Romesco Pizza with Sausage and Peppers

If you’ve never had romesco sauce, you’re missing out. This delicious nut-and-red-pepper sauce is easy to make (I like both The Kitchn and Pinch of Yum’s recipes) and great served with or spread on just about anything, including this fabulous pizza. The sauce, combined with sweet peppers, savory sausage and smoky cheese, creates quite a flavor sensation.

Romesco Pizza with Sausage and Peppers 
Pizza dough (I use one 16-ounce ball of Trader Joe’s dough)
Flour and cornmeal (for prepping the pizza dough)
1-1½ cups romesco sauce (depending on how saucy you like your pizza)
8 ounces cooked sweet Italian sausage, sliced
2 cups sliced sweet bell peppers (I used a mix of red and yellow bell peppers)
1 cup shredded mozzarella
1 cup shredded smoked gouda
Red pepper flakes (optional)

Preheat oven to 450 degrees. Roll out your pizza dough on a floured surface and transfer to a cornmeal-dusted pizza pan. Bake just the dough for 5 minutes and remove from oven.

Give dough a good coating of romesco sauce and then top with sausage, bell pepper and cheese. Bake 12-14 minutes, until crust and cheese are golden. Sprinkle with red pepper flakes if you’ve got ‘em, and enjoy.

Make-Fast Mondays: Pesto Chicken Polenta Bowls with Artichoke Hearts and Spinach

Nothing beats the taste of fresh, homemade pesto, but that doesn’t mean you can’t keep a store-bought jar or two stashed in the cabinet for those times when you want pesto in a pinch. Crack open a jar of your favorite store-bought variety and give this recipe a try. Wondering what to do with the rest of the jar? Find just a few ideas for what you can do with the leftover green goodness here.

Pesto Chicken Polenta Bowls with Artichoke Hearts and Spinach 
1 quart chicken broth
1 cup polenta
2 bay leaves
¼ cup grated Parmesan, plus extra for garnish
2 tablespoons olive oil, divided
1 pound boneless, skinless chicken breast, cut into chunks
8 ounces sliced mushrooms
14 ounce can artichoke hearts, drained and chopped
3-4 tablespoons pesto
1 teaspoon dried red pepper flakes
8 ounces chopped spinach

Bring broth to a boil in a large saucepan. Gradually add polenta and bay leaves, stirring for a minute, before reducing heat to low and covering the saucepan. Simmer for 30 minutes, stirring the polenta for a minute every 10 minutes. Remove pan from heat, remove bay leaves, and stir in the grated Parmesan. 

Once polenta is simmering, heat 1 tablespoon olive oil in large frying pan over medium-high heat. Add chicken and cook, stirring occasionally, for about 5 minutes or until chicken is completely cooked. Transfer chicken to a plate and set aside.

Heat remaining olive oil and add mushrooms to the pan, cooking until mushrooms are slightly softened. Add the chicken, artichoke hearts, pesto and red pepper flakes to the pan, stirring once or twice, until everything’s nice and warm. Add spinach and continue to cook for just a minute longer, until spinach wilts but is still a vibrant green, and everything’s got an even coating of pesto sauce. Divide polenta evenly among 6 bowls, followed by the pesto chicken mixture. Garnish with Parmesan and enjoy!

Pesto pasta a great post-work dinner

Work nights are a mixed bag.

It doesn’t necessarily depend on how my day went, but by the time I get home from work and plop my commuter mug in the kitchen sink, I’m either really excited to cook dinner or I’m shrinking away from the stove.

Tonight I ended up settling somewhere in the middle. With no errands to run and a kitchen full of odds and ends, I wasn’t necessarily pressed for time, and decided to whip something up that wouldn’t have me on my feet until bedtime. Don’t want some elaborate recipe to get between me and How I Met Your Mother!

The end result was Pesto Pasta with Shrimp and Parmesan, a dish that took only six ingredients and about 30 minutes from start to finish. I had all the ingredients at home — frozen shrimp (defrost these guys for a few minutes under cool running water), a jar of pesto and chicken broth (I use chicken bouillon in a pinch) are all kitchen staples for me.

Pesto Pasta with Shrimp and Parmesan
12-16 ounces cooked tail-off medium shrimp, defrosted
1 pound angel hair pasta
1/4 cup prepared pesto
3/4 cup chicken broth
1 teaspoon red pepper flakes
1/2 cup grated Parmesan

Bring water to boil in medium pot and add pasta. Stir occasionally and cook until pasta is al dente (firm, not too mushy), about 8 minutes. Strain pasta.
While pasta is cooking, rinse shrimp with water and toss them in a large nonstick frying pan with the broth, pesto and pepper flakes. Stir over medium heat for 5-10 minutes, until shrimp are thoroughly heated.
Add cooked pasta to the pan with shrimp and sauce, tossing with the Parmesan until noodles are coated, and serve.