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Showing posts with label spinach. Show all posts
Showing posts with label spinach. Show all posts

Monday, January 7, 2013

Cook: Whole Wheat Spinach & Feta Pizza

My husband and I have an unhealthy obsession with Domino's Spinach and Feta pizza. I know! I know! But sometimes, it's just a guilty pleasure when we don't feel like cooking. While grocery shopping, Brian got the grand idea to buy the ingredients to try and make it ourselves! We had talked about it before and now we finally got around to it and let me just tell you...best decision. 


Just take a look at that! It tastes as good as it looks, I swear it!

Even if you're not a big fan of spinach, trust me, you'll like this! 

Whole Wheat Spinach & Feta Pizza

Pizza Dough Ingredients:
  • 1 1/3 cups of warm water
  • 1/3 cup of sugar
  • 1 Tbs or 1 packet of active dry yeast
  • 6 cups of whole wheat flour
  • 1/4 cup of extra virgin olive oil
  • 2 tsp salt

Toppings: 
  • Drizzle of extra virgin olive oil
  • Sprinkle of garlic salt
  • Grated parmesan cheese
  • Grated romano cheese (optional)
  • Block of shredded mozzarella
  • Fresh spinach leaves
  • Crumbled feta cheese 

Preheat your oven to 400 degrees. Prepare your pizza dough first. Basically you proof the yeast by letting the warm water, yeast, and sugar sit for about 10 minutes, then slowly mix in the flour (add in the salt and olive oil with the first cup of flour). Knead the dough once it is thick enough to be handled, adding flour as needed. Form it into a ball and let it "rest" for about 15 minutes. 


Now roll out the dough. We split the dough into two and they made a somewhat thin crust pizza but we got two instead of just one. I recommend splitting it into two because whole wheat pizza dough tends to be pretty filling, in my opinion. 


Press your fingers into the edges to create a crust on the outside. I made just a little crust so it would keep the sauce from spilling over but not so much that you end up wasting it. 


Carefully move the dough to your pizza pan. I brushed olive oil over the surface so that the garlic salt would stick. This step may or may not be needed. 


Sprinkle some garlic salt on the edges for a little delicious addition. 


Now sprinkle your parmesan all over. In hindsight, it's probably a better idea to put the parmesan on after the alfredo sauce because it made it a little more difficult to spread the sauce. 


Pour on the alfredo! 


Spread it to whatever thickness you prefer. We used maybe 1/3 of a jar. 


Mozzarella time! As thick or thin as you want! We like a bit of cheese as you can tell!


Fresh spinach leaves on top. It looks like a lot but they shrink up a bit in the oven. I think next time I'll put almost double this much. 


Sprinkle on your crumbled feta. We also put a little more mozzarella on top of the spinach leaves to help bake them onto the pizza.


Now bake the pizza for about 15-20 minutes. Keep an eye on it though. 


Once the cheese starts to brown it's done!


Sometimes it can be tough to see when whole wheat is done because it's more difficult to see when it's browning. Relying on the cheese turning brown seemed to do the trick for our pizzas.



I used to be a plain cheese pizza kind of girl but after trying the spinach and feta pizza from Domino's, I was hooked! And now that we've mastered it at home, we're both totally hooked. I doubt we'll be calling Domino's anytime soon! The best part is that, despite all the cheese, it's at least whole wheat dough and there's spinach on it! 

We'll be making this again for sure! I think you should too!

Do you like to make your own pizza? What's your favorite kind of pizza to make or buy?

Till next time,
Catherine


I've linked up to Less Laundry, More Linking #5 with Life After Laundry and Sensational Creations!


Monday, November 12, 2012

Cook: Lasagna Spinach Rolls

Today, I'm thankful for honesty. I love when people are able to get over themselves and just be honest. Honest in the little things, honest in the big things. More honesty in this country would make this country a better place. But today, I'm thankful for those who are being honest already and make it a point in their daily lives to be an honest, genuine person.


Looks delicious, right? It is! It's like your own personal roll of lasagna heaven. I pinned this recipe on Pinterest a while back and am SO glad I finally made it! I used that recipe as a guideline but added my own taste to it. My recipe also makes double what the original recipe makes. So, be prepared to put half in the freezer or feed a large family! Or, just half the recipe!

Ingredients: 
  • 1 box of lasagna noodles (20 in the box, used 19 because 1 broke)
  • 1 10oz frozen package of spinach, thawed and drained
  • 15oz container of ricotta cheese
  • 16oz container of cottage cheese
  • 1/2 cup parmesan cheese (more or less to taste)
  • 1/2 cup shredded mozzarella (more or less to taste)
  • 2 eggs
  • Salt
  • Pepper
  • Jar of tomato pasta sauce
  • Jar of alfredo sauce
Directions:

Boil your noodles ahead of time then strain them and lay them out so they cool off. You should probably use wax paper, but I didn't have any, so I used aluminum foil. It worked fine. Also, preheat the oven to 350.



Put your spinach, ricotta cheese, cottage cheese, parmesan, eggs, and a dash of salt and pepper into a medium bowl.


Mix tit together well. Mostly be sure your eggs and spinach are mixed in. I used a wooden spoon that I guess might be considered a spork and that helped separate the spinach.


Spoon out maybe 1/4-1/3 cup of the mixture onto your noodles and spread it evenly. I didn't measure which gave me a little trouble later...whoops!


Roll 'em up!


Before placing them in your pan, pour your pasta sauce in the bottom and spread it around. As you can see, using the whole box of lasagna makes a lot! Once you've done that, place your rolls in the pan...or panS in my case. 


Then, take your alfredo sauce and spoon it over the tops of the rolls. If you don't like alfredo, you don't have to do this. I thought the combination was delicious!


Then, take your shredded mozzarella and sprinkle it on top! It's looking real good now, huh? You could also add more parmesan on top if you wanted. Or do parmesan instead of the mozzarella. All of these choices would be delicious!


Now, pop them into the oven at 350 for about 40-45 minutes. If you did as many as I did where they're all touching, you'll need closer to 45 minutes. If you did less with them not touching, check them after about 30 minutes. If they're getting crispy and a little browned, they're good to go. 


Mouth watering deliciousness! I baked the large dish first and put the small one into the freezer for another time. 


Mmm mm mm! Enjoy!

A couple recommendations:
  • If you plan to make a lot and freeze half, buy some of those metal pans at the grocery store. 
  • If you want them to be crispier, lay them in the pan so that they are not touching each other. 
  • Don't put too much in each roll! I started with putting too much in the first 6 but ended up barely having enough for the last few!
  • Save your extra sauce for those who like their lasagna extra saucy!
What's your favorite lasagna recipe? Do you like to keep it simple or go all out?

Till next time,
Catherine



I've linked up to Make Your Own Mondays 9/9/13 with Nourishing Treasures!