Roasted red pepper pizza sauce

Since we love pizza so much, we have been grilling it a lot this spring. My favorite type of pizza is margarita but I thought it would be fun to change it around a bit. Since every topping is pretty basic, but so good I decided to keep the toppings the same but change the sauce around! Roasted red pepper seemed like it would be a flavorful addition and OMG it was awesome! As I have said in a previous post, this will make your pizza taste so much better than the jarred stuff! Hope you enjoy it as much as we did.

Tops about 1 pizza dough worth or two small to medium pizzas


The Players:

• 1 roasted red pepper (estimate about one from the jar or you could roast you own!)
• 2-3 cloves garlic minced
• 1 tsp of olive oil
• 2 tomatoes
• A little less than 1/4 tsp salt (this is to flavor the sauce)
• Pepper to taste

The Game Plan:

Set a pot of water to boil with some salt. Once the water is boiling, add the tomatoes in for about 3-4 minutes or until the skin starts to blister. Drain water and set the tomatoes aside to cool.

Meanwhile place a pot on medium heat with olive oil. Place garlic inside and let cook for a few minutes until it is fragrant.

Peel the tomato skin off and discard.

Break the tomatoes apart and try to remove some seeds and veins. Then place them into the food processor with the garlic and roasted red pepper. Blend until smooth and season with salt and pepper (once the sauce boils, it will become a lot saltier, so do not over salt the sauce, you can always season it more later if you need to). The sauce will be very watery and smooth.

Place the sauce into a pot and place it on medium low heat.

Let the water boil off about 10-12 minutes. It is ready once it is thick and not watery.

Saffron Risotto

This post was inspired the person who probably keeps up with my blog the most, my brother in law, Amit. He also has a blog of his own that is all about his travels and yes it includes food too http://aabtzu.wordpress.com/!  He made a Sunday supper for his family which included Saffron Risotto and Osso Buco and he said everyone really enjoyed it. I love risotto and usually make mushroom risotto but this time decided to change it up a little bit (that was specifically for Aryana) ;)  I also added some roasted chicken pieces and green peas to risotto to mine, which tasted delicious in it!

The Players:

• 2 tbs butter
• 1 medium onion chopped
• 2 pinches of saffron threads
• Salt and pepper to taste
• 1.5 cups of arborio rice
• 1/3 cup white wine
• 5 sprigs of thyme
• 1/4 cup Parmesan cheese grated
• 6 cups of vegetable broth*

The Game Plan:

Place stock in a pot on medium high heat and let it come to a constant boil. Once it comes to a boil, keep it at least simmering. Place a dutch oven over medium-high heat. Add the saffron threads and let heat up while stirring it a few times for a minute or two until the threads are fragrant. 

Add the butter in and let melt.

Then add the onions, thyme leaves and a few pinches of salt. Let onions cook over medium heat and stir occasionally for about 5 minutes. 

Add the rice and let toast for about 2 minutes, stirring occasionally. 

Add the wine and stir everything while wine evaporates. 

At this point your stock should be very hot.

 Ladle in about a 1/2 to 1 cup of stock into the pot while stirring. 

The liquid will become absorbed and at this point you can place another ladle full in the pot. Continue doing this until the rice is to your liking (about 6 cups should be perfect). Once done add the parmesan, taste and add more salt to taste. I also added fresh cracked black pepper. I love fresh black pepper!

*Once you get to the part of adding the broth, do not leave your risotto unattended. You want to be stirring it so the rice does not stick and so the risotto becomes nice and creamy.