Easiest Gluten Free Pizza Ever!

fresh fig, caramelized onion pizza with raw murcato goat cheese, greens and balsamic glaze

I have the simplest most delicious quick pizza you will ever make- it's more of a flatbread or cracker if you will but let's not get technical! No need for that here. So go get your oven very hot at 425°.

Simply take a tortilla, (I used rice flour tortillas from Whole Foods hence the gluten-free), brush with a little good quality extra virgin olive oil, top with the figs, caramelized onions (which you can make ahead of time) and cheese. You can also use regular flour tortillas- up to you.

Bake for 10-12 minutes and remove from the oven to cool a minute. Add fresh greens and a drizzle of balsamic vinegar and presto! Easy.

Here is another version:

cherry tomato and pesto pizza with raw sharp goat cheddar cheese

In this version I used the same method but spread pesto on the tortilla first, topped with the fresh tomatoes and cheese then baked it for 10-12 minutes.

There are so many things you can top these with- and what a great weeknight meal with a salad and a glass of wine. Yum!

What to do with all that zucchini you ask?

 

Zucchini or as the Brits refer to them, courgettes, seem to be overflowing this time of year at local farmer's markets, grocery stores or perhaps out in your own vegetable garden.

That is probably why, when you google zucchini, you will find a ton of recipes from breads and muffins to gratins, pizzas and pastas (yes you can turn these green gems into fine strands of "spaghetti" if you have the right tool.)  My all time favorite way to eat these little beauties is in the form of fritters. I know what you are saying: that can't be healthy if it's fried, but the way I justify it is that they are "lightly" fried in just a smidge of olive oil and if you use a non-stick pan, you will need even less!

The recipe I loosely based this weekend's fritters on comes from Nigella Lawson- I added and subtracted a few things to make it my own- which is what I highly recommend you do as well- using any combo of fresh herbs that suite your own taste. If you want to, you can omit the cheese (although it does give it a nice salty bite!) Get the recipe here.

 photo via marthastewart.com

For instance, I used shallots, red pepper and cilantro as my base and omitted the feta cheese-I also used GF flour to make them gluten free but feel free to use regular all-purpose flour if that's the way you roll. ( I ate mine so quickly I forgot to snap a photo. The one above is borrowed to give you a visual of how they look.)

I like to make a side of yogurt sauce to layer on more flavor and some tartness- all you need to do is repeat some of the herbs and add some lemon juice salt and pepper to some plain yogurt. It's that simple!

Serve these alongside any meat, chicken or fish dish or have them alone with a salad. It's a nice way to pay homage to one of the summer's most abundant vegetable!

Simple Carrot Soup

Cold days scream for hot soup and it seems you just can't find a good bowl of soup anywhere these days- it's so easy to make too so I wonder why this is? It's times like this I think I should open up a "soup bar" and solve this issue (at least in my neck of the woods!)




This recipe is based on one of Alice Waters' recipe from The Art of Simple Food, and it couldn't be any easier or simpler to throw together. It's up to you if you want to vary it by adding yogurt, for instance, or spice it up with jalapeño and cilantro even throw in some toasted cumin seeds.

Here is what I did:

Saute one onion, sliced thin, in 2 tablespoons of butter.

Cook over medium-low heat until translucent, about 10 minutes.

Add 1 pound carrots, peeled and sliced (about 3 cups). I added one sliced jalapeño here and some chopped cilantro.

Season with salt and cook for about 5 minutes to blend the flavors.

Add 4 cups of broth ( I used chicken, but you can use vegetable stock as well- water is not going to give it enough depth of flavor but you can use it in a pinch).

Bring to a boil, lower heat, and simmer for about 30 minutes until carrots are tender.

Cool off and puree in a blender.

Top with more cilantro and toasted cumin seeds.

Yield: about one quart

Yumm!

Roasted Pumpkin Risotto with Crispy Pancetta

It's no secret that I love at least two maybe three things (at least for this post!).

1. risotto
2. pancetta
3. Jamie Oliver

I love how Jamie makes risotto and for me, it always turns out great no matter which recipe of his I happen to follow.

Here what I did was take his basic risotto recipe and added my version of roasted pumpkin with sage and shallots- the pancetta I just crisped up in the oven with some fresh sage leaves and served it right on top. It's really a comforting and satisfying meal on a cold night.

To make the roasted pumpkin:

1 small sugar pumpkin, approx 2 lbs
4 shallots, peeled and quartered
2 good sprigs fresh sage leaves
2-3 tbsp olive oil

1. Preheat the oven to 400°.
2. Peel, seed and cut pumpkin into 2 inch pieces (you can save the seeds and roast them like I did and serve a few on top as garnish!)
3. Toss pumpkin, shallots and sage in olive oil and spread out on a sheet pan.
4. Roast for approx. 30 minutes, turning about midway.

After you have roasted the pumpkin (and you can do this ahead of time, in fact it's easier that way) and it has cooled off, chop it a bit finer (yes it will be a bit mushy but this is okay). Add it to the risotto at Stage 3 and you are just about done.

It wouldn't be complete without some crispy pancetta to top it with (you could use bacon too) and all I did was bake a few pieces in my toaster oven at 375° while I was making the risotto.

Hope you enjoy!