Caramelized Onion, Sausage, and Basil Pizza

So, I happened to catch the pizza party episode of "Giada at Home" over the weekend and got inspired to try her caramelized onion, sausage, and basil pizza. I am pleased to say it did not disappoint! You can find the recipe here.

A lot of the local grocery stores around here sell pre-made fresh pizza dough in their refrigerated section -- it's just as good as the dough you can make from scratch, but you can buy it much quicker than you can make it :) -- so I picked up the dough from Harris Teeter, as well as their store-made sweet Italian chicken sausage to make this. And as a Wisconsin girl, I loves me some cheese, but having just a few gorgonzola crumbles on top for flavor was a nice change of pace. Definitely a good Sunday night treat!

I have a new toy

My little mini food processor has served me so well for the past 4 years. I've rejoiced when it's turned out the perfect salsa, or the savory dip; I've also cursed its size when I've wanted to make pate or duxelles and have had to do 6 batches of the same thing. Of late my little guy had started to show its wear and the blade started to separate from the housing. I knew it was time to start shopping for a replacement.

Enter the replacement. It's a wee bit bigger than the previous model (okay, so it doesn't exactly "fit under the cabinet"), and has many more features. I'll always have a special place in my heart for the mini chopper, but now that I have the big guy, it'll be hard to go back.

Below is the premiere recipe for the new food processor. I used the slicing attachment to work through 8 cups of thinly sliced onions in about 3 minutes. I also pulsed the tart dough in this baby. The recipes not in this post that I also created the same day were: homemade bread and an artichoke & bean puree.

The following recipe comes from Moosewood Restaurant New Classics. The recipe is intended for a 10-inch pie plate. Believe it or not, I don't actually own a pie plate, so I used a 10-inch tart pan. I used a little less of the egg mixture, since the pan is a little more shallow than a pie plate.

I served this up with a green salad and roasted asparagus.

Caramelized Onion Tart

Crust Ingredients

1 1/2 c. unbleached AP flour

1/2 tsp salt

1/2 c chilled butter

3-4 Tbsp. ice water

Filling Ingredients

1 Tbsp. olive oil or canola oil... whatever's your fancy

8 c. thinly sliced onions

1 tsp. salt

1/2 tsp dried thyme (I used herbes de Provence, due to lack of dried thyme)

6 large eggs

1/4 c. unbleached AP flour

1 T. Dijon mustard

1/2 tsp. salt

2 c. milk

1 c. grated Gruyere cheese ( let's be honest, I probably used way more than this)

Method:

*OK, you don't HAVE to use a food processor (FP), but it really makes life easier. I'm putting instructions for both.

Crust FP method:

Dump the flour, salt, and butter into the bowl of a food processor. Pulse about 10 times, or until the mixture looks like peas, or a coarse meal. Turn the FP on and slowly pour in the ice water. You want the mixture to form a ball. If it is still dry, add more water 1 T at a time. If it looks wet, then add 1 T. of flour.

Crust by hand method:

Combine flour, salt and butter into a large bowl. Either with a pastry cutter, a couple of knives, or your fingers (the easiest) cut the butter into the flour until your mixture looks like peas, or a coarse meal. While stirring, add in the ice water. You want the mixture to form a ball. If it is still dry, add more water 1 T at a time. If it looks wet, then add 1 T. of flour.

Once the crust has been made you can either (1) chill it down and roll it out and place it over your pie/tart pan or (2) directly press it into the pan and chill the whole pan down for 30 minutes.

Filling method:

1. Preheat the oven to 400 degrees Fahrenheit. (Make sure you do this when your dough is in the fridge, otherwise the butter solids will start to melt before you want them to.)

2. Warm the oil in a deep, heavy skillet over medium heat and add the onions and salt.

3. Cook, uncovered, for about 15 minutes, stirring often.

4. Add in the thyme and continue to cook for another 5-10 minutes. You're looking for a deep, golden brown color.

5. Remove from heat and set aside.

6. Whisk together the eggs, milk, flour, salt, and mustard, until smooth.

7. Spread the onions into the bottom of the pie shell.

8. Cover with the grated cheese.

9. Pour the custard mixture over the top.

10. Top with more grated cheese.

11. Bake until the filling is set and the crust is golden brown (50-60 minutes)*

*NOTE: I put my tart pan on a parchment-lined cookie sheet just in case of overflows.

Serve immediately or at room temp.

Koshari

Koshari and Orange and Radish Salad with Cinnamon Vinaigrette

Cooking Light touts this recipe as a staple of Egyptian street food, but I challenge any of you to make this in a cart. When all was said and done, my postage stamp-sized kitchen looked like Sur La Table exploded inside of it. The end result, however, more than made up for the heap of cookery carnage left in the wake of this dish. The fire of the tomato sauce plays against a pillow of starchy delights (rice, lentils, and vermicelli) and a mound of sweet caramelized onions.

A couple of tips on the preparation...

Notice that the recipe calls for cooked rice, so make it ahead of time. It isn't even imperative to keep it warm, since you will stir it into the warm lentil/vermicelli mixture.

Also, I followed this recipe very linearly: I made the tomato sauce first, then I sautéed the onions and made the koshari. Thus, my tomato sauce simmered for about an hour on the stovetop, and the pepper really lit up. Those who are not chile-heads may want to dial the spice down a bit, so either make the sauce while the lentils are simmering or add less pepper if you know the sauce will be on the burner for a while.

Ingredients

Sauce:

• 1 tablespoon extra-virgin olive oil
• 1 cup finely chopped onion
• 1 1/2 tablespoons minced garlic
• 1/2 teaspoon sea salt
• 1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
• 1/2 teaspoon crushed red pepper
• 2 (14.5-ounce) cans diced tomatoes, undrained

Koshari:

• 3 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
• 3 cups thinly sliced onion
• 1/2 cup uncooked vermicelli, broken into 1-inch pieces
• 5 cups water
• 1 1/4 cups dried lentils or yellow split peas
• 2 1/2 cups hot cooked long-grain rice
• 1 teaspoon sea salt

Preparation

1. To prepare sauce:

• Heat 1 tablespoon oil in a large saucepan over medium heat
• Add chopped onion to pan, and cook for 15 minutes or until golden, stirring occasionally
• Add garlic; cook for 2 minutes
  
• Stir in 1/2 teaspoon salt, peppers, and tomatoes; cook 10 minutes or until slightly thick
• Transfer tomato mixture to a food processor; process 1 minute or until smooth. Keep warm. Wipe skillet dry with paper towels.

2. To prepare koshari:

• Heat 3 tablespoons oil in pan over medium heat
• Add sliced onion; cook 15 minutes or until deep golden brown, stirring frequently
  
• Remove onion with a slotted spoon to several layers of paper towels; set aside
• Return pan to medium heat. Add vermicelli; sauté 2 minutes or until golden brown, stirring frequently. Set aside.

• Combine 5 cups water and lentils in a medium saucepan; bring to a boil. Cover, reduce heat, and simmer 30 minutes or until lentils are tender.
  
• Remove from heat; add vermicelli, stirring well to combine.
  
• Wrap a clean kitchen towel around lid, and cover lentil mixture; let stand for 10 minutes or until vermicelli is tender.
  
• Add rice and 1 teaspoon salt to lentil mixture; fluff with a fork. Serve immediately with sauce and onions.