Month: January 2016

This is a white pizza that goes well with a hearty soup or a salad.  If you have leftover roasted butternut squash, this is an incredibly quick weeknight meal.

Serves 2

INGREDIENTS:

½  ball of pizza dough (Whole Foods or any other store brand white, thawed if frozen)

1-2 t. olive oil

½ cup  whole milk ricotta cheese (mascarpone can be substituted if you can’t find a good ricotta)

6 oz. of thinly sliced cooked butternut squash (if you need to make this, take a peeled half butternut squash, slice into 1 ½” half moons, coat with oil, season with salt and roast in a 375% oven–a toaster oven will do–until tender, about 30 minutes).

3-4 oz. mozzarella, cut into thin half moons (about half a baseball sized fresh mozzarella) or you can substitute shredded mozzarella

4-6 good large sage leaves, sliced lengthwise and then across very thinly

2-3 T. parmigian, grated

Black pepper to taste

PREPARATION:

1. Preheat the one to 425 degrees.
2. On a lightly floured surface with hands and a roller that are also floured, roll the dough into a disc until it won’t continue to stretch, cover with a piece of foil and let rest for 5 minutes or so.
3. While the dough is resting, shred the mozzarella, slice the sage leaves and grate the parmigiana.
4. Re-roll the dough to make a large oval.  Cover again and let rest for anywhere from 5 to 10 minutes.
5. Take a cookie sheet or baking pan and lightly grease with the olive oil.
6. Roll the dough one more time and transfer to the cookie sheet.  Reshape and spread the dough with your hands to achieve the thickness of crust you like best.  (I prefer a medium thin crust for this pizza.)
7. Spread the ricotta thinly over the dough, working to make it even using the back of a large spoon.
8. Arrange the slices of squash on top of the ricotta.
9. Intersperse mozzarella slices with the squash.  (If using shredded mozzarella, sprinkle evenly over the top.
10. Sprinkle the shredded sage over the squash and mozzarella and then sprinkle the parmigian over all. Top with a good grinding of black pepper.
11. Bake in the preheated oven until the crust is golden and the cheeses are melted and just beginning to take on color.

Just a little change to my traditional scone recipe made these perfect for Christmas morning this year, although they would be good almost any time the weather is a little chilly.

This makes 8 to 12 scones, depending on how big you make each one.

Ingredients:

2 cups all purpose flour

1 T. baking powder

1 T. white sugar

2 T. dark brown sugar

½ t. salt

½ t. freshly ground nutmeg

8 T. cold unsalted butter

1 egg

1/3 cup milk

1 cup of confectioner’s sugar

4 T. maple syrup

1 – 2 T. milk or cream

chopped pecans, optional

Preparation:

1. Preheat the oven to 450 degrees.
2. This recipe can be made in either a food processor or by hand.  Place the flour, baking powder, white and brown sugars, salt and nutmeg in the bowl of a food processor or in a large mixing bowl.  Pulse the food processor on and off to combine ingredients or mix with a fork or whisk.
3. Add the butter cut into small pieces to the flour mixture and pulse 20 or so times in the food processor, or using a pastry blender or two sharp knives cut through the mixture, until the mixture looks like a coarse meal.
4. Slightly beat the egg in a small bowl and divide into two portions.
5. Add half the egg and the 1/3 cup of milk to the dough, and process briefly (10 seconds or so) in the food processor or mix by hand with a wooden spoon until the dough just starts to come together (it should have large clumps).
6. Place the dough on a lightly floured work surface  and fold over on itself several times until it comes together in a single ball (if you have wax or apartment paper under the dough you can use this to fold it by pulling the sides up and over).
7. Roll or pat the dough to ½ to ¾ inch thickness.  Cut into rounds (2 inches or more) or into triangles, and place on a ungreased cookie sheet.  (The dough can be chilled at this point for 10 minutes or more to make certain the scones are fluffy – the butter solidifies in the fridge so it creates steam when cooked).
8. When ready to bake, mix the other half of the egg with 1 T. or so of cold water, and brush over the top of the scones.
9. Bake for 10-15 minutes until the tops (and bottoms) are a light golden brown, then cool on a wire rack.
10. While scones are baking, make glaze.  Combine confectioner’s sugar and maple syrup and beat well with a fork or small whisk.  Mixture will be quite stiff.  Slowly add the milk until the glaze is just thin enough to drizzle over scones, but thick enough not to run off.
11. When scones are fully cooled, drizzle glaze over them and sprinkle chopped pecans on top of the glaze.