Grilled Pizza (.8, .8, .9)

There are lots of great reasons to make your own pizza, saving time is not one of them. If you want a quick pizza, call Pizza Hut. If you want a good pizza make your own.

The best think about making your own pizzas is that you can customize each one to the owners particular likes and dislikes. I know people who don't like pork, hard to believe, and sad for sure, but life goes on.

The secrets to a good pizza are

1) Crust 2) Toppings 3) Sauce

There are a many recipes for crust on the web. I won't share mine. Its in my will and you will just have to wait. Grocery store brands are usually better than Pizza Hut.

Now for a few words regarding toppings. The secret to great pizza is to have a hot grill or if you must an oven. The hotter, the better. Given thats its very hot, the toppings really don't have time to cook properly, and guess what caramelized onions take longer than pepperoni to cook. Also if you want your mushrooms to taste like peppers cook them all together. Heck why not just go buy pureed baby food for a topping. Nope you have to cook each topping separately. I like caramelized onions (onions sauteed in a bit of fat for about an hour on low heat), some italian pork, and of course some sauce.

Once all the toppings are prepared (even a day ahead) get the grill ready. Nothing special here, just turn it on full blast for about 20 minutes with the top down. That not only cleans your last burger mess on the grill, but get everything ready for perfect crust. If you have a large enough grill just heat one side.

Roll out your dough into individual sizes. Place a pie or two on the grill, and then brush the top side with some infused olive oil. Close the door. In about 30 seconds the bottom will begin to char and you turn it and repeat the process. The pie will bubble but don't worry, and don't worry it won't fall through the grates. Move the cooked pies off of direct heat.

Once they are all cooked, put a small amount of sauce on one side, and distribute the toppings how every you like. Put the top down, and go set the table, clean up your mess, and have a glass of wine. That should take about 10 minutes.

Remove the pies from the grill, slice and serve with a fresh salad.

Tuscan Bread Soup (.8, .8, .9)

There are many ways to thicken soups and stews. My uncle used to use instant mash potatoes. The french use a roux, in this recipe stale bread is used. It all works. This is basically minestrone (aka vegetable soup) thickened with stale bread, and then topped with sautéed bread and fried prosciutto. Uh its the topping that makes the soup.

1 large onion diced

1 fennel bulb diced

3 carrots diced

1/2 cup olive oil

4 garlic cloves

2 cans plum tomatoes

1 large handful of escarole or other greens

1 can white beans

1/2 red wine

4 cups Italian bread in 1 inch cubes

1 slice prosciutto

2 tbl herb and garlic infused olive oil

Saute the Italian trinity of carrots, onion and fennel until done. Add garlic and 3 cups of bread saute a bit more. Add tomatoes, wine, beans and greens. Don't worry the bread will dissolve. Cook on low until the bread dissolves about 2 hrs. At the end saute thin strips of prosciutto (think small bacon slices) remove from pan and the saute in flavored olive oil. Top soup with bread and prosciutto.

Summer at Last

Well Yankee-ville has seen 9 days without rain. Of course fall is near, so that means cool mornings. I am not complaining, but I sometimes miss the summer. Ok enough whining.

A quick dinner of gazpacho, grilled shrimp, and pasta salad provided the perfect quick meal to celebrate the good weather.

Gazpacho Recipe

Throw a bunch of summer veggies (tomato, pepper, onion, cuke..) into a food processor, add some v8, hot sauce, cilantro, salt, and pepper. Blend, chill and pour into a small dish. Something between a cold soup and salsa.

Grilled Shrimp

Marinate the largest shrimp you can find in olive oil, garlic and herbs. Grill quickly and serve.