All fun aside this was an excellent pizza.  The parsley was picked just a few minutes before  giving the pesto a very strong flavor that really complemented the portabella and pepperonis.  As I was making the pizza Husband called to say he would be late but instead of turning the oven off I decided to let the pizza stone heat up more and left it on.  As a result, the pizza heated really quickly and came out nice and crisp.  Of course, it's really hard to ruin pizza when you put pepperoni on it but I think the parsley pesto was really the star in this pizza.  Looks like I may have to update my list of top pizzas because this one was a really winner:

PPPPPPPizza (Pam's Parsley Pesto, Pine nuts, Parmesan, Portabella and Pepperoni Pizza)

• About 2 cups of parsley
• 1 ounce of parmesan cheese, grated
• 3 T pine nuts
• 4 T olive oil or more to get spreadable moist pesto
• 1 Large Portabella mushroom, sliced
• 15 or so pieces of pepperoni
• 4 ounces mozzarella, shredded
• Pizza crust or pizza dough

In a small food processor blend parsley, parmesan, and pine nuts.  Add oil and blend until mixture is spreadable and somewhat moist.

Sautee sliced portabella.

Spread pesto on pizza crust.  Sprinkle mozzarella over pesto.  Top with portabella and then layer pepperoni on top.

Preheat oven to 525 degrees with pizza stone so that the stone is thoroughly heated. Bake pizza 6-8 minutes until cheese has melted and pepperonis have cooked.

The Leftovers

The Creation

Guess I'll hold off on the grilled chicken...

Can't wait to see everyone else’s leftover creations!

Spring Panzanella

• 1 1/2 cup Asparagus
• 2 cups Broccoli
• 1/2 cup Green Beans
• 2 cups Cherry Tomatoes
• 1/2 lb Fresh mozzarella, cut into bite-sized cubes
• 1/2 loaf crusty Italian bread.
• 1/2 cup olive oil plus 3 Tablespoons
• 3 Tablespoons balsamic vinegar
• 2 Tablespoons fresh basil, chopped
• 1 clove garlic
• Salt and pepper

1. Puree garlic by mashing it and mixing with 1 teaspoon salt.  Blend with 1/2 cup olive oil.

2. Cut bread into bite-sized pieces and toss with 3 Tablespoons garlic infused olive oil.  Roast at 375 for about 10 minutes until toasted.

3. Cut vegetables into bite-sized pieces.  Individually, toss each with a tablespoon olive oil, and 1/2 teaspoon salt and pepper.  Roast at 375 for about 20 minutes turning about half-way.  Watch vegetables while roasting as some types will roast faster than others. 

4. Mix garlic infused olive oil with balsamic vinegar. Combine all ingredients, toss and serve.

Note: Both the amounts and types of vegetables are completely variable.  Just use whatever you have on hand the result will still be great.

Got leftovers?  In case you haven't heard, Leftover Tuesdays is a great blogging event that recycles leftovers into wonderful and amazing new dishes.  Leftover Tuesdays is the brainchild of David over at Cooking Chat who has kindly allowed Project Foodie to host this month's Leftover Tuesdays event.  It’s a fun way to creatively use leftovers and share the result with everyone.  And you don't have to be a blogger to participate! See below for all the details. 

How it works?

The basic idea is to have a leftover item on hand as a result of your cooking (or other dining) between Wednesday, May 23 and Wednesday, May 30th.  Make something new with those leftover items and blog about this creation by Wednesday, May 30.  I'll post a round-up of all entries by the end of the week. No special theme this month, just anything creative you can do with your leftovers!

How to enter?

Post your blog entry by midnight (PST) on Wednesday, May 30, and send me an email at pam @ projectfoodie.com (take out the space), with the subject "Leftover Tuesdays". Be sure to include the following, very important information:

• Your name and location
• Your blog name and URL
• URL for your Leftover Tuesdays entry
• A 100 x 100 jpeg photo if you would like it included in the roundup

 
Not a blogger?  No worries - just send me your recipe and a picture of your creation.  I'll post it along with the others.

Want to see previous Leftover Tuesdays? 

Round #1 was at Cooking Chat, Roundup #2  is over at Rachel's Bite, Round #3 is at What's Cooking, and Round #4 is at ceres & bacchus.

Have fun creating and cooking - I'm looking forward to seeing all of your wonderful creations!

Before I describe the menu, I must admit that it’s not exactly following the seasonal rule because its spring and the menu includes butternut squash and apples.  Clearly these are not really the ideal spring fare; especially since I have Fava beans waiting in the garden to be picked, but this was such a good meal that I'm hoping you'll forgive my lack of timing.

We started the evening with an appetizer of Shrimp Butter Toasts.  These are small triangles of buttered toast with a Shrimp butter spread.  I found this recipe in a recent Gourmet but I didn’t think I’d actually make it because I do not make appetizers very often.  When I invited our friends over for dinner I decided to give the Shrimp Butter Toasts a try.  They were good but I'm not a huge seafood fan so I'd have to say it was my least favorite part of the meal.  Another recipe in the same Gourmet article was for Cheddar Rice Balls.  Since I love cheese I suspect I'd have enjoyed these more but my guests love seafood so I went with the shrimp. 

The main meal consisted of a Butternut Squash Lasagna served with a side of roasted green beans and tomatoes.  I had one butternut squash remaining from my fall garden and had been waiting for the right meal to use it.  My friends are not big meat fans making this meal the perfect use for the squash.  This isn’t your typical lasagna - it is not a red sauce based lasagna; in fact it doesn't really have any particular sauce other than layers of a ricotta cheese spread.  I modified the original recipe, from Bon Appétit, by reducing the ricotta to 32 ounces and tripling the mushrooms to a pound and a half.  To add some color I served the lasagna with a side of roasted green beans and tomatoes.  I really wanted to serve roasted Brussels Sprouts but they aren't available right now.  Still, the green beans and tomatoes added a nice color and flavor contrast.

For dessert, I choose a fairly simple dessert that is not very sweet or rich - Apple Upside-Down Cornmeal Cakes.  This tasty treasure consists of individual serving sized cornmeal cakes with an apple walnut topping and a small dollop of homemade whipped cream.  Fresh out of the oven they smell wonderful and taste even better.  I've served these before and everyone always loves that they are fairly light.  I love that they really easy to prepare and are already in individual serving sizes. 

And that's it! We prepared the shrimp butter the evening before and everything else the afternoon of the dinner.  Combined, it's a couple of hours of preping and cooking but none of the dishes are very difficult.  If you're looking for a dinner menu give this menu a try and let me know how it works for you!