Tag Archive for 'romano cheese'

Food Reviews: Kroger Private Selection Woodfired Stone Baked Italian Garden Pizza

Published by Hal on January 27, 2008 in product reviews and recipes. 5 Comments

Edit: Hi, and welcome to the Common Culinarian! If you’ve come here as a result of a search for this particular kind of a pizza, special welcome! Don’t forget to check out the rest of what this site has to offer: http://commonculinarian.com

We can’t cook all the time, because some time we just want something that is tasty and we want it in a hurry. Often times, this means that we resort to convenience foods–you know the ones, those TV dinners, frozen pizzas, pastas-in-a-can, and so on. Sometimes you just stumble on a gem, and it can quickly become a standby for those days when you just don’t feel like cooking, you’re short on time, or you don’t want to think about what to throw together.

Private Selection Italian Garden PizzaStacie and I seem to have found such a gem. We love pizza–in fact, I thinking about experimenting with my own dough and coming up with some fun creations to write about. So, today, when trying to decide what to have for lunch we pulled out this pizza I picked up at the grocery store on a whim.

If you have a Kroger in your area, I would recommend checking this pizza out. It’s the “premium” store brand, Private Selection, Woodfired Stone Baked Italian Garden Pizza. Once you get past the rather long title, at it’s core this is a simple vegetable pizza; the pizza has sun-dried tomatoes, mushrooms, spinach, pecarino Romano and feta cheese on top of a crispy, thin crust that has been lightly covered in just enough tomato sauce to hold the whole thing together.

The pizza also has very generous servings–one third of each pie is one serving. And, it’s reasonably healthy, making it that much more appetizing: 340 calories, 12 grams of fat, and 5 grams of fiber per serving. Since there are just two of us, we each had half the pie, giving us 540 calories, 18 grams of fat, and 7.5 grams of fiber. That’s a little on the heavy side, but still respectable for a decent amount of food and still much more healthful than, say, a Big Mac.

And, it only put us out about $5.25, much cheaper than most carry-out pizza joints.

Want to make this on your own, or don’t have a Kroger (Fred Meyers, Scoops, etc..) near-by? Here is my deconstructed version of this pizza:

Ingredients

  • 1-10 inch pre-made thin pizza crust (or, you could try my quick rising pizza crust)
  • 1/4 cup of pre-made pizza sauce
  • 1/4 cup of cooked, well-drained spinach
  • 1/4 cup of chopped sun-dried tomatoes
  • 1/4 cup of sliced mushrooms
  • 1/4 cup of Pecorino Romano cheese
  • 1/4 cup of crumbled Feta

Procedure

Pre-heat the oven to 425 degrees (F). Spread the sauce over the crust. Then, layer the remaining ingredients, reserving the cheese for the top. Bake directly on the rack for about 6-8 minutes, until the crust is crispy and the cheese has melted and turned slightly golden.

Recipes: Focaccia

Published by Hal on January 22, 2008 in recipes. 3 Comments

I apologize for not posting much over the last several days–we had a wedding back home, so I spent the weekend traveling. Then, we went over to a friend’s house for dinner last night and didn’t get home until late.

However, it was the weekend of great food! The wedding was held at the Krohn Conservatory, overlooking downtown Cincinnati. The couple had the reception catered by Jeff Thomas Catering, who came up with an ingenious way to design a menu. The bulk of the party was in three rooms at the Krohn: the southwest room, the bonsai room, and the floral display house. In these three rooms was a tacos/fajitas bar, a Southeast Asian bar, and a pasta bar, respectively. Everything was amazing, especially the Southeast Asian bar. The chicken curry was delightful!

Then, last night, we went to our friend, Sonia’s, house (hi, Sonia!), where she treated us to an assortment of yummy food. First, she doctored up some canned cream of mushroom soup with chickpeas and rice (a good tip, if you’re in a rush). Then, we had some chicken in aromatic rice, biryani, lentils, and flatbread. Finally, she ended with a perfectly cooked, deliciously lemony cheesecake. What a nice!

Anyway, I’ve been getting into baking lately, at the suggestion of my friend, Charli (hi, Charli!). Last week, I found a delicious recipe for focaccia, here, and it’s been a hit the three times I’ve made it. Of course, I took my own spin (on the directions at least). So, without further ado:

Focaccia

Ingredients

  • 1 tablespoon active dry yeast
  • 1 teaspoon white sugar
  • 1 cup water
  • 1 tablespoon vegetable oil
  • 2 3/4 cups all-purpose flour
  • 1 teaspoon salt
  • 1 teaspoon garlic powder
  • 1 teaspoon dried oregano
  • 1 teaspoon dried thyme
  • 1/2 teaspoon dried basil
  • 1 pinch ground black pepper
  • 2 tablespoons olive oil
  • 1 tablespoon grated Parmesan cheese
  • 1 cup mozzarella

Directions:

  1. Proof the yeast with the water and the sugar.
  2. Meanwhile, combine the remaining dry ingredients. Use a whisk to distribute the herbs throughout.
  3. After the yeast has proofed (you can tell because the head will have more than doubled), stir the yeast/water mixture and the vegetable oil into the dry ingredients.
  4. Using the dough hook on your mixer, or just a wooden spoon, stir the ingredients until they come together into a ball.
    • If you’re doing this by hand, you can also just use your hands once you’ve got all the ingredients combined.
  5. Knead the dough about 20 times and form into a ball.
  6. Cover with a kitchen towel and allow the dough to rise for 20-30 minutes. (Meanwhile, preheat your oven to 450 degrees)
  7. After the dough has risen, turn it out onto a greased baking sheet. Then, flatten it to about 1/4 to 1/2 inch thick.
    • You can make a rectangle, but the dough seems to want to be round. I just use a solid bottom pizza pan and make a round loaf.
    • I would not use one of those baking sheets that has two layers of metal with air between. You’ve seen them–they keep the bottom of cookies from browning too much. Problem is, they keep the bottom from browning, and you want a nice crust!
  8. Brush with the olive oil, then sprinkle the cheeses over the top.
    • The ingredients say mozzarella and parmesan, and you can use that, however it, would be like a pizza without cheese. The first time I made this, I used shredded (not grated) parmesan and romano cheese. My wife thinks this was much better.
    • Experiment with the toppings–I’ve been thinking of caramelized onion slices and sun-dried tomatoes.
  9. Bake for 15 minutes, or until the cheese is golden brown. Serve warm.

Leftovers: Beef Stew over Pumpkin Risotto

Published by Hal on December 16, 2007 in leftovers and recipes. 1 Comment

One of the best things about cooking at home is the next day and leftovers. This is also a great way to save money while you’re cooking–make it once, eat it twice!

I made a beef stew the other night and after a few days it got much better. I made Pumpkin Risotto last night. I needed something for lunch (and I’m still debating dinner) so I thought I would combine the two.

Basically, I put one serving of the risotto in a bowl, then covered it with the chunks of stew, then the stew liquid. I microwaved the bowl for 4 minutes at 60% power, sprinkled some shredded Parmesan cheese over the top, and this was the result:

Beef stew over pumpkin risotto

Yum!

What are your favorite left overs?