Baked Sunday Mornings: Blackberry Pie

For this installment of Baked Sunday Mornings, we had the pleasure of baking a Blackberry Pie. I'm not too familiar with baking pies that have a fruit or berry filling; this was my very first berry pie, actually! I've made apple pies before, and I've made key lime, but otherwise I prefer to make non-fruit pies, such as pecan. That said, I was really looking forward to switching things up a little!



The filling is a very simple mixture of fresh blackberries, butter, granulated and dark brown sugar, lemon juice and zest, flour, and salt. It smelled amazing before it even went into the oven. Plus, it only took about 10 minutes to assemble (not including the pie dough, of course).



Speaking of the pie dough, I do find this one pretty easy to work with. Granted, I don't have a ton of experience with dough (mostly because I haven't entirely overcome my fear of working with it!), but I have never had a problem with the Baked version. It baked up flaky and tender, just as it always does.

The finished product was aromatic, perfectly brown and bubbly, and tasted wonderful. I confess; I made this a while back, for Easter dinner. I saw that it was coming up in our recipe rotation for July, and I decided it would be a good thing to bring. I think this would be just the thing for a Fourth of July barbecue or party, though. It's a very summery pie, and I think it could only be enhanced by some vanilla ice cream on top!



Please do check out the other Baked Sunday Mornings blog posts this week; the blogroll can be located here.

Meatless Mondays: Easy Onion Tart

I normally try my best to make things from scratch, but there are times when convenience becomes a necessity. I don't like having to use pre-made doughs and things like that, but even I have to admit that they can be so easy to pull out and take advantage of. This tart was the result of a semi-homemade dough mixed with ingredients that were very easy to prepare, resulting in a yummy, pizza/calzone-like dinner!



The pizza dough (I used thin crust) is wrapped around a filling comprised of caramelized onions, mushroom Duxelles (which I had previously made and frozen, and for this I thawed out only what I needed), and two kinds of cheeses. You form a cool diamond-shape with your tart as you fold the corners over onto the filling, then bake for around 20 minutes or so. It's so easy; there's really not much else I can say about it. And of course, this one would be easy to add variations to. I'm sure spinach would be fantastic in there; if you wanted to make this non-meatless, sausage or chicken, or even bacon, would work very well. It's not something I would make every day, but it definitely works for a crazy day when you just don't have time to be making dough from scratch. Give it a try!

Easy Onion Tart
adapted from Cooking Light
makes 4 servings

Ingredients
1/2 Tsp. olive oil
3 to 4 large yellow onions, thinly sliced
1/3 cup Duxelles (optional)
Salt and freshly ground black pepper, to taste
1 store-bought thin crust pizza dough
1/4 cup (1 oz.) reduced-fat feta cheese
1/4 cup (1 oz.) reduced-fat Swiss cheese

Directions
1. Heat a large nonstick skillet over medium-high heat; add the olive oil and swirl the pan to coat. Add the onions and cook for about 5-7 minutes, stirring frequently. Once the onions have started to become tender, lower the heat the medium-low and cover with the lid. Continue to cook for another 15-20 minutes, stirring occasionally, until the onions are browned and have reduced. Stir in the Duxelles; cook for another 3-4 minutes, or until the mixture is warmed through.

2. Preheat the oven to 425 degrees F. On a large baking sheet lined with parchment paper, spread out the pizza dough evenly. Sprinkle the 1/4 cup feta cheese across the center of the dough, leaving at least a 2-inch border. Add the onion mixture on top of the feta, allowing it to reach to just 1 inch from the edges. Top with the Swiss cheese.

3. Bake the tart for about 20-25 minutes. You want the dough to be cooked all the way through and brown around the edges, and for the cheese to be melted and bubbly. Cut into 4 wedges and serve.

Mexican-Inspired Calzones

I got the inspiration to make these calzones when I was thumbing through Ree Drummond's cookbook, The Pioneer Woman Cooks, not too long ago. She has a great recipe for pizza crust that she shares in the book, and then she lists a couple of different recipes for pizza, and finally a calzone recipe. They just sounded and looked so good, but I didn't have everything I needed on hand to make her version. No problem; I'd just make up my own variation!



First, you whip up a batch of Ree's pizza crust, which is easy and straightforward, as far as pizza crust recipes go. The thing I liked about the calzone recipe is that it uses up the whole batch, as opposed to pizza recipes which would only use up half the batch. Waste not, want not! Meanwhile, you prepare the calzone filling: brown some sausage, add in onion, then throw in a can of diced green chilies, 3/4 of a block of cream cheese, and a generous heap of salsa. Let everything become all incorporated, then let it cool some before assembling the calzones.

For the assembly, first you need to divide the crust into 8 equal portions. Roll each out, then add 1/8 of the filling to the circle. Fold it up, pinch the ends together to seal, then pretty it up by pressing the tines of a fork into the edges. Once you have every calzone assembled, spray them all down with some cooking spray (the higher-fat option would be to brush each with olive oil).

They bake up in about 15 minutes, and they taste like a gourmet Hot Pocket. But way, way better. The mixture is ultra creamy and slightly zesty, thanks to the cream cheese and salsa. The dough is perfect and delicious, and I loved how easy it was to work with. Plus, the possibilities are endless with calzones; the sky is the limit as far as fillings go. I can't wait to play around with other ideas for this. In the meantime, here's the recipe for this version.

Mexican Calzones

created by Bri

makes 8 calzones

Ingredients

1 lb. spicy pork sausage

1/2 onion, diced

1 (4 oz.) can diced green chilies

1/2 - 1 cup salsa, any kind

6 oz. cream cheese, cubed

1/3 cup cheddar cheese, shredded

Salt and freshly ground black pepper, optional

Flour, for dusting surfaces

1 recipe Pizza Crust (recipe follows)

Nonstick cooking spray

Directions

1. Preheat the oven to 450 degrees F. In a large skillet, brown the sausage over medium-high heat, breaking up the meat as it cooks. When sausage is nearly cooked through, add the onions. Saute until onions are soft and meat is fully cooked. Remove the skillet from the heat, then add the diced green chilies, salsa, and cream cheese. Stir constantly until cream cheese has melted completely and the salsa is fully incorporated. Season with salt and pepper if desired. Set aside.

2. Take your pizza crust and divide it into 8 equal-size balls. With a rolling pin on a floured surface, roll each ball into a 6-inch circle. Place one-eighth of the meat and cheese mixture in the middle of each circle. Fold half of the circle over the other half, gently pressing to slightly spread and flatten the filling inside. Press a fork along the edge to seal closed, then transfer the calzone to a greased baking sheet. Repeat this with the remaining 7 balls of dough and the remaining filling. Lightly spray each calzone with cooking spray.

3. Bake the calzones for 12 to 15 minutes, until golden brown. Transfer the calzones to a serving platter or wrap individually in foil.

Pioneer Woman's Pizza Crust

from The Pioneer Woman Cooks

makes 2 pizza crusts (or just enough for these 8 calzones)

Ingredients

1 tsp. or 1/2 packet active dry yeast

4 cups all-purpose flour

1 tsp. kosher salt

1/2 cup extra-virgin olive oil, plus more for drizzling

Directions

1. Pour 1 1/2 cups warm water into a bowl. Sprinkle the yeast over the water.

2. Combine the flour and salt in a mixing bowl. With an electric mixer on low speed, drizzle in the olive oil until just incorporated. In a separate bowl, gently stir the yeast/water mixture, and then drizzle it into the flour/oil mixture; mix until the dough forms a ball.

3. Drizzle a little olive oil into a clean bowl. Toss the ball of dough in the bowl and turn over to coat in oil. Cover the bowl with a moist kitchen towel and set in a warm place for 1 to 2 hours, or cover with plastic wrap and store in the fridge for up to 2 days. If refrigerating, bring the dough back up to room temperature before using.

Baked Sunday Mornings: Farm Stand Buttermilk Doughnuts

Our assignment for this week's Baked Sunday Mornings was to make the Farm Stand Buttermilk Doughnuts. As luck would have it, I had already tried my hand at these back in October, but I'd never blogged about them. I think it probably had something to do with the fact that our doughnuts did not exactly turn out picture perfect. Okay, they actually came out looking a bit deformed! But they were absolutely delicious, so they are definitely worth telling you about. Maybe somebody out there can learn from my mistakes!

I started out on the wrong foot with these because I was short an ingredient: sour cream. Instead of sour cream I just added more buttermilk, if memory serves me correctly. Turns out, that sour cream must be kinda essential to these dougnuts, because I had a heck of a time with my dough. It was so sticky and loose, you couldn't even form doughnut shapes. Well, you kinda could, but then you couldn't actually lift them and drop them into the hot oil without them becoming all misshapen. So we started to just form blobs out of the dough, but then we discovered that the inside centers were still raw (which was a total bummer, since we had our two sons waiting and waiting for the doughnuts to cool enough to eat, only to discover that they had icky, gooey middles). Fortunately, the doughnut hole-sized treats we made worked out perfectly, since they took next to no time to make.

As I think you can probably tell from below, the doughnuts were a huge winner once we started working out the kinks! The biggest hit was the cinnamon sugar topping with our boys; they are cinnamon addicts. I personally favored the chocolate glaze; we topped those with orange sprinkles since it was almost Halloween when we made these. I skipped the vanilla glaze, but I would love to try it sometime.

I was tempted to make these again specifically for the group, but I decided that it was worthwhile to just blog about the ones I had made previously. After all, it is a lesson in what not to do! However, I do apologize for subjecting you to these silly deformed doughnut pictures!

To check out how the other members of the group did with this, be sure to check out the post on these doughnuts over at Baked Sunday Mornings, here. The full recipe is posted there, too, for your convenience!

Bourbon Chocolate Pecan Pie

This is it. The pie I had been waiting a year to make. It's the Baked Bourbon Chocolate Pecan Pie. Ever since I first purchased the original Baked cookbook, nearly a year and a half ago, I have had my eye on this recipe. I arrived late to the pecan pie party of life. I never tasted one until 3 Thanksgivings ago, and it was love at first bite. I vowed to make one myself at that moment. Finally, three long years later, I am making good on that promise. And it is quite a doozy.

As with anything the Baked boys come up with, this is a fresh, exciting riff on a traditional pecan pie. Take your ordinary model, then jazz it up with a shot of bourbon and a healthy sprinkling of semisweet chocolate. The result is a purely sinful, nutty, interesting dessert that definitely belongs up there with the big boys at the Thanksgiving goodie table.

Now, I have always had an irrational fear of pie dough, but since I trust the Baked book I decided to just stick to their Classic Pie Dough recipe. The recipe calls for butter, no shortening, and the use of a food processor to easily throw everything together. It all sounded good to me. Things went smoothly, I'm happy to say, and then I put half the dough into the freezer, for another use, and half into the fridge, to firm up before the next steps.

Thanks to a phone call to my mom (the most seasoned pie baker I know!), I made the decision to blind bake my crust. Although the Baked book did not explicitly state to do so, I felt it was a good way to ensure the crust would be cooked completely throughout, and would not become soggy after the pie filling was put on top of it. It was super simple: I placed parchment paper on top of my empty pie shell after pricking the shell a bit with a fork. Next, I filled the parchment with dried split peas and rice, until they measured 1 pound. I placed the pie shell into a 350 degree oven for 10 minutes, then removed it to cool.

I froze the cooled crust until it was time to bake it again with the filling. At this point, I wasn't sure whether the whole thing would work well, but I needn't have been concerned. The crust was just as I wanted it to be after everything was said and done. It's funny; when I tasted it I could tell it was an all-butter crust. Not that there is anything wrong with that, but I did notice that it was less flaky than the pie crust I'm used to. I know shortening lends that unique texture to pie crust, so maybe next time I'll try that out. But for this, I was happy with my crust.

And the rest of the pie? How was that, you ask? Well, it was heaven! I will say this, though: if you attempt it, be warned that it is very rich and very chocolatey. Just a little slice will be more than enough! I toned down the bourbon in this and used semisweet chocolate that I cut into small chunks, instead of the recommended chocolate chips. The chocolate was a dominant flavor in the pie, and while it was decadent scrumptiousness, it didn't taste like an everyday pecan pie. But then again, that was kind of the point of making a Baked pie! I loved this, and I was very happy to have conquered my first from-scrach pecan pie. Happy Thanksgiving, indeed!

Bourbon Chocolate Pecan Pie
adapted from Baked: New Frontiers in Baking
makes one 9-inch pie

Ingredients
For the Classic Pie Dough:
3 cups all-purpose flour
1 Tbsp. sugar
1 tsp. fine salt
1 cup (2 sticks) cold unsalted butter
3/4 cup ice cold water

For the pie:
2 cups pecan halves, toasted
3 large eggs
3/4 cup light corn syrup
3 Tbsp. sugar
4 Tbsp. firmly packed dark brown sugar
3 Tbsp. unsalted butter, melted
Pinch of salt
1 tsp. pure vanilla extract
1 Tbsp. bourbon
1 cup (6 ounces) semisweet chocolate pieces

Directions
Assemble the pie dough: 1. In a medium bowl, whisk the flour, sugar, and salt together. Cut the cold butter into cubes and toss the cubes into the flour mixture to coat. Put the mixture in the bowl of a food processor and pulse in short bursts until the pieces of butter are the size of hazelnuts.

2. While pulsing in quick, 4-second bursts, drizzle the ice water into the food processor through the feed tube. As soon as the dough comes together in a ball, remove it from the food processor and divide it into two equal balls. Flatten to a disk and wrap each disk first in parchment paper and then in plastic wrap. Refrigerate the disks until firm, about 1 hour. (The dough can be refrigerated for up to 3 days or frozen for up to 3 months. Thaw in the refrigerator before proceeding with the recipe. Only half the recipe, or one disk, will be used for the pecan pie.)

Make the pecan pie: 1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Dust a work surface with a sprinkling of flour. Unwrap the ball of chiled dough and put it directly on the work surface. Roll out into a 12-inch round. Transfer the dough to a pie dish and carefully work it into the pie dish, folding any overhang under and crimping the edge as you go.

2. Prick the pie shell a few times with a fork. Place a layer of parchment paper on the pie dough, pressing into the edges gently, then fill the pie shell with dried beans or rice. "Blind bake" the pie shell for 10 minutes, then remove from the oven and allow to cool completely.

3. Wrap and freeze the crust until firm, about 2 hours, or up to 3 months. When ready to bake, preheat oven to 325 degrees F. Coarsely chop about 3/4 cup of the pecans. Set aside.

4. In a large bowl, whisk the eggs until combined. Add the corn syrup, sugars, butter, salt, vanilla, and bourbon. Whisk again until combined. Stir in the chopped pecans and set the filling aside.

5. Spread the chocolate pieces evenly along the bottom of the frozen pie shell. Slowly pour the filling on top of the chocolate chips. Arrange the remaining 1 1/4 cups pecan halves on top of the filling.

6. Bake in the center of the oven for 30 minutes, then cover the edges of the crust loosely with aluminum foil and bake for another 30 minutes. Test the pie by sticking a knife in the center of the filling. If the knife comes out clean, the pie is done. If the knife comes out with clumps of filling sticking to it, bake for another 5 minutes and test again.

7. Cool the pie on a wire rack and serve warm or at room temperature. The pie can be stored in the refrigerator, tightly covered, for up to 2 days.

CEIMB: Chicken Pot Pies (In a Pumpkin!)

This week, I decided to make the Craving Ellie in My Belly meal truly in honor of our hostess. The recipe, Chicken Pot Pies, was chosen by the wonderful Shandy of Pastry Heaven. I like to visit her blog each week to check out her spin on the week's CEIMB recipe, as well as to see what else she has been up to in the kitchen. Last week, her post on the Apple Brown Betty included a really interesting spin on a traditional pot pie-ish dinner. In addition to her apple dessert, she talked about how she made a meal by stuffing a pumpkin full of chicken and veggies, and then she topped it with a flaky crust! It was so cool, I was both impressed and inspired all at once! It looked absolutely gorgeous, not to mention incredibly delicious (and I'm still new to eating pumpkin in things, but Shandy's pictures of the stuffed pumpkin made my mouth water!). I just had to try this out!

I told my husband about the stuffed pumpkin idea, and he was intrigued as well. Then, I realized that Shandy had chosen the Chicken Pot Pies for this week, and it just seemed like fate! What better opportunity to try her pumpkin trick out than by using it on the recipe that was her pick? I was so excited to do this, we took the kids out this weekend and had them help us choose two perfect pie pumpkins for the occasion. I was planning on making this for Sunday dinner. I would make two pumpkins stuffed with pot pie, and then two more pot pies in individual serving dishes.



Then, Sunday morning, I woke up and felt terrible. I have been nursing some cold/allergy thing for over a week now, but that Sunday was the worst. I was exhausted, crabby, and was so hoarse I was squeaking at people. It was the pits. Why am I telling you all this? Because I wanted to be upfront and honest with everybody, and tell you that in the end, it was my hubby who was the dinner hero that evening, and not me. He cooked the whole thing himself, and oh, my goodness, was it divine! I felt so spoiled eating all that deliciousness, and knowing that I didn't have to lift a finger for it!

I've prepared Ellie's variation on the classic pot pie in the past, so I knew it would be scrumptious. The pumpkin made for such a showstopping presentation, and it was fun to scrape at the inside walls of the pumpkin while eating. You could mix in the softened pumpkin innards with the pot pie filling for that extra pumpkin-y touch.



One more confession I have to make: I'm not happy with the pictures for this post. See, the camera was working just fine....right up until we sat down to eat! Then, all of a sudden, the camera's memory card conked out on us. Yep, that's right. All the pictures hubby took of the beautiful pumpkin preparations, anything from before we sat down, they're all gone. But we did manage to save a few on the camera itself, and that's what you see here. Phew! I was afraid I may have lost them all, so it was a relief to see that some still made the cut.

Anyway, I have to send out a profuse thank you to Shandy this week! Not only did you pick an awesome fall recipe for us this week, but you also inspired me to make something completely new and different at the same time. It was a great success; my hubby and I are very grateful! If you'd like to check out everybody else's results this week, be sure to go to the CEIMB blogroll. Ellie's original recipe can be found here.

Pizza Pot Pies

I've had Giada De Laurentiis' book Giada's Kitchen for about a year and a half now, and I've had my eye on this recipe that entire time. Unfortunately, I was missing one very important thing that I would need to make it: a set of ramekins. I've been wanting these forever; oh, to be able to make some molten chocolate cake in them! I'm sure those will be featured here on this very blog sometime soon...

But back to the Pizza Pot Pies. As I was saying, I've wanted to make these, and now that I finally have ramekins, I was presented with an opportunity to try them out! I wanted to make these during the week that my mother and father in-law were to be in town. They seemed so simple, not to mention adorable. What could be wrong with that?

These are a breeze to put together; the hardest part is portioning out the dough and fitting it over each ramekin. Simply make a quick tomato sauce, then mix that together with storebought rotisserie chicken, some fresh veggies, cubes of mozzarella cheese, and some salt and pepper. Giada says to use broccoli, cut into bite-size pieces, but we had tons of fresh zucchini to use up, so I went with that instead. I'm really glad I did, because I found out later that my father in-law really doesn't like broccoli, but everybody likes the zucchini!

Once you have this mixture, you divide it evenly into your ramekins. Then, you take your pizza dough, divide it into even pieces, and cover each ramekin with it. I took more liberties here; Giada would like you to cut circles out of the dough to fit over the ramekins. I used my kitchen scale here. I weighed the dough as a whole, then divided it evenly into 6 balls. These balls were then stretched to fit over the tops of the ramekins. Much easier this way, I think!

Finally, the tops of the dough are brushed with olive oil, then Parmesan cheese is sprinkled over that. They bake in the oven for about 25 minutes, and that's it! You want to let them rest briefly before cutting into them; they'll be screaming hot.

And now, a quick confession. I was all set to make these for my guests. I got my sauce made, threw all the chicken, zucchini, and mozzarella in a bowl to mix together, and made an easy pizza dough in my bread machine. Then....it hit. I'm still not exactly sure what happened to me, but I came down with some kind of bug, and it knocked me off my feet. Suddenly I found that the work I had yet to do in the kitchen was daunting; I didn't know if I could pull it off. My dreams of finally using those ramekins were fading fast.

Luckily, my wonderful hubby and his mom stepped in and took over. They were able to assemble the pot pies and bake them for me. I just wanted to get that off my chest. Anywhere above where you see that "I" did a part of the recipe, it could have either been me or one of them. I wanted to give credit where credit was due! Sadly, I wasn't able to eat dinner with them that evening; I was just too sick. But they did save me a pot pie, and I enjoyed mine the next night.

Everybody really loved these! They're fun, they're a snap to make (which I think we proved when I had to quit mid-preparation, and my lovely assistants were easily able to finish up for me!), and they're even fabulous as leftovers. I just wrapped mine in foil the next night and baked in a low oven for close to an hour. Delicious!

Pizza Pot Pies

adapted from Giada De Laurentiis

makes 6 individual pot pies

Ingredients

For the sauce:

1 Tbsp. olive oil

2 garlic cloves, minced

1 tsp. minced fresh rosemary leaves

2 oz. diced bacon (Giada used pancetta)

1 (28-0z.) can crushed tomatoes

1/4 tsp. salt

1/4 tsp. freshly ground black pepper

For the pot pies:

3 cups Tomato Sauce (see above)

2 cups diced roasted chicken (from a purchased roasted chicken)

2 cups zucchini, diced (the original calls for bite-size pieces of broccoli)

1 1/2 cups mozzarella cheese, diced

1/2 tsp. salt

1/4 tsp. freshly ground black pepper

1 1/2 lbs. pizza dough, either purchased or homemade (we used homemade)

1/3 cup olive oil

6 Tbsp. freshly grated Parmesan cheese

Special equipment:

6 (10-0z.) ramekins (I only had a 9-0z. size, which worked fine)

Directions

Make the tomato sauce: 1. Warm the olive oil in a small saucepan over medium heat. Add the garlic, rosemary, and bacon (or pancetta) and sauce until the bacon (or pancetta) is crisp and golden, about 5 minutes. Add the tomatoes, stir to combine, and simmer over very low heat for 15 minutes. Add the salt and pepper. Set aside.

Make the pot pies: 1. Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F. In a large bowl, combine the tomato sauce, chicken, zucchini (or broccoli), mozzarella, salt, and pepper. Stir to combine. Divide the chicken mixture evenly among 6 ramekins.

2. Roll out the pizza dough 1/2- to 3/4-inch thick, and use a paring knife to cut circles that are 1 inch larger in diameter than the ramekins. Set the circles of dough over the filled ramekins and press down to seal, making sure to pull the dough over the edges of each ramekin.

3. Brush the pizza crust with the olive oil and sprinkle with the Parmesan cheese. Cut a small slit in the top with the paring knife. Bake until the pizza crust is golden, about 25 minutes. Remove from the oven and let cool slightly before serving.

Pizza with Asparagus, Bacon, and Homemade Marinara Sauce

Yum, homemade pizza. We love the stuff around here. If I wasn't always so scared in the past of making the crust, we would probably have it much more often. Well, it's not the crust I am scared of, it's rolling out the crust that frightens me. I know, it seems very silly. I love to bake, and do all those sorts of things which require patience, but I don't know. When it came to pizza crust, I was intimidated. Having to roll it into a circle shape just seemed difficult. It's not like a pie crust, where you get to trim off the ratty edges. This had to actually look like a circle.

Well, I am happy to report that all the fear is now a thing of the past. I have faced the challenge head-on, and I won! I battled the crust, and I was victorious. More on that in a bit, though.

The above photo is a shot of some wild asparagus, brought to us by my mother and father in-law, who pick it out of their very own backyard. It tastes so much better than store-bought asparagus, in my opinion. It's almost sweet, juicier than any other asparagus I've had, and it cooks up so tender despite the thicker spears. It can be purple in color when first picked, but it gradually turns green while it's cooking. It's actually handy; it's got a built-in doneness indicator!

When I found this recipe for a flatbread appetizer topped with asparagus and pancetta in Cooking Light Magazine, I knew I wanted to make a variation of it. Instead of a flatbread, I would do a pizza. I would use bacon in place of the pancetta, and I thought I'd add some homemade marinara sauce (the original recipe doesn't have a sauce).

After searching Recipezaar briefly, I discovered a whole-wheat pizza dough recipe that could be made in the bread machine. We've made pizza dough this way plenty of times, but this was a new recipe and I wanted to give it a try. As it turns out, this may have been the best homemade dough we've ever had! It wasn't as dense or dry as some whole-wheat doughs can be, and a sprinkle of dried herbs made it flavorful and colorful. Best of all, though? It was a dream to work with! By hand, I was able to pull and stretch it into the correct shape, and made it fit the pizza pan just right. It was easy! I wondered then what I had been so worried about; I could totally handle this! I just hoped that the rest of it would be as simple.

Well, it was! I baked some bacon in the oven until it was crisp, and broke it into crumbly pieces. The asparagus was sliced lengthwise thinly, then artfully placed on the pizza. A healthy sprinkle of freshly grated mozzarella topped it off. But wait! I'm forgetting the sauce.

Oh, the sauce. Who knew something so ridiculously simply could be such a showstopper? Seriously, this sauce required absolutely no cooking whatsoever, and contained simple, everyday ingredients. I got this gem from Recipezaar; I chose it mainly because of the ease. I was very pleasantly surprised when I tried it and discovered just how delicious it was. It was thick, tangy, spicy, with a hint of sweetness...just wow. We also used it as a dipping sauce for some ravioli that I served on the side. I could probably just have eaten it straight, with a spoon, but I restrained myself. But next time, who knows?

I'm going to post the pizza recipe, because I took an existing idea and modified it to our liking, as well as the sauce recipe, just because it is so divine.

The recipe for the whole-wheat pizza dough can be found here.

Kittencal's No-Cook Pizza Sauce (or Marinara Dipping Sauce)

adapted from Recipezaar

makes about 2 1/2 cups

Ingredients

1 (15 oz.) can tomato sauce

1 (6 oz.) can tomato paste (original recipe says you can use either 1/2 or a whole can)

2 tsp. dried oregano

2 tsp. dried basil

1 tsp. fresh minced garlic (I believe I used 2 cloves)

1 tsp. paprika

2 tsp. sugar

1 pinch salt (can add to taste)

1 pinch cayenne pepper, to taste (I think my "pinch" was more like a healthy dash; next time I may lighten up on it a bit)

Directions

1. Combine all ingredients in a bowl; mix very well. Taste sauce and adjust seasonings as needed.

2. Cover and refrigerate for a minimum of 8 hours, more if possible, before serving.

Pizza with Asparagus, Bacon, and Homemade Marinara Sauce

Recipe by Bri

serves 4 (maybe)

Ingredients

1 whole-wheat pizza dough

cornmeal, for dusting

6 slices bacon

8-10 spears asparagus, sliced thinly lengthwise

1/2 - 3/4 cup homemade marinara sauce (see above)

3 oz. freshly grated mozzarella cheese (part-skim works well)

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees F. Arrange bacon on a cooling rack, then place the cooling rack on a foil-lined baking sheet. Bake in oven for at least 20 minutes, until crispy and browned. Set aside to cool.

2. Dust work surface with cornmeal, then place pizza dough on cornmeal. Stretch dough into a 12-inch circle, then place on a 12-inch round pizza pan.

3. Spread marinara sauce on surface of dough. Crumble the reserved bacon over the sauce. Next, lay asparagus across the pizza, and finally cover everything with mozzarella cheese.

4. Crank the oven up to 400. Bake pizza for 10-12 minutes, until cheese is melted and the dough feels and looks fully baked. Serve immediately (preferably with extra marinara on the side for dipping your crusts!).