Glory in Simplicity

Some nights when kicking around the house, a bite to eat here and there just needs to be simple, fresh, and good. We've got your back on that one. Left over pseudo-ricotta from the pizza and some of the remaining framer's market haul fit together perfectly into a simple snack-y type deal I've been calling: toasties.
We used the ricotta from the weekend's pizza, some arugula, a nice fresh loaf of ciabatta and came up with:


This isn't really a recipe, it's more of an assembly line. You'll need a good crusty bread for this- I'm sure it would be fine on plain ol' white toast, but let's go for broke, shall we?

The Goods

1 loaf Ciabatta
Left over or freshly made Pseudo-ricotta (recipe)
1 Bunch arugula
Drizzle of extra virgin olive oil

Cut your Ciabatta on the bias (at an angle) More surface area = more goodies = happyface.
Toast slices until lightly golden.
While still warm, spread a thin layer of the pseudo-ricotta, top with the arugula, and drizzle with olive oil.
Crunch on in.
Repeat as needed.

Along this idea of Toasties, we tried a classic bruschetta. You keep that sigh of boredom to yourself, these have a firm basis in the delicious. That bias cut ciabatta bread? Fry it. In olive oil. Do it. Do it like this:

Second Batch o' Goods

Sliced Ciabatta bread
Olive Oil for frying
A pint of cherry or grape tomatoes, halved
Roughly 6-10 leaves of basil
A clove of garlic
Drizzle of extra virgin olive oil
Salt & pepper to taste

Slice your tomatoes in half and set aside in a bowl.
Stack your basil one leaf on top of the other, and roll them up from the bottom stem to the tip. With either a paring knife, or my choice- kitchen shears, thinly slice (chiffonade) the rolled up basil. Sprinkle the basil over the tomatoes, add oil, salt and pepper, and set aside.
For the bread, get your largest skillet- if you have a cast iron one, now would be the time.
Be careful not to overdo it with the olive oil! Too much will overpower the bread and even leave it vaguely bitter. You want to cover the whole bottom of the pan with only the tiniest bit in excess.
Arrange your slices in the pan and toast (yeah, fry) them until golden brown on each side. We're aiming to only flip them once, so keep your eye on them.
Lay the hot bread out on a plate to cool slightly. You could use a cooling rack, mine never got that far.
While cooling, cut the garlic clove in half and rub it over the surface of the hot bread (use tongs, unless you have asbestos hands) Believe it or not, you don't have to press it into the bread to get the flavor. The heat of the bread and the oil of the garlic clove work out just right, a few swipes will do it.
Choose your bread wisely, and top with a spoonful of your tomatoes.
Sometimes the simple can be the divine.

There are probably a mazillion possibilities out there. A fav of mine for breakfast is: Plain ol' toast with white chocolate peanut butter (yep, it's vegan) dotted with fresh blueberries.


What's your favorite?

White Pizza with Dual Color Zucchini

I came across this recipe a bit ago and thought to myself: When was the last time I had white pizza? Was it at Sal's as a 7 year old? Really?
Well, it's quite possible.
It's definitely been longer than since I last had a donut.

Since I saw that, I have been planning and plotting. The key to this recipe is the very thinly sliced zucchini artfully layered across the surface. That way there's no pre-cooking, and no overly raw crunchy zucchini on top of your otherwise perfect pizza.
Now, I thought I would be clever because I have a food processor with mandolin disc blades to do the hard work for me. A food processor that has pretty much been following me where ever I moved since 2001. Well, you see, if you don't have this one plastic stem-like attachment, you pretty much just have a shiny disc blade that no matter how hard you try to cram it into your Cuisinart, just won't stay. You may lose a finger trying to do that too, if you're not careful. Those suckers are sharp.
If you find yourself in the same situation, I advise you to make peace with your knife skills now.

Ready?

White Pizza with Dual Color Zucchini

1 Recipe of Pizza Dough (I picked up a ready made one from Trader Joe's- super simple)
Cornmeal for dusting
2 medium zucchini (one gold, one green)
Juice of 1/2 Lemon

Pseudo-Ricotta
1 16 oz Tub of Tofu
1 tsp salt
A few grinds of cracked black pepper
3 Tablespoons of toasted pine nuts
1/4 cup + 1 heaping tablespoon of Tofutti Cream Cheese
2 - 3 Tablespoons of extra virgin olive oil

Preheat your oven to 450 °F
If you have a pizza stone, you're in luck! If not, you can use a silpat lined cookie sheet.
Lightly dust the silpat with some cornmeal.
Stretch out you dough to the desired shape and let it relax a bit while you chop the veg.
As above, if you're lucky enough to have some sort of mandolin, employ it now- aim for 1/4 inch slices. Elsewise, get in some quality time with your chef's knife.

For the Tofu Ricotta:
This is something I came up with over Christmas a few years back. It's not exactly ricotta, as my Italian mother will inform me of each time, but the tangy-ness from the tofutti cream cheese, and the body from the pine nuts makes it a damn fine substitute, if I don't say so myself.
Drain the tofu (like we did here) and crumble into a food processor (a blender could also work here)
Add all the ingredients except the oil, and pulse to combine.
Drizzle in the oil while blending, and process until you've got a smooth texture.
Spread a layer of the tofu ricotta over the pizza dough- don't lay it on too thick, or your dough will remain somewhat gooey.
Layer on your zucchini slices. You can be fancy, or you can be utilitarian, knock yourself out.



Drizzle the top lightly with olive oil, a bit the juice from the half lemon, and a few grinds of cracked black pepper.


It might be a breadtangle of pizza...
Bake for 15 - 20 minutes, rotating the pizza after 10 minutes.


I'm now inspired to get the missing piece for my Cuisinart, just so I can do this more often. Either that, or my knife skills will become legendary. Legendary.