Pizza is the great unifier.

I mean, you can take a handful of motley, leftover ingredients (say, a little spinach, some cooked bacon, the last bits of a few different kinds of cheese), put them on a pizza, and…presto! A delicious meal with very little effort.

It’s my ultimate I-have-no-idea-what-to-make-for-dinner-tonight meal.

This is also my second entry in the Breakstone’s Triple Churned Challenge. If you like what you see, please consider voting for my menu! (When you vote, you’ll be entered to win $300!)

Homemade pizza dough versus store bought

For this pizza, you can go all out and make the dough from scratch—or, if you’re short on time, swing by your local pizza joint and ask them to sell you a ball or two of dough. Most places are happy to oblige.

Or grab a ball of fresh dough at the grocery store on your way home from work. (Pizza dough also freezes really well. You just need to plan ahead a little to thaw it out.)

I’ll often make a batch of dough at the beginning of the week, so I have it on hand when inspiration strikes.

My favorite pizza dough recipes

If you want to make your own dough, here’s a list of my favorite pizza recipes to date. I used the dough from the Thin-Crust Pizza for this pizza.

• Thin-Crust Pizza—great flavor, chewy texture, needs to be made the night before
• Nice & Easy Pizza Dough—quick dough, aged less, good in a pinch
• Thick Crust Sausage & Cheese Pizza—thicker, breadier crust

Less is more (the secret to good thin-crust pizza)

Go light on toppings. Use as many as you like, but don’t pile them on by the metric tonne. When you’re tempted to add more: Stop. You can do it. You’ll thank yourself later.

Your restraint will help keep the crust from getting soggy.

Pizza is a good way to use up leftover ingredients

Or stretch a small amount of pricier ingredients to feed a crowd.

For this pizza, you build layers of flavor by quickly sautéing the shrimp in a little bit of bacon fat and freshly cracked black pepper. The bacon adds a subtle smokiness that pairs really well with the asparagus.

Click here for step-by-step instructions on how to peel and devein fresh shrimp. (Scroll down.)

I used 16/25 count shrimp for this recipe, but by all means, use any size you like—or whatever’s on sale.

Bigger shrimp just make a more dramatic presentation.

The white sauce is a mixture of ricotta and Breakstone’s sour cream, which adds a really nice tang to the pizza.

I used whole milk ricotta, but it would be good with skim, too.

For this recipe, I used my favorite Black Forest bacon from Whole Foods.

The Black Forest bacon is totally worth hunting down, and not really more expensive than a pound of regular bacon that’s not on sale. (Alright, I’ll readily admit that I’m probably addicted to the stuff.) But by all means, use your favorite bacon.

The fresh chili pepper adds a little heat (if you’re not crazy about hot stuff, just leave it off).  I also used asparagus, one of my favorite springtime veggies—not to mention an excellent companion to bacon.

This particular combination of ingredients makes a great springtime pizza.

My second recipe for the Breakstone’s Triple Churned Challenge

So, we’ve been challenged!

That’s right! The good folks from Breakstone’s threw down the gauntlet, and we picked it right up (mice love found things, after all). Here’s the scoop on The Breakstone’s Triple Churned Challenge.

Vote today and be entered to win $300

Breakstone’s challenged me and three other gals to create an appetizer, entree, and dessert using their Triple Churned Sour Cream.

This contest is sponsored by Breakstone’s and the winner will be chosen by reader vote. Readers can vote for their favorite recipes here once a day. The grand prize is $3,000 (how cool is that?)!

And every time you vote, you’ll be entered to win a $300. The more you vote, the greater your chances to win. (Thanks, Breakstone’s!)

If you missed it, here’s my entry in the appetizer category: Panko & Chili Crusted Oven Fried Chicken Fingers.

The basic technique for this pizza

The short version of this recipe goes like this: Fry the bacon and par-cook the shrimp. Roll the dough out. Slap a little sauce on it. Arrange your ingredients. Bake in a super hot oven for about 12 minutes. Inhale.

Read on for more detailed instructions.

Spicy White Pizza with Bacon, Shrimp & Asparagus

1 ball pizza dough (see note above)
coarse cornmeal for the pizza pan
1/2 cup whole-milk ricotta
1/4 cup Breakstone’s sour cream
1/4 lb. bacon, diced
1/2 pound large shrimp, peeled and deveined
6-7 spears asparagus, cut into 1/2-inch pieces
1 chili pepper, seeded, deveined, and sliced into thin strips
shredded mozzarella cheese
Parmesan cheese
freshly cracked black pepper

Makes 1 large pizza

Bring your dough to room temperature

For this recipe, I’m assuming that you either bought a ball of pizza dough somewhere—or made your own. If you’ve refrigerated your dough, take it out and let it come up to room temperature before handling.

Preheat your oven to 500 degrees.

Prep your veggies

Nip the bottom quarter-inch or so of the asparagus off and discard. Chop the spears into pieces about a half an inch long. Whack the top off your chili pepper.

Cut it in half lengthwise. Remove the seeds and the ribs. Discard them.

Slice the pepper lengthwise into thin strips.

Make the white sauce for the pizza

Put the ricotta and the Breakstone’s sour cream in a small bowl.

Grind on a little fresh black pepper. (I don’t add any salt here because the shredded cheese is usually plenty salty.)

Mix until uniform. Set aside.

Fry the bacon

Dice the bacon up. Put it in a nonstick pan over medium-high heat.

Stir occasionally, cooking until the bacon is crisp.

Remove the bacon from the pan with a slotted spoon. Set it aside in a bowl (line it with a paper towel, if you like, to catch any leftover grease).

Pre-cook the shrimp

Discard most of the bacon fat from the frying pan. (Save it in the fridge and use it to fry potatoes!)

Toss the shrimp into the pan. Season with a little freshly cracked black pepper. Cook over medium-high heat, stirring frequently.

This is important. You just want to get a little color on the shrimp at this point—but not cook them all the way through.

When they’ve just turned pink on both sides, yank them out of the pan and put them in a bowl. (See how they’re a little blueish and translucent in places? That’s what you want. It means they’re still raw inside.) They’ll finish cooking in the oven.

Roll out the dough

Sprinkle a little coarse cornmeal on a large pizza pan (round or rectangular…up to you!

Set your ball of dough on a lightly floured board.

Stretch it out (or roll it…sacrilege, I know…but also pretty darn effective) so it covers your whole pizza pan.

Assemble the pizza!

Grab your cheese out of the fridge. It’s time to assemble the pizza.

So, by now, your counter should look about like this. Pan covered in dough. Ricotta/sour cream white sauce. Fried bacon and shrimp. Sliced asparagus and chili pepper. Grated Parmesan and shredded mozzarella.

Spread a thin layer of white sauce on the dough. (Depending on how large your pizza is and how thin you rolled the crust, you may or may not use all of the sauce.)

Sprinkle with half the chopped bacon.

Sprinkle with a little shredded mozzarella.

Arrange the shrimp so they’re spread out.

Add some slivers of pepper.

And the asparagus spears.

Sprinkle with the rest of the bacon, a little more mozzarella, and some grated Parmesan. Topping a pizza like this (cheese, toppings, more cheese), helps the toppings stick to the pizza better when you bite into a slice.

Bake the pizza!

Pop the pizza into your preheated 500-degree oven.

Bake for 10-12 minutes, until the cheese is brown and bubbly and the crust is crisp.

Yank the pan out of the oven. Slice immediately and serve.

Enjoy!

If you liked this pizza, please vote for me!

You can vote daily, and be entered to win $300.

Related posts:

1. Panko & Chili Crusted Oven Fried Chicken Fingers As much as I love (love, love) fried food, this...
2. Buttermilk Cluster Rolls with Toasted Pecans and Bacon Here's my take on a popular recipe for Buttermilk Cluster...

Related posts brought to you by Yet Another Related Posts Plugin.

I have to tell you: I’m a sucker for blue food. Especially food that you don’t always expect to be blue. (You know what I’m talking about. Anything blue raspberry flavored, etc. And bonus points if it makes your tongue change color.)

Call it a weakness.

So, you can imagine that I’m thrilled as can be whenever I can get my paws on nice-looking blue potatoes.

You could probably blast these at super high heat in the oven and get them nice and crunchy. A lot of folks make oven-baked fries that way, say 20 or 25 minutes at 450 degrees.

Me, I prefer to roast them for about an hour at a lower temperature. I’m not a kitchen scientist, but I swear that there’s something about doing it this way that makes them a little nuttier. (Anyone, anyone?)

What is a blue potato, anyway?

Blue potatoes, native to South America, have been popping up in American markets since the 1970s. Aside from their striking color, though, they taste pretty much like a regular potato. (No blue raspberry flavor here, sorry.) The insides will range from solid blue, to speckled, like mine.

They get their blue color from anthocyanin pigments. That’s the same phytochemical that makes cabbage purple and blueberries blue. Anthocyanin is also a source of antioxidents. (Hello, a healthier potato? Yes, please!)

Blue potatoes are a medium starch potato. This means that they’re starchy enough to make fabulous mashed potatoes, and waxy enough to hold their own in potato salad.

A lot of folks are partial to making red, white, and blue potato salad around July 4.

This is a really simple recipe. It’s a great, easy weeknight alternative to french fries. I tossed the potato wedges with some fresh, minced herbs, garlic, and olive oil, then baked ‘em in the oven.

Roasted Blue Potato Wedges with Fresh Herbs

1 lb. blue potatoes
1 Tbls. fresh green herbs, minced (I used rosemary, thyme, and oregano)
1 clove garlic, minced
1/4 cup olive oil
kosher salt
freshly cracked black pepper

Serves about 4 as a side

Preheat your oven to 350 degrees. Line a sheet pan with parchment paper and set aside.

Grab your potatoes. I got mine from a local farmer’s market, but I have seen ‘em in some Whole Foods.

Scrub ‘em clean under cold water. You can peel them if you like. Blue potatoes have relatively thin skins, so I don’t bother. Nip out any big eyes with a sharp paring knife and discard.

Blue potatoes tend to be on the smaller side, so I just whack each potato into quarters, like this.

Put your potato wedges in a large bowl. Toss in the chopped herbs.

Give them a good drink of olive oil. A quarter of a cup is usually good for about a pound of wedges.

Add the garlic and some kosher salt and freshly cracked black pepper.

And toss to coat well.

Spread them out on your prepared pan.

Pop them into your preheated 350-degree oven. Roast for about an hour, stirring them once about halfway through.

They’re done when they’re crisp and brown on the edges.

Serve hot or at room temp. To reheat, pop them in a 250-degree oven for about 15 minutes, or until warm throughout.

(Seriously, yum!)

Enjoy!

Related posts:

1. Bacon & Potato Leek Soup Ah, soup weather in New England. The air in Salem...

Related posts brought to you by Yet Another Related Posts Plugin.

Here’s your proof, folks. I do eat my veggies.

Granted, I prefer my veggies covered in cheese. (OK, I’ll admit it: I’d probably eat a newspaper if you put enough cheese on it.)

But still.

So, a while ago, I was talking to a friend at work about eating vegetables. Specifically, cauliflower.

Now, I never really liked cauliflower.

I mean, look at this thing. It’s not the friendliest looking vegetable in the world. It reminds me of some kind of sea creature, or a piece of freakish, land-dwelling coral.

My friend and I were talking about ways to make cauliflower more appealing (“edible” I think is the exact word we used). He mentioned that his girlfriend mixed it with cheese and baked it.

“Mix it with cheese.”

!!!

You know that those are the magic words with me, so I figured I’d give it a try.

I chopped up a bunch of cauliflower, gave it a quick, steamy sauna treatment to get it cooking, then doused it with a thick, nutmeg-and-garlic spiked Bechamel (a basic French white sauce with flour, butter, and milk).

I sprinkled the creamy mixture with toasted walnuts, and tucked it in under a blanket of grated fontina and Emmenthaler.

The pan took a quick spin in the oven—just until the cheese was molten, bubbly, and a little bit brown, and…voila!

The Most. Delicious. Cauliflower. Ever.

Seriously: If you don’t like cauliflower, try it this way.

I couldn’t stop eating it. It’s nutty and rich. The cauliflower is soft, but not mushy. The walnuts provide just the right amount of texture and crunch.

Serve it as a hearty side dish. If you’re like me, you might just find yourself sneaking a bowl as a midnight snack. (After all, am I not a mouse?)

Stop. What is a gratin, again?

Good question. A gratin is a dish that is sprinkled with cheese (or buttered bread crumbs), then baked ’til brown and crisp.

You usually make gratins in a shallow, wide dish, to maximize the crispy surface.

A note on cheese

I used a mixture of grated fontina and Emmenthaler cheeses. By all means, substitute any cheese you like, as long as it melts well.

Emmenthaler cheese

Cauliflower Gratin with Toasted Walnuts

8 cups chopped cauliflower (that’s about 3/4 of a giant head)
3 Tbls. water
6 Tbls. butter
3 Tbls. flour
1 cup whole milk
1 cup heavy cream
3/4 cup walnuts, toasted then chopped
1/2 tsp. ground nutmeg
1 tsp. ground garlic
1 cup fontina cheese, grated
1/2 cup Emmenthaler cheese, grated

Serves 6-8 (yields one 9 x 13-inch pan)

Preheat your oven to 350 degrees. Lightly grease a 9 x 13 glass baking dish and set it aside.

The easiest way to dispatch a cauliflower

Grab your cauliflower.

Flip him over, so he’s stem-side up.

Rip off all his leaves.

Trim some of the stem off, so it’s easier to get around.

Wedge your knife into the cauliflower at the base of the stem.

Cut around the stem in a circle. Remove it. Toss the leaves and the stem. (Or do folks out there use them for something? Anyone?)

Then, whack the cauliflower in half with a big, sharp knife. (I have a great recipe somewhere that I ripped out of a food magazine for large, roasted slices of cauliflower. Going to try that next, I think.)

Cut out more of that pesky stem. Cut it into a few pieces and toss it in with the cauliflower florets, if you like. It’s not inedible. It’s just in the way here.

When you remove that part of the stem, it will be easy break it into smaller sections.

Like this.

Cut the sections into a few pieces.

Measure them out and put them into a large bowl.

Steam the cauliflower

Drizzle the cauliflower with 3 Tablespoons of water. Cover and steam in the microwave until just fork tender. (Your cooking time will vary based on how powerful your microwave is. I cooked mine on high for about 5 minutes, then let it sit covered for a few more.)

If you don’t like to nuke veggies, by all means, steam them in a steamer, or in a pan with a little water.

Spread the cauliflower out in your prepared pan.

Toast the walnuts

You can do this part ahead, if you like.

Grab your walnuts. Put them in a non-stick pan over medium heat, stirring frequently until they start to brown and get deliciously fragrant.

Let the nuts cool until you can comfortably handle them, then chop them up.

Set them aside while you make the sauce.

Make the sauce

Melt the butter in a medium, heavy-bottomed pot over medium heat.

When the butter has melted, toss in the flour. Whisk it together with the butter.

Keep the heat on medium, and let the mixture (your roux) cook for a few minutes, whisking frequently. You want to cook it long enough to get the raw taste out of the flour, but not so long that it starts to brown.

Pour in the milk and the cream, whisking immediately to break up any lumps.

Raise the heat a little so that your mixture comes up to a simmer. Simmer for a few minutes, whisking constantly, until the sauce looks and feels thicker.

Toss in the nutmeg and the garlic powder.

Whisk to combine.

If you wanted to make the dish EXTRA cheesy, you could toss some extra grated cheese into the sauce and stir ’til it melts.

Assemble the gratin

Pour the hot sauce over the cauliflower.

Give it a few tosses with a spatula to coat the cauliflower.

Sprinkle evenly with the toasted, chopped walnuts.

And then blanket with grated cheese.

Bake, serve, and enjoy!

Pop the pan into your preheated, 350-degree oven for about 20 minutes. This is mainly to melt and brown the cheese, and let the cauliflower meld happily with the sauce.

It’s done when it’s melted and bubbly and a little bit brown on top.

Serve and enjoy!

Related posts:

1. Ultimate Mac ‘n Cheese I'm going to tell you right now: Don't blame me...
2. Pasta with Brown Butter & Chanterelles Chanterelle mushrooms have got such a fantastic flavor—and when you...
3. Ginger Sweetie Pie Biscuits These biscuits are a versatile companion for almost any cold-weather...

Related posts brought to you by Yet Another Related Posts Plugin.

Oh my, sweetie pie: These are just so yummy.

These biscuits are a versatile companion for almost any cold-weather meal. Made with mashed sweet potato, they’re moist and fragrant with ginger.

Serve them instead of bread with herb-roasted chicken and roasted root vegetables flecked with crispy bacon. Or gobble them up for dessert with a little vanilla ice cream and a drizzle of honey after a hearty dinner on a chilly night.

They’ll do just fine either way.

For breakfast, you could crumble in a little fried bacon and a spoonful of fresh rosemary—then serve them piping hot with lots of cold butter.

To make them a little more elegant, you could brush the biscuits with an egg wash, then sprinkle them with a few tablespoons of sesame seeds right before they go into the oven.

A note on biscuit poof

I know: Biscuit poof sounds like it could be related to my aforementioned case of fat pants, also referred to as “cookie pants” by one brilliant reader. (Sounds much better, I know.)

The mashed sweet potato makes these biscuits a little more dense than regular biscuits. This means that they won’t poof up as dramatically as regular biscuits.

No matter. They’re still ultra tender, and are dotted with bits of sumptuous sweet potato.

How to cook a sweet potato

For the sweet potato, you want to find a nice, plump potato. Aim for about 12 ounces or so, if you’re a weights-and-measures type.

I poke a bunch of holes in mine, then zap it in the microwave for about 10 minutes or so on high until it’s cooked through. (Be sure to poke holes in your potato if you cook it this way, lest it explode in the microwave.)

Now, I know a lot of folks who don’t like to nuke veggies. If that includes you, you can also boil, steam, or roast them. The goal is to wind up with about 1 cup of mashed sweet potato.

Cook yours with the skin on. When it’s done, split it open just like you would for a baked potato.

Let it cool ’til it won’t melt your skin off, then scrape out the insides with a fork.

Spread it out to help it cool faster while you put together the dough.

Ginger Sweetie Pie Biscuits

1 2/3 cups flour
1 Tbls. brown sugar
3 tsp. baking powder
1/2 tsp. salt
2 tsp. ground ginger
6 Tbls. butter, softened
1 cup sweet potato, cooked, skinned & mashed
1/2 cup heavy cream

Yields 9-12 biscuits, depending on how big you cut them

Preheat your oven to 425 degrees. Line a sheet pan with parchment paper and set aside.

Make the biscuit dough

Combine the flour, brown sugar, baking powder, salt, and ground ginger in the bowl of your mixer. (You can also just as easily make these the old-fashioned way: with a little elbow grease and a pastry cutter.)

Mix briefly to combine these dry ingredients. (I always just do this using the beater attachment as a spoon.)

Cut your butter up into small-ish squares (so it breaks up easier + faster).

Add the butter to the dry ingredients and mix until it’s evenly distributed.

You’re aiming for the consistency of little pebbles. Pieces of butter are OK. They’ll release moisture as the biscuits bake, which will help them rise.

Grab all that glorious mashed sweet potato and toss it into the bowl.

Add the heavy cream.

Mix quickly on high until the dough *just* comes together. Don’t overmix the dough, or else your biscuits will be heavy.

Shape the biscuits

Round the dough up (if there are floury crumbs in the bottom of the bowl, just smoosh them into the dough). Set it on a lightly floured board. Pat it down with your hand so it’s relatively flat.

You’re aiming for maybe just about a half an inch thick. I’m not usually a fan of rulers in the kitchen, so here’s a regular dinner fork for scale.

Shape the dough into a rough square.

Whack it into 9 pieces, like this, with a bencher or large butcher’s knife.

Bake biscuits and inhale

Separate the squares and set them on your prepared pan. Space them out so they’re not touching.

Bake at 425 degrees for about 15-17 minutes, or until they’re golden brown and firm to the touch.

Yank the pan out of the oven. Transfer the biscuits to a rack to cool. They should be brown on the bottom, like this:

If they last, they’ll keep for about two days, tightly sealed.

Enjoy!

Related posts:

1. Garlic & Ginger Encrusted Rack of Pork This post could also be titled: How to Find An...

Related posts brought to you by Yet Another Related Posts Plugin.

Chanterelle mushrooms aren’t in season long, and they usually cost a mint when you can find ‘em. In spite of that, I can’t resist buying a handful whenever I can get my paws on them.

They’ve got such a fantastic flavor—and when you infuse it into melted butter, half a dozen mushrooms goes a long way. This is an elegant and luxurious appetizer for about four, or main course for two.

Simply cook the butter for a minute or two until it’s light brown and has developed a wonderful nutty flavor and aroma. Then drop the mushrooms in, and cook them just until they’re tender, about 5 minutes.

If you don’t have chanterelles, lobster mushrooms are a good substitution.

What are Chanterelle mushrooms and how do you cook them?

Good question. Chanterelles are trumpet-shaped mushrooms that are a yellowish orange.

Like all mushrooms, they’ll likely be a little dirty when you buy them. To clean them, gently wipe them off with a damp cloth. (You can see specs of dirt clinging to the caps of some of mine.)

While you can usually find chanterelles dried year round, they’re generally only in season for a few weeks in the fall (they’re not widely cultivated). Choose mushrooms that are nice and plump. Avoid mushrooms that feel dry or look withered (stating the obvious, I know).

Chanterelle mushrooms have a delicate, nutty flavor. The most important thing to know about them is that they toughen if you overcook them.

Brown butter, a.k.a. beurre noisette

Brown butter is just what it sounds like: Butter that’s been cooked over low heat until it has a light hazelnut brown color and an irresistible, nutty aroma. It’s also known as beurre noisette (noisette = “hazelnut” in French).

Basically, when butter melts, it separates into liquid butterfat and milk solids. The solids brown. If you poured off the liquid, you’d essentially have ghee, or clarified butter.

Beurre noisette is a wonderful, simple sauce for pasta or cooked veggies. It’s also one of the trademark components in madeleine cookies.

How to pick your pasta

For most pasta dishes, shape matters—and largely depends on what kind of sauce you’re using. For this dish, choose a pasta with lots of nooks and crannies to help trap all that beautiful brown butter.

I used a bag of fiori-like noodles that I’ve had in my pantry for a while. It’s going to sound silly, but since it’s such a frilly little noodle, I was waiting to use it in a fancier dish. Campanelles would work well, too.

Pasta with Brown Butter & Chanterelles

1/2 lb. pasta
1/4 lb. fresh chanterelle mushrooms
3/4 stick of butter
kosher salt

Serves about 4 as an appetizer, or 2 as a main

Cook the pasta

Cook the pasta in a large pot of salted, boiling water until it’s done to your liking. Drain it well.

Do this first. Don’t start cooking the sauce until the pasta is done, because it comes together really quickly (and you don’t want to overcook those expensive mushrooms).

Prep the chanterelle mushrooms

When your pasta is draining, grab your mushrooms. Wipe off the dirt that you see with a clean, damp cloth.

Nip off the tips of the stems with a sharp knife and discard. Then, depending on how large your chanterelles are, cut them in half, or even in quarters.

You want to leave the pieces fairly large, as they are the star of the dish.

How to make the brown butter

Put the butter in a medium-sized pan on the stove over low heat. Add the butter. Cook over low heat until the butter is completely melted, and is frothy and light brown.

You want it to look about like this. Don’t let it get too much darker, because it’s going to continue cooking when you add the mushrooms in.

Also, your kitchen should smell amazing right about now. I swear, if I could bottle the smell, I would.

Finish the sauce with the mushrooms

When your butter is brown, add the mushrooms to the pan. Sprinkle on a little kosher salt to taste. Toss to combine.

Raise the heat to medium, and cook for just about 5 minutes, stirring frequently, until the mushrooms are lightly browned.

After about 5 minutes, spear one with a fork. It should be tender and feel cooked, but not rubbery. Give it a nibble to be sure.

Toss the pasta in the sauce

Put the cooked, drained pasta in a large bowl. Pour the contents of your pan over the pasta.

Toss to coat well. Give the pasta a taste, and correct the seasoning as needed with a little kosher salt and freshly cracked black pepper, if you like.

Serve immediately.

Enjoy!

Related posts:

1. Brown-Sugar Pumpkin Cheesecake with Chocolate-Shortbread Crust This cheesecake is like pumpkin pie dressed up in velvet....
2. Pad Thai Pad Thai, perhaps Thailand's most infamous noodle dish, has dozens...

Related posts brought to you by Yet Another Related Posts Plugin.