Italian Ice Tea

Italian Ice Tea

My next door neighbor used to live in Italy. She made ice tea for me one day and it was delicious! She said it was Italian Ice Tea.  

Here is how to make it:

Brew herbal tea
Chill (or add lots of ice to cool it down)
Add about a teaspoon of mint syrup
Sugar or honey to taste
Top with lemon or lime sherbert

This tea was wonderful and very refreshing. If you need something to cool you down, this will do it. She said the coolness factor comes from the mint.I made our Italian tea with green tea and it was yummy!

Quick and Delicious 3-Ingredient Pizza Crust

Mushroom Pizza

I love homemade pizza and am always looking for tasty, quick, and easy recipes.  I got this yummy pizza crust from a cookbook I bought while on vacation in Italy. It is called 30-Minute Italian by Fran Warde.  I usually make a whole wheat pizza crust. However, I had to try this one when I realized it only uses three ingredients and the pizza crust does not use yeast. It is called Quick Pizza Base. My family loved it and my husband said it was so good he would have been happy about his purchase if we bought it at a restaurant. I have to say, I would agree. It was one of the best pizzas I have made.

preparation time 10 minutes
cooking time about 10 minutes
makes 4 small pizzas or 1 large pizza

Ingredients:

250 g/8 oz (1 cup) self-rising flour
1 teaspoon salt
150 ml/1/4 pint (1/3 cup) warm water

Directions: 

1. Place the flour and salt in a large bowl and mix well.  Slowly add the water and mix to form a soft dough. When it has bound together, mix the dough with your hands into a ball. Turn the dough out on a lightly floured surface and knead until it is smooth and soft.

2. Divide the dough into 4 and, with your hands (flour your hands well) and a rolling pin (I did not use a rolling pin), flatten it as thinly as possible - or make one large square or circle (this is what I did). The pizza rounds do not have to be exact circles as that is one of the charms of making your own pizzas! Make the pizzas just a bit smaller than your serving plates and as thin as you can.

That is it!  Then add your toppings and bake in a preheated oven, 230⁰C (450⁰F) for approximately 10 minutes or until golden and sizzling.

I made mine simple and put tomato sauce, mushrooms, sprinkled some Italian herb seasoning, a little garlic salt, and topped with shredded mozzarella cheese.  If you want to make it more Italian-like, put sliced mozzarella cheese rather than shredded.  Guten Appetit!

Whole Wheat Pizza Crust

I love homemade pizza.  Not only is it cheaper than take-out but it is also healthier.  In Germany the selection of prepared pizza crust is limited.  Thankfully making pizza crust is simple.  I got this recipe from Betty Crocker's New Cookbook: Everything you Need to Know to Cook. The pizza crust is modified to whole wheat pizza crust. If you don't want to use whole wheat flour, just substitute white flour for the whole wheat.

Prep: about 5 minutes
Let Rise: 20 minutes
Bake: about 10 minutes

1 package regular or quick active dry yeast
1 cup warm water (105 degrees to 115 degrees)
1.5 cup all-purpose flour*
1 cup whole wheat flour**
2 tbs olive or vegetable oil
1/2 teaspoon salt
Olive or vegetable oil
cornmeal

Dissolve yeast in warm water in medium bowl.  Stir in flour, 2 tbs oil and the salt.  beat vigorously 20 strokes.  Cover and let rest 20 minutes.  Follow directions below for thin or thick crust.

For Thin Crusts: Move oven rack to lowest position. Heat oven to 425 degrees. Grease two cookie sheets or 12-in pizza pans with oil.  Sprinkle with cornmeal.  Divide dough in half; pat each half into 11-in circle on cookie sheet with floured fingers.  Prick dough thoroughly with fork.  Bake about 10 minutes or until crust just begins to brown.

For Thick Crust: Move oven rack to lowest position. Heat oven to 375 degrees.  Grease 2 square pans, 8x8x2 inches, with oil.  Sprinkle with cornmeal.  Divide dough in half; pat each half onto bottom of pan.  Cover and let rise in warm place 30-45 minutes or until almost double.  Bake 20-22 minutes or until crust just begins to brown.

*If using self-rising flour, omit salt.
**You can substitute the whole wheat flour for white flour.

To make pizza remove pizza crust from oven, top with sauce, toppings, and cheese.  Return to oven and bake 8-12 minutes.  Pizza is ready with cheese is bubbly.  

Easy Pesto Sauce

As we are getting ready to vacation in Italy, I decided to make some Italian food.  I usually make my own pasta sauce but have never made pesto sauce.  It could not be easier!  If you like pesto you should try this simple and easy recipe.

I took this recipe from Rick Steve's Italy movie along with tips from online.  There was a short demonstration on the movie which told what to put in it.  This sauce is strong but very tasty!  I made some bruschetta to go along with the pesto and pasta.

Prep Time: about 8 minutes, plus time to cook pasta
Servings: 4

Ingredients:

• 2 cups fresh basil leaves - the easiest thing to do is buy a small herb plant unless you have basil growing in your garden
• 1/2 cup pine nuts (I heated them about 5 minutes on the stove)
• 2-3 cloves garlic, peeled
• 1/4 cup grated Parmesan cheese
• 1/2 cup olive oil
• salt and pepper to taste

Directions:

In a food processor, blend together basil leaves, nuts, garlic, and oil.  Stir in salt and pepper to taste. Serve over warm pasta and top with cheese.

Easy Spinach Lasagna

I am constantly looking for quick, easy, good , and toddler friendly vegetarian recipes.  I got this recipe from Campbell's Kitchen.  Assembling this lasagna is quick and easy.  The original recipe uses regular lasagna noodles, I use whole wheat.  When cooking whole wheat pasta or noodles, you may want to add a few more minutes to the cooking time.  I did not precook the whole wheat lasagna noodles and they turned out great.  Here is the easy spinach lasagna recipe with my changes.

Prep Time: 10 minutes
Cook Time: 1 hour
Servings: 4-6

Ingredients:

1 container (15 ounces) ricotta cheese

1 package (10 ounces) frozen chopped spinach, thawed and well drained

8 ounces shredded mozzarella cheese (about 2 cups)

1 jar (24 ounces) Prego® Fresh Mushroom Italian Sauce

6 uncooked whole wheat lasagna noodles

1/4 cup water 

Directions: 

1) Stir the ricotta cheese, spinach and 1 cup mozzarella cheese in a medium bowl.

2) Spread 1 cup sauce in a 2-quart shallow baking dish. 

3) Top with 3 lasagna noodles and half the spinach mixture. 

4) Repeat the layers. 

5) Top with the remaining sauce. 

6) Slowly pour water around the inside edges of the baking dish. Cover with foil.

7) Bake at 400°F. for 40-50 minutes (50 minutes if using whole wheat noodles). 

8) Uncover the dish. Sprinkle with the remaining mozzarella cheese. 

9) Bake for 10 minutes or until it's hot and bubbling. 

10) Let stand for 10 minutes.