Easy and Fun Home Made Pizza Dough That Kids Will Love to Make

It's really worth the effort to make your own pizza dough from scratch and then load up on various toppings to make your own awesome pizza at home.  It's tastier and less greasy than many delivery joints, and kids will enjoy making their own.

Here my daughter and I made pizza dough from a simple water, dry yeast, and flour dough.  Don't forget a pinch of salt because it enhances any dough or home made bread.

The other key thing in our opinion is to mix cheeses--don't just use shredded mozzarella; be sure to at least add some shredded Parmesan, but you can test out goat cheese, Romano, etc.  The richness of the other cheese is what makes a good pizza stand out vs. something simple.

In this photo, we have a pizza with only a simple light spread of tomato paste, some sauteed button mushroom slices, and the aforementioned mozzarella/Parmesan blend.  Finally, be sure to sprinkle on some dried oregano, something I learned making pizza bread at a small family sub sandwich shop in high school! For my own part of the pizza, I will drizzle on olive oil and a dash of red pepper flakes.

These are just tips; for a full starter recipe I would recommend this one from Food Network's Giada De Laurentiis.  You'll get the hang of it and it becomes easier over time and is totally worth the effort!

My Daughter's Pasta

My daughter and I are fans of the Chopped food show, so we decided to have a cook-off against one another.  I attempted to make a sun-dried tomato pesto, but had never tried it before nor seen a recipe for it.  I blended sun-dried tomatoes, a big garlic clove, pine nuts, asiago cheese, and olive oil in my ancient little food processor and tossed some capellini in it; it was just average so I spiced it up with some red pepper flakes and some goat cheese.

Meanwhile, my daughter used her favorite recipe that she came up with on her own.  She had done it before and this time she did it almost all on her own (she's 9, so I still work the burner for her).  She melts butter in a pan, then slowly melts goat cheese.  Then she pours in tomato sauce and slowly blends it until creamy and smooth.

I took a picture of her winning dish.  The simple flavors trumped my rather rough attempt at pesto and I got "chopped"!

P.S. Recipes weren't allowed for this little contest, but afterwards I looked up a pesto recipe and it didn't contain pine nuts, but did have some basil leaves.  What I basically did was use a green pesto blend and add a ton of the tomatoes, but it wasn't smooth, so I will adjust for next time.  Always something new to learn!

Braised Oxtail Ragout on Pastina

On a recent episode of Drive-Ins, Diners, and Dives on Food Network I saw a chef create a really interesting braised oxtail dish atop risotto.  I recreated it fairly successfully by first braising some oxtails over very low heat with some beef broth.

After the oxtails simmered for a couple of hours, I sauteed onion, carrot, and garlic in olive oil until fairly soft (the garlic, of course, went in after the onion and carrots had partially cooked already).

I then added some tomato sauce and red wine, shown clearly in this highly professional photo!  (note, if someone wants to get me a Christmas gift, then you probably know what I need!)

I drained the oxtails and let them cool, and when the sauce had reduced to a syrupy texture, I shredded strips of the meat on top of some pastina I made (risotto is probably better but I am not good at it and it's more time consuming).

I then poured the ragout on top of the meat and ate a very tasty dish!

Quick Weekday Bolegnese Pasta Sauce

It's easy to whip up a quick version of the classic Italian meat sauce (Bolegnese) when your kids are starving and need a good combination of protein and carbs.

For this version in the photo, I simply sauteed chopped yellow onion in olive oil, stirred in quality ground chuck, added some sea salt, and a bit of crushed garlic.

Use tomato sauce out of the can to add liquid and season it with sugar.

It's much more satisfying than jarred pasta sauce and only takes 45 minutes of simmering to blend.

In this case I cooked plain spaghetti and tossed in the pot before serving it with a store-bought Italian cheese blend on top.  I toasted some Italian bread, buttered it, and sprinkled on a bit of garlic salt on the side.  Kids will love it and it's far better than your typical Ragu + pasta.  If you have time, grating a brick of Parmesan or Parmesan-Reggiano is a bonus!

Arancine! sort of.......

I was reading the latest edition of Saveur, my favorite food magazine (sorry Food & Wine, after all these 15 years you are #2). 

The March edition of Saveur highlighted the food of Sicily, and my foodie eight year old daughter spotted a recipe for arancine, which are traditional fried rice balls stuffed with savory Italian ragu.  On the fly, knowing I had a bit of browned ground beef around, pasta sauce, and instant rice, I decided to make a home cook's quickie version of this classic. 

I cooked up some rice, mixed it with egg, flour, parmesan, and bread crumbs until it was sticky, and then flattened each pad of rice mix in my hand (with my young sous chef following suit).  We added a chunk of the beef/sauce mix and formed balls of about 1 1/2 inch diameter.  I fried them in olive oil until crispy, and they turned out great!

My son suggested we skip the meat/sauce filling and stuff them with provolone or other cheese next time (goat cheese? buffalo mozzarella?). 

The actual arancine recipe from Saveur can be found by clicking here.  If I get a chance to modify the basic replication I executed, and create something better, then I will post an update.

Homemade Potato Pizza

After watching a "Best Thing I Ever Ate: Pizza Edition" episode on Food Network, I tried an experiment where my homemade pizza included thin slices of potato, which might sound odd but it would be similar to the Spanish tortilla concept that I've written about before, though this pizza would not share the eggs as an ingredient.

I've tried this twice now, and it's worked out very well.  Tonight's edition (above) included grocery-bought pizza dough, a tiny spread of jarred pasta sauce, very thinly sliced potato slices, chopped fresh garlic, a pile of shredded mozzarella, some grated Parmesan, oregano flakes, red pepper flakes, and drizzled olive oil.  Delicious!

First Calzone!

Since I've been making my own pizza dough for awhile, I thought I'd try a calzone one time.  I used the usual dry yeast and water mix (with a little sugar and salt) to make my dough, then rolled it very flat as I might in making a small pizza. 

I then added jarred tomato sauce, chopped onion, minced garlic, chopped salami, red pepper flakes, and provolone cheese into the center as filling, then folded it over and sealed up the edges.  I forgot to add oregano as well but next time I will modify it quite a bit anyway.

I baked it at 400 degrees for about 20 minutes, and it turned out quite tasty!

Experimental Food Night

Last night the kids each picked a dish to test out, much like I've done in the past with new cuisines.  My son, who is 10, loves potatoes, so he chose something that is like a meatball sauce, but substituting potatoes for the meatballs.  We basically sauteed onions, garlic, and potatoes and then simmered it all with a jarred tomato sauce (he chose puttanesca, though I might have gone with marinara or simply chopped whole canned tomatoes).  He sprinkled on some mixed-blend shredded cheese at the end.  It turned out very well!

My daughter, 7, opted for a soft taco with cheese, spaghetti, salsa, and roasted potato.  Only she would add pasta to a taco!  Her dish tasted good but we ended up removing the potato chunks.  The pasta sounds a little odd in a taco, but keep in mind that some real Mexican tacos include rice inside!

Fried Ravioli

Last week I spotted some little squares of dough in the produce section where they keep Asian ingredients such as ginger, baby corn, pea pods, and chilled jars of chili sauce.  I used the squares to make a very simple version of gyoza, or steamed dumplings, to accompany a veggie stir fry I made for my kids.

I realized that the squares would make decent ravioli, so I took some leftover shredded mozzerella and pepperoni  (from last week's pizza night previously posted about) and made a tasty snack.  I simply placed the cheese and chopped pepperoni on a square, then used egg yolk to seal up the edges tightly.

I then fried the squares in olive oil on medium heat until finished, then served it with jarred pizza sauce for dipping!  Simple and delicious.

Pizza Tortilla Rolls for Kids

My kids were recently hungry in between breakfast and lunch, so I quickly wrapped up some pizza sauce, mozzerella cheese, a bit of oregano, and sliced pepperoni into tortillas, and baked these little rolls quickly to make them a hearty snack!  They specifically asked me to include this on my food blog, so I hope it shows one way to whip up a quick bite to eat when there are leftovers around to use up!  (in this case, I already had the pizza making ingredients open and available in the fridge, and making something out of leftovers is an art in and of itself in my humble opinion)

Tomato, Basil, & Goat Cheese Pizza

My "garden" is delivering it's first batch of produce already; actually I just have a collection of potted plants on the patio--tomatoes, peppers, and herbs.  I have about a dozen plants in terra cotta pots, and the kids have designated plants to care for, though it's mostly me watering them daily!  (I'm talking about watering the plants, not the kids!).

My first tomato ripened up already, and I've had basil going for awhile, so I whipped up a small pizza to highlight the summer vegetables.  I used some yeast and a mix of whole wheat and white flour for the dough, then topped it with goat cheese, the tomato, dried oregano, and drizzed olive oil.  After baking I sprinkled on the fresh basil leaves--chopped at the last minute to release the flavor.  Great summer fare!

Tale of Two Pastas!

My kids like my cooking, but as a result have gotten kind of choosy about their separate preferences.  What I often do is cook up a pot of pasta and then have two sauce options available to toss with the noodles--sort of a made-to-order arrangement!

In this first photo, I whipped up a quick shrimp pasta sauce using butter, garlic, and white wine.  I sprinkled on parmesan when I served it to my son, who loves shrimp right now:

 






 




For the second pasta dish I fried up some cut-up pieces of sun-dried tomato & basil chicken sausage in olive olive, then tossed in a good half-jar of store bought basil marinara, and tossed in some linguini fini to serve along with the usual parmesan on top, which my daughter loves.  I had the same thing except I added red pepper flakes for heat! 

It was a quick weekday meal that satisfied each of us!

Linguini with Bacon, Basil, Mushrooms, and Garlic

Last night I improvised a pasta dish after originally intending to make linguini fini with pesto.

Instead, I sauteed garlic with olive oil and half a slice of diced bacon, then added Pinot Grigio diced mushroom to the sauce.

When the linguini was done I tossed it all together, added some red pepper flakes and grated parmesan, then tore up fresh basil leaves to finish it off.

It was delicious despite how poor this image appears!  I realize photographers out there would cringe at my photos but I was too hungry to snap a better picture!

Dinner was served with a glass of the same Pinot used to cook with.

Chicken Piccata Rediscovered!

I wanted to revisit a classic Watson family dish that I have loved for years but neglected to make in a long while.  I dug up a basic recipe from Epicurious.com but skipped the capers and added a bit of sauteed onion and garlic instead to spruce it up.

I used a whole lemon and this picture shows how well the sauce thickens up with the butter/flour mixure. 

I served the chicken atop a bed of orzo and cooked up some basic sauteed spinach on the side.  I poured the pan sauce over it all and enjoyed the bold, lemony taste of this classic simple dish!!

White Beans in Tomato Sauce with Fresh Herbs

I modified a simple side dish recipe in last months' Food and Wine.

It turned out quite well and tasted great with a simple red table wine.

*Saute 1 can of cannellini beans (white northern beans) in 1 TBSP olive oil for a few minutes
*add half to 2/3 of an 8 oz. can tomato sauce
*add some cheddar or other cheese crumbles to taste
*before serving, tear up fresh basil and rosemary leaves to taste
*add fresh black pepper to taste