The Pink Hobart

Tuesday Night Pizza

Tuesday nights are all about pizza.  We're tired and worked and schooled and sported out, so we usually do easy food.  Sometimes we go out for it, but often it's a homemade affiar.

Despite Hillary Clinton's tears over the stuff, pizza can be a pretty healthy and tasty meal.  If whole wheat flour is substituted for some or even all of the white stuff and the toppings are veggie-full (or you eat your pizzas the way I do, with a heap of salad greens folded up in the slice) you have a pretty balanced and filling meal.

Here is my recipe for pizza dough.  I use canned, organic fire-roasted tomatoes & smoosh them up to make a really simple sauce.  I'll add some part skim mozzarella cheese, sliced veggies and maybe some meat or beans (sounds weird, is delicious) and call it good.

A Monster of a Garlic Dip!

 

Whew! It's that time of year to get the heck out of the house and into the yard, throw some stuff on the grill and chillax. This is one of my favorite things to put on oh, you know, everything... whether it's from off the grill or straight from the refrigerated deli section. (It's NBD, I won't judge.) If you're squicked out by the idea of raw eggs AND raw garlic (really though, what could go wrong?) you can substitute the 2 eggs for 1 small red, boiled potato that has been peeled, mashed and cooled. 

Aioli Monstre

Serves 6 to 8

Based on a recipe by Richard Olney

 

• 2-4 cloves garlic, peeled
• 1 teaspoon fine sea salt
  
• 1-2 large AA eggs at room temperature, whisked well
• 1-2 cups extra-virgin olive oil (a mellow Greek or French is ideal), plus more if needed
• Juice of 1 small lemon
• 1 teaspoon lukewarm water, plus more as needed

 

Crush the garlic with the sea salt until a rough paste forms. Add the whisked eggs.  Beat the eggs and salt-garlic paste together with the pestle until slightly thickened.  While turning the ingredients around the mortar with the pestle, slowly add olive oil by drops: begin with about a tablespoon’s worth and then follow with another dribble, about a tablespoon’s worth.  When it is well incorporated, add two more tablespoons in a slow, steady stream until it is well mixed.  At this point, it should begin to get a little thick.  Do not stop mixing while adding the oil; this will break the emulsion that is being created.  Add the lemon juice and about a teaspoon of the lukewarm water.  Continue to add olive oil while mixing continuously.  After every quarter cup of oil or so, add a touch more water to thin out the mixture. 

 

If the aioli breaks, empty out the ingredients and add 1 more egg yolk to the empty mortar.  Add a few drops of lemon juice, and add the broken aioli, spoonful by spoonful, back to this mixture while stirring with the pestle.

 

Serve aioli with the following accompaniments:

 

• Boiled red potatoes, chilled and sliced in half
• Blanched green beans
• Peeled raw carrots, celery and radishes
• Hard-boiled eggs, chilled and quartered
• Boiled artichokes, trimmed and halved
• Assorted cured meats
• Pickled cucumbers and onions

Tuscan Bean Dip with Rosemary and Olive Oil: Rustic, Italian!

Thanks to everyone who joined me this evening for my cooking class, Rustic Italian Cooking at ChefShop.com. As promised, here is the recipe for this evening's appetizer. Easy, delicious, and super-fast. Enjoy!

Tuscan Bean Dip with Rosemary and Olive Oil

• 1 15 oz. can cannellini beans, drained
• ¾  cup stock or water, plus more if needed
• 1-2 sprigs fresh rosemary
• 2 cloves garlic, peeled and left whole
• A few drizzles of extra-virgin olive oil, plus more if desired
• Salt and black pepper to taste

 

Tuscan Bean Dip

Heat the beans together with the water or stock, garlic and rosemary on low heat. When the beans are very soft and warmed through, remove the rosemary and garlic and mash them with a potato masher until they are roughly processed. Add a few drops of oil and mash a bit more. Continue adding the oil and mashing until the beans are somewhat smooth (it doesn’t have to be perfect!).  Squeeze the garlic out onto a cutting board and gently mash it with the side of a knife and add it to the mashed beans. If desired, chop the left over rosemary and stir in with beans as well. Add salt and pepper to taste. Dollop onto grilled bread or scoop up with fresh sliced veggies. Serves 6-8.