Pear and Gorgonzola Pizza

 Right after I graduated college, I moved to Salt Lake City for a little under a year.  Turns out it just wasn't for me . . . it didn't take me long to figure that out.  That's another story in and of itself . . .

ANYWAYS, I had a friend who lived there that loved California Pizza Kitchen and we went often.  And that friend often got the Pear and Gorgonzola Pizza there.  I think I remember trying a bite or two of it once and don't remember falling in love with it.

Well,  I saw a recipe for it here the other day and it just sounded really good to me.  I don't know about you, but we've still got pears coming out of ears from the past couple of weeks so I thought I'd give it another try.  

We made it for lunch after church today and my husband and I both loved it.  

The recipe I followed called for Blue Cheese crumbles, but I opted for Gorgonzola crumbles.  I was lazy and didn't make my own pizza dough or BBQ sauce.  WinCo has some awesome pre-made pizza dough you can find by the lunch meet and cheese that I used.  And I used 3 pears rather than one.  And I think I cooked my pears a bit too much in the caramelize process, so be sure to watch them close.  I think I should be able to perfect it next time . . . as there will definitely be a next time!

Baked Penne with Chicken, Broccoli, and Smoked Mozzarella

We had another delicious meal for dinner last night.  I'm not trying to pat myself on the back, but it's been a good week of food already!

This meal was a great way to use up three items from this week's basket . . . broccoli, asparagus, and pears!

I made this great pasta dish and served steam asparagus and these delicious and healthy (for muffins, at least) pear muffins on the side. 

Enjoy!

Baked Penne with Chicken, Broccoli, and Smoked Mozzarella

*Note: See the asterisk below the recipe for make-ahead directions.
*Serves 6-8

Topping:
3/4 cup bread crumbs (I made my own in my food processor.)
2 tablespoons butter, melted

Filling:
1 bunch broccoli (about 1 ½ pounds), stalks cut off, florets trimmed into 1-inch pieces
12 ounces penne pasta
2 tablespoons olive oil
1 medium onion, minced
6 medium garlic cloves, finely minced or pressed through a garlic press
1 teaspoon dried thyme
¼ cup all-purpose flour
2 cups chicken broth
1 cup heavy cream (I used half and half)
1 teaspoon salt
½ teaspoon pepper
1 ½ pounds boneless skinless chicken breasts (about 3), trimmed and cut into bite-size pieces
3 ounces smoked mozzarella, shredded
8 ounce jar oil-packed sun-dried tomatoes, drained and chopped into pieces (I didn't use the oil-packed tomatoes. They are way higher in calories and fat and twice the price of plain sun-dried tomatoes.  So that's what I used . . . a 3.5 oz package of ready to use sun-dried tomatoes and chopped them up.)

Directions:
In a small bowl, combine the bread crumbs and butter and set aside. Lightly grease a 9X13-inch baking dish and set aside.
Preheat the oven to 400 degrees and make sure the oven rack is placed in the middle of the oven. 

In a large pot, bring the water for the pasta to a boil. Stir in one tablespoon salt and the broccoli. The broccoli cooks quickly so stay close! Cook the broccoli for 1 minute, until it is bright green. Quickly remove the broccoli with a slotted spoon to a plate. Return the water to a boil and add the pasta and cook until al dente, about 1-2 minutes less than how you would eat it normally (it will cook a bit more in the oven while baking). Drain the pasta in a colander and toss with 1 tablespoon olive oil. Leave it in the colander and set it aside.

Wipe the pot dry. Add the remaining 1 tablespoon oil and return to medium heat until shimmering. Add the onion and cook until softened and beginning to brown, about 5 minutes. Stir in the garlic and thyme; cook until fragrant, about 30 seconds, stirring constantly. Add the salt, pepper, and flour and cook, stirring constantly, until golden, about 1 minute. Slowly whisk in the broth and cream; bring to a simmer, whisking often. Add the chicken and cook, stirring occasionally, until cooked through, about 6-7 minutes. Stir in the sun-dried tomatoes and smoked mozzarella.

Add the cooked pasta and broccoli to the sauce; stir to combine. Transfer the pasta mixture to the prepared baking dish and sprinkle with the bread crumb topping. Bake until the casserole is bubbling and the crumbs are lightly browned, about 15 minutes. Serve immediately.

*The casserole can be prepared in advance with the following steps: after the broccoli is removed from the boiling water, plunge it into a bowl of ice water and cool completely. Assemble the casserole following the directions in the recipe. After the casserole is spread in the prepared baking pan, let it cool for 5-10 minutes before covering with plastic wrap and refrigerating for up to 8 hours. To bake, preheat the oven to 375 and bake uncovered for 30 minutes.

Pears A Plenty

At Thanksgiving time my husband and I were baking our holiday pies.  Me, an apple pie, he a cherry.   Our daughter was of course in the kitchen assisting when she insisted on making her own little pie.  The apple filling was gone, as were the cherries, but since she wanted to make a pie to give to her grandparents, I had to find something.  We had some BB pears and so a pear pie it was. 

Since we received a large bag of pears this week; all in need of ripening, I thought I would share this recipe we found. Now, I didn't actually get to taste the pie, because it was made for 2 specific people and those of you who know my girl, know that if that's what she had planned, that's EXACTLY what happened.  :)  But, both my parents thought it was good, and really, why not?  Pears and pies are both delicious, so together, they must be perfect!! 

If all our BB pears from this week ripen at once, I might have to talk her into making another pie that she and I can share. 

Autumn Pear Salad

No pictures; surprise, surprise.  Just rave reviews from everyone at our pre-Thanksgiving dinner last night.  I personally thought the dressing was amazing, but the asiago cheese was too strong for my tastebuds.  I will make this again but next time I will use a more mild cheese. 

Autumn Pear Salad--given to me nearly 5 years ago, but made for the first time yesterday.  How sad!! 


Dressing:
-5 T olive oil
-2 T balsamic vinegar
-1 t honey
-1 t dijon mustard
-1 T chopped green onion
-salt & fresh ground pepper


Salad: (amounts will vary acording to your tastes and number you are serving) (we served 14 and I will tell you how much I used.)
-green leaf lettuce (2 large heads)
-ripe pears, thinly sliced (4)
-asiago cheese, grated fine (1/4 pound)
-cashew pieces (1/2 container)


In salad bowl combine greens & 3/4 of the dressing.  Arrange pears, cheese, and cashews over the top and drizzle on remaining dressing. 

ENJOY!  This would be the perfect addition to your Thanksgiving table as well. 

Simple Satisfies

Sometimes I find myself getting carried away with what to do with a fruit or vegetable and forget that sometimes simple is best. 

For lunch today my 1 year old son and I had, cottage cheese with chunks of a BB pear.  I kept the peel on mine because it's good for you and I love the texture it adds.  We also had steamed green beans, also from last weeks basket and "mashed" BB cauliflower.  It didn't end up really being mashed, but I really enjoyed it and the boy gobbled it up.  I steamed the entire head of cauliflower, then I tossed it in the kitchenaid, added 1/2 tsp butter, salt, pepper, and a little medium cheddar cheese.  I whipped it up, which just broke the cauliflower pieces up and mixed it all together.  Since my husband doesn't like cauliflower it was perfect to use during lunch. 

Simple and satisfying.  Some days just call for that.  Especially Fridays!   

PEAR Bran Muffins

Good Morning, fruit and veggie lovers!  Have you checked your pears this morning? My kids checked ours and they are just about ripe! (My kids LOVE pears and they poke and prod them everyday waiting for them to ripen up!) Because my kids love pears so much they rarely last more than a day or two, but sometimes I snag a few before they do so I can make these AMAZING muffins. As far as muffins go, they are really good for you and the best part is they don't taste like it. (Not that good for you can't taste good, but it doesn't always, you know!) So, if you haven't made breakfast yet, I highly recommend you try these. TODAY!

By the way, this IS a re-post. I first posted this recipe in August. But many of you were not readers then, so I wanted to share again.

 

South Beach Pear Bran Muffins

Prep time: 15 minutes
Cook time: 20 minutes

2 servings

Ingredients
1 1⁄2 cups whole-grain pastry flour
1 cup wheat bran
2 tablespoons granular sugar substitute
1 1⁄4 teaspoons ground cinnamon
1 1⁄4 teaspoons baking soda
1⁄4 teaspoon salt
1 1⁄4 cups 1 percent or fat-free buttermilk
2 large eggs, lightly beaten
3 tablespoons canola oil
1 Bosc pear, cored and cut into 1⁄4-inch dice
1 1⁄2 teaspoons vanilla extract

Instructions
Heat oven to 350°F.

Line a muffin tin with paper liners or lightly coat with cooking spray.

Combine flour, bran, sugar substitute, cinnamon, baking soda, and salt in a large mixing bowl. Combine buttermilk, eggs, oil, pear, and vanilla in another mixing bowl.

Make a well in the center of the dry ingredients. Add wet ingredients to dry ingredients and mix just to combine; do not overmix. Divide batter evenly into muffin cups. Bake for 20 minutes. Cool and serve. 

These freeze really well. (Muffin freezing idea from freezehappy)

To freeze:  

Spray muffin tin with cooking spray. Fill each muffin cup 2/3rds full.

Wrap tightly in plastic wrap and freeze. Once the raw batter is completely frozen, remove from pan and store in large ziplock bag.

To bake: 

Adjust oven rack to lower middle position.

Spray muffin tin with cooking spray or line cups with muffin papers.

Place frozen batter into each cup.

Bake @ 375* for 35-40 minutes.

great minds think alike . . .

. . . or, I guess just sisters think alike!

I sent Kim an email yesterday morning, before church, telling her one of us should do grilled cheese with apple sandwiches.  I LOVE them, but got the idea from her a couple of years ago.  I told her she could do that post if she wanted, but if not, I (ok, maybe my stomach) would be more than happy to make them this week and do a post about it.

Well, all through church I thought about those delicious sandwiches.  So that's what we had for lunch yesterday.  Turns out Kim did the exact same thing!  I logged onto the blog last night to post about the sandwiches and found she already had.  And then she sent me an email that said, "cin, we made grilled cheese with apples and tomatoes today.  that sounded so good it was practically all i could think about in church today." I laughed when I read that and thought, "we must be related!"

So here is our take on Grilled Cheese with Apples Sandwiches:

I like to cut my apples in half, the opposite way people normally do.  I like how it makes perfect circles and I can easily cut out the seeds with a pearing knife.  Or maybe I just like the cute little star that appears.

I personally just use a little spray butter on my bread.  Some of you probably hate spray butter but I don't mind it. It takes hardly any and cuts down on the calories and makes it less greasy and messy.

Next, layer the apples and cheese on the bread.  This time we used two different kinds of cheeses, a Mexican blend and an Italian blend.  It made it so YUMMY!  Both my husband and I said it was the best grilled cheese sandwich we've ever had.  Between the two cheeses and the Bountiful Basket bread, it made it amazing!

We love cooking our grilled cheese sandwiches in our sandwich maker we got for our wedding.  Before I was married, I just cooked it on the George Foreman.  If you have one or the other and have always just cooked it on the stove in a pan, give one of these a try!  I can't really put my finger on why, but I think it makes the sandwich so much better!

If you are looking for an easy and delicious way to switch up lunch today, give this a try.  I promise it won't disappoint!

P.S...for another really good variation, use some of those Bountiful Basket pears.  It too is delicious!

I bought three boxes of PEARS and then got some in my basket. And they're all ripe. HELP!

Basket 411 to the rescue!

South Beach Pear Bran Muffins

Prep time: 15 minutes
Cook time: 20 minutes

2 servings

Ingredients
1 1⁄2 cups whole-grain pastry flour
1 cup wheat bran
2 tablespoons granular sugar substitute
1 1⁄4 teaspoons ground cinnamon
1 1⁄4 teaspoons baking soda
1⁄4 teaspoon salt
1 1⁄4 cups 1 percent or fat-free buttermilk
2 large eggs, lightly beaten
3 tablespoons canola oil
1 Bosc pear, cored and cut into 1⁄4-inch dice
1 1⁄2 teaspoons vanilla extract

Instructions
Heat oven to 350°F.

Line a muffin tin with paper liners or lightly coat with cooking spray.

Combine flour, bran, sugar substitute, cinnamon, baking soda, and salt in a large mixing bowl. Combine buttermilk, eggs, oil, pear, and vanilla in another mixing bowl.

Make a well in the center of the dry ingredients. Add wet ingredients to dry ingredients and mix just to combine; do not overmix. Divide batter evenly into muffin cups. Bake for 20 minutes. Cool and serve. 

These freeze really well. (Muffin freezing idea from freezehappy)

To freeze:  

Spray muffin tin with cooking spray. Fill each muffin cup 2/3rds full.

Wrap tightly in plastic wrap and freeze. Once the raw batter is completely frozen, remove from pan and store in large ziplock bag.

To bake: 

Adjust oven rack to lower middle position.

Spray muffin tin with cooking spray or line cups with muffin papers.

Place frozen batter into each cup.

Bake @ 375* for 35-40 minutes.