eggplant & grape tomato pizza

Confession: we tried out Pioneer Woman's favorite pizza recipe yesterday and LOVED it. Even my sister, Meri, who's in town visiting was a fan. At first she was a little weary of the eggplant but by the end, she told me that we need to make it again. Soon.

Fine by me.

Here's the recipe, from Pioneer Woman's website (between prep and cook time, this will take about an hour to churn out):

FOR THE CRUST (MAKES TWO CRUSTS):

• 1 teaspoon Active Dry Or Instant Yeast
• 4 cups All-purpose Flour
• 1 teaspoon Kosher Salt
• ⅓ cups Extra Virgin Olive Oil

FOR THE PIZZA:

• 1 whole Large Eggplant (or Two Medium Eggplants)
• Kosher Salt, For Sprinkling
• 1 pint Grape Tomatoes
• 2 cloves Garlic, Minced
• 8 ounces, weight Fresh Mozzarella Cheese, Sliced Very Thin
• ½ cups Freshly Grated Parmesan Cheese
• Extra Virgin Olive Oil For Drizzling
• Freshly Ground Black Pepper

Preparation Instructions

TO MAKE THE CRUST:

Sprinkle yeast over 1 1/2 cups warm (not lukewarm) water.
In a mixer, combine flour and salt. With the mixer running on low speed (with paddle attachment), drizzle in olive oil until combined with flour. Next, pour in yeast/water mixture and mix until just combined.

Coat a separate mixing bowl with a light drizzle of olive oil, and form the dough into a ball. Toss to coat dough in olive oil, then cover the bowl tightly with plastic wrap and store in the fridge until you need it. ***It’s best to make the dough at least 24 hours in advance, and 3 or 4 days is even better.

TO MAKE THE PIZZA:

Preheat oven broiler.

Slice the eggplant thinly. Sprinkle both sides with kosher salt and place into a strainer in the sink. Allow to sit for 20 to 30 minutes. Rinse eggplant lightly in cold water, then pat the slices dry between layers of paper towels.

Slice grape tomatoes in half lengthwise and toss into a bowl with minced garlic.

Slice mozzarella very thinly.

Cut eggplant slices into fourths, and toss with olive oil. Arrange on a baking sheet and place 8 inches under the broiler.
Broil for 3 minutes, then toss around and broil another 3 minutes. Remove pan from oven and add tomato/garlic mixture. Broil for 2 to 3 minutes, then remove and set aside. (May do this 1 hour in advance.)

Preheat oven to 500 degrees.

Drizzle olive oil on a large baking sheet and use fingers to coat thoroughly. Remove HALF the pizza dough from the bowl. Stretch pizza dough into a large rectangle, pressing with fingers to finish forming. Dough will be very thin.

Lightly drizzle a little olive oil on the dough and use fingers to spread. Lay mozzarella slices over the surface of the dough. Spread vegetables all over the surface of the cheese. Top with Parmesan cheese.

Bake for 10 to 12 minutes, or until crust is golden brown and the cheese is bubbly. Remove from pan and slice with a pizza cutter. Serve immediately!

'real simple' pasta with asparagus

LOVING the april issue of real simple right now. maybe it helps that its the 10th anniversary issue so it has a decade's worth of helpful suggestions, tricks and shortcuts. i've thumbed through it in my spare time for a few days now and i still have more to read.

all the reading about how to be more productive must have made me hungry because i decided to try out one of the weeknight meals on friday night. it was delicious and so easy to prepare. can't wait to try it again in different variations. {wish i had a taken a picture because it's not yet posted on realsimple.com.}

linguine with asparagus and pine nuts (serves 4):

- 12 oz. linguine (3/4 box)
- 1/4 c. olive oil
- 1/4 c. pine nuts
- 4 cloves garlic, sliced
- 2 lbs. asparagus, trimmed and cut into 1-inch pieces
- salt and black pepper
- 1 c. shaved parmesan (about 3 oz.)

1) cook the pasta according to the package directions; drain the pasta and return it the pot.

2) meanwhile, heat the oil in a medium skillet over medium heat. add the pin nuts and garlic and cook, stirring frequently, until golden, 1 to 2 minutes. add the asparagus and cook, tossing occasionally, until just tender, 2 to 3 minutes.

3) add the asparagus mixture to the pasta along with 1 teaspoon salt and 1/4 teaspoon pepper and toss to combine. sprinkle with the parmesan before serving.

{time saving tip: instead of peeling and slicing garlic, simply smash the unpeeled cloves with the blade of a heavy knife, discard the skins and cook the crushed cloves.}