CEiMB: Spinach, Caramelized Onion and Goat Cheese Pizza

Just a short post for now, just came back from the cinema: saw 'Avatar'. Wow!! What a movie!

Up above is my gorgeous pink bike, covered in the snow. I haven't seen this much snow since I live in this appartment... It's been like this since Christmas: crazy!

So, this is my first CEiMB-post in a while. I must admit it's great to be able to eat again and even better to be able to enjoy the things I eat again! This weeks recipe for Craving Ellie in My Belly was picked by Half Meatball/Half Matzoh Ball Children.




Argula was nowhere to be found at the supermarket, so I used spinach instead. I also added some yellow pepper I still had laying around in my fridge. The second time I made these I added a drizzle of balsamic vinegar to the veggies. This is another winner by Ellie: easy to put together in no time whatsoever and tasty too!! I will most definetely be making this one again!


The recipe can be found over at Half Meatball/Half Matzoh Ball Children and at Foodnetwork. Check out what my fellow Ellie-istas thought of the Arugula, Caramelized Onion and Goat Cheese Pizza here!

CEiMB: Oven Baked Onion Rings

This week Mare of Meet Me in the Kitchen picked the recipe for Craving Ellie in My Belly and boy did she pick a good one: Oven Baked Onion Rings. The recipes can be found here at Mare's blog, on page 269 of The Food You Crave by Ellie Krieger or here at Foodnetwork.

First thing I did as soon as the Tell All for the Oven Baked Onion Rings was posted was to make sure I bought the right chips, as sometimes foods have the same name in America and Holland but are actually a bit different, for example our Milkyway candybars: those in America actually have a layer of caramel in the filling whereas the ones here in Holland don't, the packaging is even completely different. Fortunately Heide of chez zero was able to confirm to me that I could in fact use the Lays Baked Chips.

Out of the three Vidalia onions I bought two were not good: they were moldy and rotten inside, yuk!!! So I ended up using only 1 Vidalia onion. I didn't want to throw out all of the crushed chips so I sliced a red onion and half a courgette. The first batch went into the oven for the full 20 minutes, but some of the onion rings (Vidalia onion) had some blackened edges so the second batch (red onion and courgette) only got 18 minutes of oven time and were absolutely perfect. These were all amazing, my favourite was the red onion, followed closely by the courgette and Vidalia onion. Great pick Mare!!

Check out what my fellow Ellie-istas thought of the Oven Baked Onion Rings here. Next week we'll make Cobb Salad, something I've never had before and can't wait to try!!!

Sweet Potato Pizza with Onions and Rosemary (Vitatas)

This week I found one ingredient in my Vitatas that I have never cooked with: a sweet potato. Snooping around on the internet I found various interesting ideas on what to do with it: baking a pound cake, making fries, putting it in a quiche, making a delicious soup, covering it with marshmallows, making casserole (also topped with marshmallows) and the most appealing one to me: pizza!! (I warned you in my previous post about my love for Italian food...)

I only changed one thing in this recipe: I used red onion. Also I topped the pizza with about 150 grams of Gorgonzola Dolce after 15 minutes in the oven. Put it back in the oven for another 3 minuts, then sprinkle the grated cheese on top and another 1-2 minutes in the oven.

This is a great recipe that I will be making again: I loved the sweetness of the sweet potato and red onion combined with the saltiness of the Gorgonzola cheese. My dad came home very late and ate the leftovers, his verdict: 8+ out of 1o points.

Serves 4

Ingredients
6 tablespoons olive oil
2 large onions, thinly sliced
2 (10-ounce) portions frozen pizza dough, thawed
6 small sweet potatoes, peeled and thinly sliced (about 1/4 inch)
1 tablespoon chopped fresh rosemary (or 2 teaspoons dried, crumbled)

150 gram Gorgonzola dolce (optional)
2/3 cup grated Parmesan cheese

Preparation
Arrange oven racks in the lower and upper third of the oven. Heat the oven to 475° F.

Heat 4 tablespoons of the oil in a large, nonstick skillet over medium heat. Add the onions and cook until translucent and soft.

Roll out the dough on a well-floured surface to make two 8- x 16-inch rectangles or two 12-inch rounds and transfer to two ungreased baking sheets (or two 12-inch pizza pans). (I made one big pizza....)

Layer the dough with the sweet potato slices, overlapping them slightly and forming three rows (or in a circular pattern if making round pizzas). Top the potato slices with the onions and rosemary. Drizzle the pizza with the remaining olive oil and season well with salt and freshly ground pepper.

Bake pizzas 15 to 18 minutes, or until the edges of the pies are crisp and lightly browned and the sweet potatoes are soft. (After 15 minutes I added the Gorgonzola and popped the pizza back into the oven.) Top with Parmesan and return to oven 1 to 2 minutes, until cheese melts.