Greek Stewed Green Peas 

with Angelhair Pasta

These are the same veggies from 2 posts ago, and they are from the recipe of Mia Kouppa. When I have leftovers, I often like to mix them with pasta. Or make sandwiches with them. In this case, pasta won! 

Mia Kouppa Website, Stewed Green Peas

Pizza with Homemade Dough, 

& Store-bought Toppings: 

Pizza Sauce & Fresh Mozzarella

Baking Day: Pizza! I had some fresh mozzarella cheese that needed to be used, and what better way, than on a pizza? I realized it had been a while since I'd made any, so it was definitely time. Pizza dough seems very "forgiving" of any mistakes, especially as it doesn't need to rise very much, and doesn't require much kneading. That makes it fun to bake and to try different toppings. This was the first time for fresh mozzarella, and it was a success. 

Sweet Pizza Bites

These were based on the Kouzounas Kitchen recipe for Sweet & Savory Pizza Bites. These are topped with her own Lavender Sugar (which also has vanilla?). The combination was heavenly.  I "baked" these on a griddle, but maybe next time, I'll bake them in the oven, instead. Oh, and I should try them savory, with pizza sauce. I did find that leftovers were in less-than-optimal condition after a couple days in the fridge. Next time, I think I'd just freeze the leftovers; they probably thaw quickly, anyway. I was glad to finally have a chance to try these out! 

Kouzounas Kitchen Website, Sweet & Savory Pizza Bites

Spaghetti, Broccoli, & Carrots, with Eggplant

This was a simple combination of Spaghetti, Broccoli, & Carrots, with leftover Baba Ghanoush/Ghanouj (Middle Eastern eggplant spread) mixed in. This is from a few weeks ago, but I seem to remember the veggies had already been steamed? Or were they the ends = remainder of grated veggies which couldn't be grated for safety reasons? (No need to waste!) Either way, the small bits were cooked in the water with the spaghetti, with the Baba Ghanouj added at the end. 

Pizza 

with Puli Gozzo [Gotsu?] Topping

(South Indian Tomato & Eggplant Sauce) 

I think this pizza actually looked better after I cut it, but by then, I just wanted to have some and not take a pic.

Deep-Dish Pizza with Sliced Tomatoes

There's also a little store-bought pizza sauce under the tomatoes, but as it was just a little bit (end of the jar!😉), it "melted" into the dough. For the dough (based on that of @markbittman ), I used 3 cups flour, 2 tsp salt, 2-4 tsp olive oil, 2 tsp active-dry yeast, and water. I like to make pizza by hand, as I don't have to knead it very much anyway, and it doesn't need to rise very much. (A loaf of bread is a different story! 😄) I baked it at 425 F for about 25 minutes.

If you don't make homemade pizza because you don't think it'll turn out well, try it some time. Don't worry about if the crust is thin enough (unless that's your preference), or if it's perfectly baked like the pizzeria, or if you don't have a pizza stone ... or about anything else. If you want to try making homemade pizza, then make it as you like and are able. If it tastes okay, even if its not as you'd hoped, you then have more experience in order to make the next one more like your ideal.

Baked Polenta Squares

These were inspired by the Dec. 17 post of @ahava_x . Also, my grandma once or twice spoke with nostalgia of Mamaliga (though she never made it herself) -- which I understand is a Romanian dish, similar to Polenta.

Although twice-inspired to make Polenta, cornmeal isn't good for me. Therefore, I decided to use masa harina (Latin American corn flour, used for tortillas). This substitution had previously worked well for cornbread, so why not polenta?  For the liquid, I used half-water, and half-milk (as I had some older milk to finish up), which made the polenta very creamy.

After letting the polenta cool and then refrigerating it overnight, I cut it into squares, and baked it at 450 F. It doesn't look exactly like @ahava_x 's results, partly because the milk made this creamer, and partly because the squares were too thick (not to mention the masa harina in place of cornmeal). To reheat, I cut each square across the middle, and cooked each half in the toaster oven with the already-browned side, down. I like the way it's so creamy, even though that wasn't what I'd intended. 

@ahava_x Instagram, 17 December 2017

Spaghetti with Carrots & Sauce

The sauce is store-bought pizza sauce = what I had. A few weeks ago, when I made Carrot & Zucchini Kofta with grated veggies, some of the ends of the carrots didn't quite get grated. However, I didn't want to waste them. So, I added them to the water for the spaghetti. When I'm just making a small amount of pasta like this, I like to use a small pan and less water. Once the pasta is cooked, I add some sauce, and cook it a little further, until it looks like this. I might add some dried Italian herb seasoning, as I did this time, for a little extra flavor. And here we are! 

Spaghetti with Carrots & Sauce

The sauce is store-bought pizza sauce = what I had. A few weeks ago, when I made Carrot & Zucchini Kofta with grated veggies, some of the ends of the carrots didn't quite get grated. However, I didn't want to waste them. So, I added them to the water for the spaghetti. When I'm just making a small amount of pasta like this, I like to use a small pan and less water. Once the pasta is cooked, I add some sauce, and cook it a little further, until it looks like this. I might add some dried Italian herb seasoning, as I did this time, for a little extra flavor. And here we are!

Pizza

The Pizza was topped with store-bought sauce & homemade Paneer (Indian cheese). This is the Paneer I referred to, in my last post. I used 3 cups of a p flour, 2 tsp active-dry yeast, 2 tsp salt, 2 Tbsp olive oil, and about a cup of warm water, for the dough, which was enough for 2 small-medium-ish pizzas of the size you see here. I baked the crust, with the sauce, at 475 F, for about 13 minutes; took it from the oven, and topped it with the Paneer; and then returned it to the oven to bake for a few more minutes. Although I really like the smell of pizzas from out of the house -- too rich, with oil and cheese, for me to actually eat them -- I also really enjoy my own homemade pizzas.  I think that when I reheat the leftovers in the toaster oven, I may add some extra pizza sauce. 

Ricotta Pizza

The other day, I felt like having pizza. Then, I thought, Why not top it with some of the ricotta in the fridge? (I don't usually eat ricotta, so this was new to me.) I topped the pizza dough with some ricotta, and baked it until the crust was done. I wasn't sure if it was odd or not, but I liked it. However, I often topped leftovers with a little pizza sauce before putting them in the toaster oven, and then sometimes also topped them with a little more ricotta after the pizza was reheated. After trying all these different ways of having ricotta on pizza, I decided that next time, I would bake the crust more first, and then add the ricotta. However, this was a pretty good result, for an experiment! 

Spaghetti, 

with Tomatoes, Peas, & Carrots 

This was just something simple for dinner. I cooked the pasta in just-enough water, stirring every so often. I had already added olive oil and salt to the water, and later added the defrosted, frozen peas-and-carrots along with some canned chopped tomatoes, just before adding the pasta. I seasoned it with some dried Italian seasoning, onion powder, ground ginger, and a little cinnamon and allspice. After cooking it until it was done, continuing to stir, the water had largely evaporated into a bit of a sauce. Not pictured here: the leftover store-bought ricotta that I mixed into my bowl of warm spaghetti. I just wanted comforting noodles, and that's what I enjoyed for dinner.

Blueberry Focaccia

Throwback to: Blueberry Focaccia, posted a couple of weeks ago. Here it is featured by itself, in all its glory. To quote from my previous post: "The Blueberry Focaccia is my variation of the Sweet Grape Focaccia in Lauren Chattman's Moms Big Book of Baking. I just replaced the grapes with fresh blueberries. The bread rose so nicely, that I could easily cut a slit in the middle, and fill it with the ricotta. I've also tried it with some ricotta spread over the blueberries, which is quite good. It might be nice to use for baked French toast."

Blueberry Focaccia 

(slit open with a filling of store-bought ricotta), 

& Tsik-Tsik 

(Summer Vegetables with Egg)

The Tsik-Tsik recipe is from Mia Kouppa. I could only use a smaller amount of olive oil than the recipe suggested, and it also includes egg, fresh tomatoes, and zucchini. I had already finished up the eggplant I'd bought, and was too tired to bother with adding potatoes. However, in the story along with the recipe, it sounded like this is meant to use up excess or leftover veggies, and so it's okay to put in whatever you have. 😉 This was so good, and I think it will be nice to make again, the next time I have these veggies to use! 

The Blueberry Focaccia is my variation of the Sweet Grape Focaccia in Lauren Chattman's Mom's Big Book of Baking. I just replaced the grapes with fresh blueberries. The bread rose so nicely, that I could easily cut a slit in the middle, and fill it with the ricotta. I've also tried it with some ricotta spread over the blueberries, which is quite good. 😃It might be nice to use for baked French toast.

Mia Kouppa Facebook

MiaKouppa Instagram, Tsik Tsik

Mia Kouppa Website, Tsik-Tsik (Summer Vegetable with Egg)

Veggie Lasagna

Throwback to: my recent Veggie Lasagna. (See quote below from my previous post, for all the details!) This pic was taken with my camera, the next day. The other one, was taken by my phone, right after the lasagna finished baking. Yummy, either way, just presented differently. 

"Ingredients: no-boil noodles; paneer (Indian cheese) seasoned with salt and dried Italian herbs and basil; frozen "spring blend" veggies (carrots, broccoli, cauliflower, zucchini, and yellow squash), defrosted and par-cooked in the microwave; mozzarella cheese; and jarred pasta sauce from the store. After I bought the jar of sauce, I found myself thinking about making lasagna. Once I had made the paneer, it was a done deal!  

I made this similar to the style of my mom's lasagna, but vegetarian, and with the kind of no-boil noodles I discovered several years ago, as well as paneer in place of cottage cheese. It's very simple: oil the pan, place a layer of sauce so nothing sticks/burns, place noodles to cover the pan, then a layer of paneer and some veggies, more noodles and sauce, and continue layering until it's as you like. Finish off with a layer of noodles, more sauce, and then some cheese. Cover with foil -- I like to put the dish on a baking sheet -- and bake in a preheated 350 F oven for about an hour or until bubbly. Remove from oven, and let sit for 15 minutes. Then enjoy!

You can use cottage cheese or ricotta or paneer (or maybe even tofu?), any kind of veggies and sauce, and more mozzarella cheese than I did."

Veggie Lasagna 

(with no-boil noodles)

Ingredients for this veggie lasagna were: no-boil noodles; paneer (Indian cheese) seasoned with salt and dried Italian herbs and basil; frozen "spring blend" veggies (carrots, broccoli, cauliflower, zucchini, and yellow squash), defrosted and par-cooked in the microwave; mozzarella cheese; and jarred pasta sauce from the store. After I bought the jar of sauce, I found myself thinking about making lasagna. Once I had made the paneer, it was a done deal! 

I made this similar to the style of my mom's lasagna, but vegetarian, and with the kind of no-boil noodles I discovered several years ago, as well as paneer in place of cottage cheese. It's very simple: oil the pan, place a layer of sauce so nothing sticks/burns, place noodles to cover the pan, then a layer of paneer and some veggies, more noodles and sauce, and continue layering until it's as you like. Finish off with a layer of noodles, more sauce, and then some cheese. Cover with foil -- I like to put the dish on a baking sheet -- and bake in a preheated 350 F oven for about an hour or until bubbly. Remove from oven, and let sit for 15 minutes. Then enjoy!

You can use cottage cheese or ricotta or paneer (or maybe even tofu?), any kind of veggies and sauce, and more mozzarella cheese than I did.