culinary exploration

Follow me through the adventures that take place in my kitchen, in restaurants or in other kitchens. Cooking and food are my passions and I want to share my experiences of cooking, baking and eating with you.
I'm a Greek self-taught cook who lives in Chicago. I learned a lot about cooking from both of my grandmothers, my mom and dad, family and friends. Passing on timeless traditions through food is one thing I strive to do in life.

These are my journeys through culinary exploration...

clraptis (at) gmail (dot) com

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Posts tagged Pioneer Woman

Sep 24

Prosciutto, Caramelized Onion, Sun-Dried Tomato and Fresh Mozzarella Pizza

When mom got in town last night - I pulled my fresh, homemade pizza dough out of the fridge and we topped our pizza together. I used The Pioneer Woman’s pizza dough recipe. I used half whole wheat flour and half all purpose. It was REALLY easy to make and super tasty… I might not ever get pizza delivered ever again! (thanks to emmysnacks for the advice!!)

I also used Ree’s pizza recipe and just added some other toppings: sun-dried tomatoes and drizzled the oil from the tomatoes over the crust. I’ll probably make this pizza again with figs or dates in place of the tomatoes.

If you’re looking for a tasty pizza recipe - try this one out. I guarantee your mouth will water when you start caramelizing the onion! :)

Sep 20

My mom is coming in town this weekend - she’s driving in on Thursday evening so I thought I’d have something to eat ready for her when she arrives.

This Caramelized Onion Prosciutto Pizza from The Pioneer Woman sounds like the perfect treat after a 3-hour drive. You all know how I feel about prosciutto on my pizza!! :)

I’m not sure about the crust though… I’ve never made my own. I’m feeling adventurous and want to show my ma that I can do it myself! I can make it a couple days early, which is great because all I’ll have to do is stretch out the dough on a pan then add the tasty toppings. Since the stand-up mixer I have isn’t the greatest, I might use this recipe from Emeril that uses the food processor instead of a mixer. I’m definitely going to use half whole wheat flour and half all purpose.

Not sure which recipe I’ll use yet, but I’ll let you guys know how it goes!

As a reward for completing my first week of 5K training - I made myself one of my favorite pasta dishes… Pasta alla Vodka!

I used this recipe from The Pioneer Woman. It was so simple to make, I went from chopping garlic and onion to enjoying a bowl of it on my couch within less than 20 minutes!

The flavor of the sauce was pretty remeniscent of some of the best sauces from my favorite Italian restaurants in Chicago. It was a little bit acidic because the only thing to tone down the tomato + vodka was the cream. In the future I might add in a teaspoon of sugar to take the tang of the sauce down a notch.

Using tomato puree is the key here, as Ree suggests. It makes the sauce heartier. I would suggest adding some tomato paste if you use canned tomato sauce in place of the puree. I also went for the full cup of vodka because it was the perfect amount to finish off the bottle that has been in my freezer. Since I’m a sucker for spicy, I added (a lot) more than just a pinch of red pepper flakes.

I used whole grain linguine, which made me feel a little less guilty about stuffing my face with this comforting pasta. AND I ended up freezing the leftovers because I was afraid I’d lose my self-discipline with this deliciousness hanging out in my fridge tempting me.

This is a great sauce, I highly recommend this recipe if you’re in the mood for a creamy, hearty, quick sauce for your pasta. If you’ve never had vodka sauce before, try this one night and see what you’ve been missing! :)

Sep 17

Pasta alla Vodka

The Pioneer Woman never lets me down! This is the BEST pasta sauce EVER. It’s my favorite when eating at Italian restaurants. I think I’m going to treat myself to this dish sometime this weekend as a reward for successfully completing my first week of 5K training. My mouth is watering just thinking about it.

See other tasty pasta sauce recipes from the Pioneer Woman HERE.