Indian Chicken Pizza

Pizza is one of those things that can be a little tricky to fit in when you are counting your calories. The killer is the crust. We had gotten lazy and were using a very good store bought dough, but after looking at the calories I knew that wasn't going to work anymore. Our homemade crust is a little better and we usually just top it with fresh tomatoes, a few slices of pepperoni and mozzarella. Matt wanted a change up, so since we had some leftover roast chicken, an Indian pizza seems in order.

The trick was to create a sauce that wasn't too high in calories but still full of flavor. We used some canned tomatoes as the base and then layered in the flavors of garam masala and ginger. Yogurt and just a touch of half and half give it some creaminess. I thought the yogurt would have enough tartness, but a little lemon juice added just the right about of freshness and acidity which I think is a good counterpoint to the garam masala.

This was a great treat, and at 700 calories a serving it is a treat. Still, you do get half a pizza here which is a lot of food. I think you could serve 3 people with it really which would cut the calories down to 467.

Indian Chicken Pizza

1 c crushed or diced tomatoes
1 t tomato paste
1 t half & half (you can use cream or milk I just had half and half on hand)
4 oz plain non-fat yogurt
1/4 t lemon juice
1/4 t ground ginger
1/2 t garam masala
salt
1/2 c sliced red onion
2 T chopped cilantro
4 oz cooked chicken meat, chopped or shredded
4 oz part-skim mozzarella, grated

1 pizza crust (We use 1/2 of this recipe from Wisebread to make one pizza. It makes a wet dough, but we find that gives the best texture. Resist the urge to add too much extra flour.)

Preheat oven to 450F.

In a food processor or small chopper, puree the tomatoes with the tomato paste. Stir in the half & half, yogurt, lemon juice, ginger, garam masala and a pinch of salt. Taste and adjust seasoning as needed. (I thought the garam masala tasted a little strong, but cooked with the other ingredients it was perfect.)

Spread your dough out on a baking sheet sprayed with a cooking spray. Top with sauce, onion, chicken, cilantro and mozzarella.

Bake until the crust is brown and the cheese is melted and bubbly.

Makes 2 servings (about 8 slices of pizza, it could easily become 3 servings)
The pizza crust is about 391 calories per serving. The toppings are about 310 per serving.

If you are not reading this post in a feed reader or at http://agoodappetite.blogspot.com OR at http://agoodappetite.com then the site you are reading is illegally publishing copyrighted material. Contact me at katbaro AT yahoo DOT COM. All recipes, text and photographs in this post are the original creations & property of the author unless otherwise noted. © 2007-2013 Kathy Lewinski

BBQ Sauce for Pizza

We smoked a couple turkey breasts the other night which left us with a lot of leftover turkey meat to use in other dishes. Matt thought is would be great on BBQ pizza.

We had the cheese, onions and some sweet red peppers in the garden. What we didn't have was an open bottle of BBQ sauce. I didn't want to open a bottle just to use a small amount, so I whipped up this sauce. It's tangy and sweet with just a hint of heat. This one is a keeper.

BBQ Sauce for Pizza

2/3 c ketchup
1/3 c water
1 t malt vinegar
1 t worcestershire sauce
1/4 t dried chipotle
1 t dry mustard
2 T brown sugar
1/2 t lemon juice

Mix everything together in a small saucepan. Let simmer, stirring from time to time, until reduced slightly and the color is darkened, about 45 - 60 minutes.

Makes enough sauce for one medium pizza.

If you are not reading this post in a feed reader or at http://agoodappetite.blogspot.com OR at http://agoodappetite.com then the site you are reading is illegally publishing copyrighted material. Contact me at katbaro AT yahoo DOT COM. All recipes, text and photographs in this post are the original creations & property of the author unless otherwise noted. © 2007-2012 Kathy Lewinski

More Ideas for Garlic Scape Pesto

We continue to work on way through the 3 cups of garlic scape pesto we made last week...

First there was pizza. This one was topped with the pesto then chopped cottage bacon (oh, so amazing on pizza, not quite bacon, not quite ham), mozzarella and fresh tomatoes. The fresh, mild garlic flavor of the pesto infuses every bite.

But this, this is what garlic scape pesto is made for, Green Eggs and Hash. The hash here is just a mix of seasonal vegetables, radishes, potatoes, onions and cottage bacon. The eggs though are the star. Matt took a heathy spoonful of the pesto and about 1 oz of cream cheese and mixed it in with 4 eggs. Then he just soft scrambled them. These eggs are as light as air with a heavenly garlic flavor and just the slightest tartness from the cream cheese. The were so good we had them again later in the week without the hash.

We still have about a cup of the pesto left, any other good ideas out there?

If you are not reading this post in a feed reader or at http://agoodappetite.blogspot.com OR at http://agoodappetite.com then the site you are reading is illegally publishing copyrighted material. Contact me at katbaro AT yahoo DOT COM. All recipes, text and photographs in this post are the original creations & property of the author unless otherwise noted. © 2007-2012 Kathy Lewinski

Matt's Hawaiian Stir-Fry

Last week, I suggested to Matt that we have some of the sausages we have in the freezer for dinner. He started listing the kinds we had and remembered there was a Hawaiian sausage flavored with pineapple and cherries. He thought it would be good in a stir-fry.

I have to be honest with you this did not turn out exactly as we had planned. The sausages were uncooked, so Matt put them to simmer in a pot with a little water. Well, the skins burst open and they completely fell apart. What we were left with was more of a ground Hawaiian sausage. Luckily, this would work just as well in the stir-fry as slices of sausage.

The sausage itself was really interesting. We picked it up at RJ's Meats last summer. They used a mixture of ham and pork along with the pineapple, cherries and spices. The flavor of the ham really stood out in this sausage, to tell you the true it reminded me a lot of Spam. And really can you get more Hawaiian than Spam?! Mixed with some red pepper, coconut and fresh pineapple, it gave us a little flavor of the tropics during a Minnesota winter.

Matt's Hawaiian Stir-Fry

1 T canola oil
1/2 a red pepper, chopped
4 scallions, sliced
1 1/2 c pineapple cubes
3/4 c cooked white rice (we used jasmine)
6 oz Hawaiian sausage, sliced or crumbled (or use Spam)
2 eggs, whisked
handful of unsweetened coconut flakes

Sauce

2 T soy sauce
2 T oyster sauce
1 clove garlic, minced
1 T hoisin sauce
1 T honey

Mix sauce ingredients together and set aside.

In a wok or large skillet, heat the oil over high heat. Add the onion and pepper. Cook 1 minutes. Add the pineapple. Cook 2 minutes until the pepper is softened and the pineapple starts to brown. Add the rice and sausage. Stir to combine. Pour in the egg and stir until cooked. Add the sauce and coconut. Cook until everything is combined and hot.

2 servings

By the way the left over red pepper, sausage and pineapple made for a great pizza later in the week.

We just added some red sauce and mozzarella.

If you are not reading this post in a feed reader or at http://agoodappetite.blogspot.com OR at http://agoodappetite.com then the site you are reading is illegally publishing copyrighted material. Contact me at katbaro AT yahoo DOT COM. All recipes, text and photographs in this post are the original creations & property of the author unless otherwise noted. © 2007-2012 Kathy Lewinski

Squash Pizza

Where did this week go? Oh, I know, it's been filled with home remodeling woes from upside-down light to tiles of different dye lots. Ah well, at least we had a really good pizza this week.

This is just one of those perfect fall pairings, squash, bacon and goat cheese. It doesn't look like enough toppings, but its full of sweet, salty, spicy and tangy flavors. Have leftover squash from dinner? That would be a great way to make this too.

Squash Pizza

Crust for one pizza
1 small squash, we used an Acorn, you can chose your favorite
1 yellow onion, sliced
olive oil
kosher salt
2 slices bacon, chopped
chevre goat cheese (if you like a really cheese pizza or don't like goat cheese you can use grated provolone like Matt did)
crushed red pepper flakes

Preheat oven to 350 F.

Peel and cube the squash. Put the squash and onion into a small roasting pan or baking sheet. Drizzle with enough olive oil to coat everything. Sprinkle with salt. Roast for about 30 minutes until the squash is soft.

In a small skillet, cook the bacon until crispy. Drain on a paper towel.

Preheat oven to 450 F.

Roll out the pizza dough to your desired thickness.

Crush the squash up a bit. Top the dough with the squash, onions and bacon. Crumble the cheese over the top. Sprinkle as much red pepper as you like.

Bake until the crust is golden brown and the cheese is melted about 15 minutes.

Serves 2 - 3

If you are not reading this post in a feed reader or at http://agoodappetite.blogspot.com OR at http://agoodappetite.com then the site you are reading is illegally publishing copyrighted material. Contact me at katbaro AT yahoo DOT COM. All recipes, text and photographs in this post are the original creations & property of the author unless otherwise noted. © 2007-2011 Kathy Lewinski

Tearing the House Up Pizza Nights

I have to be honest with you, there is not a whole lot of cooking, especially interesting cooking, going on at Chez Good Appetite these days. We are currently in the midst of having both of the bathrooms in the house redone, we're talking gutted to the studs redone.

Everything is covered with dust, workmen are in and out and water gets shut off from time to time. Even better, the way the workers get in and out of the house is through the dining room and kitchen. Thus easy pastas, soups and pizzas seem to be our go-to dinners when we eat at home. Not to say some of those pizzas haven't been on the creative side....

First there was the smaked salmon pizza made with Matt's home smoked salmon. For this one we wanted a creamy cheese, so we went with Fontina. Then added red onions and capers both things you would normally serve with salmon. This one ended up getting mixed results. I really liked it, though thought it could use more capers. Matt on the other hand thought it wasn't great, but wasn't sure what would make it better.

Next up was the Muffaletta Pizza, this one was a hands down winner. Matt topped homemade pizza dough with some slices of salami and smoked ham then added some Olive Muffaletta that he ordered from That Pickle Guy. All of that was topped with grated provolone. So tasty! But so greasy from the olives, I felt guilty having a third slice. Next time we'll try to drain the olives a little more, but we will be making this one again.

We have three more weeks of construction on the bathrooms and then a some point all our windows and doors are being replaced. Who know when we'll get back to a complete normal house?

If you are not reading this post in a feed reader or at http://agoodappetite.blogspot.com OR at http://agoodappetite.com then the site you are reading is illegally publishing copyrighted material. Contact me at katbaro AT yahoo DOT COM. All recipes, text and photographs in this post are the original creations & property of the author unless otherwise noted. © 2007-2011 Kathy Lewinski