Spicy Sausage and Fennel Pizza

We don't normally follow a recipe for our pizzas, but we got a fennel bulb in our CSA from Taproot Farms and I thought I should see if we could use it in pizza.

The source for this recipe is Big Girls, Small Kitchen - I like their name, I like that they are entrepreneurs, and I like their recipes! Win-win-win!

First, we sliced and roasted the fennel bulb :

We didn't have any sausages on hand, and it's difficult to justify buying more meat when we get such excellent product in our CSA, so I decided to make my own spicy ground pork :

- 1 lb ground pork
- 1/2 cup red wine
- 4 crushed garlic cloves
- 3 tsp sea salt
- 1 tsp freshly ground pepper
- 1 tsp cayenne pepper
- 1 tsp crushed red pepper
- 3 - 4 tsp paprika

I let it sit for a while before cooking it, to let the spices do their work, and then fried the meat.


Following the recipe, we used pizza sauce as a base, and topped it with feta (this was my idea, can't follow a recipe exactly after all!) and parmesan cheeses :

Out of the oven :

Nice flavour - spicy, but not too spicy. The fennel was good, and the saltiness of the feta set off the other flavours. I'm not personally a fan of tomato sauce, but Alan said it was excellent!

It's not easy being green....

We decided to take advantage of the fact that it was slightly cooler than 35˚C yesterday, and make some pizza. In our CSA box this week we received garlic scapes, fresh basil and cilantro, so I decided to turn all of it into a beautiful pesto... I am realizing that we might need to buy a food processor if I keep this up!

So very green!!

Topped with peppers, black olives, mushrooms, and Oktoberfest sausages from Longspell Point Farm.

Much more sparse in toppings than we generally do, but we didn't want any of the flavours to be overwhelming.

It smelled delicious while cooking, and looked glorious when it came out of the oven. 

YUM!

Good balance of flavours, and well-timed, as we're back to sweltering heat again today!

Banana Pancakes

Branching out a bit from dinner food, we have been indulging in some fairly spectacular brunches these days (I love being on vacation!)

The latest is Banana Pancakes. I got the recipe from Cassey Ho's blog.

Recipe :

1 mashed banana
2 eggs
2 Tbsp flour (optional)
1 tsp coconut oil, melted (optional)
cinnamon (optional)

Mush all together, and cook as you normally would cook pancakes - HOWEVER, they cake considerably less time to cook, so keep on eye on them!

We served ours with pecans that I had fried with some butter and pure maple sugar. Heavenly!

Smoked Salmon Salad

I know, I know. This is not pizza. However, it is delicious, and deserves to be shared with the world!

It's hot. Really hot. And so, I bring you : Smoked Salmon Pasta Salad with Avocado Dressing

Ingredients:
Brown Rice Pasta, cooked and cooled
Red & Green Peppers, diced
Garlic Scapes, finely chopped
Smoked Salmon, sliced

Dressing:
One ripe avocado
1 Tbsp sour cream
3 Tbsp olive oil

Season with salt and pepper to taste.

YUM YUM YUM!

Poached Eggs of Glory

So, it's vacation time, which means I have time to be creative in the kitchen. For brunch, I made this :

Spinach, coarsely chopped (although you could use any greens that you like)
Morsels of Smoked Salmon
Chunks of Avocado
Soft Poached Egg with Pepper
Multi-Grain Gluten Free Toast

Very, very delicious.

Greek Mutton Pizza

Our CSA from Taproot Farms is a constant source of new pizza ideas. Tonight, it was the ground mutton that caught my eye. Alan requested a Greek-style pizza, so here it goes!

I cooked the mutton and spiced it with ground cumin, cardamom and crushed red pepper, adding some frozen basil pesto and a bit of tomato sauce to give it some sticking power. 

Ground mutton base, drizzled with olive oil that I had let sit with crushed garlic and some chopped fresh mint. Next came red peppers, mushrooms, and a tiny bit of 4-cheese blend.

Feta, spinach, and the start of some grated mozzarella.

Just out of the oven...

Sliced and perfect!

Definitely one of our new favourites!