Ckicken Pesto Pasta

Here's what you need.  A couple of tablespoons of olive oil, a cup of pesto, pasta, chicken, cream, black pepper, garlic, red pepper flakes, seasoning salt, and Parmesan cheese.

Saute several cloves of minced garlic in the olive oil.

Add about a cup of pesto.  You can make your own or buy it.  Today I bought it but sometimes I make it in a food processor.

 Add a cup of cream

Add about a coup of grated Parmesan cheese (more or less depending on your preference)

Add red pepper to taste ( Emma says we like things spicy)

Add some seasoning salt

Let it simmer while you make the pasta and chicken

Cook chicken with black pepper

Put pasta in bowls

Add sauce

Add chicken and enjoy

Real Homemade Lemonade

So, for the next couple weeks we are on a really tight food budget so I had a munch of lemons and some semi-old strawberries.  So, I decided to made some strawberry lemonade.  (I spiked it with a little sweet wine but you can just use all water if you want.

Here's what you need.  3/4 cup of white sugar, 1 cup lemon juice (fresh is best but you can use bottled) a few strawberries, water, ice, and sweet wine (optional)

Mix one cup of water with 3/4 cup white sugar and heat on a low medium heat until it dissolves.

 When it is done it will be clear.

Cut several lemons in half

Juice until you have 1 cup of juice. 

Slice a lemon into rounds for garnishing

Dice up a few strawberries

Put lemon juice into the pitcher.  I use one with plunger.

Add water/sugar mixture

Add 1/2 cup of sweet white wine (optional)

Add 3 1/2 cups of cold water (4 if you left out the wine)

Add strawberries

Plunge a couple of times

Garnish with a lemon slice and add some ice.  If you are serving with one day you can add lemon slices to the pitcher but if it will be a couple of days the lemon rind will leave a bitter taste.

Enjoy with a good friend.  Depending on your taste preference you may need to adjust the lemon/sugar/wine ratio.

Pizza Margherita

So Chris and I are going to Italy this fall.  We are sooooooooo excited.  As part of our planning we are trying a new recipe a week.  This week's was particularly Italian.  Pizza Margherita.  It is named after the Queen of Italy Margherita of Savoy.  Chris and I are going to place where the original pizza was made in Naples.  They serve two kinds one with tomatoes, fresh basil, and fresh mozzarella and one with tomatoes and basil. Italians also see their flag.  Red for the tomatoes, green for the basil and white for the mozzarella just like the colors of their flag.

Here is what you need.  Flour, olive oil, salt, a can of crushed tomatoes, diced tomatoes (fresh or canned) fresh basil, black pepper, oregano, and 4-5 garlic cloves.

Peel and finely chop the garlic (I use my garlic car)

Saute in some olive oil until tender.

 Add the can of crushed tomatoes

Dice fresh tomatoes

Add tomatoes to sauce

Add some black pepper, salt, and oregano to taste

Simmer while making dough

Preheat oven to 200.

Take a cup of warm water and a tablespoon of yeast and let rest until slightly bubbly about 10 min.

Stir in some salt and 1 1/2 - 2 cups of flour. You might need to add more flour or water depending it should make a slightly sticky dough.

Need with dough hook or by hand until it pulls and coat with olive oil

Cover with a dish towel and turn off the oven and place in oven and let rise for about 45 min until doubled.

Remove from oven

 Preheat oven to 450

Spread dough on a pizza stone or cookie sheet and bake for 3-5 min

Spread sauce on crust

Slice fresh mozzarella

Place on pizza

Chop some fresh basil

Sprinkle on pizza

Bake another 7-8 min

Slice and enjoy