Great Eats with Petes

Caramelized Onion and Mushroom Pizza

May 9th, 2011 by petes

I haven’t forgotten all of you I promise! Life has just gotten in the way. The week where I didn’t get to post at all was because I was out of town at the National Kidney Foundation Spring Clinicals in Las Vegas. Work sent me for work and play! Then this past week I had to play catch up at work and deal with a serious case of jet lag. I’ve been to the west coast before but my jet lag was never as bad as it was upon this return.

Anyway I should be back in full swing and posting three times a week. I wanted to continue with pizza week even though it now spans two weeks lol. The inspiration for pizza week actually came during Lent. My friend Nicole wasn’t eating meat on Fridays and she was coming over for dinner. The perfect solution for me then was to make her pizza and I did. We had quite the pizza party that included all the pizzas I will and have shared with you. She loved them and I hope you do too. Enjoy!

1 pizza dough

Olive Oil

2 medium onions, thinly sliced

Salt

Pepper

1/4 cup white wine (optional)

1 pound of white mushrooms

Shredded Fontina Cheese

Preheat oven to 425 degrees F.

In a saute or frying pan heat about 1 tablespoon of olive oil over medium heat. Add in onions. Season with salt and pepper. Cook slowly over medium-low heat until the onions have become soft and caramelized. Add in wine. Cook until wine has evaporated or reduced down. Remove from pan and set aside.

Add more olive oil to the pan if necessary. Add in mushrooms and cook until tender. Remove from pan.

Dust a clean, flat surface with flour. Dust the pizza dough with flour. Roll out dough into the shape you desire. Top with caramelized onions and mushrooms. Then sprinkle with Fontina cheese. Bake in oven on a cookie sheet, pizza pan or pizza stone. Bake for approxiametly 17 minutes or until pizza is crisp on the bottom.

Allow to rest for a few minutes before cutting. Slice and Enjoy!

Tags: caramelized onion, dinner, entree, lunch, main dish, mushroom, mushroom and onion pizza, onion, pizza
Posted in Recipes | 2 Comments »

Clam Pizza

May 4th, 2011 by petes

It’s pizza week at Great Eats with Petes! I love pizza. If I could handle it I would eat pizza everyday. I love pizza so much that I even managed to unlock the Pizzaiolo badge on foursquare for checking in to 25 different pizza places. Yes, you read that correctly I have checked in to 25 different pizza places. I also enjoy experimenting with toppings. This Clam Pizza was inspired by one I tried at Otto Pizzeria in New York City (there’s one in Las Vegas too). I hope you enjoy a good pizza as much as I do. Enjoy!

2 dozen little neck clams

1 pizza dough

Flour for dusting

Olive Oil

1-2 garlic cloves, minced

Shredded Mozzarella Cheese

Preheat oven to 425 degrees F.

Place clams on a baking sheet. Place clams in the oven and bake for 2-3 minutes or until the clams begin to open. DON’T WALK AWAY! This is only to open the clams a little so you can shuck them not cook them. Remove from oven and allow to cool. Once cool remove the clam from the shell along with the clam juice and set aside in a bowl.

Dust a clean, flat surface with flour. Dust the pizza dough with flour. Roll out dough into the shape you desire.

Brush with olive oil. Sprinkle the dough with garlic. Sprinkle the cheese over the pizza dough. Top with shucked clams and some of their juice. Sprinkle with parsley. Bake in oven on a cookie sheet, pizza pan or pizza stone. Allow approximately 17 minutes for the pizza to cook. Remove from oven.

Slice the pizza and Enjoy!

Tags: clam, clam pizza, dinner, entree, lunch, pizza, seafood, seafood pizza
Posted in Recipes | 3 Comments »

Celery Root Puree

April 21st, 2011 by petes

I am in love with celery root. I first had it last February when I was having dinner in San Francisco and haven’t been able to get enough of it ever since. I have even turned my friends on to it by stuffing it in some raviolis. For those of you who do not what celery root is it actually is the root of a celery stalk. It’s what grows underground but yet it is completely edible well minus the rough skin. It is a nasty looking thing that most people would stay clear from but I swear it tastes really really good. This puree (you can make it as smooth or as chunky as you want) is a great way to try out celery root for the first time and it makes a really good side dish. I will make this over and over again and plan on experimenting more with celery root. Enjoy!

1 celery root

3 cups of heavy cream (approximately)

Salt

Pepper

First you have to take of the outer rough skin off the celery root. The easiest way to do this it to cut it off with a knife after you cut off the root portion to make the celery root flat on one side. A peeler just isn’t strong enough for this task. Once you have removed the skin dice the celery root into pieces that approximately the same size.

Place the celery root in a large pot and then add cover with enough heavy cream to just cover all the celery root. Bring to a boil over medium-low heat. Cook the celery root until it is fork tender.

Place the celery root and some cream into a blender and puree until smooth adding more cream as needed. You can also place the celery root into a large bowl with some of the cream and use a hand blender to make it smooth. Season with salt and pepper.

Serve warm and Enjoy!

Tags: celery root, celery root puree, side dish, vegetable
Posted in Recipes | 4 Comments »

Roasted Leg of Lamb Over Potatoes

April 18th, 2011 by petes

It’s almost Easter time and I have never made a leg of lamb before. The only thing I have made are lamb chops. Those apparently are harder to do than a leg of lamb. I couldn’t believe how easy it was to make a leg of lamb and how little time it took. It was quite a successful first attempt at leg of lamb. This is the time of year when you won’t pay an arm and a leg for this leg so go ahead and make this recipe. I promise it’s much easier than it looks.

1 leg of lamb (this one is approximately 6 pounds)

3 garlic cloves, minced

3 sprigs of rosemary, minced

4 yellow potatoes, thinly sliced (I used mandoline, watch your fingers)

Salt

Pepper

Olive Oil

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.

Cut slits in the leg of lamb. Stuff the slits (cuts) with the garlic pieces and the rosemary. Season with salt and pepper. Drizzle and rub olive oil over the leg of lamb. Set aside.

Put the potatoes in a large bowl. Toss with salt, pepper and olive oil. Line the bottom of a large baking dish or roasting pan (one big enough to hold the leg of lamb) with the potatoes.

Place the leg of lamb on top of the potatoes. Cook in oven for an hour. Remove from heat and check the temperature. It should be 135 degrees in the thickest part for medium rare. I placed it back in the oven and cooked it for an additional 20 minutes before it reached that temperature. Remove from oven and tent with tin foil. Allow to rest for 14 minutes. Cut the lamb of the bone in thin slices.

Serve with the potatoes and Enjoy!

Tags: dinner, easter, easter dinner, entree, garlic, lamb, leg of lamb, main dish, roasted leg of lamb, rosemary
Posted in Recipes | 12 Comments »

Chicken Stuffed with Spinach and Ricotta

April 13th, 2011 by petes

This is another recipe inspired by what was in my fridge the other night. We eat a lot of chicken in my house. We have it at least twice a week if not more. I am always looking for new things to stuff the bird with and have come up with quite a few. I also am experimenting with spinach. It was only this year that I really started to eat spinach. I always thought that it was too bitter a vegetable for my liking. I guess I just wasn’t trying good spinach. So now that I have added it to my repertoire of vegetables I figured hey not stiff the chicken with the spinach and so I did. This recipe isn’t one of my quickest but it is very flavorful. Enjoy!

Olive oil
1 bag of fresh spinach
1 garlic clove, minced and 2 garlic whole and peeeled
Salt
Pepper
4 boneless skinless chicken breasts (you should be able to use 6)
1 cup ricotta
1/4 cup grated cheese (I use Pecorino Romano)
Toothpicks
1 egg, beaten with 1 tablespoon water
1 cup seasoned breadcrumbs

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.
Heat 1 tablespoon of oil over medium heat. Add in garlic and spinach. Season with salt and pepper. Stir around the spinach until it is coated. Cover the pan and allow the spinach to cook turning it every so often. Once spinach has wilted remove from pan and set aside.

In a medium size bowl mix together the ricotta and grated cheese. Season with salt and pepper.

Cut a slit in the chicken breasts to create a pocket. Don’t go all the way through the chicken. Stuff the ricotta mixture inside the slit. Then stuff it with the spinach. You can mix the spinach in with the ricotta too but I wanted a separate layer of spinach. Season the chicken on both sides with salt and pepper. Repeat with the remaining chicken.

Place the egg mixture into a shallow dish. In a second shallow dish place the breadcrumbs. Dredge the chicken in the egg mixture and coat on all sides. Dip the chicken with the egg on it into the breadcrumbs and coat on all sides. Close the pocket up with some toothpicks by placing them in at an angle. Repeat for each piece of chicken.

In a large sautée or fry pan that is oven proof add in the garlic and about 1/4 cup of oil. Turn the heat to medium. When the oil is hot add in the chicken. Brown on both sides. If needed add more oil to the pan. Once browned place the pan in the oven and cook 15-20 minutes or until the chicken is cooked through and reaches an internal temperature of 165 degrees F.

Serve over pasta and Enjoy!

Tags: breaded chicken, chicken, chicken cutlets, dinner, entree, main, main course, ricotta, spinach, stuffed chicken
Posted in Recipes | 10 Comments »

Great Eats with Petes

Caramelized Onion and Mushroom Pizza

Clam Pizza

Celery Root Puree

Roasted Leg of Lamb Over Potatoes

Chicken Stuffed with Spinach and Ricotta

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