Samir and Taylor made this last night and it was incredibly delicious – truly a new high in Mac ‘n Cheese. They made the whole thing in a cast iron skillet, which I love, too. Thanks, you guys!

2 Tbsp Butter
2 cloves of garlic, minced
3 cups of milk
two big handfuls of spinach leaves
1 can of artichoke hearts, drained
1 tsp salt
1 tsp black pepper
2 cups pasta (they used shells)
2 cups of mozzarella
1 cup of cheddar
1 cup of parmesan cheese
1/2 package of turkey bacon or real bacon (optional)
1 1/2 lbs chicken thighs, boneless, skinless, cut into bite-sized pieces
1/2 cup pesto

Marinate chicken chunks with pesto,and put in an ovenproof dish, covered with aluminum foil. In a baking pan, lay bacon slices. Bake both at 375 for an hour or so. Stir chicken half way through and recover with foil. Remove crispy bacon from oven, drain and break it up. Remove chicken and save liquid from baking pan.

Melt butter in a cast iron skillet. Saute garlic until it’s lightly browned. Reduce heat and add spinach and artichoke hearts. Saute until spinach is wilted.

Add milk, salt and pepper and bring to the boil. Reduce heat to low, add pasta and cook for 10 minutes,(al dente) stirring occasionally to make sure the pasta is thoroughly covered.

Once the noodles are cooked, add cheddar cheese. Stir in and then slowly add the mozzarella stirring gently. Add a little liquid from chicken if the sauce gets too thick. (You want a creamier sauce.) Add bacon. Check seasonings.

Top with Parmesan and bake at 450 for 10 minutes or so, then broil it for a few minutes until the top is lovely browned and crispy. Add the chicken chunks and broil for one more minute.

Note: Could leave out the chicken and bacon for a vegetarian version. Just add the pesto with the milk.

Ali started making pizza from scratch and has now perfected his pizza dough and sauce recipes. Today he is making pizza at our house. Thanks, Ali for sharing this recipe and for making supper tonight!

Dough:

2 tsp yeast
3/4 cup warm water
1 tsp sugar
1 heaping tsp flour

Mix in a glass container, cover with a towel and let sit someplace warm. After 20 minutes or so, check to make sure it’s all bubbly. If it isn’t the yeast may be dead.

Pour mixture into the bowl of a stand mixer with a dough hook. Add 1/4 more warm water to the container and swish it around to get all the yeast starter out.

3 1/2 cups flour
1 tsp salt
1 more cup warm water

Add the flour, salt and warm water and start the mixer. Ali says to watch the dough, and if it’s really sticky, to add up to 1/4 cup more flour. He lets the mixer knead it for a few minutes, until the dough is all gathered up on the dough hook and just a little is still stuck to the sides of the bowl. You want the dough to be nice and soft.  Ali doesn’t have a stand mixer but  said it’s pretty easy to mix it with a spoon.

Oil or butter a glass bowl or baking dish, dust it with flour and put the dough in. Cover with plastic wrap and keep in a warm place until it rises and expands.  This may take a few hours, depending on the temperature.

Meanwhile, start the sauce.

1 large onion, diced
2 Tbsp olive oil
1 1/2 Tbsp crushed garlic

Heat oil in a medium size stock pot, and add onions. Cook until onions are very soft – about 10 minutes. Add garlic and cook a couple of minutes more.

3 14-oz cans diced or crushed tomatoes, or about 5 cups diced fresh tomatoes
12 peppercorns, ground in a mortar (about 1/2 tsp.)
1/8 cup balsamic vinegar  (Can add another Tbsp or so to balance the acidity of the tomatoes.)
1/8 cup fish sauce (available at Asian store)
1/4 tsp each parsley, sage, rosemary
1/2 tsp each oregano and basil
1 tsp salt (to taste)
2 dry red peppers
1/4 tsp red pepper flakes
2 bay leaves
sugar to taste (about 1 tsp)

Add all but the sugar to the onions and stir well. Simmer on low heat with the lid cracked for 3-4 hours, stirring occasionally. The house will smell amazing.  Add sugar at the very end to taste, and check seasonings.

Toppings:

1 lb. hot Italian sausage, cooked and excess grease drained.
1 red bell pepper, diced (Ali roasted it on the grill.)
mozzarella cheese

Once dough is risen, divide it in two. Grease and lightly flour a baking sheet. Spread the dough on it and roll it out. Crimp the edges to form a nice crust. Brush dough lightly with olive oil. Take roughly half of the tomato sauce and spread it out. Sprinkle half meat and whatever toppings you want over it. Then sprinkle the cheese on top. Bake at 450 or 500 for 10 minutes, or until the cheese just starts to brown. You can make the other pizza at the same time with the remaining dough, sauce and toppings. (You may have a little sauce leftover which is great on pasta later.)

Let rest a few minutes before you cut into and start devouring.  This was so good.

I needed a super quick supper and had absolutely nothing to work with, except…
Frozen Burritos! So this recipe was truly born of desperation, but I’ve made it several times since then, and it’s actually pretty good.  One of the few semi-homemade type of recipes I make.

8 – 12 frozen Green Chile and Beef Burritos
1/2 cup salsa
1 can chili with beans
1/3 cup water
several slices Colby-Jack Cheese (or really almost any cheese you have on hand.)

Pour salsa into a baking dish. Take individual burritos and dip them in water for a second. Lay burritos in baking dish. Mix chili and water and pour over the burritos. Top with slices of cheese and bake at 350 for 45 minutes.