Quick but Delicious Pizzas

As I've said before, due to my mother's upbringing, I am a strict believer in making everything from scratch. (Except brownies, I still think good boxed brownies and scratch brownies taste virtually the same)

However, I also know that everyone is busy, including me, and making everything from scratch just does not work for every day living. There are days when you come home from work and have an hour to make something eat and leave the house again. Those days require something quick.  For those days, I usually turn to Trader Joe's which thankfully is near me. They have great stuff. I love them. If you don't have a Trader Joe's near you, though I'm very sorry for you, you can get the ingredients for this meal at the grocery store or a local farmer's market.

For a quick but tasty meal, I sometimes will make pizza with Trader Joe's (or the grocery store's) pre-made dough.

First, I roll out the dough onto my oiled pizza pan. Then I brush the dough with a mixture of 2 crushed garlic cloves and about 3 tbsp of olive oil. Then I'll coat the pizza with whatever "sauce" I want.
Either homemade pizza sauce:

(to make sauce, empty a can of crushed tomatoes into a sauce pan with some crushed garlic, a little cayenne pepper, a touch of olive oil, some basil (fresh or dried), a dash of salt and pepper and about two tsp of sugar. Simmer until it's thickened, about 15 minutes.)


Then coat the pizza with shredded mozzarella and Parmesan and possibly a little pepperoni or crumbled cooked sausage or cooked onions or chopped, cooked pancetta for a little bacon flavor...

OR


I'll spread about a cup of ricotta cheese all over the pizza after the garlic olive oil and then either dot the pizza with broccoli florets and cover with mozzarella or cover the pizza with slices of tomatoes and then mozzarella or my newest favorite is mozzarella and Parmesan with slices of roasted red peppers and onions.

Cook the pizza for about 20 minutes at 350. Another thing I'll do sometimes right after the pizza comes out of the oven is to sprinkle it with a little fresh arugula and some hot sauce and then slice it.

So good...and so fast...and super easy.

Eggplant Rollatini

 
There really isn't any anecdote to this recipe, sorry. We had a friend over this weekend and I wanted to make something I hadn't made in quite a while. Since she likes eggplant also, I decided to make this one. It came out quite well, if I do say so myself, and as many things, was even better the next day for lunch. Enjoy.

Eggplant Rollatini

2 eggplants, peeled and sliced lengthwise, into 1/2 inch slices
salt and pepper
3/4 cup olive oil
16 oz ricotta cheese
1 egg
1/2 cup shredded mozzarella
3 tbsp grated Parmesan
20 basil leaves, thinly sliced or 1 tbsp dried basil
2 cups tomato sauce (recipe follows)

On a large baking sheet, arrange eggplant slices and sprinkle with salt. Set aside for 15 minutes. Rinse the eggplant and pat dry. Brush each slice with olive oil

Using a grill, or in my case the grill pan from Crate and Barrel, grill slices, about 4 minutes per side.

Spray a large casserole dish with olive oil and spread 1/2 cup of tomato sauce on the bottom. In a bowl, mix the ricotta, egg, mozzarella, Parmesan and basil. When the eggplant slices are cool enough to touch, place about a tbsp of cheese mixture at one end of each slice and roll. Place, seam side down, into the casserole dish. Continue with remaining eggplant slices. Spoon remaining tomato sauce over the eggplant and sprinkle with mozzarella and Parmesan cheese, if desired. At this point, decide whether you want to cook it now or cover and refrigerate it, for up to 8 hours)

Bake, uncovered, at 375 degrees for 15 - 20 minutes, until bubbly. Serve.

Tomato Sauce (adapted from a recipe from Giada De Laurentiis)

1/2 cup olive oil
2 smallish onions, chopped small
2 garlic cloves, crushed
2 celery stalks, chopped small
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp fresh ground pepper
2 32oz cans crushed tomatoes
2 dried bay leaves
1/2 tsp basil
1/2 tsp crushed red pepper flakes

In a large pot over medium high heat, saute onions and garlic in the olive oil. When onions are translucent, add celery, salt and pepper. Saute until celery is soft. Add tomatoes, bay leaves, basil and red pepper flakes. Simmer, uncovered, for about an hour or until sauce is thickened. Remove bay leaves (hopefully you can find them)

Use in a recipe immediately, cover and refridgerate or freeze for a later date.