Tomato & Basil Pesto Parmesan Tart

Wow! It has been some time since I've blogged! With only 2 weeks to go until my wedding, one can obviously tell I've been a busy bee! So two weeks from today, I will be arriving Punta Cana for our destination wedding of a lifetime… We are just so excited and can’t wait!
So back to cooking! Anthony and I had some friends over for dinner one night and I decided to try this tomato and basil pesto parmesan tart I had been dying to make ever since I became a fan of Closet Cooking’s blog (http://www.closetcooking.com/2010/08/tomato-and-basil-pesto-parmesan-tart.html) . I saw his recipe and salivated just looking at his pictures- I mean it has all of my favorite ingredients and almost like a flat bread pizza! Who wouldn’t love this! So I decided to make this as an appetizer! This was super quick and easy-I made it even easier by picking up some pre made pesto I got at Wegman’s Olive bar-but I will be trying this recipe again, using my own pesto- I promise.
So here’s what you need for this amazing treat…

Tomato and Basil Pesto Parmesan Tart

(makes 4 servings)

Ingredients:

1 sheet puff pastry (thawed according to the packages directions)

1/2 cup basil pesto

1/2 cup parmigiano reggiano (grated)

2 large ripe field tomatoes (thinly sliced)

1 tablespoon olive oil

Directions:

1. Roll the puff pastry out to a 16x10 inch rectangle.

2. Score a line around the puff pastry 1/2 inch from the edge. You can use a fork or pastry roller

3. Spread the pesto over the center of the dough and top with the parmigiano reggiano.

4. Arrange the tomato slices in a single layer on top of the pesto and parmigiano reggiano.

5. Brush the outside 1/2 inch of the pastry with the oil. You can even add some garlic salt to the olive oil to give it some garlic!

6. Bake in a preheated 400F oven until the pastry is golden brown, about 15-20 minutes

7. slice, serve, and enjoy!

  

                                                   

Yummy Pumpkin Cookies!

On Sunday, October 24^th, Troops in Pink helped Make Strides Against Breast Cancer at Cooper River Park in Pennsauken, NJ! This was my (3^rd) year as a team leader and to thank my team mates for their support and donations I made some Halloween treat bags with Peanut Butter Chocolate kiss cookies and the most delicious cookies I’ve made to date, Pumpkin cookies. They were so warm and soft like the top of a muffin sprinkled with confectioners’ sugar, and I’m not even a big Pumpkin fan! I think I will be making these again for some Thanksgiving treats as we travel to Arlington, VA for the holidays!

The Pumpkin cookie recipe from a fabulous blog at the link below...Thanks Joy!

http://www.joythebaker.com/blog/2008/10/pumpkin-cookies-revisited/

Peanutbananafluff Dessert Panini

Ant and I had Panini's one night for dinner and since I had the Panini maker already out, when it came to dessert, I decided to try something new using pantry staples of some of his favorite things...


Ingredients

•  2 slices of cinnamon raisin bread
• 1 banana sliced
• Peanut butter
• Butter
• Fluff

Directions:

• Spread small slither of butter on one side of each slice, butter side down.
• Spread peanut butter on one slice and top with sliced banana
• Spread Fluff on other slice of bread and put that on top of the banana slice to make a sandwich
• Lay onto Panini maker and shut it for 3-4 minutes until toasted and everything starts to melt
• slice in half and you have a taste of dessert goodness for your night capper!

Garlic Lemon Shrimp and Orzo

After searching high and low for a yummy quick shrimp orzo recipe, I stumbled across this blog and decided to try it out. This was super quick and super delicious. I always ask Ant where it ranks and he said one of my TOP 5 dishes and one of his favorites, so hence I’m posting  and leading you to check out this blog as some of her dishes make you salvate and want to make everything she has on there!

Dinners for a Year and Beyond

Garlic Lemon Shrimp and Orzo
serves 6
2 cups orzo, cooked al dente and drained

• 2 tablespoons olive oil
• 1 1/2 cups onions, diced
• 4 garlic cloves, minced
• 1 lemon, juiced and zested--I didn't have a lemon, but used lemon juice from the fridge instead in case you run into similar scenario and don't want to run out to the store!
• 1 cup white wine---for the white wine, I chose Sutter Home Sauvignon Blanc as that's what I had on hand
• salt, to taste
• pepper, to taste
• 1 tablespoon butter
• 2 pounds of shrimp, 21 - 25 count, peeled and deveined
• 1/3 cup parsley, chopped
• 2/3 cup Parmesan cheese, grated

In a large saute pan, heat olive oil. Add onions and cook for about 5 - 6 minutes or until they are soft but not brown. Add the garlic and cook for an additional minute.
Add the lemon juice, zest, and wine. Bring to a boil then reduce the heat and cook for 2 - 3 minutes to meld the flavors together. Taste and season with salt and pepper. Stir in pat of butter until melted.
Add the shrimp and cook until just cooked through, about 4 - 5 minutes. Toss shrimp and sauce with the orzo, parsley and Parmesan. Serve with extra cheese.

My first Penne a la Vodka

After researching and googling penne vodka recipes after one another and talking to my friends about how to make a yummy vodka sauce, I jumbled everything together and made my own and came out really good. I actually stood at my stove, and said "Wow, I did pretty good!"  hehe..see below for how I made mine. I think next time I'm going to add crab meat to this concoction!

Ingredients:

(3) tablespoons of EVOO

(1) Small onion diced

1 (28oz) can of crushed tomatoes

(3) cloves garlic

pinch of red pepper flakes (pends on your spice level)

1 pint heavy cream

1 cup vodka

Penne pasta

Salt and pepper

Grated Parmesan cheese

Directions:

1.         Take a medium sauce pan (this sauce makes a lot, so medium size or bigger) and heat oil on medium heat, add onions and sauté for 5-6 minutes until see through, then add garlic for 1-2 minutes
2.          Add can of crushed tomatoes, add red pepper flakes, salt and pepper to your tasting, and simmer for 15 minutes
3.          Stir in Vodka and cook 15 minutes more
4.          Bring large pot of salted water to a boil and add pasta and cook for 8-10 minutes or until al dente; drain; put back in pot
5.          Stir cream into sauce and cook 10 minutes more
6.          Pour sauce over pasta to well coat and then serve and top with grated parmesan cheese

I also made a few chicken cutlets just to add for Ant, but that's an entirely different day for posting!

Asian Cuisine with Lauren

This past Friday night, my girlfriend Lauren and I (if you’re a follower, we both made the lasagna in my blog) decided we were going to stay in to watch the Phillies, drink some wine, and cook! Our theme was Asian cuisine since we did Italian the month prior. Our 3 plates to make were Asian Lettuce Wraps, Lo Mein, and Creole shrimp (now we know that Creole shrimp is not Asian, so it was our wild card, so we threw it in there just to have some type of shrimp dish and this looked too delicious to pass up).

We did change some of the ingredients; you'll see ours listed below and then you can see the actual recipe and they called for...it’s totally up to you!

Asian Lettuce Wraps

http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/sunny-anderson/asian-lettuce-wraps-recipe/index.html

·         2 teaspoons vegetable oil

·         1 lb chicken tenderloins cut into small cubes

·         2-inch piece ginger, peeled and finely grated – or you can use ginger powder like we did

·         2 scallions, chopped

·         2 cloves garlic, minced

·         2 tablespoons soy sauce

·         1 teaspoon red pepper flakes (this makes it very spicccccy, you may want to half it if you are more on the mild side!)

·         1/4 cup hoisin sauce

·         1/4 cup chopped peanuts

·         Salt and freshly ground black pepper

Creole Shrimp

http://www.kraftrecipes.com/recipes/quick-creole-shrimp-115895.aspx

1 lb. frozen uncooked cleaned large shrimp, thawed

1 Tbsp.  Cajun seasoning

1/4 cup KRAFT Zesty Italian Dressing

2 cloves  garlic, minced

1 Tbsp. chopped fresh parsley

I can't seem to locate our Lo Mein recipe at the moment, when I do, I'll add it to this blog...but we cooked a lb of pasta and we seriously could feed an army! 

This is our completed plate, paired with some Vinho Verde and some Yellowtail red wine, e it was yummy, super simple,  and better than take out!

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