Greek Hummus Pizza

It seems like in the summer we do burgers 101 ways on the weekend, as it gets cooler and turns to fall we move to pizza 101 ways. This is my latest vegetarian favorite.  My kids ate hummus on a pizza and didn't cry, so I'd call that a success!

I highly recommend roasting the veggies ahead of time so that when it's time to make the pizza you can just throw it all together!  Use any hummus that you love and if you're not into garlic you could just leave it off.  We love garlic and can't ever have too much of it!  Lately I've been making my own crust using the Fleischmann's Pizza Crust yeast because it's no-rise and super quick, but I still love the Trader Joe's dough ball--use whatever!

Greek Hummus Pizza

• 1 ball pizza dough
• 2 roma tomatoes, sliced
• 1/2 red onion, sliced
• 1 bell pepper, sliced (or 1/2 of two different colored bell peppers)
• 1/2 c. chopped artichoke hearts
• 1 small can sliced black olives, drained well
• 1/3 c. hummus
• 2 garlic cloves, minced
• 3/4 c. mozzarella
• 1/3 c. crumbled feta

Preheat the oven to 450 and layer the tomatoes, onion and pepper slices on a cookie sheet.  Bake for 40 minutes, stirring a couple times in the middle.  Remove roasted veggies from the oven and set aside for the pizza.  When you're ready to make the pizza preheat the oven to 425 and roll the dough out on a stone.  Pre-bake the crust for 7 minutes.  While the crust is baking, mix the hummus and garlic together in a small bowl.  Remove crust from oven and spread the hummus over the top.  Layer on the veggies, artichoke hearts and olives.  Sprinkle the cheeses on the top and bake another 10-12 minutes or until the cheese is melted and crust is golden brown.

http://pinterest.com/pin/create/button/?url=http%3A%2F%2Fcrackedupkitchen.blogspot.com%2F2012%2F11%2Fgreek-hummus-pizza.html&media=http%3A%2F%2F4.bp.blogspot.com%2F-Vhdh0wzgL5g%2FUKEZ9ddUqTI%2FAAAAAAAACFA%2FrO0gyY_pv4A%2Fs1600%2FP1010747.JPG&description=Cracked%20Up%20Kitchen%3A%20Greek%20Hummus%20Pizza%2C%20Vegetarian

Chicken Parmesan Bake and Garlic & Parmesan Croutons

A friend of mine "pinned" this recipe on Pinterest and I saw it and had to make it immediately.  The only thing I didn't have was croutons so I made some and I think that's what put the recipe over the top.  This is so good.  My husband decided he wanted to have this for his birthday. 

I think this recipe is healthier/lower in calories than actual breaded and fried chicken parmesan so that's a plus too AND it's a full-meal all in one.  If you wanted to pack in more vegetables you could layer in some fresh or frozen spinach.

Chicken Parmesan Bake
Adapted from About.com
*recipe updated 9-29-12

• 2 tbsp olive oil
• 3-4 cloves garlic, minced or pressed (I love mine)
• 1/4-1/2 tsp crushed red pepper flakes
• 1 1/2 lbs skinless chicken breasts, cut into chunks
• salt & pepper
• 2 1/2 cups marinara sauce, I used homemade but a jar would work great
• 1/4 cup chopped fresh basil (If you don't have easy access to basil sub a couple tsp. of dried basil)
• 1 1/2 c. mozzarella cheese, shredded
• 1/2-3/4 c. Parmesan cheese, grated
• 3 c. homemade croutons, recipe follows

Pre-heat oven to 350.  In a 9x13 pan layer the olive oil, garlic and red pepper flakes.  Add the chicken chunks on top of that and season well with salt and pepper.  Pour the marinara over the chicken and sprinkle the basil on top of that.  Layer half of the mozzarella and parmesan cheeses on top.  Bake 30 minutes. Remove from the oven and then lay the croutons over the top and sprinkle on the rest of the cheese.  Bake another 10-15 minutes until chicken is cooked and cheeses are melted. Let stand 10 minutes before serving.

Garlic & Parmesan Croutons

1 baguette or 3/4 loaf of french bread (about 4-5 c. bread cubes)
5 Tb butter
3-4 garlic cloves
sea salt
1 Tb grated parmesan cheese

Slice the baguette and then chop it into 1'' cubes.  Preheat the oven to 350 and cover a cookie sheet with foil. Melt the butter in a sauce pan, add in the garlic and cook until fragrant.  Pour the butter over the bread cubes and toss to coat.  The bread should be just coated not completely soaked with butter. Spread the cubes out in one layer on the cookie sheet and sprinkle with sea salt and parmesan cheese.  Bake 10-12 minutes, making sure not to overcook.  Let cool and store in an airtight container or ziploc bag for up to a week.  OR use them on the casserole above! 

Pasta Rustico

This is a super simple, quick dinner that my family loves so it's great for a busy night.  I used my homemade marinara but a jar would be fine too.

I usually make this meat-free on a night when I've had a busy day and forgot to thaw meat, but italian sausage or sliced chicken would be great in this too.







Pasta Rustico

1 lb short-cut pasta (I used brown rice ziti)
3-4 c. marinara (I used 4)
1/2 c. fresh grated parmesan cheese
2 bunches OR one bag spinach, coarsley chopped
3/4-1 c. ricotta cheese

Boil pasta according to package directions.  While the pasta is cooking steam the spinach in the microwave until just wilted, 1-2 minutes.  Drain the pasta, and pour the marinara sauce into the hot pot and warm the sauce.  Stir together marinara, pasta, spinach, parmesan cheese, and ricotta cheese.  Serve immediately.

Marinara Sauce

I've mentioned "Use marinara sauce.  I made my own." many, many times.  Then once my friend asked me about the homemade marinara and I realized I should tell you how I do it.  The only problem is as previously mentioned, I don't measure very often so it gets complicated.  So in this recipe keep in mind that you keep tasting and adjusting the seasoning amounts to your liking.

Sometimes I get the "italian pack" that's offered through Bountiful Baskets and in that case I will use all of the fresh herbs in my sauce.  If I don't have fresh herbs I use italian seasoning which is much less expensive and easier to keep on hand so whatever you like.  The real trick to the sauce is cooking the vegetables in plenty of olive oil (just enough to cover) and then adding the tomato sauce and tomatoes and cooking it for a really long time.  I vary the vegetables in the sauce a lot based on what I have--zuchinni, mushrooms, and shredded eggplant are good in it too.

Here is what I did with the last giant batch of sauce. Make it your own and keep it in your freezer all the time...

Marinara Sauce

3 green bell peppers, chopped
3 onions, chopped
15 cloves of garlic, minced or grated
3/4 c. olive oil (or so)
107 oz can tomato puree or tomato sauce from a Warehouse store (or just a whole bunch of tomato sauce)
4 28oz cans diced tomatoes, undrained
2-3 Tb sugar
1 Tb crushed red pepper (or more)
1/4 c. italian seasoning (to start with)
black pepper to taste

Pour some of the olive oil in the bottom of a giant pot (or divide everything between two pots) and heat over medium heat.  Add in the peppers and onions (plus any other vegetables you want) and saute until they start to soften.  Add the rest of the olive oil, make sure there's just enough olive oil to cover the vegetables, but not to make them float in it.  Add in the garlic and cook another minute.  Slowly pour in some of the tomato puree or sauce and combine it well with the vegetable/olive oil mixture. You'll have to stir a awhile to get the oil to mix in completely.  Add in the rest of the sauce and all of the other ingredients and combine well.  Cook over low heat for at least an hour, but preferably a few hours, stirring, tasting, and adjusting the seasoning often.  I usually end up adding in extra italian seasoning and sometimes even some granulated garlic.

Let the sauce cool and portion into freezer bags or containers and keep on hand.  I'll defrost it and cook some sausage, ground beef, or meatballs and pasta and it's a super-fast dinner.

http://pinterest.com/pin/create/button/?url=http%3A%2F%2Fcrackedupkitchen.blogspot.com%2F2011%2F05%2Fmarinara-sauce.html&media=http%3A%2F%2F4.bp.blogspot.com%2F-6ECmXT-ylTo%2FUIQ2sEuKuwI%2FAAAAAAAAAKM%2FeU445x3lAXk%2Fs1600%2FP1010729.JPG&description=Big%20Batch%20Marinara%20Sauce

Speedy Spinach Lasagna

My cousin is an English/Grammar genious and told me that you're only supposed to use one space after a period!! What?? So sorry that I've been failing you in my writing.  Then again, I just used a double exclamation point/question mark combo which I'm pretty sure isn't grammatically correct either so probably the double spacing is the least of my worries.  I digress. Onto the food!

My mom has been making this recipe a long time.  It is so easy, fast, and doesn't take any expensive ingredients.  You can really throw it together in 10 minutes plus baking time. It also happens to be low calorie/low fat so I'm always up for that.  Rob's been out of town a couple weeks so I made this on Sunday and have eaten it all week, needless to say I made my kids a quesadilla tonight because they're over it! I forgot to take a picture, but I think you all know what lasagna looks like. Just imagine this lasagna with no meat (unless you add some) and the cheese filling with a green tint...and then you've got the picture!

Rob is not exactly a fan of the meat-free meal so sometimes I throw in some turkey sausage or chicken. Do as you wish.  I had homemade marinara sauce in the freezer but jarred sauce works great.  It's hard to mess this recipe up.

Speedy Spinach Lasagna

4 c marinara (more or less depending on your preference)
2 eggs
1/2 tsp salt
10 oz frozen chopped spinach, thawed & squeezed dry
2-4 Tb parsley
1/2 c. grated parmesan cheese
2 Tb sour cream
16 oz cottage cheese
1 1/2 c. mozzarella cheese, shredded
8-10 lasagna noodles, broken in half (oven ready noodles OR regular noodles both work.  This also works with brown rice lasagna noodles)

Preheat the oven to 350.  Make the cheese sauce by combining eggs, salt, spinach, parsley, parmesan cheese, sour cream and cottage cheese in the food processer and pulsing until combined.  If you don't have a food processer just chop the parsley and stir everything together, that's how my mom makes it and it's great.  I just like it smooth.  Pour a little sauce on the bottom of a 9x13'' pan.  Layer half the broken noodles, half the cheese sauce, half the mozzarella cheese, half the sauce.  Repeat. Cover with foil and bake for 60-90 minutes.  You'll know it's done when it's heated through, bubbly and a fork goes into the noodles easily.  Let stand 15 minutes before cutting and serving.

1/8th of this recipe is 281 calories.

Spaghetti Squash Bake

If you've never tried a spaghetti squash, this recipe would be a great opportunity to try it.  We really like it.  It is not an exact substitution for real pasta, but if you're having a calorie counting fest it works great! I have gotten very serious about my calorie counting lately.  Go here for a step by step on how to cook spaghetti squash!

I lightened up my recipe for baked spaghetti and made this.  All four of us eaters really enjoyed this and then I had enough leftover to eat for lunch the rest of the week!  This recipe would be super simple to make vegetarian.




Spaghetti Squash Bake1 large or 2 small spaghetti squash (you need about 7 c. shredded squash, give or take a cup)
2 Tb margerine, melted ( I used Smart Balance Light, no trans fat and low cal)
1 egg beaten
1/4 c. grated parmesan cheese
1/2 tsp sea salt and 1/4 tsp pepper
1/2 tsp granulated garlic

4 oz light cream cheese, softened (I used neufchatel cheese)
2 c. 2% milk cottage cheese
1/2 c. sour cream
dash of salt, 1/4 tsp pepper
1 c. mozzarella

3 c. marinara sauce (I made my own, a jar would be just fine)
1 lb turkey Italian sausage (I used spicy)

To cook the spaghetti squash there's a couple options.  1. Stab a few holes in it and cook it whole in the microwave 8-10 minutes, or until the skin is soft. Then cut it in half, scoop out seeds and use a fork to collect the "spaghetti." OR 2. Cut it in half (be careful), scoop out the seeds and bake upside down in the oven at 350 for 30-40 minutes or until you can use a fork to get the "spaghetti" to rake up.

Preheat oven to 350.  Let cooked spaghetti squash sit in a colander for a few minutes to get any excess water to drain out.  Mix the squash with the melted spread, parmesan cheese, beaten egg, salt, pepper and granulated garlic. Spread the squash mixture in the bottom of a 9x13' pan.  In a separate bowl mix together the cream cheese cottage cheese, sour cream, salt & pepper.  Spread the cheese mixture over the squash.  Sprinkle the mozzarella cheese over the top of that.  Then, mix together the marinara sauce and sausage and spread over the top of everything.  Bake the casserole for 30-35 minutes or until it's bubbly and hot.  Remove from the oven and let it stand for 10 minutes before cutting.  Serve with garlic bread (You're eating all veggies!  Splurge on the garlic bread.)

* I added up all the calories in the entire thing and 1/9th of this recipe has only 250 calories!

Lasagna Soup

YUM.  Just looking at this picture makes me want to make this again.  I originally got this recipe off of the Family Fun website when my friend told me she had made it.

This is a great winter recipe because it's warm and comforting.  And fast.  And easy. 






Lasagna Soup
1 pound italian sausage (I used turkey.  Sweet or Spicy italian sausage would work)
1 large onion, finely chopped
4-6 garlic cloves, minced
2 tsp dried oregano
1/2 tsp (or more) crushed red pepper
2 Tb tomato paste
(2) 14.5 oz cans diced tomatoes (I used the seasoned tomatoes)
4 cups chicken broth (there's about 4 cups in each carton of stock)
2 bay leaves
8 ounces of short-cut pasta (fusili, bow ties, wagon wheels...)
1/2 cup finely chopped fresh basil (this is really optional.  It's really good in there but if you don't have your own basil plant you don't really need to buy a $3 pack of basil for this.)
8 oz ricotta cheese
1/2 c. grated parmesan cheese
1/4 tsp salt
pinch of pepper
shredded mozzarella cheese

In a soup pot cook the sausage over medium-high heat, breaking it up with a spoon as it cooks.  Drain the meat and addx the onions and saute until softened.  Add in the garlic, oregano and red pepper flakes and saute for a minute.  Add the tomato paste cook over medium heat until the paste has turned a rusty brown color. Stir in the tomatoes, undrained, the chicken stock or broth, bay leaves and bring the soup to a boil.  Reduce the heat and simmer for 30 minutes. 

Stir in the pasta and increase the heat to medium-high and boil the soup until hte pasta is cooked...but not overcooked.  Keep a close eye on it.  Tasste and adjust seasonings adding salt and pepper if needed. 

In a small bowl stir together the ricotta cheese, parmesan cheese, 1/4 tsp salt, and pepper.  To serve the soup, put a heaping Tb of the ricotta mixture in a bowl, ladle soup over the top and sprinkle with fresh basil.

(1 c. of soup has about 265 calories, not too shabby)

Roasted Tomato and Garlic Marinara

I found this recipe on a blog and it looked so amazing I had to try it. Then I realized I had loads of tomatoes from my bountiful basket so I made it immediately. It turned out great! I took a picture....but again, the computer issue. My husband (our personal IT man) is home now but he's working on lots of stuff so once he gets the PC up and running then I can update all the pics! Until then...just trust me. I changed the original recipe a little, because I'm just rebellious like that.

Roasted Tomato and Garlic Marinara

20 plum tomatoes
30 garlic cloves
1 huge yellow onion, or two small ones
1/4 c. olive oil
drizzle of balsamic vinegar
plenty of sea salt
dried basil and oregano (about 1 Tb each)
1/4 cup fresh basil, chopped

Preheat the oven to 375. Wash the tomatoes and cut them in half. Separate and peel all of the garlic cloves and wrap them up in foil. Peel and cut the onion into wedges. Place all the vegetables in a 9x13'' pan and drizzle the olive oil and vinegar over the top. Sprinkle on the salt and dried basil and oregano. Place the foil packet of garlic on top. Roast the veggies for 40 minutes. Let the veggies cool and puree them well in the food processer (removing the garlic from the foil). Simmer the tomato mixture over medium-low heat for two hours. Taste and adjust seasoning/salt. Stir in the fresh basil at the end. Serve over noodles and/or meatballs or sausage, or use in place of a jar of marinara in any recipe. Yum.

Chicken Alfredo Pizza

Making homemade pizza is such a great way to use up leftover meat and whatever veggies you have in your fridge. I recently saw that the Pioneer Woman had shared her pizza crust recipe and I'm always game for a new pizza crust so I tried it. It was good. Although I must say that the fresh pizza dough ball at Trader Joe's is really good too and you don't have to deal with flour. BUT I didn't have to drive to TJ's to get this dough so that was cool.

This time I had a leftover chicken breast from grilling a day or two before and I also had made the Guiltless Alfredo Sauce from Our Best Bites site and it was suuuper yummy and I had some of that leftover too.

Chicken Alfredo PizzaCrust:
1 teaspoon Instant Or Active Dry Yeast
1-½ cup Warm Water
4 cups All-purpose Flour
1 teaspoon Kosher Salt
⅓ cups Olive Oil
Preparation Instructions
Sprinkle yeast over 1 1/2 cups warm water. In a mixer, combine flour and salt. With the mixer running on low speed drizzle in olive oil until combined with flour. Next, pour in yeast/water mixture and mix until just combined.
Coat a separate mixing bowl with a light drizzle of olive oil, and form the dough into a ball. Toss to coat dough in olive oil, then cover the bowl tightly with plastic wrap and store in the fridge until you need it. At least 24 hours, up to 3 days.

OR a ball of crust from TJ's.

Pizza: (this makes one pizza)

1/2 of the pizza crust

1/4-1/2 cup alfredo sauce (I made my own, recipe here)

1 chicken breast thinly sliced

1/4 cup sundried tomatoes, julienned

1/4 of a small red onion, thinly sliced

small jar of artichoke hearts, drained and chopped

1 1/2 c. shredded mozzarella cheese

1/4 cup shredded parmesan cheese

Preheat oven to 475. Set out the dough and let it come to room temperature. Separate into two balls. Spread out the dough evenly on a pizza stone or cookie sheet and stick it in the pre-heated oven for 5 minutes, just to let it start cooking. Pull out the pizza crust and top with sauce, chicken, tomatoes, onion, artichoke hearts, and cheeses. Put the pizza back into the oven for 7-10 more minutes until the dough is done and the cheese is melted.