Tomato Soup with Mozzarella Croutons

So, the main objective of this soup was to recreate all the fabulous tastes of a pizza, in soup form.  The crust, the cheese, the scrumptious tomato sauce, all in good-for-you soup form.  And you know what?   While I am not going to look you straight in the eye (electronically-speaking) and say this is the same as digging into a nice hot cheesy slice of pizza, it's actually pretty fabulous at being soup trying really hard to be pizza.

The soup base is a super-easy mixture of canned tomatoes (side note: please, please, please use the San Marzano variety if you possibly can) that you whiz up in your food processor.  You toss some red pepper flakes, some garlic and some onion into a skillet with some hot olive oil, saute for a few minutes and then add in your tomatoes and some chicken stock (side note: please, please, please use the Imagine or Pacific variety if you possibly can.  Simmer for about 30 minutes, then puree in your blender.  I love my immersion blender for this sort of thing - it's easy and fun, so long as you turn it off before you lift it out of the soup.  Otherwise you end up flinging tomato soup the entire length and breadth of your kitchen.  I won't tell you how I know this, but I do.

OK, on to the croutons, which are just thin slices of French bread that you have drizzled with olive oil and lightly toasted.  Top them with some slice mozzarella and stick them back into the oven until the cheese just starts to melt, about a minute or so.  Now float them on the top of your soup and sprinkle with whatever you like to sprinkle with.  Fresh ground pepper, grated parmesan, dried oregano, chopped fresh basil.  Good luck finding THAT at this time of the year unless you are one of my friends living on the other side of the equator.  I did just get an AeroGarden to grow winter herbs in, but I just got it about 2 weeks ago and the cute little baby herbs are only about an inch tall at the moment.



Anyway...pizza soup!  Yum and yum and yum again...

Tomato Soup with Mozzarella Croutons, adapted from Whole Living

• One 28 ounce can peeled plum tomatoes, pureed with their juice in food processor
• 2 tablespoons olive oil
• 1/2 teaspoon red pepper flakes
• 2 cloves garlic, minced
• 1 cup diced onion
• 1 1/2 cups chicken stock
• Coarse salt and fresh ground pepper
• 16 french bread slices
• Olive oil
• 8 ounces slices fresh mozzarella
• Assorted toppings (oregano, parmesan, basil, etc.)

1. Heat 2 tablespoons olive oil in saucepan over medium heat.  Add red pepper, garlic and onion and cook, stirring, about 6 minutes or until onions are tender.  Add tomatoes and stock and bring to a boil, then reduce heat to a simmer and cook for 30 minutes, stirring occasionally.  Puree in blender until smooth and season with salt and pepper.

1. Brush bread with olive oil and cook in 375 oven until golden, about 5 minutes.  Top with cheese and return to oven until cheese just starts to melt, another minute or two.  

3. Float croutons on soup (or serve on the side if you are very, very neat and tidy) and garnish with your choice of toppings.

Click here for printable recipe

Grilled Asparagus Ricotta Pizza

I'm still not exactly sure where summer went, because I think it was pretty much last week that I was planting my herbs and throwing all the windows in the house open...but the leaves are just starting to get that look...

...and so I am laying on the grill recipes while there is still time.  Not that the Southern husband won't go out and grill in the snow...but somehow, it's not the same.  And along with this summer's favorite grill recipe, which is Buttermilk Grilled Chicken, one of my top choices for the grill is grilled pizza.  This summer we have had the classic cheese and basil grilled pizza, a fabulous bacon and rosemary grilled pizza, and most recently that little number pictured above, which is a grilled asparagus and ricotta cheese pizza.

(Side note: I used to drive myself crazy trying to roll the pizza dough out into a perfect little circle, until one day I realized that I actually liked the abstract shapes better.  Which is why that particular pizza kind of looks like Snoopy's head, only without the ears.)

Anyway.  I used my foolproof pizza dough recipe from Cooks Illustrated, which never ever lets me down.  Roast some asparagus in the oven and get your hands on some fresh ricotta (you can buy it at the supermarket, or you can be crazy like me and make your own.  It's not hard, I promise.).  Grill up that pizza dough on your grill, slather it with ricotta, lay the asparagus on top, drizzle it with some olive oil and some grated parmesan cheese and a good grinding of black pepper.  It's almost enough to make the end of summer bearable...that and the thought of all those pumpkin recipes in our near future.

Grilled Asparagus Ricotta Pizza

• 2 tablespoons olive oil
• 1 cup water at room temperature
• 2 cups bread flour
• 2 teaspoons sugar
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1 teaspoon instant yeast
• One large bunch thin asparagus
• 2 cups fresh ricotta
• Olive oil for drizzling
• 1 cup freshly grated Parmesan cheese
• Fresh ground pepper

1. Mix water and oil

2. Add bread flour, sugar, salt and yeast to food processor. Pulse once or twice to mix.

3. While running, add water mixture through tube.  Process until dough forms a ball that clears the sides of the bowl.  If dough doesn't form a ball, add more flour one tablespoon at a time until it does.

4. Transfer dough to mixing bowl sprayed with olive oil.  Cover and let rise for 2 hours.

5. Right before you are going to make the pizza, roast the asparagus by tossing with a little olive oil and salt and roasting in a 425 degree oven for about 10 minutes.  Set aside.

6. Divide dough into 4 sections.  Roll into balls, dust with flour, and roll each one out to about a 6-8 inch size crust.  Don't worry if the shape isn't perfect, grilled pizza is supposed to look rustic!  Layer crusts in between wax paper.

7. Heat grill to medium high and lay crusts on grill.  Grill for about 5 minutes, lifting up to check every minute to make sure the crusts aren't cooking too fast.  Pop any big dough bubbles with a knife.  When the first side is getting brown and charred, flip over with tongs and cook on other side until done.

8. Spread crust with fresh ricotta, top with asparagus and Parmesan.  Drizzle olive oil over all and top with fresh ground pepper.

Note: you can substitute soft goat cheese for the ricotta if you like.  Yum!

Click here for printable recipe

 

Breakfast Pizza

I love breakfast.

I love pizza.

And so when the New York Times ran an article that included a recipe for something called "Breakfast Pizza" from the Big Sur Bakery cookbook, well, let's just say they had me at hello. Yes, that IS an egg you see in the middle of that pizza in the picture. There's also bacon, and mozzarella cheese, and chopped parsley and scallions, all nestled onto a scrumptious and easy to make pizza crust. I've reprinted the recipe below the way it appeared in the paper, but I have to be honest and say I don't own a pizza peel, or a pizza stone, or anything else with the word pizza in the title, with the exception of my beloved Oxo pizza cutter, which I use to cut pizza, brownies, pie crust and anything else that needs to be cut in a straight line. So for this pizza, I cooked it on a garden variety cookie sheet and it came out just fine, so if you don't have all that fancy pizza stuff, don't let it stop you from making this scrumptious pizza. (How many times can you use the word "pizza" in one innocent paragragh? Um...a lot?)

Let me be very clear...this still won't stop me from eating slices of cold leftover pizza for breakfast whenever I get the chance...but this is a great option for making pizza specifically for the breakfast table. Or dinner. Or lunch. You get my drift...

Pizza. Pizza. Pizza.

Breakfast Pizza, from The Big Sur Bakery Cookbook

½ teaspoon dry active yeast

2 cups plus 2 tablespoons

bread flour, plus more for dusting

Kosher salt

6 strips bacon

½ cup grated Parmesan

2 cups grated mozzarella

6 large eggs

Freshly ground black pepper

2 tablespoons minced parsley

2 tablespoons minced chives

2 scallions, thinly sliced

1 shallot, minced.

1. The night before, prepare the dough: place ¾ cup lukewarm water in the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with a dough hook. Sprinkle in the yeast, stir and let sit for 5 minutes. Add the flour and 1 teaspoon of salt and mix on low for 1 minute. Increase the speed to medium and mix for 2 minutes, then increase the speed to high and mix until a smooth dough forms, about 2 minutes more. Turn the dough onto a lightly floured surface, divide into two equal pieces and form each half into a tight ball. Place on a large floured sheet pan, place the pan in a plastic garbage bag, tie the bag loosely and refrigerate overnight.

2. One hour before baking, place the dough in a warm spot. Adjust the oven rack to the lowest position and set a pizza stone on it (if you have one - if not a heavy duty cookie sheet works fine). Preheat the oven to 500 degrees.

3. Fry the bacon in a large sauté pan over medium-high heat until crisp. Cool on a paper-towel-lined plate; roughly chop.

4. Dip your hands and a ball of dough into the flour. On a lightly floured countertop, pat the dough into a disc with your fingertips, then drape the dough over your fists and carefully stretch it from beneath to form a 12-inch circle.

5. Generously dust the surface of a pizza peel or large inverted sheet pan with flour and place the stretched dough on it. Sprinkle the dough with half of the Parmesan, mozzarella and bacon. Crack 3 eggs over the top and season with salt and pepper.

6. Shake the pizza peel or pan slightly to make sure the dough is not sticking. Carefully lift any sections that are sticking and sprinkle a bit more flour underneath, then slide the pizza directly onto the baking stone or cookie sheet in one quick forward-and-back motion. Bake for 8 to 10 minutes, rotating after 5 minutes. When the crust is golden, the cheese is melted and the egg yolks are cooked, transfer the pizza to a cutting board. Sprinkle half of the parsley, chives, scallions and shallot on top. Let cool for 2 minutes, slice and serve immediately. Prepare the second pizza in the same way. Makes 2 (12-inch) pizzas.

Grilled Pizza with Bacon and Rosemary

Okay, so this whole thing started with two things. First, my wonderful friend J gave me her copy of Taste of the South magazine. I had never heard of this one before, but it took about 30 seconds of paging through it before I was filling out my own subscription card. Among other things, it included a article full of ideas for grilled pizzas. (Those of you who have been reading this blog awhile know I am a sucker for grilled pizza -- those of you who haven't, please click here.)

At any rate, the recipe that caught my eye was for a bacon rosemary topped pizza that called for making a homemade heirloom tomato sauce. Since is is barely summertime, I filed that idea away for when I ran into some good-looking heirloom tomatoes.

Then about 2 days later, I met this handsome guy, and about 10 of his friends.

Was this a sign? Just to be sure, I asked the Southern husband to look around the farmer's market to see if by chance they had any cans of crushed tomatoes, and he came back 5 minutes later with this:

He said he liked the look of the can. (So did I, as a matter of fact!) So I figured this was as sure a sign as any that I was supposed to be firing up the grill to make bacon rosemary pizza. The sauce came together quickly and easily and made my kitchen smell like heaven. Next I cooked up some bacon...

...and some pizza dough. I have to admit, I used my old faithful Cooks Illustrated pizza dough recipe, because it has never ever let me down, and I also used their grilling method, which calls for rolling out the dough into individual rounds and grilling them on one side until they are crispy and have those great char marks. Take them off the grill and spoon the following on the grilled side: tomato sauce, grated fontina cheese and chopped shallot. Return the pizzas to the grill and cook them with the lid down until the cheese is melted and the bottom of the pizza is nice and browned.

Then take them off and sprinkle them with fresh chopped rosemary. Let's take a look..

Let's take a closer look....

Let's eat!!

Grilled Pizza with Bacon and Rosemary, adapted from Taste of the South and Cooks Illustrated.

Sauce

• 2 tablespoons olive oil
• 2 cloves minced garlic
• 2 large shallots, minced
• 1 tablespoon oregano
• 1/2 table dried basil
• 6 heirloom tomatoes, seeded and diced
• 1 28 ounce can crushed tomatoes
• 3 tablespoons tomato paste
• 3 teaspoons sugar
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1 teaspoon pepper

1. Heat oil in large pot over medium heat. Add garlic and shallots and cook until soft, about 3-5 minutes.

2. Stir in oregano and basil, stir, and add diced tomatoes, crushed tomatoes, tomato paste, sugar, salt and pepper.

3. Simmer 20 minutes. Makes about 5 cups.


Dough

• 2 tablespoons olive oil
• 1 cup water at room temperature
• 2 cups bread flour
• 2 teaspoons sugar
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1 teaspoon instant yeast

1. Mix water and oil.

2. Add bread flour, sugar, salt and yeast to food processor. Pulse once or twice to mix.

3. While running, add water mixture through tube. Process until dough forms a ball that clears the sides of the bowl. If dough doesn't form a ball, add more flour one tablespoon at a time until it does.

4. Transfer dough to mixing bowl sprayed with olive oil. Cover and let rise for 2 hours.


Pizza assembly

• Heirloom Tomato Sauce
• One batch pizza dough
• 1 12 ounce package bacon, cooked and chopped
• 1 shallot, chopped
• 8 ounces shredded fontina cheese
• Fresh rosemary for garnish

1. Divide dough into 4 sections. Roll into balls, dust with flour, and roll each one out to about a 6-8 inch size crust. Don't worry if the shape isn't perfect, grilled pizza is supposed to look rustic! Layer crusts in between wax paper.

2. Heat grill to medium high and lay crusts on grill. Grill for about 5 minutes, lifting up to check every minute to make sure the crusts aren't cooking too fast. Pop any big dough bubbles with a knife.

3. Remove crusts and turn over so grilled side is UP. Spread about 1/4 to 1/3 cup sauce on each crust, sprinkle with fontina cheese, and then shallots, and then bacon. Return to grill, put cover down, and grill until cheese is melted and bottom of crust is browned.

4. Remove from grill, sprinkle with rosemary and cut into sections. Makes 4 personal sized pizzas.

Click here for printable recipe

Apple Bacon Pizza

Now, I am not usually someone who likes her pizza messed with. As a matter of fact, whenever we order pizza, I am the one that insists that at least half of it has to be plain -- none of this sausage or meatball or pineapple nonsense. So why on earth I decided to try this one, I have no idea. Maybe because I had an open jar of apple butter in the fridge? Maybe because it involved bacon? Maybe because the moon was in the seventh house and Jupiter was aligned with Mars?

At any rate, I heard about this from my friend P, who (I think) just made it up off the top of his head, and after he described it to me I just kept thinking about it. It does have the whole sweet and salty thing going on, which of course I adore. And so one day when I happened to have all the components in my kitchen, I took the plunge and made it.

YUM.

It was just the right balance of the sweet apple and apple butter and the salty bacon and cheese, and the red onion gave it just that little kick. I used the Pioneer Woman's recipe for pizza dough which you can find by clicking here, and I actually made it the night before -- by the next evening it was still perfect, and I just stretched it right out into a thin rectangle. You can also use store-bought pizza dough if you want to, but the home-made kind is a snap to make, just so you know. Spread on some apple butter, sprinkle on the toppings, bake at 500 for about 10 minutes and then dig in.

I still don't think I can cope with bacon cheeseburger pizza though.

APPLE BACON PIZZA

• Pizza dough, enough for one pizza
• 1 cup apple butter
• 1/2 cup chopped red onion
• 1 cup chopped cooked bacon
• 1 Granny Smith apple, cored and chopped
• 2 cups shredded fontina cheese

1. Preheat oven to 500.

2. Spray baking sheet with cooking spray. Put dough on tray and stretch into a rectangle shape, making sure the dough is nice and thin.

3. Spread apple butter on dough. Sprinkle cheese on top, followed by other toppings.

4. Bake for about 10 minutes until crust is browned and cheese is melted.

5. Cook for a few minutes, then slice and enjoy!

Click here for printable recipe.

From the Sublime to............

Preston had said there would be good nibbles at the art opening.

There probably had been before the ravening hoards of art

lovers descended. We were hungry.

In New York there are pizza parlors on every block.

(And nail parlors too. The twin delights of the city).

We order a white slice, a mushroom and olive slice and broccoli one for me.

All sorts of obscure sodas. I want tap water and they give me a little plastic

cup so I can get it out of the soda machine. I get an entire cup of ice by mistake.

PS. We think Lombardi's on Spring Street has the very best pizza.

Patsy's thin crust is pretty  good.

We are open to suggestions.

Buster's blog here

Escape from New York or Shadow Shot Sunday

Looking back on New York from the Pallisades Parkway in New Jersey.

The west side of New York from the West Side Highway. The Empire State Building is oddly recognizable.
Shadow Shot Sunday.

See Heyharriet for details and more participants.

9am Sunday morning: a diner in New Jersey

More of the same....

7pm Saturday evening: a pizza parlor in New Jersey.

More of the same.

10:30 am Sunday morning. Safe back in Manhattan. West 42nd St. near 11th Avenue.