Just~One~Donna

Another Friday night, another pizza.  Yum!  Tonight's pizza is made with hot Italian sausage and mushrooms.  Our hot sausage is locally made and includes soupy meats and spices.  Soupy, otherwise known as sopressata is a local Italian cured dry sausage. This is a hearty pizza, with plenty of zip and heat. We like our pizza with a little heat, but you can use a sweet sausage as well.   Use the best sausage you have in your area and your pizza will be equally delicious.   Here's how I make our pizza. Italian Sausage and Mushroom Pizza Ingredients Italian Sausage Pizza Ingredients 1 pizza dough 8 ounces fresh mozzarella cheese, sliced 2 ounces tomato sauce (your favorite jarred) 8 ounces Italian hot sausage, browned and drained 2 ounces sliced mushrooms 4 ounces shredded mozzarella cheese Parmesan cheese, freshly grated Parchment paper Directions Make your pizza dough earlier in the day.  Brown the hot sausage and drain.  Set aside.  Place a pizza stone on the

In honor of Saint Patrick's Day, and all that is green, today I'm making broccoli soup.  This is a creamy, and healthy soup with approximately 95 calories per serving, so you can eat it without guilt. Donna's Creamy Broccoli Soup Serves 4 Ingredients 1 Tablespoon extra virgin olive oil Broccoli Soup Ingredients 1 small yellow onion, diced 3 cloves garlic, sliced 1 lb fresh broccoli 4 cups low sodium chicken broth 1 1/2 tsp salt 1/2 tsp pepper 1/2 tsp dried thyme Directions Heat the oil in a heavy pot or Dutch oven.  Add the diced onion and cook until translucent, about 3 minutes.  Add the sliced garlic and cook for 1 minute. The Onion and Garlic Next add the broccoli, chicken broth and thyme.  I used fresh broccoli, but frozen will work just as well. Add the Broccoli, Thyme and Chicken Stock Bring to a boil, then reduce the heat and simmer until the broccoli is soft, approximately 10 minutes.  Remove from heat and cool for a few minutes.  Remov

Did you remember to spring ahead this weekend? The spring clock change always throws me off my game a bit.  Does it do the same for you?  Maybe a tasty little dessert will help you adjust.  Sometimes a fruit dessert is just the thing I need to make everything better.  When I'm looking for a tasty fruit dessert I usually rely upon a fruit crisp.  This Fruit Tart has all that is good about a fruit crisp with the added yumminess of a nutty bottom crust.  This dessert takes no time to pull together and the result is heaven in a bowl. Mixed frozen fruit was used to make this tart, but you can use any fresh or frozen fruit you choose.  Plums would be lovely.  Mixed berries would be colorful and delicious.  Peaches would light your fire.  Choose your fruit and give this a try. Fruit Tart Adapted from Ina Garten Fruit Tart Ingredients Ingredients 2 cups all-purpose flour 3/4 cup finely chopped walnuts 3/4 cup light brown sugar,   lightly packed 12 tablespoons cold, unsalted bu

Some days chili is the answer.  It doesn't matter what the question may be; chili is the answer.  Is it bone chilling cold where you are?  Do you want something hot, spicy and hearty for dinner?  Are you entertaining a group and need a tasty, budget friendly meal?  Chili is the answer. I haven't made chili in quite some time.  You know how sometimes you get an urge for something and you just can't rest until you have it?  Well, that happened this week with chili.  So, of course I had to make it.  When I went to get out my standby chili recipe I couldn't find it.  I guess it has been quite some time since I last made chili!  So I searched out a recipe that was most like the one I remembered making.  I found a recipe from Emeril Lagasse that seemed very similar to my old recipe with three key ingredient additions-beer, chocolate and Emeril's Essence.  I decided to give the recipe a try and share the results with all of you.  I tweaked Emeril's recipe a bit to

Have you had a hectic day and don't feel like cooking dinner?  You can whip up a tasty omelet without too much fuss and bother.  Are you feeling like you indulged too much this weekend?  When I am trying to eat light, vegetable omelets always jump into my mind as a perfect solution.  Omelets make a great choice for breakfast, lunch or dinner.  Today I'm making omelets for dinner.  They'll be filled with spinach, mushrooms and ricotta cheese.  Oh, yeah, Baby!  Since I found out how easy and delicious homemade ricotta cheese is, I've been adding it to everything!  You can use whatever cheese you like, but the homemade ricotta cheese is wonderful in this omelet. Spinach, Mushroom and Ricotta Omelet Serves 2 Omelet Ingredients 1 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil 2 tablespoons butter 4 whole eggs and 4 egg whites 1 9 ounce package fresh baby spinach, washed and drained 8 ounces sliced mushrooms 1 large clove garlic, minced 1/2 cup ricotta cheese pinch of

I found today's macaroni and cheese recipe on the internet when I was cruising for a healthier version of the traditional baked macaroni and cheese.    The kitchn , an internet food blog, hosted a Best Healthy Casserole contest and today's recipe was one of the winners.  It caught my eye for two reasons.  The first was that it had artichoke hearts as a key ingredient and I LOVE artichoke hearts.  The second thing to catch my eye was the use of silken tofu in the cheese sauce.  I hear you gasping, "Tofu!"  Yes, friends, tofu.  This recipe uses the very soft, creamy "silken" tofu.  I've become a fan of tofu through using it in my Pad Thai recipe . I was curious about using it in a macaroni and cheese recipe. I have made this recipe twice.  The first time I used canned artichoke hearts because I had them on hand.  In my second attempt at this recipe I used frozen artichoke hearts, and I must say I prefer the frozen to the canned.  Let's see how t

It's Friday!  It's time to think about Pizza Night.  Tonight we are having a favorite-Caramelized Onion, Prosciutto and Ricotta Cheese Pizza.  This pizza is made with my homemade ricotta cheese.  If you haven't tried making ricotta cheese at home yet, please do.  You won't believe how delicious this pizza is!  Let's make it together. Caramelized Onion, Prosciutto and Ricotta Cheese Pizza Ingredients  The Pizza Ingredients  1 pizza dough 4-6 ounces home made ricotta cheese 6-8 slices prosciutto 2 Tablespoons butter 2 large onions, caramelized salt and pepper 1/2 tsp cayenne pepper parchment paper Early in the day, prepare your pizza dough, and ricotta cheese .  Cut onion in half and slice thinly.  Heat butter in large frying pan over medium heat.   Add onion, cayenne, salt & pepper and saute for 10 minutes.   Reduce heat to medium low and cook, stirring occasionally for 20 minutes more, until onions are browned and caramelized.   Set aside