheese on top.

 Step 2: Pop it in the oven at 350-375 for about 20-30 minutes (depends on the temp. I had it at 375 for the chicken so it only needed about 21 minutes to cook fully).

Full meal with the chicken, broccoli cheddar rice and candied carrots.

Oven roasted whole chicken

When I moved into my new apartment, I went on a stock-up grocery trip as I always do. One thing that was on sale was whole chicken (90 cents a pound or something). Since I had already brined and roasted a whole pheasant, I figured a whole chicken shouldn't be much more difficult. So I got one a stuck it in the freezer. Then one day I decided it was starting to get cold enough to count as fall, and chicken soup is great fall weather food! Of course, I roasted the meat and just enjoyed some tasty baked chicken first. The carcass is in the crock pot today for chicken soup.
I took out the bird, made a nice brine, and roasted it the next day. And it turned out tender and amazing!

Ingredients for brine:
1 cup salt
1 cup white sugar
1/4 cup lemon juice
1 cup pink moscato (because I had no open white wines)
5 bay leaves
sprinkle garlic, sprinkle black pepper
About a gallon of water

Step 1: Mix all ingredients in a pot large enough to hold the whole bird. Add water to the top (once bird is added, not before, or you'll spill everywhere. Not that I've ever done that...).

Step 2: Stick it in the refrigerator overnight (or at least for 4 hours. you can put it in there in the morning, head off to work and finish it later that night too). I had to put the milk sideways on the bottom shelf to make room for a day, but well worth the space-hogging.


Ingredients for the bird:
1 whole frozen chicken, thawed in fridge
Several gobs of margerine or butter
1 whole apple, lemon and/or onion cut into quarters (I used one whole Gala apple)
Salt, pepper, and paprika

Step 3: Take it out, pour the brine down the sink. Wipe off the bird and place in a large baking pan. Rub it down all over with margerine. I despise raw chicken, so this is super disgusting for me, but it is a necessary evil of epicuriosity. Shove some butter chunks under the skin if you can too. If there are bits and pieces inside the cavity, take those out and dispose of or cook separate. (I don't know what to do with a chicken neck and neither I nor my boyfriend is interested in trying liver just yet, so unfortunately I threw them out. Maybe someday I'll be braver). Then sprinkle it all over with spices, and shove the aromatics (apple, onion, lemon) up the butt. Sorry, inside the cavity...

 Step 4: Put into an oven at 425 for 15-20 minutes. This will lead to a nice crispy outside skin. Then lower the heat to 375 for about another hour.

 Once it's all nicely browned and roasted, it looks and smells divine!

Take the aromatics you stuffed it with out and discard. Use the meat any way you like! It is tender and moist and super flavorful. Not bad for $5 a bird.

I served it with broccoli cheddar rice and candied carrots on the side. Perfection. Now I think I also need to work on learning how to properly carve the thing rather than just stabbing and sawing until a piece falls off...