Pizza!

My husband LOVES pizza. Every time I ask him what he wants for dinner, his answer is always, "pizza." Sometimes I'll ask him a question that is completely unrelated to food and his answer will still be, "pizza."

I've always wanted to make homemade pizza but I've failed many times...the crust has always given me a hard time. While grocery shopping a few weeks ago I stumbled upon frozen cornmeal crust pizza crusts. I was elated! Finally I could make homemade pizza! They were gluten-free which is a plus for many people and they were smaller so we could still use portion control.

Next I needed to find the toppings, our family friend gave us a jar of her homemade marinara sauce, so we definitely wanted to use that. Then I decided on leeks, chipotle sausage, and mozzarella cheese. But you can put any toppings you like on it. Leeks are a great alternative to onions, especially when they are all caramelized...yum!

Leek-Sausage Pizza on a Cornmeal Crust
2 frozen cornmeal pizza crusts (or make your own or get regular crust)
1 lb chipotle sausage
1 large leek, sliced
1 cup shredded mozzarella cheese
1 cup marinara sauce

I baked my crusts just a tad so they were a little crisp. Meanwhile I sauteed my leeks until they were tender and caramelized. I also cooked the chipotle sausage until mostly cooked through. Once the crusts were ready, I ladled the homemade marinara sauce on top, a big scoop of sausage, leeks and finally, shredded mozzarella. Bake in 400 degree oven for about 10-15 minutes. This pizza was outstanding, we can't wait to make it again.

We served this with a simple romaine lettuce salad, raw mushrooms and southwest cheddar dressing.

This is a fantastic meal if you need to whip something up quickly, if you are craving pizza but don't want to ruin your healthy eating habits or just want a yummy dinner for a Friday movie night.

Enjoy! xo Lo

Winter Dinner Party

During the winter people tend to "hibernate" and long to be comforted by warm, toasty friends and food. What better way to achieve this than planning a dinner party?

This is my mom, her best friend and I with a holiday cocktail before everyone else arrived! The menu my mom and I chose was: 


- Pomegranate Lemon Drop with a Candy Cane garnish
- Dried Cherry-Pistachio Brie en Croute
- Bacon Wrapped Stilton-Stuffed Dates
- Roasted Potato-Leek Soup 
- Winter Salad with Fennel and Apples
- Holiday Pasta with Crusty Bread 
- Pistachio-Cherry Chocolate Ganache Tart


Starting off with the holiday cocktail we combined 1 part vodka to two parts lemon drop mix and a slight pour of pomegranate with a mini candy cane as a garnish. We added the pomegranate to add red color for the holidays but you could keep the cocktail as a lemon drop or add any of your favorite Italian soda. 


Brie en Croute Appetizer
- 1 medium wheel of brie
- 1/4 cup of chopped pistachios
- 1/4 cup dried cherries roughly chopped
- 2 Tbsp agave nectar
- 1 Tbsp brown sugar
- 1 sheet of puff pastry


Let puff pastry thaw and mix the pistachios, cherries, sugar and nectar together in a small bowl. Slice brie in half so you have two flat, thick pieces of brie that can be placed on top of each other. Add 3/4 of the nut mixture into the middle place the other half of the brie on top. Cover with the puff pastry dough and place the folded part down. On the flat side place the rest of the nut mixture and back at 350 degrees for 25-30 minutes. Serve with crackers or crusty bread and prepare to be amazed! 

Stilton-Stuffed Dates
- 16 dried dates (you want about 2-3 per person)
- 8 slices of bacon (cut in half)
- 1/2 cup stilton cheese


Slice a line lengthwise through half of your date and stuff with cheese, wrap with bacon and place on a baking sheet. Bake at 325 for 30 minutes or until bacon is crispy. This appetizer will blow you away, after one bite my taste-buds were doing the happy dance. Not a fan of blue cheese? I promise you with the bacon you cannot even tell it is blue cheese. 

Roasted Potato-Leek Soup
- 1 pound of diced Yukon gold potatoes
- 2 sliced leeks
- 2 diced shallots
- 1 bunch of arugula
- 3 cloves of chopped garlic
- 4 leaves of fresh sage chopped
- 1/2 heavy cream
- 1 carton of chicken stock
- 1/2 white wine
- a few pieces of crumbled bacon
- shredded Parmesan cheese 

Roast your potatoes, leeks and shallots on a baking pan for 30 minutes, in the last 10 minutes add arugula...roast until wilted.

Start your Dutch oven with olive oil, add garlic and sage on low heat. Once the potatoes are roasted add to the Dutch oven and add half of the chicken stock and white wine. Let simmer at medium heat for 15 minutes. 

Use your emulsion blender to blend the mixture until smooth. Add heavy cream and cook on low for another 15 minutes. You may need to add more chicken stock if the soup is too thick. Once the soup has finished, pour into small bowls (this soup is very filling!) and top with crumbled bacon and parmesan cheese. 

Winter Salad
Sadly we got so excited about this one that I forgot to take a picture but hopefully my description can help create one in your imagination :)

- 1 bulb of fennel
- 1 Gala apple
- 1/2 cup pecans
- 2 beets
- stilton cheese

After cleaning all your salad ingredients, roughly chop your beets. Mix the beets and pecans with maple syrup and roast for 20 minutes. Slice the bulb of fennel into thin slices, as well as the apple. Keep the top part of the fennel as a garnish. Crumble your Stilton cheese and once the beets are done assemble your salad with the sprigs of fennel on top. The licorice flavor of the fennel, crispness of the apple, creaminess of the cheese and crunch of the pecans will be a lovely palate cleanser before your pasta dish.

Holiday Pasta
Even though it's not Holiday season anymore...doesn't mean the wintery days doesn't call for a velvety, luscious pasta dish to warm your soul. This dish is named the way it is because it's like a Holiday party in your mouth!

- 1 pound of whole wheat penne pasta
- 4 cloves of crushed garlic
- 1 medium onion
- 3 13-oz cans of diced tomatoes
- 1 celery stick
- 1 cup red wine
- 1 medium carrot
- 1 cup beef stock
- 1 pound of Italian sausage
- 1/4 pound pancetta
- 1 bay leaf
- 1 cup chopped parsley
- 1/4 tsp allspice
- grated romano cheese for topping
- 1 loaf of ciabatta

Add a few tablespoons of olive oil and add bay leaf, diced pancetta and garlic for 7 minutes. Add half of the Italian sausage (out of the casing) and brown and crumble up. Chop up veggies,  add to pot after about five minutes add the wine, let wine cook off for one minute and add beef stock and tomatoes.

Stir in allspice and chopped parsley along with salt and pepper to taste. Bring sauce to boil then reduce to a simmer for 30 minutes to let the flavors merry. Meanwhile cook the other half of the Italian sausage (with casing on, sliced) in a separate pan.

Bring your water to boil, add pasta and cook to al dente (aka slightly underdone). Plate the pasta on a large platter and spoon the sauce over. Serve with sprigs of rosemary as a lovely garnish. Cut up your crusty bread and sprinkle the grated romano on top. Your dinner guests will be pouncing to dig in!

Pistachio-Cherry Chocolate Ganache Tart
- 8 biscotti cookies
- 1/2 stick unsalted butter
- 1/4 cup brown sugar
- 3/4 cup cherry preserves
-12 oz semi-sweet chocolate chips
- 1 cup heavy cream
- 1/2 cup dried cherries
- 1/2 cup chopped pistachios
Himalayan sea salt flakes

Chop up your biscotti cookies in a food processor, add in diced pieces of cold butter and brown sugar. Push into the bottom of a well greased spring-form pan and back at 350 degrees for 15 minutes. Once cooled (15-20 minutes) evenly spread the cheery preserves on top. Then make the filling- heat the heavy cream to just below a boil and add to chocolate chips, mix until the chocolate melts into a smooth ganache. Add pistachios and dried cherries, pour over the crust and top with pistachios. Refrigerate overnight and when serving top with Himalayan sea salt flakes.

Enjoy this delectable, healthy, comforting winter dinner party menu...this will surely impress any company you have over during this chilly season. 


xoxo Lo

Acorn Squash Soup

Nothing is better than a hot bowl of comforting soup when the winds are chilly and the clouds unleash rain across the city.

I stumbled upon this recipe as I looked in my fridge and found an acorn squash, the only thing I had made before with this gorgeous ghourd was chutney but this time I wanted to make something good for the soul.

Acorn Squash Soup with Fresh Sage

1 acorn squash/2 people
1 yellow onion
1 leek
1 bunch of fresh sage
1 carton of chicken stock
1/4 cup freshly grated parmesan cheese
2 garlic cloves
3 Tbs olive oil
1/2 cup milk (or heavy cream)
salt
pepper

I started as you would with any squash, you cut them in half de-seed them and place on a baking sheet. Pre-heat your oven to 400 degrees. While the oven is heating up, slice up some onions, garlic, bits of fresh sage and leeks place those inside of the hole of the squash and drizzle with olive oil. Place the squash in the oven for one hour to soften and bake.

While the squash is baking light your Dutch oven or soup pot on low heat, add olive oil and the rest of the onion, leeks, a few sage leaves and garlic. When they become golden (30 minutes) add chicken stock, salt and pepper. Once the squash is done, remove from oven and let cool for 10 minutes. Once the squash are cooled pour the contents inside the squash into the pot. Strip off the squash skin, chop up into inch cubes and add to the pot. Raise the pot's temperature to medium heat and stir. After 15 minutes use your hand emulsion blender to blend the squash soup together. Be careful not to raise the blender above the soup, blend for 10 minutes until creamy and smooth. Then add your milk/heavy cream. Let the soup finish for five minutes then you are ready to serve.

Once you pour the incredible soup into your serving bowls, grate fresh parmesan cheese on top, sprinkle with salt and pepper and garnish with fresh sage leaves. This soup will knock your snuggie right off, it is down right delicious! Perfect for entertaining or as a quiet Sunday meal.

Enjoy! xoxo Lo