Pear & Blue Cheese Pizza

We had our first annual holiday party over the weekend, and I was trying to figure out something unique other than dips that everyone can munch on. I wanted something that I could make earlier in the day, set aside and then serve fresh and hot. I came up with this pizza after reading about 5 different pear pizza recipes  This is a culmination of all of them put into one pizza.

Pear & Blue Cheese Pizza

• 1 ball of pizza dough
• 1 cup balsamic vinegar
• 1/4 cup sugar
• 3 large white onions
• 1 teaspoon butter
• 1/4 cup brown sugar
• 1/2 pound thinly sliced provolone cheese
• 2 Bosc pears, cut in half and then thinly sliced
• 1 red onion, thinly sliced
• 1 cup crumbled blue cheese
• chopped walnuts, optional

1. Thinly slice white onions and add to frying pan with butter and brown sugar. Put lid on and set heat to low and allow to cook down and caramelize. Takes about 30-45 minutes.
2. Preheat oven to 450°. Roll out your dough in desired shape. For this dish, I cut the dough ball in half and rolled out two rectangles, but you can do a traditional round shape. In a small sauce pan add the balsamic vinegar and sugar and set on medium for about 8-10 minutes. Stir every so often and and once it reduces and thickens a little remove from heat and stir for about 1 minutes. Sauce will begin to thicken. Before it gets too thick, pour and spread over dough. 
3. Begin to assemble the rest of the pizza; provolone cheese, caramelized onions, pears, red onion and blue cheese
4. Bake in oven on pizza stone for about 10 minutes. If desired, sprinkle on walnuts before serving

Creamy Chicken Tortellini Soup

Chicken noodle soup is a great comfort food for cold and rainy days. And yesterday was one of those days. It was dark, overcast and cold with a light mist all day and this soup hit the spot. I added the milk and cream at the end, since Phil likes creamy soups, but you are welcome to omit it for a broth-y soup.

Creamy Chicken Tortellini Soup
Serves 6

Ingredients

• 1 chicken breast
• 1 onion, diced
• 2 tablespoons butter
• 3 carrots, diced
• 2 stalks of celery, diced
• 1/4 cup all purpose flour
• 5 cups of chicken stock
• 1 tablespoon each garlic powder, onion powder and Italian seasoning
• 1 teaspoon pepper, or more to taste
• 1/4 teaspoon cayenne powder
• 1 teaspoon paprika
• 1 bay leaf
• 1 bag of cheese tortellini
• 1/4 cup heavy cream
• 1/2 cup milk

Directions

1. In small sauce pan place chicken breast and fill with enough water to cover chicken. Place over medium-high heat and cook about 15-20 minutes until chicken is thoroughly cooked. Once cooked, place in mixer with paddle hook attachment until chicken is shredded. Set aside.
2. Meanwhile, in large stock pot add butter and onions and cook on medium until onions are clear, about 5 minutes. Add carrots and celery and cook about another 5 minutes. Add flour and mix to coat all of the veggies.
3. Stir in the chicken stock, all spices including the bay leaf and turn heat to low. Bring to a low simmer until carrots are tender, about 20 minutes.
4. Add shredded chicken and bag of cheese tortellini and cook 3-5 minutes, or according to package directions. Don't forget to take out the bay leaf floating around in the soup!
5. Remove from heat and add cream and milk, stir to combine and serve.

Fake Take Out - Sweet and Sour Chicken

Every week, I make up a menu for the week of meals that I would like to try/make etc, which makes food shopping easy and takes the stress out of figuring out "whats for dinner" every night. This recipe from Mel's Kitchen Cafe has been on my menu for a few months now, but keeps getting cut or pushed back for some reason or another.

But last night was the lucky night! Sweet and Sour Chicken was finally brought to life!

I recommend doubling the ingredients for the sauce, as the recipe called for. But when I doubled the sauce, I didn't add nearly as much sugar (probably about 1 cup total) and I also added in some garlic powder (1 tablespoon) and ginger powder (1 teaspoon) and reduced the sauce for about 20 minutes on low.

Phil took care of the meat part of the dish, but from looking over his shoulder and the final outcome of the dish, I may have used less cornstarch since there was still a good amount that wasn't used, and the chicken bordered on having that chalky consistency in your mouth.

For next time, I think I will pound the chicken breast thinner and cut smaller pieces, but overall this was a fantastic dish and was very easy to create.

Image from Mel's Kitchen Cafe

Broccoli Spanakopita

Unfortunately, I did not take pictures of last night's dinner. Mostly because the creation that I made looked nothing like the inspiration nor did it look appealing. But it was very appetizing and the flavors were deep, savory and very layered.

But I still wanted to share this recipe because it was very simple (which is a huge plus during the week) and very delicious. Spanakopita is made with feta cheese, spinach and phyllo dough. I found this recipe made with broccoli and liked the creative spin on this classic Greek dish.

Image from Steamy Kitchen

So, go, make Broccoli Spanakopita tonight!