Monday, July 27, 2009

Quick, easy dinner

I came across this recipe a few weeks ago and thought why not?! Wasn't sure if it'd pass as a full-fledged dinner with senor so I added chopped pepperoni in the mix. Add some warm marinara sauce for dipping and voila! We also tossed in pieces of fresh mozarella for the second batch...yes, SECOND batch. They were yummy and we had them for dinner, then used the other 1/2 of the filling left for lunch the next day!

I found the recipe in multiple places, so credit who you like. (Mine from Better Homes and Gardens, Low fat and Luscious, Vegetarian)
10 oz pkg frozen chopped spinach, thawed and well drained
8 oz low-fat cream cheese
4 Tbsp chopped green onions
2-4 Tbsp shredded parmesan cheese
dash of black pepper
2 10-oz refrigerated pizza dough crusts
water
1 Tbsp milk
Optional:
fresh mozarella chunks
pepperoni cut up

For filling:
Stir together spinach, cream cheese, green onions, parmesan cheese and pepper. (I tried used an electric mixer, don't recommend it)

Unroll pizza dough, on a lightly floured surface roll/press the dough out into a 15" square. Using a knife, cut into 24-25 3" sqaures. Spoon a rounded teaspoon of filling into each dough square. Add in optional pieces on top of filling. Brush edges of each square with water; lift a corner of each sqaure and stretch over fillingto opposite corner to form triangle. Press edges with fork to seal.

Line a baking sheet with foil, lightly grease foil. Arrange calzones on the baking sheet, pierce tops of each with fork. Brush milk over top. Bake at 425 degrees F for 8-10 min (mine took almost twice as long) or until golden brown.

Ours didn't look as pretty as these above do but the taste made up for appearance! you could also use phyllo dough in place of pizza dough.

Peach with Creme Fraiche Pie


It's been a bit since I posted, but I've been cooking all along. Just not documenting or tracking it well.

We went to have lunch with some friends Saturday and brought dessert--opting to try this from Smitten Kitchen.

Hers looks lovely, as you can see above. Ours looked bubbly, brown and smelled like a piece of heaven but it did not serve up this pretty. Not sure if we got overzealous with the peaches (I used a few more than called for) or if it was due to substituting the creme fraiche with the stuff you can make with buttermilk (stores around here don't offer much diversity). It tasted fine, wouldn't say it was amazing or that I'd really want to go through the fuss again. I think peach crisp would be just fine. But you're welcome to try for yourselves!