The Best Thing I Ever Ate - Pizza

I have to preface this entry by saying that I have not had pizza in New York City, Chicago or Italy, but the very best pizza I have ever had was in Amsterdam. My husband and I went there on our honeymoon in 2008 and we fell in love with this pizza place.



Prior to our honeymoon, my husband had been to the Netherlands and Belgium several times with his family as his Dad worked for KLM and other travel related companies. He always raved about how good the pizza was. I wondered how much better can it be, really?

Well the first time this was placed in front of me I figured it out pretty quick.



We just got plain cheese every time because you do not need to have anything else on the pizza when all the ingredients are fresh and delicious. They make the pizza right in front of you in this tiny little restaurant off of Dam Square. I am really excited to post this entry because we just booked another trip to the Netherlands for the fall. The pizza is on my list of things to do the DAY we arrive.

What is the best pizza you ever ate?

Toasted Garlic and Sweet Pea Pasta

I love pasta, but I don't always feel like a classic tomato sauce or a cheese sauce, so this is a great alternate way to enjoy some pasta. This recipe is another from a Rachael Ray cookbook.



Get some water on to boil and lets gather some ingredients. You need some peas, pasta, red pepper, parsley, thyme, cheese, wine, garlic, shallot or onion, chicken stock and salt and pepper.

Chop your onion and slice your garlic thin. This is the only chopping you need to do, now it is on to measuring.

Measure your broth, wine and get your measuring cup so you can reserve some pasta water.

I know I said to get some water boiling, but I am using my awesome microwave pasta cooker.

Get some oil in a pan over medium heat.

Get the garlic in and keep an eye on it! You want to cook it until it just starts to get brown.

This is about ready to come out.

Ok, outta there!

Now you can add in your shallots, red pepper, thyme and salt and pepper. Cook this for about five minutes, stirring every once in a while.

Add the wine and cook for about 2 minutes.

Add in the stock and cook for another 2 minutes.

Your pasta should be done, so drain it, but reserve some of the pasta water.

Add in the peas and some of the reserved pasta water, bring it back to a boil.

Mash up some of the peas with the back of a spoon and get the parsley and garlic in the pan.

Get the pasta in the pan and give it a stir.

Add in the cheese and you are ready to eat!

This is a delicious alternative to classic pasta sauces. You can easily make this vegetarian with vegetable broth and you could make it vegan by omitting the cheese.

What is your favorite non-traditional pasta sauce?

Favorite Things # 18 - My Sistema Steamer

We have grocery stores here called Fresh and Easy that are owned by the big British store chain, Tesco. I really like the small market feel of them and a lot of the products are cheaper than the regular stores. I was there recently and saw they added kitchen items as well. I saw this cute little microwave steamer and thought it would be perfect for single serving meals.
I gave it a try and LOVED it. The way it is built the little lips on the corners stay cool so you can remove it from the microwave without burning your fingers. It also has a cool little opening in the top to let the steam out so you don't burn yourself when you remove the lid.

If you don't have a Fresh and Easy nearby you can pick one up on Amazon. They have small, medium and large. I love that this is reusable unlike the ziploc steam bags, and it is BPA free.

Do you steam food often? If so, what is your favorite food to steam?