Pizza Bianca

I'm stealing this recipe from America's Test Kitchen. I saw it on their show a few weeks ago and finally got around to trying it today. OH MY GOODNESS, it is the best pizza dough recipe ever! It is a much wetter dough than the other recipe that I usually use and takes much more time, but it is worth it. The dough ends up crisp and chewy and oh so good!Ingredients:
3 c. flour
1-2/3 c. water
1-1/4 tsp. salt
1-1/2 tsp. yeast
1-1/4 tsp. sugar
5 T. olive oil

1-1/2 c. shredded mozzarella cheese
sauce of your choice

Place towel or shelf liner beneath stand mixer to prevent wobbling. Mix flour, water, and table salt in bowl of stand mixer fitted with dough hook on low speed until no patches of dry flour remain, 3 to 4 minutes, occasionally scraping sides and bottom of bowl. Turn off mixer and let dough rest 20 minutes.

Sprinkle yeast and sugar over dough. Knead on low speed until fully combined, 1 to 2 minutes, occasionally scraping sides and bottom of bowl. Increase mixer speed to high and knead until dough is glossy, smooth, and pulls away from sides of bowl, 6 to 10 minutes. (Dough will only pull away from sides while mixer is on. When mixer is off, dough will fall back to sides.)

Using fingers, coat large bowl with 1 tablespoon oil, rubbing excess oil from fingers onto blade of rubber spatula. Using oiled spatula, transfer dough to bowl and pour 1 tablespoon oil over top. Flip dough over once so it is well coated with oil; cover tightly with plastic wrap. Let dough rise at room temperature until nearly tripled in volume and large bubbles have formed, 2 to 2 1/2 hours.

One hour before baking pizza, adjust oven rack to middle position, place pizza stone on rack, and heat oven to 450 degrees.

Coat rimmed baking sheet with 2 tablespoons oil. Using rubber spatula, turn dough out onto baking sheet along with any oil in bowl. Using fingertips, press dough out toward edges of pan, taking care not to tear it. (Dough will not fit snugly into corners. If dough resists stretching, let it relax for 5 to 10 minutes before trying to stretch again.) Let dough rest in pan until slightly bubbly, 5 to 10 minutes. Using dinner fork, poke surface of dough 30 to 40 times and sprinkle with kosher salt.

Bake until spotty brown, 15 to 17 minutes, rotating baking sheet halfway through baking. Remove pizza from oven, spread sauce evenly over surface, and sprinkle with shredded mozzarella. Return pizza to oven and continue to bake until cheese begins to brown in spots, 5 to 10 minutes longer.
Serves 6
Points: 4

Embarrassingly Easy Danish

The story behind this creation comes from our honeymoon. Tyson took me on a cruise to the Bahamas for our honeymoon, and, as anyone who has been on a cruise knows, they had the greatest food. Every morning they had these fresh Danishes and they were so good! So, when we got back I decided that I should try to figure them out. Call me crazy, but I think that I like what I came up with even better than what they served on our ship. And yes, I call them embarrassingly easy because, well, they are. They taste great, look great, but with so little effort.Ingredients:
1 package Puff Pastry (It is Pepperidge Farms in the frozen foods section)
1 can pie filling, I prefer raspberry or cherry, but choose whatever you would like
1 c. powdered sugar
1/2 T. butter
1/4 tsp. vanilla
1/4 tsp. almond extract
1-2 T. milk

Allow the puff pastry to thaw for the recommended 40 minutes. Then, on a greased cookie sheet, unfold the dough and cut into 9 squares. (There are 2 sheets per package so feel free to make 9 or 18. You can always save the rest for later)

Fold in the corners and press into the center, as shown.

Make sure to press it down well, if the pastry is dry wet your finger a bit.

Once they are all shaped, place about a teaspoon full of filling in the center.

Bake at 400 degrees for about 10-12 minutes.

While baking mix the powdered sugar, vanilla, almond, butter and milk to create a drizzle. You don't want it to be too runny or too stiff. It should drizzle well from a spoon.

Remove Danishes from the oven and let cool for about 5 minutes. Then drizzle.
Yields 18
Points: 4

Minestrone

It is officially Autumn and it is getting cooler. That means that it is the season for soups! I love really creamy soups, but they can kill you on calories. This is a favorite broth based soup. There will be more to come when I get around to actually typing them out.Ingredients:
1 lb. lean ground beef
1 16 oz can garbonzo beans
1 16 oz can kidney beans
1 c. small pasta shells
1 c. sliced fresh carrots
1 c. sliced celery
1 c. chopped onion
1 16 oz can diced tomatoes
1/4 c. olive oil
2 tsp. Italian seasoning
1 15 oz can tomato sauce
5 c. beef broth
1/2 tsp. salt
1/4 tsp. pepper
2 cloves of garlic, minced

Saute onions. celery, and garlic in oil until tender. Stir in broth, tomatoes, tomato sauce, carrots, Italian seasoning, salt and pepper. Bring to a boil. Reduce heat, cover and simmer for 1 hour.

In a skillet brown the ground beef, drain. Stir into soup along with beans and pasta. Cover and simmer for another 15 minutes.
Serves 15
Points: 4 per cup