Balsamic Roasted Vegetable Pizza

You're probably thinking, "Really, pizza?  You just posted about pizza!"  Well, I had a pizza craving... and I wanted to experiment with veggies and a balsamic glaze.  A sophisticated pizza.  Kind of.  Anyway, the husband was game to try it, so I looked for a recipe, just to see if a fantastic one was already in existence.

I was mildly disappointed.  The recipes that I found required you to roast the vegetables separately, and then assemble the pizza.  Ugh, how time-consuming!  The beauty of homemade pizza is that it doesn't take that long, yet it still tastes amazing.  I was not interested in useless steps, so I stuck with the 'shaved vegetable' technique of the Shaved Asparagus Pizza and just tweaked the ingredients a bit.

With all of these vegetables, it's a healthy meal, right?  We're going to go with 'yes.'

Of course, after making this, we did have some extra vegetables lying about, so I made it again the next day.  Oops.  No complaints from our table, however!

Balsamic Roasted Vegetable Pizza
Makes 1 full size pizza - number of servings is up to you!

1 recipe of your favorite pizza dough (I recommend a Jiffy crust for ease!)
1 small shallot, sliced thinly
2-3 mushrooms, sliced thinly
1-2 garlic cloves, minced
1 small zucchini
1 carrot
1 small bell pepper or a few small, sweet peppers, thinly sliced
4-5 spears asparagus
1/4-1/2 cup grated Parmesan and/or Pecorino
1/2 pound mozzarella, shredded or cut into small cubes
2 tsp olive oil
1 Tbsp balsamic vinegar
1 1/2 tsp honey
1 Tbsp fresh rosemary, minced
1/2 teaspoon coarse salt
Several grinds black pepper
Truffle salt/oil (optional)

Oven: Preheat your oven to the hottest temperature it goes, or about 500 in most cases. If you use a pizza stone, have it in there.Whisk together olive oil, balsamic vinegar, and honey.  Set aside.

Prepare veggies: For asparagus - no need to snap off ends; they can be your “handles” as you peel them. Holding a single asparagus spear by its tough end, lay it flat on a cutting board and using a vegetable peeler, create long shavings of asparagus by drawing the peeler from the base to the top of the stalk. Repeat with remaining stalks and don’t fret some pieces are unevenly thick (such as the end of the stalk, which might be too thin to peel); the mixed textures give a great character to the pizza. Discard tough ends. Peel carrot and then use peeler to create long shavings, like asparagus.  Use peeler in the same fashion for zucchini (I only went partway through it until I got to the seedy part).  I ended up using only half the zucchini, and half the carrot.  Thinly slice the mushrooms and shallot.

Pat veggies dry with paper towel (I noticed my pizza got a bit 'wet' without doing this).  In a large bowl, toss zucchini, carrot, asparagus, shallot, mushrooms, peppers, and garlic with olive oil, balsamic vinegar and honey mixture.  Add salt and pepper to taste.

Assemble and bake pizza: Roll or stretch out your pizza dough to a 12-inch round. Either transfer to a floured or cornmeal-dusted pizza peel (if using a pizza stone in the oven) or to a floured or cornmeal-dusted tray to bake it on. IF you're using a Jiffy crust, pre-bake the crust as directed (at 425 degrees).

Sprinkle pizza dough with Parmesan/Pecorino (save a bit for the top) and minced rosemary, then mozzarella. Pile shaved vegetables on top. Top with remaining Parmesan/Pecorino. Bake pizza for 10 to 15 minutes at 500 degrees, or until edges are browned, the cheese is bubbly and the vegetables are lightly charred. Remove from the oven and immediately sprinkle truffle salt or oil, then slice and eat.

Enjoy!

Honey Rosemary Crème Brûlée

I always love to try new crème brûlée recipes, and I've had this one on my list for awhile.  The husband must have known it was on mind because when I came back from work this weekend he had made a favorite soup of ours - Sweet Potato & Rosemary Soup.  And that meant there was some leftover rosemary, and I happened to have some leftover cream from the cupcakes earlier this week - perfect!

It came together very quickly, as crème brûlées do.  I really wasn't sure what to expect with the flavor, but it really turned out well.  It's an uncommon flavor combo for a dessert, but it really works.  Even the husband, who was particularly unsure of it, really liked it.

I thought a little fanned strawberry would be a lovely addition, and it was!  Not necessary by any means, but the fruity sweetness complemented the herbal note of the rosemary.

The verdict: I love the unique combination of flavors!
The husband's thoughts: The flavors worked better than expected - it was excellent.
Changes for next time: None!
Difficulty: Easy!  The only special equipment needed is a torch.

Honey Rosemary Crème Brûlée
(from Je Mange la Ville)
Makes 4 one cup or 8 half cup servings

7 egg yolks
1/4 cup white sugar plus more for topping
1/4 cup honey
1 cup whipping cream
1 cup half and half
3-4 sprigs rosemary


Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Pour cream and half and half in a small saucepan and put in rosemary sprigs.  Bring to boil, turn off the heat and let rosemary steep for about 15 minutes.

Whisk together egg yolks, 1/4 cup sugar and 1/4 cup honey in a medium bowl until smooth.  Remove rosemary from cream and half and half.  While whisking, slowly pour cream into egg mixture.  Strain mixture through a fine mesh sieve.

Set ramekins in cake pan/casserole dish.  Divide mixture between ramekins (I had 1/2 cup ramekins, but full cup would work as well).  Pour boiling water into dish, making sure to avoid getting any into the filled ramekins.  Water should be halfway up the side of the ramekins.

Place in oven and bake for 30 or more minutes.  Test by jiggling the ramekins - the edges should be set and the centers still a little jiggly.  Remove pan from oven and let ramekins cool in the water bath for a few minutes.  Remove the ramekins from the water bath, let cool a bit before placing in the refrigerator.  Chill for a few hours or overnight.

To serve, sprinkle roughly a teaspoon of sugar over the top of the crème.  Caramelize using a kitchen torch (or if your desperate, about 60 - 90 minutes under the broiler might do the trick).  Serve immediately!  You know it's done well when there's the great crack under your spoon!

Enjoy!

Lavender Cupcakes with Honey Frosting

First post as a Mrs!  It's been absolutely insane with the wedding, the marathon, and work.  This weekend we finally got to take a breath and I was itching to bake.

We had simply amazing cupcakes at our wedding (I insisted on it!)  Everyone got a box of four mini-cupcakes: Vanilla Lavender, Pumpkin Spice Latte, Red Velvet with Cinnamon Frosting, and Chocolate Stout with Espresso Buttercream.  They were all wonderfully tasty (thank you Play Cake Bakers!), and a big hit with the guests.  Now that we're back home, I wanted to try and recreate the vanilla lavender cupcake, because I absolutely love lavender-flavored desserts.

The wedding baker was kind enough to tell me the ratio she used with lavender extract, so I felt confident it would be tasty and not taste like soap, which is always a fear when using lavender.  Lavender extract isn't a common ingredient (most lavender recipes use the edible buds), but I found it at Sur la Table.

 
I didn't have a standard vanilla cupcake in my back pocket, like some other recipes, but these that I found sounded perfect.  These cupcakes baked up wonderfully and had a nice crumb, were moist, flavorful and still tender.  Exactly what I was hoping for!  I knew vanilla frosting would work well with it, but I didn't want to use the standard butter-powdered sugar-milk frosting.  However, I was too lazy to spend time cooking up a frosting, and I didn't have any fancy ingredients.

After perusing the interwebs, I found a recipe that intrigued me - it used honey as well as mascarpone cheese.  Luckily, I had the exact amount in my fridge, so clearly it was meant to be.

While making the frosting it looked a bit strange as it mixed, sort of lumpy and separated, but adding in the powdered sugar helped and it came together well as a final product.  It is pretty tasty on it's own, but very rich, so not a lot is needed on the cupcakes.  And the flavors of lavender and honey meld beautifully.

It's not exactly like what we had at our wedding, but it is very, very, VERY good and I will be making these again, without a doubt!

Lavender Cupcakes
(Recipe adapted from Brown Eyed Baker)
Makes 12 cupcakes

1½ cups all-purpose flour
1 cup granulated sugar
1½ teaspoons baking powder
½ teaspoon table salt
8 tablespoons unsalted butter (1 stick), room temperature
½ cup sour cream
1 large egg , room temperature
2 large egg yolks , room temperature
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
1/4 teaspoon lavender extract

Adjust oven rack to middle position; heat oven to 350 degrees F. Line standard muffin/cupcake tin with paper or foil liners.

Whisk together flour, sugar, baking powder, and salt in bowl of standing mixer fitted with paddle attachment. Add butter, sour cream, egg and egg yolks, and vanilla; beat at medium speed until smooth and satiny, about 30 seconds. Scrape down sides of bowl with rubber spatula and mix by hand until smooth and no flour pockets remain.

Divide batter evenly among cups of prepared tin. Bake until cupcake tops are pale gold and toothpick or skewer inserted into center comes out clean, 20 to 24 minutes. Remove the cupcakes from tin and transfer to wire rack; cool cupcakes to room temperature before frosting.

Honey Frosting
(from M for Mommy)
Makes more than enough for 12 cupcakes - about a cup and a half

1/4 cup butter, softened
4 oz. mascarpone cheese, softened
2 Tbsp honey
Pinch of salt
1 cup powdered sugar plus more for preferred texture

Beat the first 4 ingredients at medium speed with a mixer until creamy.  Gradually add powdered sugar, beating at low speed until blended.  Beat at high speed 2 minutes or until creamy.  Add additional powdered sugar for your preferred texture/stiffness.  The frosting won't be as stiff as some more traditional frostings, but still pipes on fine and stays put on the cupcake and doesn't slide off.

Top off with some purple sanding sugar, edible lavender buds, or whatever you like.

Enjoy!