Roasted Butternut Squash, Apple and Chorizo White Pizza with Ricotta Garlic Herb Spread

So it's been a while since I've posted about my homemade pizza adventures. We got away from our weekly grilled pizza routine due to...ahem...creative differences between me and Hubby.

But yesterday, I had one of those culinary inspirational moments where an idea pops into your head and you are so compelled to create it, you find yourself picking up ingredients at the grocery store with no knowledge of how you arrived there.

What? Only me?

Anyway. After safely arriving home, I got to work. My inspiration came from a butternut squash and container of Ricotta cheese I had sitting in my fridge.

"I can do something with this," I told myself. "There is a recipe here waiting to happen."

And this white pizza recipe was born.

Since several people asked for the recipe after I posted the picture, I'm writing this up now (also for myself, for future reference, as my mind is unfortunately not the most reliable database).

Now, I am usually a proponent of grilling my pizza. I like the brick oven effect it has. But Hubby does not feel the same. So, we're working out our differences, and the compromise was that I baked the pizza in our oven. 

A big note on this pizza (and all the pizzas I make): I go the thin crust route. So, I use a 1-lb ball of dough from the grocery store to make TWO pizzas, not one. In my instructions below, I share how I baked it in the oven. But if you want to grill your pizza, follow this tutorial.

Prepare for your tastebuds to be AMAZED.

• 1 lb. raw Pizza Dough
• 2 cups of butternut squash, diced
• 1 medium onion, diced
• 1 large apple, diced
• 3 slices of chorizo lunch meat, thinly sliced
• 1 cup of Ricotta Cheese (I used fat free, but any Ricotta cheese will do)
• 1/4 cup of shredded Parmesan Cheese
• 3 cloves of garlic, minced (or 3 TBS of minced garlic)
• 1 tsp of dried oregano
• 1 tsp of dried basil
• salt and pepper, to taste

1. Let pizza dough rise according to instructions, and cut in half. Reserve second half for another pizza of your choose (here are a ton of ideas). Roll out your remaining pizza dough half on a floured board until 1/8 to 1/4 inch thin. Place on a greased baking sheet.

2. Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Place squash and onions on a greased baking sheet. Drizzle with olive oil and sprinkle with salt and pepper. Place in oven and roast for 30 minutes. After 30 minutes, add apples, and roast another 10 minutes.This can be done a day ahead of time.

3. While veggies are roasting, combine Ricotta, garlic and herbs. Add more herbs or garlic to taste. The consistency should be that of a spread, not a sauce.

4. Once veggie mixture is done roasting, increase oven temperature to 450 degrees. Pre-cook the crust by putting the rolled pizza dough into the oven and cooking for 6-10 minutes. Watch closely: you do not want the crust to get brown. 

5. Once the dough is firm and on the verge of crispy, remove from oven. Smear the Ricotta Garlic Herb spread over the crust. Evenly spread the squash-onion-apple mixture over the Ricotta. Top with chorizo slices. Sprinkle with Parmesan cheese.

6. Return pizza to oven for another 10 minutes. Pizza should be cooked through and golden, but not burnt. For extra tastiness, turn your oven to broil for 1-2 minutes, or until cheese and toppings are browned.

Enjoy!

Grilled Buffalo Chicken Pizza {Recipe}

So it may be Winter here, but the Grill knows no season at my house. We grill weekly: in the rain, in the snow, in the cold. Sometimes we throw on some chicken and veggies like we would in the Summer. But by far our favorite tradition is our weekly Grilled Pizza.

First of all, YES, you can grill pizza dough. It is amazing. Stupendous. Scrumtrulescent. Never done this before? Here is my How To Make Grilled Pizza post, complete with a video of me in a sweaty post-run stupor grilling pizza. I love how grilling pizza makes a crust crisp in a way you can't achieve on a cookie sheet in the oven.

Hubby and I have made it a challenge to ourselves to come up with a new gourmet-esque pizza each week. We've come up with some great combinations (a few I have to write up - so stay tuned for them):

Grilled Greek Pizza

Bacon, Apple, Gorgonzola Grilled Pizza

Cheddar and Caramelized Onion Grilled Pizza with Fig Preserves

Shredded Beef and Caramelized OnionGrilled Pizza with Horseradish Sauce

Asian Chicken Pizza with Thai Peanut Sauce

Shredded Pork, Cheddar and Caramelized Onion Pizza
Grilled S'Mizza (Dessert S'mores Pizza)

We've even started making our own pizza sauce (I know, I know. RECIPE FORTHCOMING). But my girl, Devon, of Mama Cheaps and That's Country Living fame has asked for my Buffalo Chicken Pizza Recipe. So I am sharing that with you today.

Devon: I trust this recipe will make you and Biker Bob do the Dance of Joy.

Savvy?

Now onto the recipe:

• 1 lb. raw Pizza Dough (or a premade pizza crust)
• 1 cup  Shredded Chicken (homemade or from a store-bought rotisserie chicken)
• 1/2 cup Hot Sauce (I like Frank's Red Hot )
• 1 cup of Pizza Sauce 
• 1/2 cup of Mozzarella Cheese
• 1/2 cup of Shredded Parmesan Cheese
• 1/2 cup of Blue Cheese Crumbles

(If baking and using a pre made crust, skip to step 3)

**Preheat Grill to medium (or, if using, oven to 350). 

Spray with grill  (or, if using, cookie sheet) 

with non-stick cooking spray.**

1) Divide your dough into 2 dough balls. Set one aside to make a different pizza (you'll only need 1/2 lb dough for this recipe). Roll out until 1/8 inch thick. 

2) Toss Chicken with hot sauce. If you like it really hot, add more. You crazy mofo.

3) Place rolled dough onto the grill and close the lid. Let grill for 1 minute. Once the bottom gets a little bit hard (don't let it get brown - just the beginning of a crispness), flip the pizza crust.

4) Spread the pizza sauce over the top crust of the pizza. Sprinkle with mozzarella and parmesan cheeses. Top with hot sauce chicken mixture. Sprinkle with blue cheese.

5) Whether baking or grilling: Let cook until bottom crust is set and all the cheese is melted. If you'd like, garnish by drizzling more hot sauce over top.

ENJOY!

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I'll be adding more Grilled Pizza recipes in the near future. So check back!

What is YOUR favorite unique Gourmet Pizza combination? 

I am always looking for inspiration!

Asian Chicken Lettuce Wraps {RECIPE}

Holy crap it's been a long few days. 

You see, a few days ago, Hubby alerted me that the keyboard of our laptop stopped working. Rendering our only computer unusable. Do you know what this means to a gal whose livelihood rests in her job as a social media manager?

It's like death.

The cold, slow death of Winter. 

I walked around the house aimlessly for the few days My Baby was getting fixed up at the hospital. I attempted to complete my work via mobile devices, but most efforts were futile. Last night I received the sweet sweet email that my lappy was all fixed up and ready to be taken home.

And here we are.

While I was waiting for my life to begin again, I spent time perusing new healthy recipes on my phone. I found a few that fit into my "healthy goals for 2014 blah blah blah" commitments, and I was most intrigued by recipes I was finding for Asian Chicken Lettuce Wraps. There are no less than a gagillion copycat recipes for PF Changs Lettuce wraps, with varying degrees of differences. Some I liked, some I didn't (like, most call for ground chicken, which kind of grosses me out. So I knew I needed to make an adjustment here).

So after some experimenting in the kitchen, I came up with my own version of Asian Chicken Lettuce Wraps that I am truly pleased with. And it's healthy, no less! My version utilizes my Slow Cooker Shredded Chicken recipe, which I think is a bit healthier than ground chicken (although you can opt out of making shredded chicken and use the same amount of ground if you'd prefer).

• 2.5 lbs of cooked Shredded Chicken (or cooked ground chicken if you'd prefer)
• 1/2 cup onion, finely diced
• 1 heaping TBS minced garlic
• 1/2 cup of canned water chestnuts, finely diced
• 2 TBS soy sauce
• 1 tsp sesame oil
• 1 tsp hoisin sauce
• 1 tsp sweet chili sauce
• 1 tsp cooking sherry (or rice wine vinegar)
• 1/2 tsp ground ginger
• 1 head of Bibb or Iceberg Lettuce leaves

Spray a pan with non-stick cooking spray. Saute the onions and garlic for 1-2 minutes on medium heat, until soft and translucent. 

While the onions/garlic are cooking, in a small bowl, mix the soy sauce, sesame oil, hoisin sauce, chili sauce, sherry and ginger. Pour into pan with onion mixture. 

Add the chicken. Cook over low-medium heat until all is heated through and the chicken is well incorporated. 

If the mixture seems dry, drizzle with soy sauce until the desired level of moisture is achieved (I had to add another TBS or two at the end of cooking).

Serve in lettuce leaves (roughly 1/4-1/2 cup of mixture in each leave. Top with condiments/sauce of choice.

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nom nom nom

I highly recommend topping each wrap with either Hoisin Sauce or Sweet Chili Sauce. Both make great condiments on these lovely wraps.

We ate these as an entree (if you need more to bolster it, add rice or serve over noodles), but the wraps would make a great appetizer or side dish as well!

I'd love to hear how these turn out for you - so leave a comment!

Thanksgiving Recipe Inspiration: Entree/Main Meal

I've been enjoying looking through all the recipes that have been submitted so far, and I've DEFINITELY found a few new ones to try this Turkey Day!

If you missed last week, we shared APPETIZERS (you can submit recipes through Thanksgiving - so you haven't missed out yet!)

This week, I am excited to introduce my co-host, Barb from Frugal Local Kitchen. We are asking for you to please share your MAIN MEAL recipes. It can be a turkey cooking technique, brine recipe, roasting recipe, or an alternative to turkey all together!

I have many roasting and brining recipes, my favorite being this Apple Cider-Brined Turkey with Savory Herb Gravy from Cooking Light Magazine.

But to shake things up, I'll share a simple turkey alternative for vegetarians (or die-hard Italians):

• 1 lb (1 box) ziti pasta
• 1 jar of prepared tomato sauce
• 15-16oz of Ricotta Cheese
• 2 cups shredded Mozzarella Cheese, divided

1) Cook pasta according to package directions, drain.

2) While pasta is cooking, combine sauce, ricotta cheese, and 1 1/2 cups Mozzarella cheese in a mixing bowl. When pasta is done/drained, combine with the cheese/sauce mixture. Top with remaining 1/2 cup mozzarella cheese.

3) Spread into 9x13-inch baking pan. Bake at 350º for 25-30 minutes.

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