instruction and inspiration for the home cook
Switch up your pizza night with this soft herbed focaccia with garlic oil, prosciutto, fresh mozzarella, roasted red peppers, and black olives. It’s a simple dough to make; you just need to toss it together about 2 hours before you want to eat it. It’s a satisfying meal with a salad or a great appetizer for a cocktail hour with friends.
Continue reading “Focaccia with Prosciutto and Fresh Mozzarella”
Happy Friday! This is a quick video for parmesan crostini I made for my locals community a couple weeks ago. It feels like cheating, but at least I’m making my self-imposed deadline. Forgive the kitschy music.
Continue reading “Parmesan Crostini”
I threw this simple meat sauce together in the Instant Pot a few nights ago and thought I should share it. Cause, you know, that’s what I do. One of the things I like most about the Instant Pot is its ability to marry flavors that otherwise would take hours, and, as much as I love making sauce on the stove when I have all afternoon to let it simmer, that’s not usually possible.
Continue reading “Meat Sauce – Instant Pot”
This recipe for basic pizza dough is great for making homemade pizza or calzone. Top it or fill it with your favorite sauces, meats, veggies, and cheeses. Try it with my recipe for Pizza on the Grill!
Continue reading “Basic Pizza Dough”
Jump to Pizza on the Grill Recipe
You know what would make this feel less like a Monday? If everyone could throw their own personalized pizza on the grill! You don’t have to wait for the weekend; you just have to plan ahead a little. Making the homemade dough is the most time-consuming part only because of the rising time. Hands-on time is short. It’s even shorter if you buy it at the grocery store. Trader Joe’s has good pizza dough ready to go, and I would imagine most other grocery stores do as well.
In my never-ending quest to enjoy more baked goods with fewer consequences, I’m happy to report I have found an ally in monk fruit sweetener. It is the only zero-calorie sugar substitute I’ve tried that sweetens without a terrible aftertaste, and, so far, I find it works well in muffins, cakes, soft cookies, syrups, hot cocoa mix, and freezer jam. I have not had as much luck with things that need to have a crispy or chewy texture, like some cookies and brownies, but I’ll keep trying and let you know when I come up with more recipes that work.
I also used coconut sugar to add a little more complex flavor in this pumpkin muffin recipe, as brown sugar or molasses might bring, but it is optional. One thing to watch for when baking with the monk fruit sweetener is that it can brown quickly, so, for example, the muffins’ edges might burn faster than normal. Just make sure you keep a close eye on them.
Try substituting an all-purpose gluten-free flour or oat flour if you are avoiding wheat.
Jump to Angel Hair Pasta Recipe
I love making a sauce. A simple pan sauce or gravy, a long-simmering ragù, a creamy, cheesy white sauce, caramel, or chocolate dessert sauce… It gives me a deep sense of accomplishment. The following quick pasta sauce is no exception, and it’s particularly fun because it involves a lot of sauteeing, which means there are marvelous sounds of sizzling and lots of garlic which smells divine.
Continue reading “Angel Hair Pasta with Garlic and Veggie Sauce”
Remember how a few posts ago I promised more simple recipes with fewer ingredients? Yeah, these stuffed shells don’t exactly fit the bill. They are, however, in my opinion, worth every bit of your time and attention. Continue reading “Stuffed Shells with Spinach, Basil, and Italian Sausage”
A couple weeks ago, I made this gnocchi for my cooking club friends and it was a huge hit, which is saying something because we are pretty frank and honest as a group. I’d never made it before so I found a recipe on Epicurious.com, tweaked it ever so slightly (For example, I didn’t see a need to add brown sugar to the already sweet potatoes) and was pleased to find they were leaps and bounds better than the tough, doughy store-bought gnocchi I had recently purchased. The effort paid off. Continue reading “Sweet Potato Gnocchi with Brown Butter, Sage, and Ricotta”
