Homemade Pizza

A simple dinner tonight.....Not a lot of fuss, not a lot of clean-up!

Here's my recipe for pizza dough that you can mix up and use right away, or you can choose to let it rise for about an hour or so. I've made it both ways and either one is good.

Easy Pizza Dough

3 c. flour

2 T. sugar

1 1/4 c. lukewarm (not too hot!) water + 2 T. oil

2 1/2 t. yeast (or 1 of the square packets that comes in a group of 3)

2 t. sugar

pinch of salt

Preheat oven to 375 degrees.

Pour yeast into water/oil and add the 2 t. of sugar. Stir gently and let set about 15 minutes, or until yeast dissolves and looks a bit foamy. Measure 3 c. of flour into a mixing bowl. Add the 2 T. of sugar and pinch of sugar. Stir. Pour water with yeast into the mixing bowl and stir with a wooden spoon to combine the wet and dry ingredients. Then, use your hand to gather and squish any residual flour into dough ball, kneading and squishing until it has formed into a nice ball. 

If letting dough rise, lightly oil a glass mixing bowl. Set dough in bowl, turning to coat all with oil. Cover with wax paper, and let set on counter for approx 1 - 1 1/2 hours. Then punch down, knead several times and prepare for pizza as directed in the paragraph below.

If using immediately, put onto lightly greased baking sheet and spread out until even and uniform. A small rolling pin is great to use for this. Cover with all toppings except shredded cheese. Bake for 15 minutes, or until bottom is slightly golden brown. Top with shredded cheese and return to oven for another 5-8 minutes. Serve and enjoy.

Broccoli and Garlic Penne Pasta

It's on the menu for dinner tonight!

What You'll Need

1 cup Swanson® Chicken Broth or Swanson® Chicken Stock
1/2 teaspoon dried basil leaves, crushed
1/8 teaspoon ground black pepper
2 cloves garlic, minced
3 cups broccoli florets
1/2 of a 1-pound package penne pasta (about 3 cups), cooked and drained
1 tablespoon lemon juice
2 tablespoons grated Parmesan cheese

 

 

How to Make It

1 Heat the broth, basil, black pepper, garlic and broccoli in a 10-inch skillet over medium heat to a boil. Reduce the heat to low.  Cover and cook until the broccoli is tender-crisp. 

2 Add the penne and lemon juice and toss to coat. Sprinkle the penne mixture with the cheese.

From Campbell's Kitchen

Crockpot Chicken Dinner

My daughter has her girlfriend over and I wanted to make something easy for a low-key, but tasty meal. I opted for something in the crockpot since it would only require a bit of early afternoon preparation, and less to do at dinnertime. 

I started with 2 cups of chicken broth.

 Then I poured it into the crockpot, added boneless, 

skinless chicken thighs and sprinkled seasoning over all.

I laid out two pieces of aluminum foil (criss-crossed

over each other) and placed 3/4 of a bag of

frozen carrots in the center of them. I drizzled the 

carrots with extra virgin olive oil and seasoned them.

  

I wrapped the aluminum foil up tightly, making a

nice little pouch for the carrots to steam in. Then I 

placed the pouch on top of the chicken in the crockpot.

I covered and set the crockpot to high, letting it cook for 3 1/2 hours. Then I turned it off. While it was resting, I peeled and diced up some potatoes to boil for mashing. Once they were done, I took out a new saucepan, and melted a few tablespoons of butter. I added enough flour to make a thick paste (called a rue). I carefully scooped out several large ladelfuls of broth from the crockpot and added it to the butter and flour paste. This was seasoned and whisked until the broth thickened to a gravy over medium heat. 

Now the meal was ready to plate up. 

With gravy....

......and without.

Either way, it was moist, tasty and oh, so filling!

Dinner was a hit. ☺