Puff Pastry Pizza

Prep: 1 hr
Cook: 15 mins
Serves: 4 

Description

These super easy, super light pizzas are one of my favorite appetizers. Have fun with the toppings and let them puff away! 

Ingredients
1 whole Sheet Frozen Puffed Pastry Olive Oil For Brushing
1⁄2 cups Fresh Mozzarella, Grated
1 Tablespoon Butter
8 ounces, weight Mushrooms, Washed And Sliced 2 cloves Garlic, Minced
1⁄4 cups White Whine
Salt And Pepper, to taste
8 whole Yellow And/or Red Grape Tomatoes, Halved 1⁄4 cups Goat Cheese (chevre)
12 whole Basil Leaves (chiffonade) 

Preparation   

Thaw the puffed pastry on the counter for 45 minutes or in the fridge for several hours.

When thawed, carefully open the sheet, then slice it in half down the middle. Place both halves on a baking sheet lined with parchment or a baking mat.

Preheat oven to 415 degrees, then start on the pizza toppings.

In a large skillet over medium-high heat, saute mushrooms and garlic in the butter for 2 minutes, then pour in the wine and season with salt and pepper. Allow to continue cooking for 5-7 minutes, until mushrooms are cooked down and liquid is mostly gone. Remove from heat and set aside.

To build the pizzas: Brush a thin layer of olive oil in the center part of each half of puffed pastry.

On each half, sprinkle on half the cheese so that it covers all but a 1/2 inch border all around the pastry.

On one half, sprinkle on the cooked mushrooms. On the other half, sprinkle on the halved tomatoes. Press both mushrooms and tomatoes lightly into the cheese.

Place the pan in the oven and bake for 15 minutes pastry could go crazy and puff up in areas here and there, but don’t worry! It’ll be fine.

Remove from the oven and sprinkle the goat cheese crumbles on both halves. Allow the pizzas to sit for

10 minutes. If there are any big air bubbles/puffs, just give them a little smush or wait and they’ll calm

down.

Sprinkle on basil, slice into pieces, and serve!    

Garlic Bread

Prep time: 5 minutes

Cook time: 13 minutes

INGREDIENTS

1 16­ounce loaf of Italian bread or French bread 1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, softened
2 large cloves of garlic, smashed and minced
1 heaping tablespoon of freshly chopped parsley 1/4 cup freshly grated Parmesan cheese (optional)

METHOD

Method 1 ­ Toasted

-Preheat oven to 350°F.

-Cut the bread in half, horizontally. Mix the butter, garlic, and parsley together in a small bowl. Spread butter mixture over the the two bread halves. Place on a sturdy baking pan (one that can handle high temperatures, not a cookie sheet) and heat in the oven for 10 minutes.
-Remove pan from oven. Sprinkle Parmesan cheese over bread if you want. Return to oven on the highest rack. Broil on high heat for 2­3 minutes until the edges of the bread begin to toast and the cheese (if you are using cheese) bubbles. Watch very carefully while broiling. The bread can easily go from un­toasted to burnt.
-Remove from oven, let cool a minute. Remove from pan and make 1­inch thick slices. Serve immediately.

Method 2 ­ Soft

-Preheat oven to 350°F. 
-Make the butter, garlic, parsley mixture as above. 
-Make 1­inch thick slices into the bread, but do not go all the way through, just to the bottom crust. 
-Put a teaspoon or two of the butter mixture between each slice. 
-Wrap the bread in aluminum foil and heat for 15 minutes in the oven. 

Check out our video on youtube: 

"I Drove a Fire truck and Liked it."

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MB49szFZjYc

               Italian Sausage Spaghetti

Yield: Serves 4    

INGREDIENTS

1 large (7 to 8 inch link) Italian sweet sausage 1 large Italian hot and spicy sausage
1 yellow onion, chopped
2 cloves of garlic
3/4 large (28 oz) can of whole tomatoes Olive oil
1 lb (16 oz) spaghetti pasta Salt
Grated Parmesan cheese 

METHOD

The Sauce:
Take the Italian sausage meat out of the sausage casings. Break up into pieces and mix the sweet and spicy sausage meats together. Brown the sausage meat in a large skillet on medium high or high heat with a little olive oil. In a separate skillet sauté the onions and garlic until the onions are translucent. Purée the tomatoes in a blender, add to the skillet with the sausage meat. Add the cooked onions and garlic.
The Pasta
Fill an 8­quart or larger stock pot at least half full with water and bring to a rolling boil. Add a tablespoon of salt. Slowly add the pasta, stirring to prevent clumping. Allow the water to come to a rolling boil again. Cook, uncovered, with a fairly vigorous boil, for as long as the directions on the pasta package say, usually about 10­12 minutes. When pasta is al dente (cooked but still a little firm), remove the pot from the heat. Add a cup or two of cold water to the pasta to stop the cooking. Drain the water from the pasta through a colander. Place the pasta in a serving bowl.
Serve immediately. Garnish with grated Parmesan cheese.