Starches: Grains, Pasta, Potatoes and Bread-Based Dishes

Grains

Berley's Quinoa Salad
Southwestern Quinoa Salad
Kasha Varnishkes
Polenta

Rice

*Saffron Risotto
Red Wine Risotto with Rosemary
*Arroz sin Pollo
Veggie Paella
Five-Grain Croquettes

Pasta

Hungarian Cabbage Noodles
Pasta Primavera
Fusilli with Spinach Puree
Pumpkin Lasagna with Sage "Cream"
Cold Sesame Noodles

Potatoes

Baked Potatoes or Sweet Potatoes
Stuffed Hashbrowns
Crusty Oven Fries
Mashed Potatoes
*Greek-Style Garlic-Lemon Potatoes
Spicy Indian Potatoes

Bread-Based Dishes

Stuffing

Pizza

Fine Pizza Crust
Real Pizza
Southwestern Pizza

 

Quinoa Salad

Yields: 8 cups
Serving size: 1.33-2 cups
Servings: 4-6

Based on a recipe from Peter Berley's A Modern Vegetarian Kitchen. Derek claims this is the "best salad ever." I think it's the seeds that he adores. This is a pretty large recipe, but whenever I make it the salad doesn't last more than a few days. This is great for picnics or potlucks because it's colorful and served cold (although Derek always insists on warming it up).

In a small saucepan over high heat, bring to a boil:

• 1.5 cups water
• 0.5 tsp coarse sea salt
• 1 cup quinoa, rinsed and drained

Spread on a baking sheet:

• 1/3 cup sesame seeds
• 1/3 cup sunflower seeds
• 1/3 cup pumpkin seeds

(Optional) Combine and set aside for 10 minutes, then drain:

• 1/2 cup arame
• 2 cups warm water

In a pot fitted with a steamer, combine:

• kernels from 2 ears sweet corn (about ? cup)
• 1 red onion, diced

Mix together:

• 1/2 cup cider vinegar
• 1/4 cup extra-virgin olive oil (try 3 Tbs?)
• 1 small bunch cilantro, trimmed, leaves and tender stems chopped (about 1 cup)
• 2 scallions, white and light green parts, trimmed and sliced
• 1 jalepeno pepper, seeded and minced
• 1 garlic clove, minced
• 1/2 - 2/3 tsp salt
• ? black pepper, freshly milled

Into a large bowl place:

• 1 red bell pepper, diced
• 1 bunch red radishes (8-10), trimmed and cut into matchsticks
• 1 large carrot, grated

Add the nuts, the arame (optional), the corn and onion, the quinoa, and the marinade. Toss and chill before serving, at least 20 minutes.

Southwestern Quinoa Salad

Yields: 6 cups
Serving size: 2 cups (main dish) 0.75 cups (side)
Servings: 3 (main) or 8 (side)

Based on a recipe given to me by Anna Biscotti. The flavorings look strong, but are surprisingly mild and blend together wonderfully. Plus the nutritional value for this salad is great. This is great for picnics or potlucks because it's colorful and good at room temperature. If you replace the red pepper with (what to add in winter?, 1 grated carrot?, frozen corn?) and the cilantro with parsley?, this is a great salad for winter. If the sun-dried tomatoes are very dry, it might be necessary to soak them in boiling water briefly (or cook them with the quinoa?) The onion can be added raw, but once the salad sits overnight the onion flavor can become overpowering, so if you're not going to eat it all immediately I'd recommend briefly steaming the onion or leaving it on the side to be added by each individual.

In a small saucepan over high heat, bring to a boil:

• 1 cup quinoa, rinsed and drained
• 1.5 cups water
• 0.5 tsp coarse sea salt

In a pot fitted with a steamer, steam:

• 1/2 small red onion, diced (optional?)

Meanwhile, toast in a dry skillet:

• 1/3 cup pine nuts (or try pumpkin, sesame, sunflower seeds?)

Combine the red onion and nuts together in a medium bowl, and add:

• 1/2 cup chopped sun-dried tomatoes, dry-packed
• 1 Tbs. cumin (yes, a whole Tbs!)
• 1/8? tsp. cayenne
• 2 Tbs. balsamic vinegar
• 2 Tbs. olive oil
• 1 garlic clove, minced
• 2 cups drained garbanzo beans (18?-oz Progresso can?)
• 1 red pepper, chopped
• 1/4 cup chopped cilantro (or parsley in a pinch)

Kasha Varnishkes

Adapted from Joan Nathan's Jewish Cooking in America. I first had this traditional Jewish dish at Ratner's in Manhattan... it was inedible. Why, oh why, I asked myself, didn't I order blintzes? After many years, the experience (and awful taste) had time to fade away, and I finally got up the nerve to try making kasha myself. I discovered that kasha is sweet and nutty, but subtle. Nothing like the terrible dish I had at Ratner's. The Varnishkes were originally a kreplach-type noodle, but for convenience packaged bow-tie noodles have become the standard. The noodles add a nice textural contrast, but I find them a bit extraneous. The dish is interesting and tasty even without the noodles. This recipe is very quick to make. It will be done by the time the noodles are cooked.

Put a large pot of water on the stove. While the water is coming to a boil...

Toast over high heat for 2 to 4 minutes until you start smelling the aroma of the kasha:

• 1 cup kasha (whole? groats? what are they called?)

Sauté in a heavy frying pan:

• 2 large onions, sliced in rounds
• 2 Tbs olive oil

• 12 ounces mushrooms, sliced

Beat in a small mixing bowl:

• 1 large egg white

Put the kasha in the frying pan in which the onions were sauted, and turn the heat to high. Flatten, stir, and break up the egg-coated kasha with a fork or wooden spoon for 2 to 4 minutes or until the egg has dried on the kasha and the kernels brown and mostly separate.

Add and bring to a boil:

• 2 cups vegetable broth (or water + bouillon)
• salt
• freshly ground black pepper

• 3/4 lb bow-tie noodles

• 2 Tbs chopped fresh parsley
• 2 Tbs chopped fresh coriander (optional)

Try adding cabbage? Red bell peppers? Walnuts? Other herbs?

Saffron Risotto

Yields:
Serving size:
Servings: 4-6?

Based on a recipe from the Complete Italian Vegetarian Cookbook. The saffron flavor is maximized by dissolving it in a little hot stock then adding it to the rice toward the end of the cooking time. This dish is plain, but very satisfying. The daisy-yellow color and creamy consistency make me feel like I'm eating macaroni and cheese.

• 6 cups vegetable stock

• 1/4 cup of the warm stock
• 1/4 tsp. saffron threads

• 1 Tbs. olive oil

• 3 medium shallots or 1 medium onion, minced

• 1.5 cups raw Arborio rice

• 1/2 cup dry white wine (try 1 cup?)

Red Wine Risotto with Rosemary and Garlic

Based on a recipe from The Complete Italian Vegetarian Cookbook. The recipe was good the first time we made it, but we like it with just a bit more of all the flavors: garlic, rosemary, and wine. What comes out is true comfort food.

Yields:
Serving size:
Servings: 3-4 large

• 6 cups vegetable stock

• 1 Tbs. olive oil (more? + butter?)

• 4 medium garlic cloves, minced (more?)
• 2 tsp minced fresh rosemary leaves (more?)

• 1.5 cups raw Arborio rice

• 1/2 cup dry red wine (try 1 cup?)

• 1/2 cup freshly grated Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese
• 1? Tbs butter?.
• ? salt

Arroz sin Pollo

Adapted from This Organic Life. Saffron rice with peas (minus the chicken and salt pork). A very satisfying, comfort food. This dish gave me my first love of saffron. And Derek swears he can taste the chicken.... This is a very homey dish, but if you want to dress it up a little you can serve it paella style, in a large shallow pan with colorful veggies layed out on top in a star pattern, and a head of roasted garlic in the middle. Roasted cauliflower is especially nice.

• 1 Tbs. oil (plenty, try 2 tsp?)

• 1 cup onions, finely chopped
• 1 large clove garlic, finely chopped

• 1 Tbs. paprika
• 1 cup tomatoes (fresh, canned, or frozen) finely chopped (salt content?)

• 1.5 cups short-grain brown rice
• 1 cup fresh or frozen peas
• 3 cups boiling water or unsalted vegetable broth (must be boiling?)
• 1/8 tsp saffron threads, crushed
• salt (1/2 tsp. not enough, try 3/4 tsp?)

Veggie Paella

Based on a recipe from Cook's Illustrated. Par-cooked rice, a spicy make-ahead base, and a 450-degree oven make it possible to assemble this intricate Spanish dish in fifteen almost unattended minutes.

Yields: 6 cups
Serving size:
Servings:

PAR-COOKED ARBORIO RICE

It is the rice that can be critical to the dish and also creates the most problems. If you cook it at too high a temperature, the liquid will evaporate rather than absorb and you end up with hard, undercooked rice. On the other hand, if you overcook the rice, which is particularly easy to do when cooking paella, then the grains will burst, and the paella turns heavy and gummy.

Another paella recipe

• 2 2/3 cups vegetable broth
• 2 tablespoons olive oil
• 2 cups arborio rice

1. Bring stock to boil in large saucepan; simmer over low heat. Heat oil in large skillet; add rice, and stir constantly to toast rice, about 1 minute. Slowly add broth to rice; bring to boil over high heat, stirring constantly until some of the liquid is absorbed, about 3 minutes. Remove pan from heat; cover and set aside until broth is completely absorbed.

2. Move partially cooked rice to bowl and refrigerate until ready to assemble paella.

Can be refrigerated up to 2 days

TOMATO BASE

This tomato base can be used as a base for dishes like black beans, chili, soups and stews. If poblano chilies are unavailable, substitute one red bell pepper and one jalapeno, each roasted, peeled and seeded; cut the bell pepper into medium dice, and mince the jalapeno.

• 2 tablespoons olive oil

• 2 medium onions, cut into medium dice
• 2 large poblano chiles, roasted & #044; peeled, seeded and cut into medium sice
• 1 medium garlic cloves, minced

• 2 bay leaves
• 1 can (28 ounces) tomatoes, drained, seeded and chopped plus 1 cup of the reserved liquid
• 1 1/2 teaspoons fresh oregano leaves minced , or 1/2 teaspoons dried oregano.
• 1 tablespoon sugar
• 1/2 teaspoon salt

• 2 tablespoons fresh cilantro leaves, minced

Can be cooled to room temperature, covered, and refrigerated up to 1 week

VEGETABLES

Saute individually on high heat, until starting to carmelize but still crisp:

• 1/2? red pepper, sliced
• 20? green beans
• 25 cauliflower florets
• 5? artichoke hearts
• 1 pound veggie sausage,cut into bite-sized chunks

1-3 heads of garlic, roasted, placed in center of paella

other possible ingredients: asparagus, rosemary, paprika, lemon wedges/zest, parsley, olives, sun-dried tomatoes, orange peel, aioli?

PAELLA

• 2 teaspoons mild chili powder
• 1 tsp cumin
• 1 tsp salt
• 1 tsp black pepper
• 1/4 tsp oregano
• 1/4? tsp cayenne
• 1 tablespoon olive oil
• 1 recipe Tomato Base
• 2 cups vegetable broth
• 1/4 cup white wine
• 1/2 teaspoon saffron threads (too much, change to 1/4 tsp?)
• 1 recipe Par-Cooked Arborio Rice
• 1 package (10 ounces) frozen green peas (about 2 cups)
• 2 medium scallions, minced
• 1/4 cup of fresh cilantro leaves, minced

Add rice and veggie sausage; cook over medium heat, stirring occasionally to keep rice from sticking, until heated completely through, 3 to 4 minutes. Stir in peas and scallions; seasons to taste with salt.

Remove pan from heat and quickly arrange vegetables over rice mixture. Bake for 10 minutes. Remove pan from oven, cover, and let stand for rice to complete cooking and remaining liquid to absorb, about 15 minutes. Sprinkle with cilantro and serve.

Polenta

I consider polenta to be one of the ultimate comfort foods. I've heard complaints that it is dull, but I find this is often due to insufficient salt. Well-seasoned polenta served right out of the pan, when it's still hot and creamy, is heavenly on a cold winter night. Plus, it is very simple to make. Some recipes add olive oil while cooking, but I have not noticed this improving either the flavor or the texture, so I recommend waiting, and drizzling extra virgin olive oil on your polenta after it is cooked, for flavor. If I don't use a nonstick pan, no matter how low I set my flame or how often I stir, I always seem to get sticking on the bottom of my pan. After a night's soak, however, it comes right off. Someday I'll figure out how to save that bottom layer of polenta from ruin.

Yields: 5? cups
Serving size:
Servings: 4-6 side servings

• 4 cups water (use 6-8 cups water for a creamier polenta?)
• 1 tsp. salt (slightly too much?)

• 1 cup coarse cornmeal

Variations For a very colorful polenta, try Peter Berley's suggestion of adding corn, hijiki, and grated carrot. Start the polenta. Meanwhile, soak 2 Tbs hijiki in water and grate a large carrot. Drain the hijiki after 20 minutes, and add the hijiki, corn, and grated carrot to the partially-cooked polenta. Neither the hijiki or the carrot will be enough to add much flavor, but the corn will be sweet and moist, and the polenta will have a lovely, somewhat exotic look. Other possible mix-ins or toppings include:

• Sliced tomatoes
• Crushed garlic
• Dried basil
• Black pepper
• Sage
• Sauted onions

Five-Grain Croquettes

Based on a recipe from Peter Berley's The Modern Vegetarian Kitchen. These croquettes don't have any herbs or spices, but they're not at all bland. The sauted vegetables remind me a bit of stuffing, but the croquette have a fresh, simple flavor of their own. If you don't have amaranth, teff, quinoa, or millet, just substitute a little more of the other grains that you do have. Berley serves them with a carrot sauce, but his recipe wasn't great. I like them alot with a potent salsa verde.

• 1/2 cup white sushi or jasmine rice (try arborio?)
• 2 Tbs. amaranth
• 2 Tbs. teff (?)
• 2 Tbs. quinoa
• 2 Tbs. millet
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 2.5 cups water

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.

While the grains cook, warm in a medium skillet:

• 2 Tbs olive oil

• 1 cup minced onion
• 1/2 cup finely diced red bell pepper (or dried)
• 1/4 cup finely diced celery
• 1/4 tsp. freshly milled black pepper
• 3/4 tsp. salt

Lightly oil a baking sheet (or two?)

When the grains are done, add the vegetables to the grains and mix thoroughly. Set the mixture aside until it is cool enough to handle. If you're in a hurry move it to a larger bowl or a tray for cooling.

Form the mixture into croquettes the size of golf balls. Place them 1 inch apart on the baking sheet and flatten slightly with the palm of your hand. Bake for 20 minutes.

Should make about 18-24? golf-ball sized croquettes, or if you prefer make 12-16? larger croquettes and fit them all on one tray.

Makes 4 main-dish servings if you have two sides.

Stuffing

• 1/4 cup oil
• 1/2 cup onion, finely diced
• 3/4 cup celery, diced
• 1 cup mushrooms, optional

• 4 cups cubed day old bread (can toast in oven)

• 1 cup soymilk or water

• 1 tsp. salt
• 1/8 tsp. pepper
• 1 tsp. poultry seasoning

Baked Potatoes or Sweet Potatoes

Heat oven to 350 degrees. Place potatoes on middle rack of oven, and bake 75 minutes. Romove from oven and pierce with a fork to create a dotted "X." Press in at ends of potato to push flesh up and out. To get a fluffy potato it's very important to open it wide when it's hot and let the steam escape, rather than being trapped in the potato.

Medium sweet potatoes, up to 6:

Wash and dry the sweet potatoes, then lightly prick with a fork in 3 places. Adjust oven rack to center position and heat oven to 400 degrees. Arrange potatoes on foil-lined baking sheet (to catch any drips) as far apart as possible. Bake until knife tip slips easily into potato center, 40 to 50 minutes. Slit each potato lengthwise; using kitchen towel, hold ends and squeeze together slightly until soft flesh mounds up. Season to taste with salt and plenty of pepper. Dot with butter to taste and serve. Note, this cooking time applies to the orange-fleshed varieties of sweet potatoes; drier white-fleshed types take longer to bake and require larger amounts of fat and/or liquid to counteract their drier texture.

Mashed sweet potatoes:

Bake 2 lbs. sweet potatoes (about 2 medium) until done. Peel, then mash flesh with salt, 1 Tbs. butter, orange zest from one orange, 1 Tbs. brown sugar (or orange concentrate?), vanilla?, spices? For a thicker texture keep on low in oven for a while?

Stuffed Hashbrowns

I was always asking my mom to make me "hashbrowns" when I was a kid. Sometimes it would just be a simple paper-thin pancake of grated, lightly fried potatoes, but more often the pancake would be filled with steamed vegetables and folded in half like an omelet. I could never get enough, and neither could any of my siblings. This dish is very fast and easy to make, but takes a bit of experimentation to get the right temperature and timing. Every stove and pan are different, and it's a fine line between undercooked potatoes and mushy, overcooked ones. Using Russet potatoes is important, as the more watery ones tend not to fry up as nicely.

• 2 tsp. oil.
• 1 cup (?) grated Russet potato, about 1 medium-large?
• 1/4 tsp. salt
• pepper?

• 1 cup lightly steamed vegetables of your choice: broccoli or cauliflower, mushrooms, chard, spinach or other greens, grated zucchini or squash, or grated carrots
• optional: sliced avocado, grated cheese

Crusty Oven Fries

Oven fries are basically nice fat, well-seasoned french fries, without tons of oil. This recipe from the AMA cookbook gives the trick to getting very crispy fries: the starch must be rinsed off, and the potatoes dried thoroughly before baking.

• 1.5 lbs unpeeled russet or all-purpose potatoes

In a small bowl, combine:

• 1 Tbs. vegetable oil
• 1/2 tsp salt (not enough?)
• 1/4 tsp paprika
• 1/4 tsp black pepper
• pinch cayenne

Greek-Style Garlic-Lemon Potatoes

Yields:
Serving size:
Servings: 4

Based on a recipe in Cook's Illustrated May 2002. The addition of raw garlic and fresh oregano give these potatoes a full flavor with plenty of bite. The zest is a must. With just lemon juice and no zest the potatoes taste sharp, shallow, and acidic.

Perhaps cut potatoes thinner (10 rather than 8 slices per potato?) Only 3 potatoes fit in large skillet. 1.5 Tbs. was just fine. Cook on *low*.

If your potatoes are larger than the size we recommend, you may have to increase the covered cooking time by up to 4 minutes. Though a nonstick pan makes cleanup easier, it is not essential. Heat in a heavy-bottomed 12-inch nonstick skillet over medium-high heat until butter melts and foaming subsides, swirling pan occasionally:

• 1 Tbs vegetable oil
• 1 Tbs unsalted butter

• 4 medium Yukon Gold potatoes (7 to 8 ounces each, about 2 pounds total), peeled and cut lengthwise into 8 wedges (Halve the potato lengthwise, then cut each half lengthwise into quarters. Holding the knife at 45 degrees to the board, cut each quarter in half lengthwise, dividing the potato into a total of eight equal-sized wedges).

• 4 medium garlic cloves, minced or pressed through garlic press (about 1 heaping Tbs)
• 1 Tbs extra-virgin olive oil
• 2 Tbs juice plus 1 Tbs grated zest from 2 lemons
• 2 Tbs minced fresh oregano leaves
• 1 tsp. salt
• 1/2 tsp. ground black pepper

• 2 Tbs. minced fresh parsley

Variation 1: GREEK-STYLE GARLIC-LEMON POTATOES WITH SPINACH Follow recipe for Greek-Style Garlic-Lemon Potatoes, after stirring garlic-lemon mixture add 2 1/2 ounces clean baby spinach leaves (about 3 cups), and gently stir mixture again to distribute. Omit parsley.

Variation 2: SPICY GREEK-STYLE GARLIC-LEMON POTATOES In keeping with the bold flavors of the dish, this variation is very spicy. Follow recipe for Greek-Style Garlic-Lemon Potatoes, adding 2 small jalapeño chiles, cut into 1/4-inch slices (with seeds and membranes), to pan just before covering skillet in step 1.

Mashed Potatoes

For light, fluffy, slightly mealy mashed potatoes, use a high-starch variety, such as the Russet (i.e., Idaho potatoes). For smooth and creamy mashed potatoes, use a high-moisture variety such as Yellow Finn or Yukon Gold.

Bring ? cups water (and some salt) to a boil.

Wash, peel, and cut up ? lbs of potatoes.

When making mashed potatoes, the first thing you should do is put a large pot of water on the stove to boil. Then, fill a big bowl partway with cold water and place it on your work surface. As you peel each potato, place it in the bowl of cold water to prevent it from turning brown while you peel the rest. For the best results, cut the potatoes into cubes of about 3/4 inch (2 cm) square. If you cut them much bigger than this, the middle won't cook before the outside is overdone, and if you cut them much smaller than this, they will lose lots of nutrients and flavor in the water. As soon as that pot of water reaches a boil, salt it generously, drain the cold water from your bowl of cubed potatoes, and dump them in the pot.

Keep an eye on the potatoes. Do not allow the water to boil rapidly-it should not be much hotter than 180 degrees F, which means that the water should be at a heavy simmer, not a rolling boil. You should begin checking them for doneness after about 15 minutes. They should not be falling apart, but should be very soft. Don't drain them prematurely, but have the colander ready as soon as they are soft and tender all the way through.

Mash the potatoes while they're still hot. The best thing to use is a potato ricer, and the next best thing is a food mill. These two gadgets work so well because the potatoes achieve a uniform texture as they pass through evenly sized holes, and they get smashed only once. With this method, the cell walls are much less likely to break open. A traditional hand-held potato masher works passably. And unless you like your potatoes the consistency of wallpaper paste, never, ever try to mash them in a food processor.
Add for flavoring and texture:

• 1 cup plain soymilk, warmed
• 2 Tbs. olive oil
• ? salt
• ? pepper
• ? rosemary (optional)
• ? garlic (optional)
• ? onions (optional) (sauté?)
• ? chives (optional)

Spicy Indian Potatoes

• 2 Tbs. oil

• 1 tsp. dark mustard seeds

• 1/2 tsp. turmeric powder
• 1/2 tsp. indian chili powder
• 1/2 tsp. ground coriander
• 1/2 tsp. ground cumin

• 2 cups almost cooked potatoes in 1/2 inch cubes

• 1/2 tsp. salt
• 1/4 cup water

Hungarian Cabbage Noodles

• 1 Tbs. Oil
• 2 cups green cabbage, shredded
• 1 cup onions, sliced in 1/2 circles
• 2 tsp. Garlic, minced

• 3/4 tsp. Salt
• 3/4 tsp. Black pepper
• 1 1/2 Tbs. Paprika
• 2 cups cooked spiral noodles

Pasta Primavera

Also look at AMA recipe with mustard.

• 2 cups cauliflower, broken into small florets
• 2 cups broccoli, broken into small florets
• 1 cup sliced mushrooms
• 2 cloves garlic, minced or pressed
• 2 zucchinis, grated
• 2 carrots, grated
• 6 scallions, sliced

Fusilli with Spinach Puree

This pestolike sauce is based on a recipe from Jack Bishop's Italian Vegetarian Cookbook. I like the bright green color and fresh flavor of this sauce. The ricotta or tofu adds creaminess and helps reduce the oil content so it's less greasy than typical pestos. It also has a nice, creamy, but pleasantly rough texture. The flavor is mild (perhaps even a bit on the bland side--perhaps a little lemon juice would be good?). If you don't have pine nuts you can substitute walnuts.

Yields: about 1.5? cups
Serving size: about 1/3 cup sauce and 2.5 ounces pasta
Servings: 4 as a main dish (needs a side as well)

Bring 3 quarts of water to a boil in a large pot for cooking

• 10 ounces of whole-wheat fusilli pasta.

• 2 Tbs pine nuts, toasted (be very careful not to burn them at all!)
• 8 ounces flat-leaf spinach (about 3 cups tightly packed leaves), washed. Shake them to remove excess water but do not dry them.
• 2 medium garlic cloves
• 2 Tbs. extra virgin olive oil
• 1/2 cup firm tofu or ricotta cheese
• 1/4 cup parmigiano-reggiano cheese (or stir in afterwards for the best texture)
• 1/4? salt (heaping if no parmigiano is used)

Cold Sesame Noodles

I love the cold sesame noodles at the local China Palace. This isn't quite the same, but it's rich and salty and complex all the same. Based on a recipe from Madhur Jeffrey's World of the East. The sauce is also tasty on cauliflower, ?, and other vegetables.

Cook, following instructions:

• 0.5 lbs soba noodles, spaghetti, or Chinese egg noodles

Mix together with a fork until you have a smooth paste:

• 1/8 tsp freshly ground peeper
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 1.5 tsp sugar
• 1/8 tsp cayenne
• 1 Tbs vegetable oil
• 2 tsp sesame oil
• 3 Tbs tahini
• 2 Tbs soy sauce
• 2 tsp rice wine vinegar
• 1 Tbs vegetable stock, mushroom soaking liquid, or water

• 1 medium cucumber, peeled, seeded, and julienned

• 1 Tbs roasted sesame seeds
• 2 tsp. sesame oil

Pumpkin Lasagna with a Sage "Cream" Sauce

Pumpkin filling:

• 3? lbs pumpkin or nice orange firm squash
• salt?
• pepper
• sugar? maple syrup?
• nutmeg? cinnamon? pumpkin pie spice

I used two medium butternut squashes, steamed then scraped and mashed. They were a bit stringy. After mashing there was about 2.5 pounds. I think perhaps three pounds would have been better. Next time I may just try using canned pumpkin puree. I seasoned with 4 Tbs brown sugar, 2 Tbs maple syrup, 1/4? tsp salt, black pepper, 1/4? tsp nutmeg, and 2.5 tsp pumpkin pie spice from penzey's. It wasn't bad, perhaps a bit to much cinnamon. Don't add butter to the squash since you had to add a lot before you can actually detect it. Save it for the cream sauce. This is a sage bechamel sauce. Make a roux then add the (warm?) milk whisking until uniform. Off heat--no need to thicken the sauce since it will thicken when the lasagna is cooked. Add in the minced sage and stir once.

Sage "cream" sauce

• 5? Tbs butter
• 1? medium onion, minced
• 3? shallots, minced
• 6? cups low-fat milk
• 8? Tbs. flour
• 1/2? tsp salt
• 4? Tbs. minced sage at end

In a 8x10 baking pan I sprayed with pam I placed a layer of dry lasagna noodles, used a spatula to cover with a thin layer of pumpkin puree, ladled on about 2? cups of the bechamel sauce, then repeated. I only had two layers of noodle/pumpkin plus a top layer of noodles, but it was too thin. Definitely need three layers of noodle/pumpkin plus the top layer. I ladled the end of the white sauce on top and sprinkled with mixed italian grated cheeses. I used some kraft mix but I think the cheeses were too bland--stronger parmesan etc might have been better.

Cover the bottom of a 9x13? lasagna pan with lasagna noodles. Pour over some sauce. Spread a layer of pumpkin filling. Repeat process, ending with noodles and pour sauce over top.

Cover with tin foil and bake at 350 degrees for 50 minutes. Remove foil, increase heat to 500? and brown the cheese for 10 minutes.

The noodles cooked well, no need for no-bake noodles or pre-boiling the normal ones. The texture was good--cooking the squash puree to thicken it and eliminate some water help alot I think. Needed another layer, more white sauce, more sage, stronger cheese.

Perhaps missing something? Try adding hazelnuts?

Fine Pizza Crust

Yields: two 16" pizzas or (supposedly) four 8" pizzas
Serving size:
Servings:

This recipe was given to me by my friend Dan Spoonhower. This is the pizza recipe from Fine Cooking, March 2002. It makes a light and stretchy dough that, when baked, becomes thin and crispy.

• 1 package (2.25 tsp) active-dry yeast
• 1.5 cups very warm water (110 deg F)
• 4 cups all-purpose flour
• 1.5 tsp salt
• 2 Tbs olive oil

Dissolve the yeast in the warm water and set aside. Mix the flour and salt in a large bowl.

While stirring the flour mixture, add the water-yeast in a steady stream. Add the oil and continue to mix.

Scrape the dough onto a lightly floured surface and knead together into one mass. Continue to knead until the dough is smooth. It should be silky, not sticky to the touch.

Divide into the number of pizzas that you are making and form individual balls. Cover them with a clean dish towel and leave them in a warm place to rise, 45 minutes.

After rising, one at a time, place each ball of dough on a lightly floured surface and flatten into a cake about .5 inch think (flattening from the center out). Then, with both hands underneath the dough, stretch using your knuckles and the backs of your hands until the dough is .25 inch thick.

Add toppings.

The recipe says bake at 500 for 8 minutes. I usually bake at 400 for about 20 minutes, until the crust is golden.

Yields: 1 16 inch pizza
Serving size:
Servings:

Here's a variant of that recipe that results in a thicker and a more bread-like crust. Here's the differences: Instead of "1.5 cups water," use ".75 cup milk and .5 cup water." Add .25 cup sugar to the water-yeast mixture, just before adding it to the flour. I also may use slightly less flour: I just add more until it becomes smooth.

Yields: 1 giant pizza crust
Serving size:
Servings:

A whole wheat pizza crust recipe

• 1 1/2 cups warm water (110 degrees F/45 degrees C)
• 2 1/4 tsp active dry yeast
• 1/2 tsp. brown sugar
• 2 Tbs. olive oil
• 1 tsp. salt
• 2 1/2 cups white flour
• 1 cup whole wheat flour

Real Pizza

After our first disastrous attempt to make pizza at home, Derek's mom bought us a pizza stone and peel. This was the first stepping stone on our way to marvelous, brick-oven style pizza at home. The next step was Peter Reinhart's book The Bread Baker's Apprentice, which insists that the more slowy the dough rises, the better the flavor and texture. The rest was experimentation on our part. What we've learned...

Making The Dough
Get directions from bread baking book:

• 1 tsp(?) active-dry(?) yeast
• 1.25 cups very warm(?) water (110 deg F)
• 3.25 cups all-purpose flour
• 1.25 tsp salt
• 1 Tbs + 1-2(?) tsp. olive oil

Shaping the Crust
We like to shape the dough on some lightly floured parchment paper, cut to the same size as our pizza stone. We also bake the pizza on this piece of parchment paper. This prevent us from dirtying another surface and makes it easy to move the pizza around (since we have a dearth of surfaces in our kitchen and only one peel). Since we haven't quite mastered the art of throwing the pizza around, I still sometimes resort to a rolling pin. I like to roll out the crust as large and thin as possible, then let it rise awhile for a thicker, chewier crust. If you bake the pizza immediately after shaping it will be thinner and crisper. If you let it rise for an hour (or more?) it will be thick and chewy. Just cover to prevent from drying out. The size and thickness of the crust when you put it in the oven will be very close to the size and thickness of what comes out. Because of this, I recommend shaping all the pizzas at once and letting them rise for a while before baking.

Topping the Pizza
The most important feature of toppings is their moisture content. High-moisture toppings like mushrooms can leave your pizza soggy instead of crisp. A light coat of olive oil (or non-stick oil spray), a brief saute of vegetables, and a thick, non-watery sauce can prevent a soggy pizza (test if these steps are really necessary). Our favorite toppings:

• sliced mushrooms (button, crimini, portabello,...)
• onions (white or red, thin circles)
• garlic, minced
• tomatoes, seeded and sliced
• olives, kalamata (green?)
• red or green peppers (roasted red peppers)
• fresh basil or oregano (some after baking too!)
• pesto
• pickled jalepenos
• grated mozarella (Kraft part skim is good)
• tomato sauce (Muir glen canned pizza sauce is good)

Baking
Intense heat is what you want. Put the baking stove on the bottom(?) rack, take out the top rack, and turn your oven to 500 degrees. Let it preheat for 30 minutes to an hour. You need the stone to get to 500 degrees as well as the air in the oven. Use your peel to place the pizza (and the parchment paper) on the baking stone. The parchment paper will start to brown where it is not covered by pizza, and if this bothers you you can trim it before placing it in the oven. Note that wax paper is not the same as parchment paper, and cannot be used in a 500 degree oven. We previously tried putting the pizza directly on the baking stone, with cornmeal on the bottom to prevent it from sticking to the peel, but the cornmeal tends to burn in the hot oven and creates lots of smoke and lots of mess. If you're just making one pizza and going to turn the oven off immediately afterwards, the cornmeal will probably work, but otherwise the parchment paper is a huge improvement. The pizza should be done in about 12(?) minutes, when the crust starts to brown and the cheese starts to get flecked with brown. Use your peel to remove the pizza from the oven. Slice it (on what!!!) (scissors work well if you don't have a pizza cutter), sprinkle on any last minute toppings (like fresh herbs) and enjoy. Let the oven heat up again for at least 15(?) minutes before baking another pizza.

Amounts
I've found that each cup of flour makes approximately 5 pieces of pizza (check this), and four pieces is usually very filling for one person. So I recommend 3.25 cups of flour to serve four people, but you can use more if you are serving teenage boys or less if you have a salad and dessert as well. This amount of flour will make two large (inches?) or three small (inches?) pizzas.

You'll need about 12(?) ounces grated mozarella and 2 1/3 (?) cups tomato sauce to cover this amount of pizza. Obviously if you're making a pesto or margharita pizza, you'll use less sauce and cheese.

Southwestern Pizza

This is an attempt to emulate my favorite pizza in Pittsburgh: the southwestern pizza at the Church Brew Works, a local pub and brewery located in an old church, with the original stained glass windows and organ, but the distillery(?) on the altar and a brick oven off to the side. Some may call this sacreligious, but all I can say is that their southwestern pizza is heavenly.

The basic directions are the same as the basic pizza recipe above. For a third(?) of the 3.25 cups flour, use the following sauce and toppings...

Mix together for sauce:

• 1/2 cup tomato sauce (not pizza sauce) (cook down??)
• 1/4 cup(?) minced red onion
• garlic?
• 1/4 cup(?) chopped cilantro
• cumin?
• 1 Tbs(?) chile powder
• 1(?) jalepeno (fresh, pickled?)
• chipotle powder(?)
• lime juice(?)
• 1/2(?) cup frozen corn kernels

• 1/2(?) large red onion, cut into thin circles, then briefly sauted
• 4 ounces grated mozarella cheese (jack too?)