Pizza Bread

This is a great alternative to pizza.  I grew up having this rotated into our weekly pizza nights.  I recently discovered that this bread tastes even better with homemade pizza sauce.  We've tried Canadian bacon with this recipe too, but pepperoni definitely tastes the best.  To speed up raising process, you may want to turn your oven into a proof box.

Bread Ingredients

• 2 t. yeast
• 2.25 c. warm water
• 2 T. sugar
• 2 t. salt
• 2/3 c. powdered milk
• 1 T. softened butter
• 5.5-6 c. flour

Toppings

• Sliced pepperoni (or other pizza topping)
• Grated Mozzarella cheese

Directions

1. Prepare yeast according to package instructions (e.g., add to water, mix, let stand for 5-10 min)
2. Mix in remaining bread ingredients, stir until bread dough consistency
3. Let raise until double it's size (may help to coat dough with oil)
4. Divide dough into two halves
5. Roll out one half into a rectangle (wide as a bread pan) on a lightly floured surface
6. Layer dough with cheese and pepperoni
7. Roll up dough, making sure to fold in the ends as you roll, so that the cheese doesn't melt out when cooking
8. Place in bread pan with seam down (if cheese leaks out, it will be very hard to remove after cooked, non-stick spray may help)
9. Follow steps 4-7 for second half of dough
10. Let both loaves raise again
11. Bake in oven at 350 F for 30-45 minutes

Yields: 2 Loaves

Pasta Pie

This is a fast an easy recipe. If you cook everything at the same time you can finish in the microwave in just a few minutes or if you make beforehand stick in the over for probably 45-60 min (I've always done the microwave.)

For 2-4 people, use a glass 8x8 pan

Ingredients

• I box (8 oz) Cream cheese 
• Pasta (I use macaroni, but my friends use spaghetti, it will be fine with whatever noodle you have)
• 1 lb ground beef
• Spaghetti sauce 
• Mozerella Cheese (enough to cover the top)

Directions

1. Cook pasta
2. While the pasta is cooking, brown the beef. You can season it if you want. I never have and it's always tasted great. If you do want to season, I recommend oregeno or something that compliments your spaghetti sauce.
3. Soften the cream cheese and spread evenly on the bottom of the pan.
4. Drain the pasta, put the noodles on top of the cream cheese, the hamburger on top of that, pour spaghetti sauce enough to cover, then sprinkle the mozerella on top. (can refrigerate at his point and heat up later)
5. Put in microwave or oven until cheese is melted. 

Yields: 4 servings

Home Made Pizza Sauce (Updated)

We didn't have any pizza sauce, and we had some leftover tomato sauce in the fridge, but no tomato paste.  We enjoyed a recipe from Frank Sweterlitsch on AllRecipes.com, and were able to adapt the recipe to be a lot simpler and still very tasty.

Ingredients

• 1 - 15 oz can tomato sauce
• 1/3 cup canola oil
• 1/2 tsp. garlic powder or 2 cloves garlic, minced
• salt to taste
• ground black pepper to taste
• 1/2 tablespoon Italian Seasoning
• 1/2 tablespoon dried basil (optional, since the Italian Seasoning already has some)
• 1/2 teaspoon dried rosemary, crushed (optional, since the Italian Seasoning already has some)

Directions

Mix together all ingredients and let stand several hours to let flavors blend (20 minutes worked well enough for us). No cooking necessary, just spread on dough.

Whole Wheat Pizza Crust

This is a great whole wheat pizza dough recipe I created. It produces a thin, crispy crust because it doesn't raise. It is quick, easy to work with, and tastes great! You can use the dough to make breadsticks too. Slight adjustments to the dough may be needed depending on your altitude and humidity.

Ingredients

• 2 1/2 t active dry yeast
• 1 C warm water
• 2 C whole wheat flour
• 1/2 C white flour
• 1/4 C sugar
• 1/2 t salt
• 2 T oil

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 425 degrees F
2. Place all ingredients in a mixer in the order listed.
3. Mix with dough hook until dough pulls away from bowl.
4. Add more flour or water until dough is not sticky but moist and stretchy.
5. On an oiled surface, roll out dough into large circle.
6. Roll up edges to form desired size crust.
7. Bake on preheated pizza stone for 5 minutes or until outer crust is just barely cooked.
8. Remove crust from pizza stone and fill with toppings.
9. Cook pizza as directed or until cheese is melted and starts to bubble.
10. Let cool 5 minutes before cutting--eat and enjoy!

Yields: 1 med pizza crust

Buca di Beppo's Chicken with Lemon

I found this recipe by searching on Google and we tried it out. It was very close (we had to make some of our own substitutions), but was simple and very tasty.

Ingredients

• 2 boneless, skinless chicken breasts
• Salt to taste
• 1 c. flour
• 1/4 c. olive oil
• 1/4 c. white wine (or chicken broth)
• 4 large lemons (1 c. lemon juice)
• 1/4 unsalted butter
• Small handful drained capers (i'm guessing these are the little black balls in the sauce)

Directions

1. Cut three lemons in half and use for fresh lemon juice. Pour the juice through a fine strainer. Cut the last lemon into wedges for garnish. (We only had 1/3 c. lemon juice and it tasted fine, we just added a little more chicken broth).
2. Begin to heat the olive oil in a 12-inch saute pan on medium-high heat. While oil is getting hot, lightly season both sides of the chicken breasts with salt. Lightly dust the chicken breasts in the flour. Shake off excess flour. Place chicken in the saute pan skin-side down.
3. When the chicken is golden brown, turn over and brown the other side as well. When both sides are nice and brown, add white wine (or broth) and lemon juice. Continue to cook for approximately two to three minutes. The liquid should reduce approximately half.
4. Once the liquid is reduced, remove the chicken breasts from the pan and turn off heat. If the chicken is not completely cooked through, place in a 400 degree oven for five minutes to complete cooking.
5. Finish the sauce by placing the softened butter in the pan. Using rubber spatula, work the butter into the sauce as it melts. Pour sauce directly on top of chicken breasts. Garnish with capers and lemon wedges.

Yields: 2 servings

Source: http://fooddownunder.com/cgi-bin/recipe.cgi?r=38270

Italian Chicken Soup

Another recipe from mom's kitchen.

Ingredients

• 4 chicken breasts cut into 1" pieces
• 2 tsp. oil
• 1/2 c. chopped onion
• 2 cloves garlic
• 1 tsp. basil leaves
• 1/4 tsp. pepper
• 2 c. water
• 4 chicken boullion cubes
• 1 can stewed tomatoes
• 1 c. frozen corn
• 1/3 c. uncooked thin spaghetti (broken into 2" lengths)
• Parmesan cheese

Directions

1. Heat oil in saucepan.
2. Stir-fry chicken pieces until lightly browned.
3. Add onion and cook until tender.
4. Stir in basil, pepper, water, cubes, and tomatoes, bring to a boil.
5. Reduce heat, cover and simmer 5 minutes.
6. Stir in corn and spaghetti. Cover and simmer 10 minutes until all is tender.
7. Garnish each serving with parmesan cheese.

Makes 4 - 1.5 c. servings.

Dad's Best Spaghetti Sauce

This is for a large recipe, and the ingredients aren't measured very accurately, so experiment and see what works best for you.

Ingredients

• 6-8 15 oz. cans of tomato sauce (depending on how much sauce you want)
• 2 lbs. sausage
• 1 large green bell pepper
• 1 large onion
• 1 can of mushrooms
• Italian seasoning
• Garlic powder
• Salt
• Pepper
• Grated cheddar cheese

Directions

1. Cook sausage and veggies together, drain grease.
2. Pour tomato sauce into large Crockpot, add meat and veggie mixture.
3. Layer top of sauce with seasonings, then stir.
4. Layer a second time and stir.
5. Cover and cook on low for 8 hrs. or high for 4 hrs.
6. Serve over spaghetti noodles and top with cheddar cheese.

Butter dips are a fantastic bread to have with it.

Unbelievable Lasagna

I've made this twice and it hasn't failed me yet. It's so easy!

- Lasagna
- Spaghetti sauce
- Ricotta cheese
- Cottage cheese
- Parmesan cheese
- Mozzarella cheese

Spread some sauce in the bottom of a baking dish. Layer the following until you run out of stuff: UNCOOKED (yes, that's why it's unbelievable lasagna -- it's unbelievably easy!) lasagna, sauce, ricotta, cottage, parmesan, and mozzarella. Final layer consists of only lasagna, sauce, mozzarella, and paremsan. Bake at 350 for 45-55 minutes.

Pasta e Fagioli

1 lb. ground beef
1 large carrot (slivered)
1 small onion (diced)
2 stalks celery (chopped)
2 cloves garlic
1-15 1/2 oz. can diced tomatoes
1 can red kidney beans
1 can white kidney beans
5 cups beef broth
1 1/3 tsp. oregano
1 1/8 tsp pepper
2/3 tsp. tabasco sauce
1-2 lb. jar Ragu sauce
1 cup shell macaroni

Saute beef with onion and garlic. Add carrots, celery and tomatoes. Simmer 10 minutes.
Drain and rinse beans and add to pot.
Add all remaining ingredients and simmer until vegetables are tender. (About 45 minutes)

This soup can be made a day ahead. Just add the pasta after reheating and cook until pasta is done.
Dad says this is better than Olive Garden's!!!!!!!!!!

Serves 10

Alfredo Sauce

This recipe turned out pretty good. It's tailored to be made in the "Bullet," but I imagine it can be made in a regular blender.

Ingredients

• 1/4 c. heavy cream
• 2 tbs. butter
• 1-2 cloves garlic
• 1/2 c. Parmesan cheese
• 3 sprigs fresh parsley
• salt and pepper to taste

Directions

Add all ingredients in the order they are listed, blend until smooth (if using Bullet blend with cross blade). Cover container (with Bullet use shaker/steamer lid) and microwave on high for 1-2 minutes, until the sauce is heated thoroughly. Pulse in the blender 3-4 times (if using Bullet use flat blade). Stir and serve over hot pasta.

Italian Sausage & Pasta Dish

Ingredients:

• 1 box spiral whole wheat pasta
• 1 lb hot Italian sausage
• 1 bag fresh spinach
• 2-14 oz. cans diced tomatoes
• garlic salt
• pepper
• Italian seasoning
• parmesan cheese
• monterrey jack cheese, grated

Remove casings from sausage and brown in large skillet. Add tomatoes and seasonings. Let simmer for 15 minutes. Add spinach and allow to cook down.

Cook pasta following directions on package. Drain well. Add pasta to meat mixture and add 2 tbl. parmesan cheese. Fold ingredients together. Sprinkle jack cheese on each serving.

Serves 8

Manicotti

This has been a favorite meal of mine for a long time. It's a bit of a hassle to make (what with the stuffing of slippery, easily breakable, cooked manicotti shells), but it tastes so good, I think it's worth it -- so long as you have the time and energy to devote to it.

Ingredients:

• 1 8-oz box manicotti shells
• 8+ oz mozzarella cheese, grated (8 oz for filling, extra for top, if desired)
  
• 15 oz ricotta cheese
• 2 tbsp parsley
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 1/2 tsp pepper
• 3 1/2 cups spaghetti sauce (about one jar)
• Diced tomatoes (optional)
  

Directions:
Cook manicotti, drain. Combine cheese, parsley, salt, and pepper for filling. Spoon into the manicotti shells. Spread a thin layer of spaghetti sauce on the bottom of a 9x13 pan. Arrange manicotti in a single layer over the sauce. Cover with remaining sauce. Top with diced tomatoes (optional) and a sprinkling of extra mozzarella cheese (also optional). Cover with foil and bake at 350 for 40 minutes. Remove foil and bake 15 minutes longer. Makes 6-8 servings.

Hints:
Because stuffing the manicotti shells is often more difficult than it's worth (in my opinion, anyway), I've decided to justify a little cheating. Simply slice open the shells (once they're cooked), fill with the cheese filling, roll them back up and place, sliced side down, in the pan. They might not look Martha Stewart-esque, but they'll taste the same. Also, it is tempting (for me, at least) to want to put more filling into the shells than I really need -- which ends up being a slight problem when I start to run out of filling and still have half a dozen shells to fill. My advice: just don't go overboard on the stuffing. If you end up with extra, it's pretty simple to stuff a bit more into the shells.