Italian Bread

5 and 3/4 Cups of flour

1 tsp sugar ( white or brown)

4 t. dry yeast

2 cups warm water

3 T. Olive Oil

2 T. Sea Salt

sesame seeds or poppy seeds
1 beaten egg white with water added

Mix the sugar, warm water and yeast in a small bowl and let bloom for 5 to 10 minutes. It should foam up and expand. This tells you your yeast is working.

Add the flour, salt and olive oil to a large Cuisinart or mixer and blend, then add the water mixture. It should form to a dough within a minute or so.. if too wet, add more flour, if too dry add some water to get a nice dough consistency.

You either have to keep it kneading in the machine for 3 to 5 minutes till very smooth or put out on the counter and knead by hand for 10 minutes. Dough should be smooth and elastic.

Put in a large oiled or Pam sprayed bowl and cover with a damp cloth or plastic wrap and let double. About an hour or so depending on the day.

Then put the dough on a lightly floured surface and punch down to a circular or rectangle shape. Start to roll the dough into a loaf..( like a jelly roll) and then seal the edges with some water if needed. Place your loaf on a well floured pizza peel or baking pan, cover again with a damp cloth and let rise again till about doubled. I have a video of what it should look like. Get a sharp knife or razor blade and cut several slits diagonally across the loaf. Brush with the egg mixture and sprinkle with the sesame seeds so they stick on. Spray the dough with water and then put into your preheated oven. It must be hot! I use a pizza stone to bake mine on but a cookie sheet will work too.

Bake in preheated 425 degree oven. After 4 minutes, spray the bread again with water and let go another 4 minutes.. spray with water again. This will make 3 times including the first spray prior to baking. You now have another 37 minutes or so to go with your baking time. Loaf should sound hollow if you tap it on the bottom. Sometimes it takes a little less time. Just use your common sense.. but most likely you will need to bake at least 37 plus minutes total. This is so delicious and sometimes I let it cool and slice it thin for pot lucks.. it makes delicious toast! Just an all around great bread. Try it and you will love it.

Cooks note: Don't rush your bread. It has to rise to get the light and fluffy interior consistency. Once you get the hang of it, you will love making bread and pizzas. Note that in the video of putting bread in the oven, I stated that I would lower oven temp, but that is not true. Bakes at 425 degrees for the entire time.

Lasagna with Ricotta and Spinach Filling

To make a tray of lasagne this size you will need:

1 box of Barilla lasagna pasta

1 recipe of Tomato sauce ( mine or your favorite)

Shredded Mozzerella Cheese

1 recipe of ricotta filling ( recipe to follow)


Ricotta filling

1 pt of ricotta cheese

1 egg

1/2 cup or so of grated cheese ( romano or parm)

fresh chopped italian parsley ( 1/4 cup more or less)
garlic powder 1-2 tsp to taste

salt and pepper

You can mix all this together in a cuisinart or large bowl.

If you want to make it spinach like this one.. add 2 cups fresh spinach to the cuisinart and mix into the ricotta filling. If you don't have a cuisinart, just chop the spinach fine and add to your mixture. (this makes a great ravioli filling as well)

I made some meatballs to go on the side of the lasagna, so my friend can have a nice dinner of lasagna and meatballs.

Cook at 375 degrees for 1 hour. I do cook it covered with foil until the last 10 minutes or so and then remove the cover and either add the shredded mozzarella then and cook for 10 minutes longer or after it is completely cooked, sprinkle the cheese on and it will melt on top.

Be sure to let it set for half an hour or when you serve it it will not be firm. Cover lightly with your foil or a piece of parchment paper and it will be ready to serve as you prepare your salad or garlic bread , etc.

To reheat a pre-baked lasagna.. just tent some foil over the top of the pan so not to touch the cheese and bake till heated thru about 40 minutes at 350 to 375 depending on your oven. Take the cooled tray out of the refrigerator at least one hour prior to baking it. You can serve it right away if it has been baked once before.


Building



Baking

Theresa's Tomato and Basil Sauce

This was one of the most popular sauce's at my Caffe in Fountain Valley and one I like to keep on hand most of the time. It is fast, easy and is delicious on it's own or you can add things to it or use it for lasagne, ravioli, etc.

Here is my recipe:

2 large cans of tomato

1 - 2 yellow onions sliced thin.

3 or so cloves of garlic chopped fine

Olive Oil

Salt and Pepper

Fresh basil to taste ( I like lots of fresh basil)

Hot pepper seeds it you like it spicy

2 Cans of Crushed tomatoes ( the large ones) Or 1 can crushed and 1 can tomato sauce. ( whole tomato works well too, whatever you have in your pantry) I was in my garage this am and I have about 15 cans of tomatoes on hand.. not to mention loads of pasta (IT'S AN ITALIAN THING)

Fill the bottom of a medium to large saucepan with some good olive oil and heat it up.

Add the onions and garlic and saute till limp but not browned.

Good time to add hot peppers if you are inclined to do so.

Add your canned tomatoes.. 2 cans of whatever you like. Rinse the cans with some water and pour that in there too. It will reduce as it simmers.

I use approx 1/2 can of water per can of tomato.

Salt and pepper to taste

Let it come to a strong simmer and then lower the heat, add your fresh basil leaves and simmer on low for about 30 minutes or so. Season to taste. If you like basil, use lots of it, if not use a few leaves. You can always add more later if you can't taste it.

This sauce will keep in the fridge for a week. You can use it for chicken with mozzerella, put on your pasta, add steamed veggies and make pasta primavera, add olives, capers and hot peppers for a spicy dish of spaghetti.. the possibilities are endless. Drop some homemade meatballs in this sauce and it changes the taste completely!

And guess what? No preservatives added, you control the salt and for very little money you can feed your family something absolutely delicious!

Cooks Note: if you don't like to see pieces of onion or basil in your sauce, you can use an emersion blender to blend it once it's cooked!

Meatballs 101

Basic Meatball Recipe


1 lb. Turkey Meat (or substitute lean meat)
1 egg
2/3 cup of bread crumbs (plain or seasoned)
2-4 cloves of garlic chopped fine
¼ cup to 1/3 cup of chopped flat leaf parsley (Italian Parsley)
Salt and pepper to taste (2 tsp salt and 1 tsp pepper approx)
1/3 to ½ cup of grated Romano cheese


Add all ingredients to a large bowl and mix but don’t overwork the mixture as it can make the meatballs less tender. I like to put a small amount of the mixture in the microwave for 1 minute or fry in olive oil to taste for seasonings at this point. Adjust if necessary.
cooks note: If it seems a bit dry, you can add a little milk to moisten the mixture.. but not too much. An alternative to the bread crumbs is just some sliced bread soaked in milk and then squeezed to get the excess milk out. Crumble into mixture in place of dried bread crumbs.

I like to scoop out with an ice cream scoop to keep them of equal size and then round them out in my hands. Makes about 15 or so.

You can either fry in a skillet with olive oil till browned or cook on a parchment lined cookie sheet for approx 30 minutes at 375 degrees till browned. Then drop them into the sauce so they absorb the wonderful tomato flavor. Don’t stir too much as the meatballs could break apart. Simmer on low heat for 20 minutes or so until they are done.

NOTE: This is a basic recipe. You can add lots of different things to this like hot pepper seeds, different meat combination, etc.

It's easy to double or triple this recipe for a crowd. You can keep the meatballs in cooked form (before adding them into the sauce) in the freezer if you want to prepare extra and have for another time.

Try them and you will never eat store bought meatballs again. They are just so much better made with love at home.

How to make homemade Pizza. Part 3.

Here is part three to our homemade pizza video. We finally get to eat our pizza!

How to make homemade Pizza. Part 2.

Here is part two to our homemade pizza video. This video shows how to top and bake a pizza.

How to make homemade Pizza. Part 1.

Here is part one to our homemade pizza video. This video shows how to make pizza dough with a mixer and by hand.

Pizza Dough Recipe

For 2 large thin pizzas

3 Cups White Flour ( or 1.5 cup white and 1.5 cup wheat flour)
2 T. Olive Oil
1 T. Sea Salt

1 Cup warm water ( should feel warm, not hot on your wrist)
1 package of dry yeast or 2 teaspoons dry yeast.  (Drew's prefers the cut the yeast in half for less of a yeast flavor.)
1/2 teaspoon sugar


Mix yeast and sugar into warm water. Let it sit for 5 minutes or so till it starts to foam.

Add flour, olive oil and salt into large mixing bowl or Cuisinart or processor.

Hand method: Add water slowly into your flour mixture and mix till dough ball forms. Knead by hand for 3 to 5 minutes till dough feels firm and not too sticky. Add more flour if too sticky, more water if too dry.
Put in a bowl to rest and rise for approx 1 hour. Cover with cloth or plastic wrap in a warm spot.

Cuisinart method: Add flour, salt and oil and pulse the mixture with dough hook attachment.
Add water slowly with while mixing and wait for dough to form a ball. Again this can take a little more water or flour depending on the weather and moisture in the air. Continue to mix for about 1 minute or so, then put on board and knead for a bit till elastic and smooth. Let rest covered in a warm spot till doubled in size.

Once dough has doubled, you are ready to cut in half and start your pizzas!