Mark has been perfecting his pizza crust and we’ve been making some even more awesome pizzas than usual.

He can take credit for the crust on this one. I’m taking credit for the awesome combo of toppings: arugula, crumbled italian sausage, diced onions and fennel seeds. I threw on the fennel because I love the taste and I wanted to counteract the stomachache I might get from eating the rest of the pizza. Fennel has been known to help IBS — and it’s delicious. I put this with some cheese on a thin crust, and YUM!

You can’t really see all the awesomeness. But trust me. It was amazing.

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This past weekend I made a fabulous batch of Italian Wedding Soup. I used this recipe from Iowa Girl Eats.

I’m looking forward to leftovers. YUM!

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Last weekend, my beau attempted some Giada cooking. He’s kind of in love with her, and who could blame her? She’s beautiful, Italian, and knows how to cook. Plus, she’s short and sweet like me.

He made her Linguine with Shrimp and Lemon Oil using whole wheat pasta. It was fabulous! It was like having our own little Italian restaurant.

Lovely parsley

The finished product … YUM!

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And I wouldn’t really classify this as cooking either.

Mark’s busy with work this week, so I’ve been whipping up my own concoctions that I would say are just about as awesome as his.

Beet and Feta Salad with Prosciutto …

Pickled beets meet goat cheese and the salty crispy yummyness that is prosciutto.

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Warning: These are in no way shape or form healthy. But, they are awesome. And amazing. And fabulous.

Mark decided that instead of pizza, that we’d do something a bit different and make calzones.

Holy lord look at those fillings … soooo yummy!

I don’t have a recipe per say, but I do have a small how-to.  Use whatever dough recipe and sauce recipe you want. Also, you can add as much or as little of the ingredients as you want. I’d be interested in any suggestions for additional ingredients.

1. Make pizza dough and separate into softball sized balls.
2. Roll out each ball to about 1/4 an inch thick.
3. Gather your fillings. We used mozzarella, onion, fresh spinach, cottage cheese, italian seasoning, pepperoni, italian sausage, tomato and tomato sauce.
4. Mix fillings together in a large bowl.
5. Scoop 1-1.5 c of your filling into the middle of the dough.
6. Fold in half. Fold the bottom edge over the top edge and crimp to seal.
7. Cut a couple slits in the top of the calzone.
8. Bake in a preheated 425° oven for 30-40 minutes, or until crust is golden and cheeses are melted.

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Hey all!

My boy likes to cook and I thought it’d be a cool feature to share his creations (with instructions) once or twice a month.

I shall call this segment: Wonder Bread Italian Boy Cooks.

For those of you who don’t get that, my boy is about as Italian as white bread. Wonder bread that is. He’s got the last name and the recipes. Not to mention he’s an amazing cook and comes up with crazy delicious meals on the fly.

So without further ado, this is installment #1 of Wonder Bread Italian Boy Cooks.

Sorry guys, I promise from now on I’ll have better photos. I did just buy a new digital camera! This was kind of an on-the-fly decision to add this feature, so the photo isn’t great, but it was YUMMY.

Everything from the Garden Pasta

Ingredients:

1 full chicken breast (both sides of the breast)
4 T olive oil (reserve 2 for the end)
Salt and Pepper to taste
2 lbs assorted vegetables — he used:
1 small yellow zucchini squash, sliced
1 small green zucchini, sliced
1 red pepper, julienned
1 green pepper, julienned
1 yellow pepper, julienned
1/2 red onion, sliced
1 small package mushrooms, whole
1/2 c red wine
2 14.5 oz cans diced tomatoes
italian seasoning to taste
Cooked whole wheat pasta

Directions:

Heat 2 T olive oil over medium heat in a large pan. Cut chicken into bite-sized pieces and add to oil. Season with salt and pepper. Cook through and remove from pan. Set aside.

Add veggies to pan. Saute while stirring until onions start to get glossy and see-through. Add half of the red wine. Keep stirring and sauteing for 15 more minutes or until veggies have cooked through.

Add the rest of the red wine, the additional 2 T olive oil, both cans of tomatoes and the chicken. Sprinkle with some Italian seasonings. Cook for 15 minutes more. Toss with the cooked pasta and serve with parmesan cheese.

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