Pesto Pizza with Pine nuts and Feta

This a really yummy gourmet pizza recipe I got from a friend from Missouri. She also has a cooking blog called Sisters Cafe. I just use my pizza crust recipe located here.

Pesto Pizza with Pine nuts and Feta
Preheat Pizza Stone in 400° oven Roll out prepared pizza dough and place on preheated pizza stone. (I don't have a pizza stone, so I just preheat my oven, and then sprinkle my pizza pan with corn meal before I put the dough on.)Top pizza dough with the following ingredients in order:

1) Pesto - You can use store bought, or make your own, which is actually really easy and tastes better. Below is a the pesto recipe I use when I can get basil cheap, like from a farmers market. (LIBERALLY spread pesto over the pizza, so you can’t see the dough through it, and up on top the edges so the crusts will have pesto on them as well.)
2) Feta cheese (about 4 oz)
3) Red onion slivers (about 1/3 onion -I like lots of red onion and tomatoes)
4) Chicken pieces (about 1 1/2 Grilled Lemon marinated breasts, diced and cooked) - recipe follows
5) Tomato slices (1-2 tomatoes, bite-sized slices)
6) Mozzarella cheese (to your liking)
7) Pine nuts (sprinkle over top)

Bake in 400° oven for 18-20 minutes.

Pesto - This is a Barefoot Contessa recipe. It is super good, and super easy.
¼ c. walnuts
¼ c. pignolis
3 T. diced garlic (9 cloves)
5 c. fresh basil leaves, packed
1 tsp kosher salt
1 tsp freshly ground black pepper
1 ½ c. good olive oil
1 c. freshly grated Parmesan cheese

Place the walnuts, pignolis, and garlic in the bowl of a food processor fitted with a steel blade. Process for 30 seconds. Add the basil leaves, salt, and pepper. With the processor running, slowly pour the olive oil into the bowl through the feed tube and process until the pesto is finely pureed. Add the Parmesan and puree for a minute. Serve, or store the pesto in the refrigerator or freezer with a thin film of olive oil on top. Makes 4 cups.
*If I am able to get a lot of basil then I will make a bunch of pesto and freeze it in oiled ice cube trays. After it freezes, just remove the pesto cubes and store in Zip-lock bags. Its great on pasta too.

Grilled Lemon Chicken
Juice of one lemon (~3 Tb lemon juice)
3 Tb oil
1 tsp minced garlic (~ 2 medium-large cloves)
1 tsp salt
¼ tsp pepper
½ tsp oregano
1 lb chicken breasts

Marinate chicken overnight. If I'm using this for a pizza or salad, I dice the raw chicken and marinate it that way. If it's diced it has more surface area to marinate and then you can get away with only marinating it for 8 or so hours. You can grill this indoors or outdoors, or you may use a skillet.

Baja Chicken Pizza with Bacon and Cilantro

This is another recipe from a friend from K-ville(You can check out her cooking blog here). Very yummy! I just used my pizza crust recipe found here.

Baja Chicken Pizza with Bacon and Cilantro

3/4 c. Open Pit BBQ sauce
2 c. cooked, diced chicken
3/4 - 1 lb. good bacon, cooked and torn into medium pieces
1/2 c. chopped cilantro
1/2 c. thinly sliced red onion
1/2 lb. sharp cheddar cheese

Preheat oven and pizza stone to 425 degrees. With lightly greased hands, form dough into a pizza crust by using fingertips to spread dough outwards on counter top. Once in a disk about 6-8 inches in diameter, hold dough up by one edge and rotate around to let the weight of the dough stretch itself out, taking care to not let the center get too thin, but encouraging the edges to stretch as well, until 14 inches in diameter. Remove hot stone from oven and sprinkle with cornmeal. Place dough on hot stone and situate so it fits nicely over stone. Brush sauce over crust with a pastry brush or bottom of large pasta spoon,getting some on edges of crust. Then sprinkle chicken, bacon, half of cheese, then red onion and cilantro over as well. Top with remaining cheese. Bake for 12-15 minutes until crust and cheese is lightly browned.

Sunday Night Dinner: Pizza and Peaches

Homemade Pizza

I let the boys "decorate" their own. I had to help spread the cheese though, otherwise it would have been one big pile right in the middle!
For the crust:
1 c. warm water, divided
1 tsp. sugar
1/4 oz package active dry yeast (about 2 1/4 t.)
3 T. oil (olive or vegetable)
2 1/2 c. flour
1 t. salt

Put 1/4 c. warm water in bowl. Stir in sugar, sprinkle yeast on top and float for 1 minute. Stir in and proof for 10 minutes. Pour mixture into large bowl and stir in rest of ingredients. Mix until a ball, knead 10 minutes. Put additional oil in bowl and rise in bowl for 1 1/2 hours. Punch down and let rest for 10 minutes. Sprinkle corn meal on pan. Shape dough as desired, place on pan. Preheat oven to 400.

For pizza sauce:
1 (8oz) can tomato sauce
1 T. dry Italian salad dressing mix (I use Good Seasons)

Mix together. Spread evenly on prepared pizza dough. Add whatever toppings you like. We enjoy the combination of mozzarella, pepperoni, red onion and green peppers. Bake for about 20 minutes or until cheese begins to bubble and brown.

And for dessert:

Doesn't it just look awesome? Thanks mom for the delicious fresh peaches!
Peach Delight Pie
This recipe is amazing!! It is Larry's favorite summer pie, and is a hit with everyone who tastes it.

For the crust:
This is my Grandmothers(on my moms side) pie crust. It is the crust my mom makes, and in my opinion is the best pie crust ever!

Makes 2 (9") pie shells (or more if you roll it thinner)

2 1/2 c. sifted flour
1 tsp. salt
1/4 c. cold water or milk
1 c. shortening
1 beaten egg
1 Tbs. vinegar

Cut shortening into flour and salt. Beat egg, add vinegar and liquid. Add just barely enough liquid to dry ingredients to hold dough together, about 4 Tbs. Reserve remaining liquid for next batch of pastry. Handle dough as little as possible, use finger tips. Roll out into desired shape and size and place in pie tin.

The rest of the recipe comes from one of my amazing aunts! This is where the "delight" part comes in.

For the filling:

8 oz cream cheese, softened

2 eggs

1/3 c. sugar

Mix well. Spread on unbaked 10" pie shell(I usually leave a little out since my pie pans are only 9". You can just put the extra in a small pan or tin to bake). Bake at 400 until golden brown, about 15-20 minutes(check after 15). Cool.

For the peach filling:

1 c. sugar

3 Tbs. cornstarch

1 c. cold water

1 c. sliced peaches or 3 Tbs dry peach jello(I always use the jello)

3-4 c. sliced peaches

Bring the first 4 ingredients to a full boil and boil for 1 min. Remove, add the 3-4 c. of sliced peaches. Pour into crust. (Be careful not to overfill your crust, especially if you are using a 9" pan. I always have some extra that I put on my extra cream cheese filling. It is good even without a crust.) Cool; refrigerate for at least 2 hours before serving. So yummy!!