Here is a recipe I came up with a few nights ago.  It’s a real easy way to make ravioli using Won Ton Wrappers!  Try it and let me know what you think?

If you have ever made homemade ravioli, you know it’s quite a chore! First you must make the dough and then roll it paper thin. This is not easy if you don’t have a pasta maker. Even with a pasta maker it can be very messy and time consuming. Since, I love great ravioli and find it difficult to find quality ravioli in any west coast supermarket, I decided to make my own from scratch.

Don’t worry, I’ll show you a fast way of making your pasta dough. Go out to your local grocery store and buy some Won Ton Wrappers! They work great!

I have tried many different ways of making these delicious morsels of stuffed pasta squares. You can get real creative in choosing your fillings for your ravioli. I’ve tried pumpkin and various combination’s of meats and cheeses, but my most recent creation is my favorite. Here is my recipe for “Portabella Mushroom Ravioli with a Creamy Basil Garlic Sauce.

Ingredients:

1 package of Chinese won ton wrappers

32 oz or Ricotta cheese

1-2 tablespoons black pepper

¼ cup of chopped parsley

¼ cup of mixed Parmesan and Romano cheese

¼ cup of mozzarella cheese

2 large portabella mushrooms

¼ cup of sherry wine

2 cloves of fresh garlic minced

1 tablespoon of butter and olive oil

1 egg

First slice your mushrooms and sauté in the butter and olive oil. Turn up the heat a little and add the sherry until it evaporates. Place all the mushrooms in a food processor.

Put all the other ingredients, accept the won ton wrappers, into a food processor and pulse until chopped and blended. Your won ton wrappers should be at room temperature before you start.

When you’re ready, take two won ton wrappers and wet the ends with water. Put a spoon full of the mixture in the center. Place the second wrapper on top and press close with your fingers. Use a fork or a pie crust edge roller to seal the edges.

Boil the ravioli for 5 minutes or until the ravioli all float to the top. Top with your sauce

Creamy Garlic Basil Sauce

1-2 large cooked (boiled) peeled potatoes

1 -2 cups of milk or half and half

3-4 cloves of garlic chopped

1 tablespoon of olive oil

1 tablespoon of butter

Black pepper to taste

Grated nutmeg to taste

A hand-full of some chopped parsley

½ cup of grated Romano (Asiago, Parmesan) cheese

1-2 tablespoons of fresh chopped basil

Combine ½ the milk and the two potatoes in a blender and blend until smooth. Add more milk if you need it. Saute the garlic in the olive oil and butter. Add all the other ingredients accept the Romano Cheese and stir until the sauce thickens. About 10 minutes. Add more milk if your sauce evaporates too fast. Add all the cheese right before you serve and stir into the hot creamy mixture

I hope you love it!

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Mexican pizza is one of my families favorite pizzas.  It’s simple to make and if you have a taste for spicy flavors with a little heat, this pizza is for you.

My kids have loved Mexican food since the day they were born!  I guess I shouldn’t have filled those empty baby jars with refried beans.  Just kidding…  In our house there is always leftover salsa or hot sauce around.  Since I’m the main cook, I’m always searching for new recipes to make.  One day, I came across some left over salsa in the refrigerator, but I was in the mood for pizza.  Walaa…the birth of my Mexican Pizza.

My Mexican salsa is easy to make and very tasty.  The recipe was shared with me from an inmate in prison.  No, I wasn’t in prison, but I was the Correctional Officer in charge of watching the Hispanic prisoners cooking in the kitchen. This guy whipped together a batch of salsa for his amigos that the Chefs on the Food Network channel would be proud of.

Here is the salsa recipe with a touch of fresh ingredients and a little of my own touch:

Mexican Pizza Sauce:

1 can of stewed tomatoes

1 small can of tomato sauce (8 oz)

1 small jalapeño pepper

2-3 cloves of fresh garlic finely chopped

¼ cup of fresh chopped cilantro

¼ small onion chopped

¼ tsp oregano

½ tsp cumin

½ tsp Chile powder

Use a small blender or food processor and process the jalapeno, garlic, onion, just until nicely chopped.  Add all the other ingredients and give a few quick bursts of chopping.  Refrigerate until you are ready to make the pizza

For The Pizza:

Fresh pizza dough enough for 1-2 pizzas

16 oz of whole milk mozzarella or your favorite cheese

Grated Romano and Asiago cheese as much as you like

1-2 links of spicy chorizo (Mexican pork sausage)

Cooking:

Preheat your oven to its highest temperature.  For a home oven that is usually 550 degrees

Remove the casing from the sausage and sauté until cooked. Grate all of the mozzarella. Spread a little olive oil on your pizza pan and then spread out your pizza dough on it.

Spread your salsa over your pizza.  Sprinkle with a little oregano, and then grate a little of the Asiago and Roman cheese on it.  Spread all of your mozzarella cheese on your pizza and then sprinkle all of your chorizo on top.

Cook for 15-20 minutes and enjoy!

Do you love pizza? I sure have a passion for eating and making pizza.  It all started years ago as a kid growing up on the east coast. I have become quite a connoisseur of this flavorful crusted pie with bubbly melted cheese and tomato sauce on it.

However, as an aging baby boomer with high Cholesterol and a fondness for Italian food, I can do without all the cheese.  Here is a recipe that is very easily made in a bread maker and it is just as yummy as the higher cholesterol cheese pizza that I love so dearly.

Bruschetta or Diet Pizza

3 cups of flour

1 tbl salt

1 tsp. of dried minced garlic

1 tbl of dried Italian seasoning

1 tsp yeast

1 1/12 cups of warm water

2 tbl of olive oil

Put all the ingredients into your bread maker.  All the liquids are always first. Make the dough in your bread maker and refrigerate until you are ready to use.

Topping

Fresh Garlic minced

3-4 fresh sliced tomatoes

2-tbl olive oil

2 tbl of margarine or butter

Sprinkle of oregano

Grated asiago cheese on top

Sauté the garlic in olive oil and butter until lightly brown. Oil your pizza tin bottom and spread out your dough like a pizza. Brush the olive oil margarine mixture onto your flattened dough. Cover with sliced fresh tomatoes and sprinkle a little oregano on top and a little of the asiago cheese on top.

Bake for about 15-20 minutes at 500 degrees

Here is a recipe for Italian meatballs that helped win a cooking contest that I entered. The prize for the winner was a limo for the night for friends and family and a trip to San Francisco to a top notch Italian restaurant called Fior d’Italia. If you have a recipe for a dish that you love, you might consider entering a cooking contest. There are thousands of cooking contests around the United States.

Some of the winners receive money, prizes or their own cooking show on TV. The Food Network TV channel is always casting for a competition. Check out their web site for; The Next Food Network Star competition.

Here is my Italian meatball recipe. You can find the sauce and pasta part of the recipe on my web-site. The recipe that won the award is called; “Rigatoni Pasta With Raisin Meatballs And Portabella Mushrooms Topped With A Fresh Tomato-Marsala Sauce.”

Chef Vinny’s Italian Meatballs

2 lb. Ground beef (chuck or regular) not lean

2 tsp of salt or more if you like

3 large garlic cloves minced

4 eggs

1 tsp of minced dry basil leafs

½ tsp of minced dried oregano

½ tsp of black pepper

¼ cup of fresh chopped parsley

¼ – ½ cup of plain breadcrumbs

¼ cup of grated fresh parmesan or Romano cheese

(Optional) ¼ cup of raisins makes great tasting meatballs!!

Mix all in large bowl with your hands and form meatballs. Place on an oven tray and bake at 350 degrees for 15-20 minutes or until they become firm and slightly brown. Don’t over cook.

When done place all the meatballs into your favorite pasta tomato sauce and let simmer or medium heat until the meatballs are cooked all the way through. Serve with your favorite pasta. Enjoy!

Barbecue Pizza!……….. Why barbecue a pizza?

The simple answer is fast cooking. To make great pizza your pizza should cook fast and fast cooking is one of the secrets to making a perfect pizza pie.

The main reason is that barbecues can reach very high temperatures! Some of the best pizzas that I have tasted were cooked in wood burning ovens. For centuries people around the world have been cooking in wood burning ovens. These ovens and also, professional pizza ovens can reach the high temperatures of 800 to 1200 degrees. At these high temperatures a pizza cooks in only 2- 4 minutes.

Here are three ways that you can make pizza on a barbecue:

First, Heat your barbecue to the highest temperature that it will reach. My barbecue reaches 600 degrees. Stretch your dough out into a small circle that will fit on your barbecue.

1. Use a wooden peel. (This is a shovel like tool used to put pizza or bread in the oven) First spread cornmeal on your peel. The cornmeal acts like tiny ball bearings helping to slide the pizza off the peel on to the barbecue. Put your stretched dough on your peel and place all your toppings on it. When your barbecue is heated to temperature, use a little jerking motion to slide your pizza off of the peel on to the barbecue grill. This method cooks your pizza directly on the grill. Close your barbecue top and check your pizza in a few minutes. It won’t take long before the crust of your pizza begins to char. You want some charring all around your crust. Be sure to take your pizza out before the cheese starts to burn.

2. The second method that I use is less messy. I stretch out a large piece of aluminum foil and lightly spray olive oil on it. After stretching my dough out, I place it on the aluminum foil. Put your pizza sauce, toppings and cheese on it. Now, crimp the ends of the aluminum foil so that you can grab it and pick up the whole pizza on the aluminum foil. Carry the pizza over to your heated barbecue and place it on the grill and close your barbecue. Check your pizza in a few minutes.

3. The third way is to use a pizza stone on your barbecue. I have tried fire bricks, clay tiles and pizza stones. They all work fine. Heat your pizza stone in your barbecue for at least 30 minutes before placing your pizza on it. When your barbecue is up to temperature use the same technique of sliding your pizza off of the wooden peel as described in my first method.

Pizza on a barbecue

Your pizza crust should slightly puff up after cooking and be a little charred around the edges. Remember, your pizza is only as good as the pizza dough that you make. Enjoy!