Pizza with nan

Pizza is definitely a comfort food. Who can resist a slice of pizza with a crispy crust, sweet and tangy tomato sauce , hot Jalapeno and to mellow it down some melted mozarella. This is one of those foods which i am totally addicted to.

Being a vegetarian my toppings pretty much remain the same. Onion, peppers, mushrooms and Jalapeño. Since i am not fond of olives,I generally avoid them.

NY has some of the best pizzas i have ever tasted. Thin crust, but generously a big size is sure to please your taste buds.

I make pizza at home with the help of some store bought ingredients.

A perfect replace for pizza dough can be found in Indian nan.

One nan with your favorite veggies, may be a salad and a soft drink can be one ultimate satisfying meal.

I made pizza for Valentines Day. So, what did you guys cook up …..

Recipe :

Nan (From Indian store)- 2

Small onion -1 (cut half inch lenght wise)

Red and green bell pepper - 1/2 each (cut half inch length wise)

Jalapeno- 1 (chopped)

Red crushed pepper

Tomato sauce (any brand, ok)

Shredded mozarella cheese ( I used the low fat) and

Olive oil.

• Take a pan add a bit of olive oil and fry the onion with a pich of salt and crushed red pepper. Cook just until they become little soft . Keep them a side.

• In the same pan sautee the jalapeno, red and green peppers with a pinch of salt. Cook just for two minutes. Keep them a side.

• Now take a nan add a layer of tomato sauce. Top it with onion, red, green pepper and some red crushed peppe. Finally top it with shredded mozzarella cheese.

• Put it in the toaster oven and cook it just until cheese starts melting.

• Since its just two of us, Instead of regular oven i make my pizza in the toaster oven. I dont put any foil or a plate in the bottom of pizza while its cooking. Since the heat comes directly in contact with the surface, you get a nice crispy base.

Note:

• If you are making for more than two, I would recommend making the pizza in the regular oven.

• Don’t over cook the veggies, you still want to have a bite to it.

Panettone Trifle

• If you watch Food Network regularly, then you might have heard about Panettone. All the Italian chefs in that channel rave about this bread from time to time. According to them this bread is very popular during Christmas and involves lot of labor in making. Panettone can be eaten just like that or can be used in bread pudding, French toast and in trifle to name some.

• I heard its an expensive bread, so never even bothered or tempted to buy it. But recently in our local Walgreen’s i happend to see some tiny mini panettones selling for a buck! I was like, let me just buy and taste this so much talked about bread. The one i bought had candid fruit and raisins in it.When tasted,I felt there was nothing different or anything special about this bread.It had the sweetness of a muffin, but more dense and firm bread.This is just my opinion!

• Recently i saw Giada making a trifle out of it. She used mascarpone cheese and coffee liqueur in her trifle. I replaced those with whipping cream and coffee.

Recipe:

(for two)

Mini Panettone ( cut to small cubes)

Bittersweet/ semi sweet chocolate chips- 1/4th cup

Powderes sugar- 1 tsp

Whipping cream- about 1 cup

Black coffee- 10 tsps

chocolate shavings for garnish

• Take chocolate chips in a microwaveable bowl and cook for 30 seconds. Remove mix it with a spatula. Then add the sugar and two teaspoons of coffee and mix. Then slowly fold in the whipping cream.Taste the mixture, if you feel its very chocolaty then add more whipping cream. Same with the sugar, you can add if you want more. For me, since i used semi sweet chocolate chips even 1 tsp of sugar was little too sweet.

• Now take two glasses put few panettone pieces in the bottom, add two tsps of coffee on panettone (make sure you drizzle the coffee on most of the pieces). Now add little bit of chocolate mixture , then cover with whipping cream. Now repeat another layer with panettone, coffee, then chocolate mixture. Now cover the glasses with plastic wrap and put it in the refrigerator. Let stand overnight.
• An hour before you serve, leave it on the counter top. It helps the panettone to come to room temperature. If not panettone and chocolate mixture will be thick and hard in texture.

• Right before serving, top it of with a dollop of whipping cream and some chocolate shavings.

(For chocolate shavings: Take a vegetable peeler and peel the chocolate like you would peel a carrot)

• I really loved the trifle, it was a very good treat for a chocolate lover like me. To my surprise Ven who is not a chocolate lover, also loved it! Its a keeper.But next time i may just do the trifle with my trusted companion pound cake!

Panettone Trifle is my entry to JFI Chocolate hosted by lovely Deepz

Recipe adapted from Giada of Everyday Italian.

• Note: Its important that the trifle sits for few hours before serving. If not the ingredients wouldn’t mingle and the taste wouldn’t be the same!

Panettone - Italian Bread

Panettone

 

A slice of panettone with a cup of milk

Tri color Rotini Pasta Salad

When we eat pasta its not necessary that it has to be drenched in tomato sauce or topped with ton of chesse. Try this healthy salad which has lots of veggies,baked beans and fresh tomato. The dressing is pretty simple: Little bit of extra virgin olive oil, lemon juice and a bit of salt, black pepper and crushed red pepper. Toss everything together and you have one satisfying meal. Its so good that you will go for seconds.



Recipe:

Tri color rotini pasta- 1 pound
Carrots-2
beans about 20
green bell pepper- 1
Ripe plum tomatos- 3
Baked beans- 1 can
Garlic pod-1
Red crushed pepper, extra virgin olive oil, italian seasoning, black pepper, salt,parsley/corinder leaves and lemon juice- add according to your taste

Take a deep pot, boil the water,add salt and pasta and cook the pasta till al dente. Strain and keep the pasta a side. Save some pasta water.

In a pan put a tbsp of extra virgin olive oil and add the chopped garlic, beans, carrot, green bell pepper, little bit of salt and black pepper.Sautee for few minutes till the vegetable becomes tender. Transfer it to the pasta bowl.

Now in the same pan sautee the beans with a teaspoon of oil, salt and pepper.

Remove and sautee the tomato in the sameway.

Now combine the pasta, veggies, beans and tomato with some extra virgin olive oil, little bit of pasta water, red crushed pepper, italian seasoning, salt, black pepper,lemon juice and parsley/corinader leaves.

This salad can be eaten either cold/hot.



Al dente: Means where the pasta is cooked through but still has a bite to it.

Note:
I cook the beans for a minute in microwave before sauteeing.
Adding pasta water to the salad reduces the amount to oil you will be using for the salad.
Any veggies will work great for this salad.