Tag Archives: baby spinach

Simpler Popeye Pizza

21 Jun

This Popeye Pizza has become a real pizza staple flavor in my house… even for my friend Annie Mariel, this is our go-to pizza flavor we prepare at home now.  It’s the perfect midnight snack… 😉

But I have never made this pizza recipe for anyone at the yoga center, so I thought it would be a perfect flavor to enter into the Pizza Contest we were having a few weekends ago.  I would just have to simplify it that same way we had simplified it for our midnight snack raids – because at 2AM, I am no fan of taking out 3 different cheeses and grate by hand  to make pizza.  Here is my simplified version with no compromising on taste…

SIMPLER POPEYE PIZZA

1 flatbread
A handful of Italian Cheese blend of shredded cheeses
Parmesan Cheese, grated – hey ,I buy it pre-grated and sometimes I use the green can too…
A super mound of baby spinach, about 2-3 handfuls
Salt and Pepper to taste
A drizzle of Extra Virgin Olive Oil

 

  1. Pre-heat your toaster oven to 450F.
  2. Place the flatbread on a cookie sheet…  I use the small cookie sheet from my toaster oven.
  3. And top with the topping in this order – first place the Italian cheese blend, enough to cover the bottom of the flatbread. Then sprinkle the parmesan cheese.  Top with the mounds of fresh baby spinach.  Sprinkle lightly with salt and pepper and finish with a small drizzle of olive oil.   
  4. Place in oven for about 5-10 minutes, until most of the spinach wilts and the cheese on the borders gets some golden brown flecks.
  5. Slice it and enjoy. 

 

I love this pizza, Annie Mariel loves it, Jonathan loves it, my mom loves it…  I am telling you it’s a real hit.  And after a night of partying 😉   – it really hits the spot…

 

 

Do you think I could have won with this Popeye Pizza at the Pizza Contest??    I wouldn’t doubt it…

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Re-creating the Pizzas at Co. Part 1 – The Popeye Pita Pizza

9 Apr

Recently, my friend AnnieMariel and I were bored and took a plane to spend a weekend in NYC…  during this visit we had lunch at Co., a new pizza restaurant in Chelsea. 

When we were talking about our travels and dining experiences to our French class friends, they asked us to please recreate for them the pizzas we had at Co.  They just though they sounded as delicious as we thought they tasted.  We described them in such detail they just could not be left out in the dark.

We gathered at the house of another friend, which meant I had to transport everything to her house to make the pizzas.  And since I am not dexterous in the bread-making department as you already know… I decided to make these pizzas on Pita bread.  Pita bread is perfect and super reliable t make quick pizzas at home and are in the round shape people expect.  You already saw the version I did for my “nieces” when we were traveling in Vermont.

Here is what you will need to make this spinach-lover pizza…

 popeye-pita-pizza-4

POPEYE PITA PIZZA

Makes 1 personal pizza

 1 whole-wheat pita bread, the larger the better
About 1 tsp olive oil
About 1 tbs gruyere cheese, grated
About 1 tbs pecorino romano cheese, grated
 3 slices of fresh mozzarella cheese – make sure it’s the fresh kind, not the part-skim processed kind
About 2 handfuls of fresh baby spinach, washed and dried in a salad spinner
Garlic salt and freshly cracked black pepper

 

  1. Pre-heat your oven to 450 F.
  2. Place pita bread in a parchment lined baking sheet.  Drizzle a bit of the olive oil and spread it all over the bread.  Grate the gruyere and the pecorino cheeses on top of the pita bread.  Place the slices of mozzarella on top.  Sprinkle a bit of salt and pepper.
  3. Now place as much spinach as you can on top of the pizza.  Try to accommodate as much of those 2 handfuls of spinach as possible, because it will cook down a lot.  Drizzle with extra olive oil and sprinkle with additional salt and fresh pepper.
  4. Place in the oven and bake until the edges of the pita bread start to toast.
  5. Take out of the oven and let it cool off a bit.  After about 3 minutes, cut into 4 slices using a pizza wheel slicer.

 

The girls could not believe how good this pizza was… they were raving all about it for days.  My mom had a chance to try it too the next day.  She was also impressed at the flavors and the look.

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Fresh Baby Spinach Pasta

4 Feb

I’ve had this recipe in my Food Network Recipe box for the longest time…  Penne with Spinach Sauce  is a recipe from Giada DeLaurentiis that I have found fascinating since I first saw it on TV.

I did this recipe off the top of my head for my French conversation class group, and was pleasantly surprised to learn that I actually made it almost the same as the original.  Two of my friends asked me for dish using spinach… so I knew they would enjoy it.  But Katherine is not a spinach fan, and she loved this dish.  She said the goat cheese in the sauce made it for her.  So this can be something to try on your little ones…  Call it Shrek’s pasta.

I used local fresh spinach, with a somewhat larger leaf than the one you get at the supermarket.  Remember to wash your spinach well before using it in this recipe…

 

fresh-spinach-penne

 

FRESH BABY SPINACH PASTA

¾ pound of whole-wheat pasta – I used penne, but any tubular pasta would do
2 cups of fresh baby spinach leaves, loosely packed, divided
3 ounces of goat cheese
3 ounces of cream cheese
1 small garlic clove, cut in small pieces
2 turns of the food processor of Extra-Virgin Olive Oil
Salt and Pepper to taste
¼ cup Parmesan Cheese, plus more to sprinkle on top to taste
 
  1. Boil the pasta in salted boiling water according to packaging directions.
  2. Wash and dry well the spinach leaves.  Set aside a small bunch aside and chop.
  3. Meanwhile, in the bowl of a food processor, add most of the spinach leaves you have not chopped, goat cheese, cream cheese, garlic clove, olive oil, salt and pepper.  Pulse a few times until the mixture becomes a light green paste.
  4. When pasta is done, drain well while reserving about 1 cup of the cooking water.
  5. Return the pasta to the pot and add the spinach mixture.  Mix well so the sauce loosens with the heat of the pasta and pot.  Add pasta water little by little to loosen the sauce to a creamy consistency.  Add the chopped spinach leaves and the Parmesan cheese and mix well.
  6. Sprinkle more Parmesan cheese on top.

 

To reheat this pasta, I added a small amount of milk to a small pot together with the left-over pasta.  I also added a bit of cream cheese and more Parmesan cheese.  The sauce was creamy and delicious again as it was when done originally.

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Roasted Garlic and Tomato Pasta

20 Nov

When November comes around, it’s birthday time!!!!  My aunt’s, my dad’s and mine… so I decided to host a lunch to celebrate all our birthdays.  And to top it all, my sister came in from Miami to visit too, so the family was complete.

Everyone invited was not vegetarian, but because the lunch was hosted at my house, vegetarian fare was a MUST.  I had planned to make pasta – it’s the safe and easy choice; Non-threatening to the skeptical.  I was originally planning on making a pasta with gorgonzola – a dish inspired by a dinner I had in Old San Juan a couple of weeks ago.  Then, I saw 30-Minute Meals and was totally inspired by a dish Rachael Ray made…   I do not recall how she called it, but my version is called Roasted Garlic and Tomato Pasta…

 roasted-garlic-and-tomato-pasta

ROASTED GARLIC AND TOMATO PASTA

1 pound of short whole-wheat tubular pasta, penne rigate or rigatoni works well
3 handfuls of grape tomatoes, about 2 pints
1 whole head of garlic, roasted
2 handfuls of a shredded 4 cheese blend – Fontina, Parmesan, Asiago and Pecorino
1/2 cup basil leaves
3 generous handfuls of fresh baby spinach leaves
¼ cup of grated Pecorino Romano
Drizzle of olive oil
Salt and pepper to taste
  1. I roasted the head of garlic the night before…  Just take the head of garlic, cut the top off and place inside a sheet of aluminum foil.  Drizzle with a bit of olive oil, sprinkle with salt and pepper and drizzle a bit of water.  Close the aluminum foil to form a packet and roast in a toaster oven at 350F for 30-40 minutes.
  2. If you do not have time or just did not plan ahead… just open up the head of garlic into cloves, smash them all individually with the side of a knife.  Place them together with the grape tomatoes on a baking sheet to roast side-by-side.  Drizzle the tomatoes and smashed garlic cloves with olive oil, salt and pepper liberally.  Roast in a 350F oven for about 20-25 minutes.  The garlic smell will tell you when it’s done.
  3. When the tomatoes/garlic are about to be done, set a large pot filled with water to boil.  Salt the water as soon as it comes to a boil and drop the pasta.  Stir well to avoid the pasta sticks.  Because we’re using whole-wheat pasta, it’ll take a little longer to cook… about 12-15 minutes.
  4. In a large bowl, place all the roasted garlic cloves with the skins removed.  Smash them into a paste with a large fork. 
  5. As soon as pasta is about to be done, turn the stove off.  Take about 1 ½ cups of water and pour on top of the roasted garlic.  Mix the garlic and water and create like a “tea” of roasted garlic.  Add the roasted tomatoes and smash them together with the garlic tea. 
  6. Drain the pasta.  I always drain the pasta over a Pyrex glass bowl to reserve some of the pasta water, just in case I need some more.  Return the pasta to the pot and pour the tomato/garlic tea over it.  Mix together well so the pasta absorbs the roasted garlic liquid.  While the pot is still hot/warm, add the basil leaves and baby spinach leaves.  Mix together well so the heat of the pasta will wilt them nicely.  Add the shredded 4 cheese blend and mix well.  Cover pot for about 5 minutes to help the spinach wilt.
  7. After the 5 minutes have elapsed, serve in a beautiful pasta bowl and sprinkle with the grated Pecorino Romano.

We had a great time… everyone loved the food, specially my dad, who served himself 3 helpings.  And he’s one of the biggest skeptics of vegetarian food.  Hope you like it too… This is a very easy and delicious pasta that will feed a crowd.  It took almost no-time to make – Very care-free and perfect for entertaining.

Hope you try it and like it too…

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SS Smoothie

10 Jul

As you may have noticed, I’ve been making myself a lot of fruit shakes and smoothies lately, especially during the preparations for my yoga retreats.  I need to go thru days of preparations where I eat only salads, fruits and juices.  So when we have to prepare, fruit shakes are a great way to go.  Plus, it’s more appealing to me than eating one fruit at a time.

So the BB Shake does not feel too lonely with the quirky name… here comes the SS Smoothie.  This one has strawberries and spinach.  And again, the fruit flavors are sooooo awesome; you can’t taste nor see the spinach in the final product.   This shake is also very good friends of the Stealth Shake.  As you can see, after two attempts of incorporating spinach into my shakes, none of them have turned out green yet.  

 

 

THE SS SMOOTHIE

3 strawberries, quartered
A handful of fresh baby spinach
1 cup of pomegranate juice
A big squirt of agave nectar
3 cubes of ice
A bit of water , if the smoothie is too thick

 

  1. Mix everything in your blender…  and enjoy.

Here’s a picture of the spinach and strawberries before blending – trying to give you proof that indeed there’s spinach in the mix and that I did not make it up.  Another lesson… Madelyn, needs to get a glass jar for the blender so the blog pictures can look better.  Same goes for the plastic cup I used to drink it.

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