Mr. Big Food whipped up Back at the Farm Impromptu Chicken Pizza last evening after we arrived back at the Farm. Here's how he did it:
He
cut up one onion and some (homegrown) frozen pepperoncini peppers and sauteed them in 1 Tbsp. olive oil. When the onions were translucent, he transferred the onions and peppers to a paper towel lined plate.
Then he
cut up one 1 1/2 lb. boneless skinless chicken breast into bit-sized cubes and sauteed the cubes in 1 1/2 Tbsp. olive oil. He seasoned the cubes as they were sauteing with dried oregano, dried basil, dried parsley, and salt and pepper. When the chicken was done, he transferred it to a paper towel lined plate.
He then
And then he
sprayed a square 8" baking dish with cooking spray and lined the dish with the contents of 1 tube of crescent rolls, bringing the roll dough about half way up the sides of the dish.
To the dish he added the
sauce in a thick layer (use as much as you want, you may have extra), cooked chicken cubes, onions and peppers, and salt and pepper.
He topped this with
4 oz. shredded yellow and white cheese, and baked it at 375ยบ for about 18 minutes.
"...poll dough" ???
ReplyDeleteThat seems like an awful lot of tomato sauce.
Is there a recipe somewhere for the "California tomato sauce"?
You probably use the left over sauce for something else, but if it leaves you scratching your head, you might want to look for the tubes of tomato paste that are available in some of the stores. Just squeeze out what you need. I'd think you really only need a couple of tablespoons of the paste with maybe a half cup of the sauce... for one pizza, that is. To be honest, I'd cheat. I've found I like Barilla marinara sauce almost as well as my own. It comes in reusable quart jars, so I use maybe half a jar, and then freeze the rest.
It was also cheaper than Ragu - which is good, but not as good. And of course, wouldn't you know it - it looks like the commissary is no longer carrying it. At least, last visit, there was none and no "hole" where it should go if they were just out of stock. They also stopped carrying canned Campbell's chicken broth and beef broth. Did you know that Campbell's bought Swanson's - or the other way around? (I don't remember which) In any case, now they have the cardboard containers of broth which are not concentrated, and not in cans, which means a shorter shelf life. I asked about buying a case and got a "If we don't stock it, we don't stock it" answer. So responsive. Fortunately, one of the biggie stores had a major sale, so I stocked up on both.
And yes, I make and freeze my own stock - but having cans on the shelf makes me feel more comfortable. And sometimes it's just plain handy.
"And yes, I make and freeze my own stock - "
ReplyDeleteWhew! We hardly ever buy stock or broth. I honestly cannot remember the last time we did. We do keep bouillon on hand, though. Wait, I take that back. We do on occasion buy beef stock. We used to be able to buy lots and lots of beef bones from the butcher. I'm not sure if we've asked about that here at the Piglet. Note to self.
On tomato sauce. Never having to buy tomato products-- except paste-- is a badge of honor for us. That said, I'm not sure how this year will go. The 2011 tomato garden wasn't as productive as it should have been. Come May we may have to break down and supplement our stock with store bought until June when we'll have fresh tomatoes.
I'm such a snob about tomatoes. No offense.
Thanks for mentioning the quantity of sauce-- we didn't use it all. I'll update the recipe.
I'll ask to have the California sauce recipe emailed to me because it's such a long walk from my desk to his! I'll post it soon.
My 2011 tomatoes weren't very good either. 2010 was very good. Weather or variety? I don't know. 2010 I planted Early Girls. 2011 were Ace.
ReplyDelete2010 was pretty normal in temps, 2011 was definitely below average.
I understand about tomato snobbery - I am one as well - as much as I can be. Fresh, really ripe tomatoes ... they're terrific! Still, for stuff like sauce - I'm happy to use the canned stuff and save the fresh ones for savoring. When I can get them.
Even in the midst of tomato season, it seems that the really ripe store-bought tomatoes just don't taste as good as the ones right off the vine. Different varieties? I wish I knew!