Smoked Salmon Pizza & Double Mushroom and Marsala Cream Fettuccine

Classic Structure, Wendy Pflaum, guest writes this week’s PixieTips. A  week’s worth of ideas for home cooked meals, perfect for Classics,  Smart Structures and Organic Structures.

By now, everything is now set in your kitchen. If you selected and planned right, all that is left now is to cook. When you clean up from the night before, pick your next night’s meal, and give a quick double check that you have everything you need. There is nothing worse than being halfway into cooking a realizing you are missing something.

As you cook your meals, if you find a recipe takes too long or isn’t an instant favorite, purge it from your collection.  Review your collection every few months and see if there are things you have never used.  There is no reason to have to consider recipes you will never make.  As your recipe collection grows, you can go a few months and never repeat a meal unless you choose to.

So today I will finish the week off with two meatless recipes, in honor of traditional meatless Fridays in my Catholic grammar school cafeteria:

Smoked Salmon Pizza

  • 1 Package refrigerated store bought Pizza dough (I have found my local pizza parlor will sell me some too)
  • Extra Virgin Olive Oil
  • Salt and pepper
  • 8 ounces Cream Cheese, (room temperature if you have time)
  • ½ cup chopped shallots
  • ¼ cup drained capers
  • 2 tablespoons fresh dill, chopped
  • 1-2 tablespoons lemon juice
  • ¾ pound smoked salmon

 

  1. Preheat the oven to 450, Drizzle the crusts with olive oil and sprinkle with salt and pepper, and bake until done. ( about 10-15 minutes)
  2. Mean while in a medium bowl, combine the cream cheese, shallots, 2 tablespoons of capers, 1 tablespoon of dill and lemon juice.
  3. Spread the cream cheese mixture on the crusts, Top with smoked salmon, remaining capers and dill, and slice into wedges.

Double Mushroom and Marsala Cream Fettuccine

  • 3 cups chicken stock
  • 1 ounce dried porcini mushrooms
  • Salt and pepper
  • 1 pound Fettuccine Pasta
  • ¼ cup extra virgin olive oil
  • 1 pound cremini mushrooms, sliced thin
  • 2 teaspoons dried or fresh sage
  • ½ cup marsala wine
  • ½ cup heavy cream
  • 1 cup grated Parmesan or Romano cheese

 

  1. In a medium sauce pan, combine the chicken stock and porcinis and let steep over low heat.
  2. Bring a large pot of water to a boil, salt it and cook the pasta to al dente. Drain
  3. While the pasta is cooking, in a large skillet, heat the olive oil, add the cremini mushrooms and cook until tender, about 8 minutes. Season with salt, pepper, add the sage and marsala, and cook for one minute.
  4. Use a slotted spoon, remove the porcinis, and reserve 2 cups of the stock. Chop the porcinis; add to the ceminis with the 2 cups of chicken stock. Add the cream and cook until thickened about 10 minutes.  Stir in the cheese, and toss in the pasta and serve.