Tag: Italian

Pizza Skulls

You may have seen the videos on social media where they have a dough skull and they pull open the mouth to reveal a sausage ball surrounded by cheese–like its brains! It looked perfect for Halloween, so I splurged and bought the skull pan. We enjoyed it so much that I bought another one so I could make gluten free skulls too. So before you attempt this recipe, buy the pan here–and don’t wait until October because it’s often sold out. The original recipes call for sealing the skulls with dough on the bottom, like a calzone. But we learned that it gets really bready if you do that. So we just fold over the corners a little and top it with cheese. It holds together and is more enjoyable than eating tons of bread. This is what the bottom looks like when you do that. When we let the girls make their own skulls, we’ll mark each one with an indicator, like Marilyn’s has a pepperoni slice.

If you’re making it gluten free, I generally use the easy gluten free pizza dough recipe. The dough always makes much more than needed, so I make a small pizza to go along with it. I’ll spray the skull pan, then I’ll use my fingers to spread the dough as thin as possible in the skull cavities without causing holes. You want it very thin because you’ll blind bake it for a few minutes, and it’ll puff up a bit, which takes up precious space for toppings. And of course I top it with more cheese instead of more dough. I have done it with dough, but you have to bake it separately and then put it on top of the toppings, which is annoying. The crust is a little crunchier than regular pizza dough, but it’s still fun and you still get definition in the skull’s face. Here’s what the gluten free version looks like.

Make it a meal with:

  • Green Salad or Grapes
  • Root Beer

Pizza Skulls

  • Servings: 6 skulls
  • Difficulty: easy-medium
  • Print

Fun for Halloween, but takes time and one skull isn’t as filling as you’d think.

Ingredients

  • Nordic Ware Haunted Skull Cakelet Pan
  • 1 can Refrigerated Pizza Dough
  • 8 oz. + Shredded Mozzarella or Pizza Cheese
  • 1 jar Pizza Sauce
  • 1 lb. Italian Sausage, cooked and crumbled
  • Pepperoni
  • Other toppings as desired, such as ham, pineapple, olives, peppers, or basil

Directions

Preheat the oven to 400° and spray the pan. Unroll the pizza dough and cut it into 6 rectangles about 3.5 inches wide for each. For each skull, lay a dough piece into a cavity in the pan. Sprinkle about a tablespoon of cheese on the bottom (if you put sauce first, it’ll soak through the dough). Then add toppings as desired, 1-2 Tbsp. of pizza sauce, and fold the corners of the dough over the toppings. Sprinkle with more cheese to seal everything in, and sprinkle with basil if desired. Bake for 20 minutes or until golden. To remove the skulls, place a cutting board or platter over the cooked bottom of the skull pan. Then invert the pan while holding the cutting board against it, and the skulls should easily slide out.


GF Pizza Crust

For basically every recipe, I prefer to have a gluten free version of the regular one. But pizza crust is just so different. Gluten is so integral to that stretchy, elastic dough. So I searched out a gluten free version. With gluten free, you basically always get a dough that looks more like Play D’oh or frosting, then you spread it out on parchment paper. I found this recipe on glutenfreepalate.com and am posting it here (slightly modified) so I don’t have to scroll through tons of pages of text and ads (and because I don’t make any money off this blog–it’s just so I have an electronic version of my own recipe book). If you’d like more details and pictures, make sure to visit their website.

In any event, this recipe is great because you don’t need to wait for it to rise. You can also bake a crust and freeze it to top later. Of course you don’t get fluffy, airy crusts, but it’s easy, chewy, and delicious, and you can make it as thick as you want. That’s one of the things about gluten free crusts–a lot of restaurants use the Udi’s crust, which is fine but thin–more like a really thick tortilla. So it’s refreshing to make it thicker. Here’s a picture of the thickness that I make (the black specks are extra basil on top):

Here’s an even thicker one:

Make it a meal with:

  • Green Salad
  • Root Beer

Gluten Free Pizza Crust

  • Servings: 1 pizza
  • Difficulty: easy-medium
  • Print


Chewy, easy, and delightful.

Ingredients

  • 3/4 c. Warm Water

  • 1 Tbsp. Sugar

  • 1 pkg. Yeast

  • 2 c. Gluten Free Flour with Xanthan Gum (like Bob’s Red Mill cup for cup)

  • 1 tsp. Salt

  • 1 Egg

  • 1 Tbsp. Olive Oil

  • 1 tsp. Vinegar

Directions

Place a pizza stone in the oven and preheat to 450°. In the bowl of a stand mixer, place water, sugar, and yeast, and let it sit for about 5 minutes or until it’s foamy. (Note: For measuring gluten free flour, always spoon into the measuring cup and level off with a knife instead of scooping out with the measuring cup.) Add the rest of the ingredients and mix with the paddle attachment on low speed for 1 minute. Using an oiled spatula, scrape the dough onto a sheet of parchment paper and use oiled hands to spread into your desired size and shape (about 10-12″). Place the parchment on the pizza stone and bake for 10 minutes or until slightly golden brown. Carefully remove from oven with the paper (remember parchment can get brittle and break easily after baking), then add toppings, return with paper to the stone, and bake for another 10-15 minutes until golden brown.


 

Tomato Basil Soup (huge batch)

Oh man, this soup is so glorious and rich. It does take a fair amount of time and cream (probably one of the reasons it’s so delicious), so we’ll often look for cream to go on clearance and then freeze it for making this soup or ice cream in the future. This soup is adapted from a deli recipe at Harmons, so get out your scale for this recipe. I’m so glad the deli director at Harmons was always happy to share any recipe you’d ask for, because everything that Harmons makes is so amazing. I did adapt it to make it a little easier and cheaper for certain ingredients, and to add chicken and pasta. This soup is fantastic when served in a bread bowl or with bread in general–dip your bread in it. Or grilled cheese. Delicious. (Also try the Jalapeno Cheddar Soup recipe adapted from Harmons.)

You can add chicken and/or tortellini to the soup, which we usually do. Take note that this soup does require an immersion blender (unless you make a tiny batch and blend it up in your regular blender). We usually make a giant batch and freeze leftovers in gallon bags, so it always takes longer to make than I think. But it’s so worth it. And it’s wonderful to have in the freezer for an easy meal or in case a friend is sick and needs a quick meal.

*This is purposely a huge recipe–we basically make it once or twice a year, fill several gallon bags (a single batch fills 3-4 gallon bags. If we double the recipe, we get 7-8 gallon bags), place them in metal disposable pans, freeze them in our large freezer, and eat them throughout the whole year.

If you’re making this gluten free, just don’t add the tortellini. You could potentially cook some gluten free pasta separately and put it in the bottom of each person’s bowl before adding the soup. But it’s pretty great as it is.

Make it a meal with:

  • Bread Bowls, French Bread, or Garlic Bread
  • Grapes or Jell-O
  • Green Salad

Tomato Basil Soup (huge batch)

  • Servings: About 45
  • Difficulty: medium-hard
  • Print


You need a scale and an immersion blender. Freeze leftovers in gallon bags.

Ingredients

  • 1/2 c. Olive Oil
  • 2 lb. Yellow Onions, diced (buy close to 3 lb.)
  • 2 oz. Garlic, minced
  • 2 oz. Salt
  • 0.6 oz. Ground Black Pepper
  • 6 c. Water
  • 3 lb. Fresh Tomatoes, cored and diced (buy a little over 4 lb.)
  • 2 large (102 oz.) cans Diced Tomato (I’ve also sliced whole tomatoes after Sam’s Club stopped carrying the large diced can)
  • 6-8 lbs. Chicken Breasts, cubed (optional) (like a pack of fresh chicken breasts from Sam’s Club)
  • 2.5 qt. Heavy Cream 
  • 2 lb. shredded Italian Cheese 
  • 2 c.+ Parmesan (like the cheap powdered parmesan)
  • 0.8+ oz. dried Basil
  • 40-60 oz. Frozen Tortellini (optional)

Directions

In a very large stock pot (at least 12 qt.), heat oil over medium heat. Sauté garlic, onions, salt, and pepper until translucent. Add water, fresh tomatoes, canned tomatoes, and basil. Bring to a boil, then reduce to a simmer, cooking for 40 minutes or until thickened. Remember to stir periodically, scraping the bottom so it doesn’t burn. If using chicken, cook the chicken in a separate large pan while the soup simmers, and keep the chicken separate until the end. Once the soup is thickened, add cream and cheeses. Puree with a stick blender. Add more cheese, salt, or basil to taste–I often add more of all–but remember that the basil flavor will get stronger as it sits. Add chicken and tortellini at end to heat through before serving. If your soup pot is really full, keep the chicken and tortellini separate and add them to the bottom of each person’s bowl before serving. Or divide the soup into two large pots and add the chicken and tortellini.
 
To freeze leftovers: Ladle two ladles full per person into a gallon bag. We usually do 12 ladles so we get a meal plus lunch the next day for our family of two adults and 3 small children. When we double the batch and use two giant pots, we get 7 or 8 gallon bags for the freezer after our dinner and lunch, depending how many leftovers we want in the fridge (if it’s a single batch, it’s about 3-4 gallon bags). Then we place the bags in disposable metal pans and take them to the freezer.
 
To reheat: Remove a bag from the freezer and let it thaw overnight or microwave it a few minutes to thaw it a little. It’s okay if it’s not totally thawed. Just get it thawed enough to get in a big pot or even an electric skillet if it’s really frozen and won’t fit in a pot. Heat until it’s your desired temperature. No need to add water or anything else.

 


Easy Chicken Parmesan

This comes from a recipe book that Jeff’s Mom put together, so I like to think of it as Grandma Marilyn Mitchell’s recipe–except I may have added a little more parmesan cheese. I love it so much. It’s easy, we basically always have the ingredients, it’s delicious, and it’s healthier than breaded chicken parmesan. In fact, I even prefer the flavor to breaded chicken parmesan. Also, this calls for parmesan cheese–don’t bother with the fancy shredded kind. The regular powdered Kraft kind works great.

Depending how thick the chicken is, if it’s still slightly frozen when you put it in the oven, or if you have lots of chicken in the pan, it generally takes 40-55 minutes. So of course check for doneness by checking for an internal temperature of 165°.

And luckily this one is naturally gluten free. I’ve also made it with dairy-free cheese instead of mozzarella on top, and it’s still delicious.

Make it a meal with:

  • Pasta
  • Corn or Green Beans
  • Garlic Bread

Easy Chicken Parmesan

  • Servings: 6
  • Difficulty: easy
  • Print


Great for weeknight meals or special occasions.

Ingredients

  • 1 jar Pasta Sauce
  • 1/2 c. + Parmesan Cheese
  • Salt and Pepper to taste
  • 3 Chicken Breasts, cut in half to make 6 (about 1 1/2 lb.)
  • 1 1/2. c. Mozzarella Cheese

Directions

Pour sauce into a greased 9×13″ pan. Stir in 6 Tbsp. parmesan cheese. Lightly salt and pepper the chicken breasts. Add the chicken to the sauce and turn over to coat both sides. Top with mozzarella and remaining parmesan cheese. Bake at 375° for 40-55 minutes or until the chicken’s internal temperature reaches 165° and the cheese is melted and slightly brown. Serve over pasta.


Pizza Dough

This is from Bobby Flay’s recipe, just with a few clarifications and more info. It’s one of Food Network’s most popular recipes. You can make it with bread flour or all purpose flour. We usually opt for the all purpose flour because it’s cheaper and is still great. The longer you can give this dough to rise, the softer and fluffier it will be. I generally start making the dough 3-4 hours before we want to eat, so there will be plenty of time to rise.

It’s a fun activity for a date night, family cooking, or even holidays, especially when you toss the dough in the air. We’ve had a few times when we’ve made individual pizzas with our guests, so they can put on whatever toppings they’d like.

If you’re making this gluten free, I find that any bread-based recipe will not translate well–because gluten is so integral to the rise and structure of bread. And because gluten free dough ends up being like Play Doh or frosting after you mix it. So you’ll want to use a different recipe like this one.

Make it a meal with:

  • Of course all the pizza toppings, sauce, and cheese
  • Green Salad
  • Root Beer

Pizza Dough

  • Servings: 2 pizzas
  • Difficulty: easy-medium
  • Print


You can use bread or all-purpose flour for this great dough.

Ingredients

  • 3 1/2 c. Flour (plus more for rolling)
  • 1 tsp. Sugar
  • 1 envelope Instant Dry Yeast
  • 2 tsp. Salt
  • 1 1/2 c. Water, 110 degrees
  • 2 Tbsp. Olive Oil (plus 2 tsp. for oiling the bowl)

Directions

Fit a stand mixer with a bread hook, then combine flour, sugar, yeast, and salt in the bowl to combine. While the mixer is running on low speed, add water and 2 Tbsp. oil until dough forms into a ball. Then beat 5 minutes on medium speed to help form gluten. (If the dough is too sticky, add flour. If it’s too dry, add water.) Scrape the dough out of the bowl onto a floured surface and knead into a ball.

Grease a large bowl with the remaining oil, add the dough, and cover the bowl with plastic wrap. Place in a warm area to double in size (longer is better–I generally like at least 2 hours). Then turn out onto a floured surface and divide in half. Cover and let rest for at least 10 minutes (I generally opt for 30 minutes).

Toss or roll out the dough. (Optional: Cover a pizza peel with corn meal before placing dough on top to help the pizza slide off.) Top with sauce, cheese, and toppings as desired. Bake on a preheated pizza stone at 450° for at least 15 minutes until the crust is golden brown underneath.


Minestrone

Add chicken to this flavorful soup to make it more filling. This soup is a great way to get lots of veggies. It does take a lot of dicing but it requires very little cleanup–just a knife and cutting board besides the pot. I’ll often leave out the beans and add a yellow squash instead. You can kind of put in whatever veggies you’d like.

If you’re making it gluten free, you can easily add gluten free rotini instead of macaroni.

Make it a meal with:

  • Garlic Bread or Breadsticks
  • Jell-O or Fresh Fruit

Minestrone

  • Servings: 6?
  • Difficulty: medium
  • Print


Nice garlicky soup with lots of veggies.

Ingredients

  • 1 1/2 – 2 lb. Chicken, cubed (optional) or rotisserie chicken
  • 1 can (16 oz.) Kidney Beans, drained (optional) or 1 yellow squash, diced
  • 1 clove Garlic, minced
  • ½ tsp. Salt
  • ¼ tsp. Pepper
  • 1 Tbsp. Vegetable Oil
  • ¼ c. chopped fresh Parsley (optional)
  • 1 small, unpeeled Zucchini, diced
  • 2 ribs Celery with leaves, finely chopped
  • 2 small Carrots, peeled and diced
  • 1 small Onion, minced
  • 1 can (14 ½ oz.) Diced Tomatoes
  • 3 Tbsp. Butter
  • 2 ½ c. Water
  • 1/3 c. uncooked Elbow Macaroni (or gluten free rotini)
  • ½ c. Beef Broth
  • Salt to taste
  • Parmesan cheese to top (optional)

Directions

If using the chicken, add a little oil to the bottom of the pot and cook the chicken. Then remove to a bowl. Mash beans slightly in pot. Stir in ingredients from garlic to parsley. Then add zucchini to water. Add back chicken. Boil, then reduce heat, cover, simmer 1 hour. Add more water if needed. Add macaroni and beef broth. Simmer 15 minutes until macaroni is tender. Top with parmesan cheese if desired.


Manicotti

The filling is good for manicotti shells or jumbo shells. And it makes great leftovers.

If you’re making it gluten free, good luck finding gluten free manicotti shells. I’m pretty sure those unicorns do exist, though, haha. I usually end up making gluten free rotini or penne, and layering it like I’d layer lasagna. It bakes nicely and is delicious.

Make it a meal with:

  • Garlic Bread or Breadsticks
  • Corn
  • Green Salad
  • Jell-O

Manicotti

  • Servings: 5
  • Difficulty: medium
  • Print


Delicious, great leftovers, and freezes well.

Ingredients

  • 10 Manicotti Shells, cooked in salt water
  • 1 pt. Ricotta Cheese
  • 1 Egg, beaten
  • ¼ c. Parmesan Cheese
  • ½ c. Shredded Mozzarella
  • 1 Tbsp. Parsley Flakes
  • Spaghetti Sauce
  • Mozzarella Cheese for topping

Directions

Combine ricotta, eggs, parmesan, and parsley. Stuff into shells either with a spoon or by putting the filling in a quart bag, cutting off the tip, and piping into the shells. Place some spaghetti sauce in the bottom of a 9×13 pan. Place stuffed shells on top of sauce. Pour remaining sauce over top of shells. Sprinkle with mozzarella. Cook at 350° for 30 minutes.


Lasagna

So delicious! Wonderful flavors, makes great leftovers, and freezes well. Great for special occasions or Sunday, but it does take a fair amount of time.

If you’re making it gluten free, you can certainly try gluten free lasagna noodles. I’ve never found them in the store, though, but I haven’t looked very hard. I usually end up making gluten free rotini or penne, and layering it like I’d layer regular lasagna. It bakes nicely and is delicious.

Make it a meal with:

  • Garlic Bread or Breadsticks
  • Corn
  • Green Salad
  • Jell-O

Lasagna

  • Servings: 9
  • Difficulty: medium
  • Print


Delicious, great leftovers, and freezes well.

Ingredients

  • 9-10 cooked, drained Lasagna Noodles
  • ½ lb-1 lb Cottage Cheese
  • 3 c. Shredded Mozzarella Cheese
  • Spaghetti Sauce (homemade)
  • Parmesan Cheese

Directions

In a greased 9×13 pan, place a thin layer of sauce. Layer 3 noodles, sauce, 1/2 the cottage cheese–not too thick–use a spoon to shake on over the top, then a light layer of mozzarella cheese. Repeat previous layer. Last layer: put on 3 noodles and remaining sauce. Put heavy layer of Mozzarella cheese and sprinkle with parmesan cheese to finish. Bake covered at 375° for 30 minutes. Uncover and bake 15 more minutes until cheese is lightly browned. Do not over brown. Let sit 10 minutes before cutting and serving.


Pesto Chicken

Man, I love pesto chicken SO much. It’s one of my very favorite meals. Garlic, basil, cheese, and tomato combine so well. You can make this as separate chicken breasts in a pan, or you can mix cubed chicken and cut up tomato with sauce in the pasta. Either way is delicious, but the separate chicken breasts in the pan seems a little more special for special occasions.

And good news, this one is naturally gluten free–just serve it with gluten free noodles.

Make it a meal with:

  • Pasta
  • Garlic Bread or Breadsticks
  • Corn or Green Beans
  • Fresh Fruit

Pesto Chicken

  • Servings: 6
  • Difficulty: easy
  • Print


Absolutely delicious, great for special occasions or weeknight dinners.

Ingredients

  • 3 large Chicken Breasts, fileted in half so they’re half the thickness (6 total pieces)
  • Salt and pepper to taste
  • 10 oz. jar Basil Pesto
  • 2 large Tomatoes, sliced
  • Sliced or shredded Mozzarella
  • Parmesan cheese (optional)

Directions

Place the fileted chicken breasts in a greased 9×13 pan and season with salt and pepper. Spoon the pesto over the chicken. Then cover each chicken with 1-2 tomato slices (salted and peppered), and top with cheese. (Optional: Sprinkle parmesan over all.) Cook at 375° for about 30-45 minutes or until the temperature reaches 165°. Also broil to melt the cheese until slightly golden brown at the end. Serve with pasta, and make sure to spoon the delicious liquid from the pan over the pasta.


Garlic Spaghetti

We often had garlic spaghetti served with chicken parmesan, and I almost enjoyed the side dish spaghetti more than the main dish, haha.

If you’re making it gluten free, of course make sure to use gluten free spaghetti.

Make it a meal with:

Garlic Spaghetti

  • Servings: 6?
  • Difficulty: easy
  • Print


A wonderful accompaniment to Italian main courses.

Ingredients

  • ½ c. Butter
  • 2 tsp. Garlic, minced (or ½ tsp. Garlic Powder)
  • 1 lb. Cooked Spaghetti (or gluten free spaghetti)
  • Salt and pepper to taste

Directions

While the spaghetti is draining in the colander, melt butter in spaghetti pot and let garlic cook with it. Add rest of ingredients and mix well.