.sun-dried tomato, kalamata olive, and feta pizza.

Yes... we are cliche. We had heart-shaped pizzas on Valentine's Day.  I have been craving feta and kalamata olives the past week.  At the bakery, we used to make pizza as part of our lunch menu, in addition to salads, sandwiches, wraps, and soup.  This was by far my most favorite thing to eat.

The saltiness of the olives with the tanginess of the feta... nestled on baked dough and warmed garlic sauce?  Oh man.  Can you smell it?  (it's fantastic!!!)

Melt 3 Tbsp butter in a saucepan and add 1 clove minced garlic.  Saute for a minute.

Add 2 Tbsp flour and whisk.  Let the roux cook for a few minutes on low heat.  Keep stirring to keep from burning.

Add 1 1/2 cups milk and kick up the heat a little.  Make sure you whisk while adding the milk so you don't get lumps.  Keep stirring this and it will begin thickening.

The sauce needs to be slightly thicker than a gravy.  Season with salt and pepper and I even add a little parmesan cheese.

The main ingredients.  Feta (check!), kalamata olives (check!), and sun-dried tomatoes (check check!).

My tomatoes are julienned.  If yours aren't, you'll need to slice them up into thin strips.  Chop up some olives.  Make sure you get pitted olives otherwise you'll have to try and rip the flesh from the pit and chop up.  That's no fun.

Take your pizza dough and divide in half or in thirds.  Since my family doesn't really like this pizza (read: they hate olives), I made it smaller so it was all mine!  ALL MINE!!!

I formed my pizza into a heart shape.  Awwww... 

Spoon on some of the garlic sauce.  Top with the olives, tomatoes, and feta.  I also put a little parmesan and mozzarella on top.

As you can see I put a little sprinkle of cornmeal around on the pizza peel.  If you don't have a pizza peel, don't worry.  Just use a cookie sheet that doesn't have a lip.  You do want to use a pizza stone though.  You can find them at Bed, Bath, and Beyond or if you know someone who sells Pampered Chef, get one of those!  They have a better warranty.

If you're using a stone, put it on the lowest rack in your oven about 30 minutes before you start rolling out your pizzas.  Turn your oven to 475* and let that stone heat up real good.  That's key for giving you a nice crispy and chewy crust.  Mm mm mm. 

Carefully shimmy the pizza onto the stone once it's hot.  Sometimes I have to use a pancake turner to push it off without losing all my toppings.  Bake for about 10-15 minutes.  The top will be nice and golden brown and your crust should be all puffy and beautiful.  Let sit for a few minutes before slicing and eating.

.gemelli with pesto and sun dried tomatoes.

I have no fancy name for this dish. We were in Tennessee for the wedding all week last week. I can't even begin to tell you how BEAUTIFUL that part of the state is. Mountains, mountains, and more mountains! And this gorgeous river that ran right through the middle of the town... just amazing.

The worst part of the trip was all the eating out. Ugh. I was anxious to fix something light and healthy and delicious. So while I was at the commissary yesterday, I suddenly had this rush of inspiration. None of these ingredients were on my shopping list, but I didn't care a bit. When Jim saw that $11.00 wedge of parmigiano reggiano, he cared quite a bit. Oops.

I really did use some good ingredients on this dish, but when you're using nothing but pasta and few ingredients, you want to make sure you don't skimp on quality.

The nice thing about this dish is you can have it on the table in 30 minutes. No joke.



Take a package of gemelli and cook it according to its directions. I wanted these al dente, so I made sure not to let them boil longer than 8 minutes.














Drain and rinse with cold water. No worries... we'll heat this back up in the skillet.



Now let's do our prep.



Roughly chop 1 clove garlic.



Chop up 4-5 sun dried tomatoes.



If you've never used sun dried tomatoes before, you don't know what you're missing. They have this wonderful smoky flavor that is incomparable. We used this a lot at the bakery to add in our bread and quiches.



Roughly chop up some italian parsley.



Cut up 2-3 slices bacon. It would have been better to use pancetta, but I didn't have any on hand and didn't even think of it when I was at the commissary. You don't want to use too much because you don't want to overpower the flavor of the tomatoes and pesto. The bacon is secondary... remember that.



Heat up a skillet and fry the bacon.



When it's about halfway cooked, add a little extra virgin olive oil and the clove of garlic. Let saute for 30 seconds.



Add some diced grilled chicken. I used some pre-cooked breasts that I pulled out of the freezer. They come in handy for quick meals like this. You could grill up your own chicken breasts if you want. It would make this better, for sure.



Add the sun dried tomatoes and the pasta. Stir to coat. If you need to add a little more olive oil, do so right now. Season well with sea salt and fresh cracked black pepper.



Pesto comes in a jar like this. It's found in the deli section of your grocer. Pesto is a ground mix of basil, olive oil, pine nuts, and garlic. It's really fragrant and gives wonderful subtle flavor to your dishes.



I put in about 3-4 Tbsp of pesto. Add as much or as little as you like. Stir to coat.



Remove the pan from the heat and add the chopped parsley. Stir well. Taste and re-season if needed.



This is the lovely wedge of parmigiano reggiano. My husband pulled it out of the fridge after dinner was done and broke off some pieces to eat all alone. Whew. He likes his cheese!



You could grate this, but I wanted more substantial pieces of cheese so I used a vegetable peeler. You'll get more flavor per bite doing it this way. YUMMY!



Add it to the pan and stir.

Time to plate up!

I added a little more parmigiano once it was all plated.



Printable version:
http://docs.google.com/Doc?id=dg2vfjqm_72g94x85d8

.turkey mango wrap.

When I had the bakery, we offered soups, salads, and sandwiches to our customers for lunch. I added gourmet type pizzas and wraps to the menu last summer and they were a hit.

One of the wraps, which was the most popular was the turkey mango wrap. It's the perfect lunch or dinner for hot nights or when you're just in the mood for something light and simple.

What you'll need for the wraps:

• Sundried tomato wraps


• deli turkey (or you can use cooked turkey medallions sliced up)


• provolone cheese


• lettuce


• tomato


• mango, sliced


• mayo


• cream cheese


• ranch dry dressing mix

In a bowl, mix together 1/4 cup cream cheese, 3 Tbsp mayonnaise, and 2 Tbsp dry Ranch dressing mix.

Spread some of the ranch spread on a wrap.

Put down a layer of turkey and some provolone cheese (not pictured). I usually use one slice provolone and cut it in half and put down the center. Use whatever you'd like.

Put slices of mango, tomato and some lettuce (leaf or iceberg) down the center.

Fold outsides in and roll up like a burrito.

Carefully slice in half on the diagonal and serve with chips or salad.

Printable version:

http://docs.google.com/Doc?id=dg2vfjqm_27fgkj24ft