homemade PIZZA!

My adventures in the kitchen continue. ...And, thankfully, Italy seems to be on my side!

I've never been much of a cook (...some of you have probably heard a couple of my disaster stories from the kitchen! Haha.)

Today's challenge for myself was pretty easy... but I am still very proud that it came out DELICIOUS!

Homemade pizza. Nonny-and-Mom style. My brothers and I grew up having my mom make us awesome homemade pizza every now and then. We loved these nights. Mom would even fry up the extra dough and we dunked it in sugar for dessert. Definitely a treat!

I didn't try the fried dough tonight... but the pizza was a success!   : D

I bought dough at the local CoOp store for less than 1.50 euro!

Into the oven... about 1/2-way through the pizzas' time in the oven, I came out from my bedroom area and smelled the pizzas baking. Ahhhhhhh so so good. Definitely comfort food.

I kept it simple tonight... one pizza had cheese and red peppers - the other was just cheese.

...And both were gloriously delicious.   : D

spinach baked with goat cheese

My friend, Robert, shared a great recipe with me and I tried it this past weekend.

Basically, it's a spinach dish baked with goat cheese... mmmmmm.

I started with a full bag of spinach... and dunked it in boiling water for 30 seconds.

After taking the spinach out of the boiling water and draining it, I put it into a casserole dish...

...Sprinkled some parmesan cheese on top...

...And also added some garlic salt and extra virgin olive oil.

THEN came the goat cheese!

(Funny enough... this was my first time ever buying goat cheese.) 

I spread the goat cheese on top... and baked it for about 15 minutes.

Here is the finished product:

I gave the seemingly delicious dish a few minutes to cool down... and then ate most of it.  : P

It IS a delicious dish! I'll definitely make it again.

It was also great leftover... heated up again. MmmmmmHmmmmmm.

homemade hummus

Continuing my weekend cooking adventures of trying new recipes and making things homemade that I would normally buy.

This weekend's challenge: HUMMUS   : )

I used a can of garbanzo beans, lemon juice, garlic, salt, extra virgin olive oil, aaaand I found a jar of tahini at a small grocery store in the city! There's a teacher at school that makes her own hummus each week for lunches and she pointed me in the right direction for the tahini sauce.

OH! I also then added a 'roasted' pepper. I'm not sure that I really roasted it though... all I did was cut it into pieces, put it in a pan with a bit of oil, and heat it on the stovetop. Next time I'll look into that more...

Tahini is the ingredient I've been missing to try this recipe. It's the first time I've used tahini... and really all it is, is sesame seeds made into paste.

The hummus turned out alright. My mixer is not great... nor is it big! So the hummus is not very smooth... and I had to try mixing it half at a time and then switch. It tastes really good... but needs some work. I'll have to play with the recipe. I also want to buy and use paprika and/or cumin next time. These were in the recipe that I went off of, but I didn't have either spice, so just left them out.

homemade honey mustard dressing!

My weekend ventures in the kitchen continued yesterday... I made my own honey mustard dressing!

Some ladies at lunch a couple weeks ago were talking about doing so... and how most people probably have the ingredients for it already. ...I did!

Here's how I made it:

1/2 cup Dijon mustard
1/2 cup honey
2 Tbsp. mayonnaise
1 Tbsp. lemon juice
salt, pepper to taste

The lemon juice was a surprise ingredient to me! I didn't realize that would be in honey mustard dressing.

It turned out quite well. I read that it should be able to stay in a closed container in the refrigerator for up to a week. I bought some vegetables at the store yesterday and they're delicious dipped in the dressing!

I also spooned some into a small container to take to school and have with a salad.

: D

CHILI mmmmmm...!

After making pesto mid-day, I then decided to make chili for dinner. It was the perfect meal with the cooler weather... and I've been enjoying it all week long!

I cheat a bit and use canned chili... I haven't ventured enough to try and really make my own... but I do love my chili, which I began making in Vietnam. This time I switch things up a bit and used chick peas since I didn't have any canned beans... and I love it with the chick peas! I also bought and used curry powder. Mmmmmm...

Oh - and hilariously... I asked at the store if they had canned pumpkin (zucca in Italian)... the man said No, they don't... but he brought me to the fruit/vegetable cooler and asked if I meant... a pumpkin? He pointed to a small, green pumpkin. Well - YES! That IS what I mean! Ha!

I love cooking and baking with canned pumpkin... but haven't thought to try a fresh pumpkin before... maybe it is more healthy, too?! I brought half the little pumpkin home and then looked up how to go about making it into pumpkin puree... I boiled cut pieces with some water... strained the water out... and used my little grinder for the 2nd time! Perrrrrfect.

homemade PESTO

Last weekend I tried making my own pesto for the first time.

This was also my first time trying out the 10-euro grinder!

It turned out pretty well! ...But my recipe needs work... it was quite... strong tasting. I didn't include pine nuts... reading that they are optional... and then not being able to find them at CoOp... BUT I think maybe they will make a good addition.

...Overall - I made homemade pesto and it was yummy!   : D