Chicken Pesto Pizza

Ross loves homemade pizza...like, a lot. I'm not that big on pepperoni and sausage pizza, so I like to make it with chicken, veggies and pesto instead! It is so yummy!




Ingredients

My Cracker Crispy Pizza Dough
Crockpot Rotisserie Chicken
1/2 jar of pesto; Classico is my favorite
1/2 bag shredded Italian cheese
Fresh mushrooms and spinach, or veggies of your choice

1- All you have to do is bake the crust on a pizza stone for about 7 minutes before you top it.
2- Remove crust from oven. Spread with pesto and top with toppings and cheese.
3- Continue baking for about 10 minutes or until cheese is golden brown.

Chicken Gnocchi Soup

Have you ever had the chicken gnocchi soup from Olive Garden? It's good. Mine is better. I think that it's the Italian version of chicken 'n dumplings.

Ingredients:

1 rotisserie chicken, remove

meat and shred into strips
4 tablespoons butter
4 tablespoons flour
1 quart half and half
32 ounce chicken broth
1/2 cup celery, finely diced
2 garlic cloves, minced
1 cup carrots, finely shredded
1 cup onion, finely diced
1 cup fresh spinach
1 tablespoon extra virgin oil

1 pack of potato gnocchi (Italian potato dumplings)

1 teaspoon thyme
1 teaspoon parsley

1/2 teaspoon celery salt

1 tsp basil

Crushed red pepper to taste

Salt and cracked black pepper to taste

Directions: Sauté the onion, celery, and garlic in the butter and olive oil, over medium heat. When the onion becomes translucent, add the flour to make a roux. Let the butter and flour mixture cook for about a minute before adding chicken broth. Stir and let cook until well incorporated. Add the gnocchi and bring to a boil for about 2 minutes. Then add the half and half and remaining ingredients and simmer until ready to serve. Be careful not to boil again; gnocchi will get mushy.

Image Source

Cracker-crispy pizza dough

Last night I made margherita pizza using the Thin n’ Crispy Pizza Crust from this site. Ross is big on crispy pizza, so it was a hit. I added my notes in green.



Ingredients
1 package active dry yeast (2-1/4 teaspoons)
1 teaspoon sugar
1/2 cup warm water (100 to 110 degrees)
1-1/2 cups all-purpose flour, divided
1/4 teaspoon kosher salt
2 teaspoons yellow cornmeal
Italian seasoning

Directions:
Dissolve yeast and sugar in 1/2 cup warm water in a large bowl; let stand 5 minutes. Lightly spoon flour into dry measuring cups, and level with a knife. Stir 1-1/4 cups flour and 1/4 teaspoon salt into yeast mixture to form a soft dough. Turn dough out onto a lightly floured surface. Knead until smooth and elastic (about 5 minutes); add enough of remaining flour, 1 tablespoon at a time, to prevent dough from sticking to hands.

Place dough in a large bowl coated with coil, turning dough to coat. Cover; let rise in a warm place, free from drafts, 1 hour or until doubled in size. (Press two fingers into dough. If indentation remains, dough has risen enough.)

Punch dough down; cover and let rest 5 minutes. Roll dough into a 14-inch circle on a lightly floured surface. Place dough on a pizza pan or baking sheet sprinkled with cornmeal. Crimp edges of dough with fingers to form a rim.

Preheat oven to 450 degrees.

Drizzle dough with a little olive oil and sprinkle with a pinch of salt (this is important!) and Italian seasoning to taste. Now, using a fork, poke lots of holes all over dough, to prevent bubbles. Place pan on lowest oven rack; bake at 450 for 10 minutes or until golden brown. Remove from oven; top with desired toppings and bake an additional 7-10 minutes or until crust and cheese is lightly browned. Let stand 5 minutes before serving.

Gnocchi in pesto cream sauce

Ross and I first tried gnocchi (no-kee) while at Pisa, Italy. After touring the Leaning Tower, shopping the local venders and taking lots of pictures we went into this quaint little cafe that looked exactly as you would expect...red table clothes, vines on trellises, little flowers on the tables....so cute....I ordered the gnocchi in a pesto cream sauce.

Gnocchi is a little potato pasta dumpling. It is soooooo good and very versatile! After we got back from Italy we looked for it in stores everywhere. I finally found it at World Market, but now you can get it at Target too! It only takes 2-3 minutes to cook and it is imperative that you do not overcook it!! Boil your big pot of salted water. Drop in gnocchi. As soon as they start floating to the top they are done! Take them out! Hurry, hurry! You don't want them to overcook because they start to fall apart and get starchy.

Here is my rendition of the dish that we tried in Pisa.

You will need:
**I'm not giving any measurements b/c it depends on how much gnocchi you want to cook**
Half and half cream or whole cream...up to you
Basil pesto...I use Classico brand...you can get it anywhere
Salt and pepper to taste
Red pepper flakes (optional)
Grated Parmesan cheese
Gnocchi

Directions:
Simmer cream over low heat in saucepan. Add several heaping tablespoons of pesto. Sprinkle in Parmesan cheese. Stir and taste. Do you need to add salt/pepper/red pepper flakes? Now would be a good time. Stir until cheese is nicely mixed in and smooth. Voila! You are done. Now, cook and drain your gnocchi (remember not to over cook it! only 2-3 minutes is all it takes). Mix together sauce and pasta. Enjoy!


Here's a picture of me, just moments before devouring a huge plate of gnocchi in pesto cream sauce!

Feta and sun dried tomato chicken

This is DIVINE!! We ate it and didn't take the time to take a picture....I will try to remember to do that next time.

Ingredients:
4 Thawed chicken breasts
Tomato basil feta cheese: entire pack (they sell this in the fancy cheese section at the store)
Sun dried tomatoes in olive oil (about 1/2 jar)
Italian bread crumbs: about 1/2 cup

Directions:
Cut "pockets" into chicken to stuff. Mix tomatoes and feta cheese. Stuff desired amount of tomato/cheese mixture into chicken breasts. Place chicken breasts into baking dish sprayed with non-stick spray. Sprinkle chicken with bread crumbs. COVER! Bake at 350 until juices run clear. Take chicken out and drizzle with some of the yummy olive oil from the sun dried tomatoes. Voila!