Personal Pesto Pizzas

Growing up my mom frequently made us our own personal french bread pizzas. They were great because the bread was

cheesy!

always nice and fluffy and they were easy to take as leftovers as well as easy to make. For this meal, I decided to make a Pesto Pizza variation. It took me only about 5 minutes to make and about 10 minutes to bake (broil).

I bought sourdough sandwich rolls which are pre-cut, and a small jar of pesto sauce. You could also make your own pesto with basil, olive oil and garlic, but since I do not have a food processor, this was the best option.

You simple spread the pesto over the tops of the separated sandwich rolls, sprinkle mozzarella cheese over the top, place in the oven for about 10 minutes on broil (I like to leave them until the edges are crispy. I then cut up two large tomatoes to place on top. And there you have it – a super simple yet delicious meal and something a bit out of the ordinary.

(Note: Also did a lactose free variety with Veggie Shreds in mozzarella flavor.)

one of my favorite meals - Personal Pesto Pizza

Mirassou Cabernet Sauvignon-

As with my other posts, I will not longer be listing my wine posts in days. I will simply title the posts with the name of the

mm mm mm... Mirassou

wine being featured. For today’s wine, I chose a delicious red made by Mirassou – their Cabernet Sauvignon. You can visit their website here. This wine was in all ways absolutely delicious and I will definitely be going back to the store for more. I paired it with the Spaghetti and Meatballs dinner and I couldn’t have asked for a better pairing.

They describe their Cabernet Sauvignon as having intense flavors of blackberry and black currant with hints of vanilla and brown spice. 

I should mention that if you are interested in learning anything about wine, their website is VERY complete. They tell you what size the grapes were when they were picked and hand stemmed, and briefly discuss the fermentation process that was needed to create such a delicious wine.

It is said to be paired with steaks and hearty pasta (which is why I chose this particular wine for that meal), and I can’t wait to try my hand at some filet mignon so I can pick up this wine again for another fabulous evening. Also – it was only around $6 (on sale). 🙂

Spaghetti & Meatballs

For last night’s dinner I scurried to the store to buy everything I needed for a gourmet-style spaghetti sauce with turkey meatballs. It was absolutely delish! We were a bit tired of all the mexican food in our lives, and since our roommate can’t eat cheese (we were going to make manicotti) I decided on the next best pasta dish I could think of. I LOVE tomato sauce. And I’m not talking Ragu or Prego or any of the store bought varieties. I’m talking a super delicious explode in your mouth kind of pasta sauce. You can find the recipe to the sauce I used on my blog here.

This was my first attempt at my own spaghetti sauce and it turned out pretty tasty. Not only that but it only took me about 45 minutes to make including the simmering time of about 30 minutes.

Spaghetti Sauce

Dinner Day 6

Dinner Day 6 – No plans, no recipes, ALL intuition and leftover ingredients. I am so proud that I finally was able to whip together a dinner without anyone telling me what to use or how to use it. This post will be somewhat brief; however I have many photos to add in here (I was in a photographic kind of mood). This meal was super easy and could probably be made without having to make a trip to the store (so awesome!). Below is a list of all the things you need to make this. I will also provide some suggestions for things you could add to make it even more delectable. Here we go –

2 tomatoes (diced or sliced into chunks)

1/2 large white onion (diced)

2 cloves of garlic (minced)

About a handful of spaghetti (or whatever pasta you have lying around)

Olive oil (just enough to coat your noodles)

Parsley flakes

Parmesan cheese

Dinner Day 2

For my second extravagant meal, I decided to make stuffed bell peppers. They turned out amazingly. I got the recipe from New Italian Recipes. It was pretty simple to make and didn’t take very long.

I used green bell peppers which were stuffed with a tomato sauce and rice mixture that also contained many other spices, including cinnamon and brown sugar. Next time I decide to use this recipe, I think I will leave the brown sugar out because it was very strong in the overall flavor. Also, I think the bell peppers were sweet enough and the brown sugar took it just a wee bit overboard.

In the recipe, it said to add 1lb of ground beef or turkey. I left this out because I decided to serve them with Montreal seasoning rubbed ribeye steaks. I purchased them from Safeway at a pretty decent price. After rubbing them with the seasoning, I pan fried them (about 10 minutes each side). The result was delicious juicy steaks that went perfectly with the bell peppers.

Lastly, I made a cucumber salad, which was SUPER simple and quick. I sliced two cucumbers (after cutting off the skin), and let them soak for about an hour in a red wine vinegar and olive oil mixture. I did about half and half for each and added salt and pepper to taste. It was absolutely delicious especially with the warm weather and this Italian inspired dinner.

Top off the baked bell peppers with cheddar and mozzarella cheese and fresh basil. Bellisimo!!