Stuffed pizza for a winter day

Here comes my annual post. I've been craving pizza lately, so I made this kale-stuffed pizza for this week's lunch.

This recipe started originally came from an American Heart Association booklet as spinach-stuffed pizza, complete with a recipe for dough and instructions for a marinara-mushroom topping. I always take the easy route and just buy pre-made whole-wheat pizza dough from Trader Joe's. I'm not very big on mushrooms, either, so I usually go with extra cheese and pesto on the top instead. And while spinach is nice, it often gets a little to soggy between the crust. I've been using heartier greens like kale and collard greens in its place - they hold up better, give off less water, and the flavor is not much different. This recipe is very adaptable, so you can swap out ingredients to suit your own tastes.

Vegetable-stuffed Pizza

• 1 package of whole-wheat pizza dough
• 1/2 pouncd fresh spinach OR 1 bunch of other leafy greens (kale, collard greens)
• 1 pound of mozzarella cheese, shredded
• 1 cup marinara, pesto, or other sauce
• 3-5 cloves of garlic, chopped

Preheat the oven to 475°F and place the oven rack in the middle. Grease a pie tin with olive oil, making sure to cover the sides and creases.

Split the pizza dough into two equal pieces. Set one half aside. Stretch the other piece out to cover the bottom and sides of your pie tin. Prick the bottom of the dough with a fork at 1-inch intervals. Bake the crust for 4-6 minutes, then remove to a rack and let cool. Lower the oven temperature to 450°.

While the bottom crust is cooling, wash the vegetables and chop them into bite-sized pieces. Heat a skillet with about 1 tablespoon of olive oil. Add the garlic and some salt in once hot, and let the pieces brown for about 1 minute. Add the vegetables in and stir occasionally, until they are bright green and wilted. (If you use kale or collard greens, you may also want to add a tablespoon or two of water about a minute after you add the vegetables to "steam" them. This will make them a little more tender.)

Layer about 3/4 of your cheese and all of your vegetables on top of the crust. Press the filling down with a spoon if it's higher than the sides of the pie tin. Stretch your second piece of pizza dough out to cover the top of the dish, tucking the edges around the bottom crust layer. Cut a 1-inch slit in the center of the top crust.

Top the crust with your sauce of choice and the remaining cheese. You can also add other toppings here, like sliced tomatoes or mushrooms.

Bake the pizza at 450° for 15 minutes. Reduce the temperature again to 400° and bake for another 5-10 minutes until the edges are a deep golden-brown. Remove and let cool for 10-5 minutes before slicing.

And here's some music for you, courtesy of Jagjaguwar Records. Bon Iver, who was recently nominated for four Grammys, makes absolutely beautiful music. Their latest self-titled album has been on repeat on my iPod since it came out in June. If you enjoy the tracks below, please consider purchasing their album.

• Holocene
• Calgary

Pumpkin Lasagna

It's been a while since I've made a post here, but at least I brought you something good!

As a kid, lasagna was always one of my favorite dishes. My sister and I loved to help my mom layer the ingredients, but we could never quite agree on the ratio or the order of them. The summer before my junior year of college, when I moved off-campus (and away from dining halls), I went on a huge recipe-finding spree. I found a recipe for Florentine Lasagna on the back of a pasta box that turned out to be a total winner. Since then, I've made it countless times and it's become something of a signature dish. Normally the only thing I vary in my recipe is the cheese (all mozzarella vs. half mozzarella, half ricotta), but then I heard about pumpkin lasagna.

This past October, my mom and aunt traveled to China. She got back shortly before I came home for the weekend, and she raved about the pumpkin lasagna my aunt had at one of the restaurants on their trip (weird, right?). I had been on a bit of a squash kick, so I bought a few pumpkins when they were on sale. The first was roasted and mashed into a normal lasagna with marinara sauce — bad idea. The tomato flavor completely masked the the pumpkin flavor. My second pumpkin sat on my kitchen shelf until this past weekend, when I decided to do something before it liquified. I read up on a few recipes on TasteSpotting and FoodandWine.com to get some ideas, but eventually decided to wing it. I ended up with a very tasty lasagna that was full of pumpkin flavor.

Pumpkin Lasagna

• 1 pumpkin, roasted or steamed then mashed; or 1 large can pumpkin puree (28 ounces)
• 1 to 2 tablespoons butter
• 1 1/2 cups milk or cream
• 4 cloves garlic, chopped
• 1/2 teaspoon dried rosemary or sage
• 1/4 teaspoon nutmeg
• 1 pound spinach, cooked and drained
• 1/2 onion, diced
• 1 package lasagna noodles
• 16 ounces mozzarella cheese, shredded

Boil the lasagna noodles according to package directions.

In a medium saucepan, melt the butter over medium heat. Once melted, add the garlic, the dried rosemary or sage, and the pumpkin puree and mix. Add 1/2 cup milk and stir, then add more by 1/4-cup portions, stirring well after each addition, until the puree is soft and easily spreadable. (Honestly, I just poured straight from the milk carton until the puree looked right. I don't actually know how much milk I added.) Add the nutmeg in; be careful not to add too much or it'll be overpowering. The puree should smell buttery and slightly spiced.

Preheat your oven to 375° F.

Once the noodles are drained and the sauce is ready, pour 1/4 cup milk into the bottom of your casserole dish. Put a layer of noodles in, then a small handful of cheese (just enough to lightly cover the noodles). Layer on half of your spinach, spreading evenly, then follow up with a little more than a third of your pumpkin puree. Cover with another handful of cheese. Repeat this process one more time — noodles, a little cheese, remaining spinach, pumpkin puree, more cheese. The final layer is noodles, remaining pumpkin puree, and remaining cheese.

Bake for 30-45 minutes, until the cheese is melted on top and the sauce is bubbling slightly on the sides. Cool for 10 minutes before slicing and serving.

Bonus!Recipe:

For my normal lasagna, I use a bottle of Trader Joe's marinara instead of the pumpkin puree. You can swap half the mozzarella out for 8 ounces of ricotta if you like. Mix an egg and some of your cheese (either half the mozzarella, or all of the ricotta) into the spinach.

Layering: Two spoonfuls of sauce on the bottom of the pan (to cover it), noodles, half of the spinach mix, a third of the mozzarella cheese, and a third of the sauce; repeat once. Top with the last layer of noodles, remaining sauce, then cheese. Bake as directed above.

Carrot Mac and Cheese

When I was younger, I never liked cheese by itself- something about the smell and the texture just weirded me out. But nowadays, I can never get enough- especially if it's mac and cheese! When I saw this recipe in Food and Wine, it intrigued me because it was such a different take on "healthy" mac and cheese.
I do have to say, my first attempt at the recipe — minus tarragon, and with more cheese — was way too bland and carroty/orange-y (yes, it called for juice and zest from an orange). This time, I nixed the orange, added half an onion with the carrots, and made sure to put in plenty of salt. The result? Not bad at all!
I'm also including a song in this post, because a few weeks ago I remembered Epitonic, this website that I used to visit regularly in high school. They posted all this awesome indie music for you to listen to and download, along with an in-depth description of the band and suggestions of similar artists. This was the place where I first discovered Spoon, who is now one of my favorite bands. The website is pretty much defunct and very difficult to navigate properly (it died shortly after they redesigned it), but the music is still up there. I browsed through and got a whole bunch of new music, but this one in particular jumped out at me.
Etienne de Rocher - Out to Sea. (Artist page here.)

Carrot Macaroni and Cheese

(adapted from Food and Wine)

• 3 medium or large carrots, sliced thinly
• 1/2 small white onion, diced
• zest (in large strips) and juice of one small navel orange (optional)
• salt and pepper
• 3 cups penne rigate or other short pasta
• 6 to 8 ounces sharp cheddar cheese, shredded
• 1 tablespoon chopped tarragon (optional)

- Preheat oven to 350*F.
- In a medium saucepan, combine carrots, onion, orange zest/juice, and 1/4 cup water. Season with salt and bring to a boil. Cover and simmer for 20 to 30 minutes, until the carrots are soft. Discard the zest, then puree the rest of the mixture in a blender until smooth.
- Meanwhile, cook the pasta until al dente. Drain, reserving 3/4 to 1 cup of the pasta water.
- Return the pasta to the pot, along with the carrot puree and water, and cook over medium heat, stirring frequently, until the pasta is coated with a thickened sauce, about five minutes.
- Stir in 3/4 of your cheese and cook, stirring, until creamy, about two to three minutes. Season with salt, pepper, and tarragon.
- Transfer the pasta to a medium baking dish and top off with the rest of the cheese. Bake until the cheese is melted and lightly browned, about 20 minutes. Let stand for five minutes before serving.

Enjoy! I will probably be making a post for zucchini bread some time soon, after I make it this weekend.

what to do in warm weather

When it's warm outside, I always want good pasta. Here's a recipe I made up for sun-dried tomato "pesto". It's made with sun-dried tomatoes in oil, garlic, and pine nuts. The result is a nice, light sauce that is both lighter and slightly tangier than marinara. You can get small jars of sun-dried tomatoes from Trader Joe's. Personally, I like to have fresh steamed broccoli with the pasta.

Sun-Dried Tomato "Pesto"

• 1/2 of an 8.5 ounce can of Sun Dried Tomatoes in oil
• 4 to 5 cloves of garlic, minced
• 1/4 cup pine nuts
• Extra-virgin olive oil

Place the tomatoes (with oil from the jar), garlic, and pine nuts into a blender or food processor. Add in enough olive oil to almost cover the other ingredients. Blend the ingredients, stopping occasionally to redistribute the ingredients if needed. If the sauce is too thick for your liking or you have trouble blending it, add more olive oil. Serve over warm pasta, tossing well.

And some music to go with the weather as well:
Bob Dylan - Summer Days
TV on the Radio - Staring At The Sun