Buffalo Chicken Pizza

Posted on August 7, 2008 by kitchenbelle

I knew immediately when I saw this here at a Taste of Home Cooking that it would be something my husband and I would really enjoy!  And I was right!  This was delicious!  I may even make another one tonight!  That’s how good it was.  To take the words directly from my husband’s mouth, “This is amazing.”  (There may even have been an expletive in there!)  It is nice and spicy, but the ranch offers a sweet cool balance.  And served with a hearty salad this meal is just heavenly! 

I took The Home Cook’s advice and rather than use dough from the local supermarket, I purchased it from a well-known local Italian bakery.  What a great idea!  I can’t wait to make (and eat!) this again!  Thanks Home Cook! 

My dough rolling skills, do, however, leave something to be desired.  This pizza was neither a circle nor a square, and not by choice.  Does anyone have any suggestions on that front?  Nonetheless, the shape was irrelevant, as this was scrumptious!

Buffalo Chicken Pizza: 

  • one ball of fresh pizza dough
  • chicken, cooked and cut into small pieces*
  • 1/2 cup Frank’s Buffalo Chicken sauce
  • 3 fresh scallions, chopped
  • 1 1/4 cups ranch dressing
  • 2 cups mozzarella cheese, grated

Preheat the oven to 420 degrees.  In a pan over low heat toss and coat the chicken pieces (already cooked) with the Frank’s Buffalo chicken sauce.  Set aside.  I don’t have a pizza stone so I rolled out the dough on parchment paper over a cookie sheet.  Spread the ranch dressing over the dough.  Top with half of the mozzarella and then half of the scallions.  Now scatter the sauce covered chicken pieces over the pizza.  Cover with remaining mozzarella cheese.  Drizzle additional Frank’s over the pizza if you desire, but don’t drench it.  Top with remaining scallions.  Cook in preheated oven for 20 minutes, or until dough is crisped to your liking. 

*You can use pre-cooked chicken found in the butcher/deli, a rotisserie deli chicken, or cook your own chicken breasts.  Any of those types of chicken work fine for this recipe.

Filed under: chicken, Main Dish, pizza | 8 Comments »

Baked Rigatoni with Chicken Sausage

Posted on August 5, 2008 by kitchenbelle

I have been craving pasta, and even though it was a  warm summer evening, I decided to be defiant and go ahead and make this wintery meal anyway!  Rather than use typical rigatoni I used mezzi rigatoni, which I purchased from a specialty Italian grocer.  This macaroni really contributed to the success of the dish, in my opinion.  I love the chewy texture and thickness of the pasta.  Additionally, the quality and freshness were notably superior to anything found in a local supermarket.  (If you don’t already do so, I encourage you to venture into specialty stores, if for nothing else but inspiration!  And in the meantime you may find new products you love!) 

Also worthy of note: The original recipe called for vodka, however, I don’t always love the taste of alcohol in my food (in my glass is a different story!) so I swapped it out for some beef broth.  I love the richness beef broth adds. 

I loved this meal!  It was delicious and creamy, however, not too rich.  There was a nice sweetness to it, and as I said, the texture of the pasta was really satisfying.  Served with a fresh salad, a crusty French baguette, and a nice glass of red wine, I found myself completely unafraid of the impending cool weather!

 Baked Rigatoni with Chicken Sausage:

  • olive oil
  • freshly groung salt and pepper
  • 2 medium red onions, chopped
  • 8 cloves of garlic, finely chopped
  • 1/2 cup of beef broth
  • 2    28 oz. cans whole tomatoes with juice and basil
  • 1 teaspoon dried oregano
  • 1 cup heavy cream
  • 2 lbs. mezzi rigatoni (or any tubular pasta)
  • 2   10 oz. bags fresh baby spinach
  • 24 oz. chicken sausage
  • 12 oz. fontina cheese, grated

Bring a large pot of water and salt to a rolling boil. 

Remove sausages from casings and cook over med-low heat with some olive oil until sausage is no longer pink. (Do not use a non-stick pan.)  Spoon the sausage from the pan into a bowl and set aside.  Add onions to pan and cook over med-low heat until soft/translucent, about 3-5 minutes. Add garlic to pan and cook another 3 minutes or so, until garlic is soft.  Remove pan from heat and add beef broth and deglaze the pan.  Return pan back to heat and cook for 1-2 minutes.  Stir in tomatoes and oregano.  Cook until tomatoes have fallen apart–about 15 minutes.  Stir in cream and cook another 5 minutes.  Season with salt and pepper.

Preheat oven to 400 degrees. 

Cook pasta in boiling water until al dente.  Use pasta water to cook spinach very quickly–this only takes a few seconds.  Drain the spinach and the pasta and return both to pot.  Add tomato sauce, sausage, and 8 oz. of grated fontina to pot of spinach and pasta and toss to coat.  Season with salt and pepper.  

 Pour into a deep baking dish.   Top with remaining grated fontina cheese.  Bake covered for 15 minutes.  Uncover and bake an addition 5-10 minutes.

Recipe notes:

  • This may be made ahead–up until the point of baking–and frozen.  Do not thaw before baking.
  • This recipe may easily be cut in half, as I doubled the original recipe.

 

Recipe adapted from Baked Pasta with Chicken Sausage by Martha Stewart found here on marthastewart.com

 

 

Filed under: Main Dish, pasta, sausage | Leave a comment »

Ground Turkey Risotto

Posted on July 30, 2008 by kitchenbelle

I came upon this recipe in a Pillsbury cookbook I found at the grocery store and I am glad I did!  It was delicious!  The beef broth provided a very rich taste and the parmesan cheese offered a very nice creamy texture as well as a kick of fresh flavor.  The chives added some nice color and freshness as well.  This was a satisfying and delicious weeknight dinner and I will certainly make it again.

Ground Turkey Risotto:

  • 3 tablespoons of olive oil
  • 1 lb. ground turkey (this recipe called for ground beef but I used turkey instead to keep the dish lean)
  • 1 small onion, chopped
  • 2 cloves garlic, finely chopped
  • pepper to taste
  • 1 1/2 cups uncooked rice
  • 4 cups beef broth
  • 2 carrots, chopped
  • 2 cups freshly shredded Parmesan cheese
  • 3 tablespoons fresh chives, chopped

In a 12 inch skillet (do not use non-stick) over med/low heat saute onions and garlic in olive oil until onions are tender.  Add ground meat and pepper.  Cookmeat  until it is no longer raw.  Add rice and cook stirring rapidly for two minutes.  Stir in beef broth and bring to a boil.  Lower heat, cover, and simmer for 10-20 minutes.  (The amount of simmer time depends on the type of rice you chose.  I used a short grain dense brown rice requiring much more cooking time than a white rice would have.)  Add chopped carrot and cook uncovered for an additional 5-7 minutes or until all liquid has been absorbed.  Remove skillet from heat and stir in parmesan cheese.  Cover and let sit for 3-5 minutes.  Sprinkle with chopped chives and serve. 

Recipe adapted from Pillsbury Classic Cookbooks: Hamburger and Chicken shown here.

Filed under: carrot, chives, ground meat, Main Dish, risotto | 1 Comment »

Chicken Sausage Burgers

Posted on July 7, 2008 by kitchenbelle

I thought these burgers were delicious!  Because of the fennel seed and other spices, they tasted very much like sausage patties, but fresh, and without all of that fat.  Also, the red pepper gave them a nice kick!  I found them to be much more interesting than traditional burgers–a nice way to add some depth to typical cookout food.

Chicken Sausage Burgers:

  • extra virgin olive oil
  • 1 pound ground chicken
  • 1 pound ground turkey (package actually contained about 1.5 lbs of meat, which was fine)
  • 1 1/2 teaspoons crushed red pepper flakes
  • 1/4 teaspoon allspice
  • juice of one orange
  • 2 generous handfuls of grated parmigiano cheese
  • 4 cloves garlic
  • salt
  • freshly ground pepper

Place the ground meat in a bowl and add the fennel seed, red pepper flakes, allspice, orange zest, garlic, salt and pepper.  Using your hands, mix the meat with the seasoning and form about seven patties.   Make a shallow dent in the top of each burger to prevent the burger from bulging as it cooks.  Place burgers on a cookie sheet lined with wax paper.  Drizzle burgers liberally with olive oil and sprinkle salt and pepper on the top of each.  Layer wax paper between layers of burgers.  Cook on low heat on the grill (about 10 minutes on each side) until there is no longer pink in the center.  Be careful not to overcook.  Serve on fresh crusty rolls slathered with sweet BBQ sauce. 

These were juicy and delicious!

recipe notes: makes about 7 medium size burgers, recipe called for orange zest, which I omitted, recipe only used chicken, but I used half turkey half chicken to make the burgers a little tastier and less dry, I doubled this recipe, which is why there are 14 burgers in the photo.

Recipe adapted from Rachael Ray’s recipe found here on foodnetwork.com

Filed under: chicken, ground meat, Main Dish, turkey | Leave a comment »

Unstuffed Cabbage

Posted on May 13, 2008 by kitchenbelle

Back in July, we invited a woman named Ellie Deaner to teach us how to make some easy and tasty recipes.  For some reason I hadn’t made any of her fantastic and delicious recipes since.  Last week, my mom reminded me of this one in particular.  I made it as a side dish for a little cookout and everyone adored it.  I made it again last night.  It is a great dish to keep in the fridge and reheat individual servings at your convenience.

Here is my first official blog post!

Unstuffed Cabbage:

  • 1 onion (chopped)
  • 1 pound of ground meat (chicken, turkey, beef, pork, or lamb)
  • 28 oz tomato sauce
  • 1 head of savoy cabbage (chopped or shredded)
  • I cup of raw rice
  • 1 1/4 cups water
  • Grated cheese (optional)

Heat the onion and the ground meat in a large pan until the meat is no longer pink.  Add the sauce, cabbage, rice, and water.  Bring to a boil.  Reduce heat and simmer for 24-30 minutes.  Sprinkle with cheese if you desire.

That’s it.  I kid you not.  And it as the title of Ellie’s cookbook asserts: so delicious!

This recipe is flexible, as well. I forgot to buy an onion last night so I used garlic instead.  The type of sauce can change the taste, as can the type of meat.  You can also change the range of healthiness based on the meat you choose.   I think I will try using brown rice the next time I make this.   

courtesy of Ellie Deaner, So Easy So Delicious

Filed under: cabbage, ground meat, Main Dish, rice | 2 Comments »

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