Scallop BLT Pizza

I made this scallop BLT pizza because I love just about anything on pizza. I mean, have you seen all the pizza toppings I’ve fallen in love with? This combo of scallops, bacon, and alfredo provides the luscious and decadent part while the tomatoes and arugula balance it out with freshness. We had a great scallop pizza last year in Maine for our anniversary.
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I love topping pizzas with raw greens (like this Greek one, or this BLT one, or Big Mac pizza, or this prosciutto fontina arugula one) but if that’s not your thing either spinach or arugula would be great chopped up and cooked on the pizza.

Ingredients:

pizza dough
2 slices of bacon
3-4 sea scallops
1 tbs butter
1 tbs olive oil
3 tbs flour/wheat flour
salt & pepper
1 cup light alfredo sauce
1 tomato, sliced into chunks
8 oz shredded mozzarella
2 cups arugula (or spinach)

Directions:

Preheat the oven (and pizza stone if using one) to 400 degrees.
Pan fry the bacon until crisp. Remove from heat to drain and chop up.
Rinse scallops and remove the connective tissue on each one, if there is any. Pat dry.
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Mix flour, salt, and pepper in a small bowl.
Spread pizza dough onto the pizza stone or pan and bake for 5-10 minutes. The point is to get it pre cooking so when the pizza is topped, it doesn’t have to cook much longer.
Heat a heavy skillet to medium and add butter & oil.
Toss the scallops in the four mix and pan sear each one for about 2-3 minutes on each side, flipping once (they’ll go into the oven again too so don’t overcook).
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When the pizza dough is pre-cooked a bit, remove from the oven. Reduce temperature to 300 degrees. Top the crust with alfredo sauce, cheese, bacon, and tomato.
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Cut scallops in half horizontally, or into quarter chunks if you prefer.
Add cut scallops to the pizza, with the seared side facing up.
Return to the oven for 5 minutes or until cheese is melted.
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Toss arugula with a very little drizzle of olive oil and add onto of the pizza.
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Slice & enjoy!

I added a little sprinkle of Parmesan and chives before the arugula, mostly because I had some. I liked everything that was going on for this pizza. It was reminiscent of bacon wrapped scallops.
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This is seriously a cheap way to serve scallops. I bought 3 scallops for 2 of us. I did slice them in half but there were lots of pieces to spread over the pizza! Bay scallops aren’t the same but maybe I should branch out for meals like this. I also only used 2 slices of bacon. It seems like plenty when spread around. I would always like more, but this amount is the smart choice. I pre-portion bacon and freeze it. Otherwise a pound can disappear verrrry quickly.

Bacon and Leek Crepes

PARIS & PRAGUE! Mr. J and I booked a 2nd anniversary trip to Paris and Prague in September!

I cannot contain myself. It makes me just want to skip down the streets of Paris munching on a fresh baguette. I was so fearful that it wouldn’t happen. I’ve been obsessively dreaming about going to Paris for uhh, at least a YEAR. My fall calendar was filling up and I was afraid that the idea of the trip would keep getting bumped back. It’s happening! I’m just so psyched. It’ll be a whirlwind (or as the Jersey housewives would say: world wind) but that’s just how we do.

Because I’ve been Paris obsessed, I wanted to make some French food. It was uuuuber hot here in Boston so I also was figuring out meals that didn’t require any oven action. I got this electric crepe maker back in high school. Probably around the time I went to Paris on an exchange when I stayed with a family in a suburb between Paris and Versailles. Yup, pretty awesome.

Crepe night was like a sophisticated taco-night to them. It meant there weren’t a million courses (unlike usual) and it meant that dessert was crepes too. It was the dad’s-cooking-dinner-tonight meal for the family I stayed with.
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Now, for the crepes. The batter is really simple but I don’t think it’d be as simple to actually cook it in a regular pan. The French don’t really use crepe makers like this, but it is fool-proof for me. Of course, it is an art form in France with a dramatic dowel-like-tool swooped across a hot griddle or pan. Ohh well. This is delicious enough for me.

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I figured bacon + veg + cheese + ready-made sauce would be perfect. I wanted bacon, leeks, gruyere, and bechamel sauce. I couldn’t find any gruyere, so I got gouda. I decided that I wasn’t wanting to make my own sauce, so I chose light asiago cream sauce from a jar for the win.

Ingredients:

1 large leek stalk, chopped
1 egg
⅔ cup milk
¼ cup water
½ cup flour
2 tbs melted butter + 1 tsp butter
4 slices of bacon, chopped
4 oz grated cheese (I used gouda)
1/2 cup bechamel sauce (I used Asiago Romano jarred sauce)

Directions:

If using fresh leaks: Soak leaks in water, and let sit for 5 minutes. Sift them out (without letting any sand from the bottom get back into the leeks). Repeat again until no sand/dirt comes out to the bottom of the water bath. Mine were already washed & chopped leeks in a bag from Trader Joe’s.
Whisk or blend together egg, milk, water, flour, and melted butter. Then let sit for 5 minutes.
In a large skillet, fry the bacon over medium heat, until crisp.
While bacon is cooking, grate cheese and warm sauce.
Discard bacon fat but use the same pan to cook the leeks. Add one tsp of butter to deglaze the pan from the bacon, and add the leeks to cook for about 5 minutes.
While leeks are cooking, set up for the crepes.
If using an electric crepe pan, pour batter onto a plate. “Dip” the crepe maker upside down onto the crepe batter plate. Swiftly turn upright and let it cook for 1-2 minutes.
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Repeat to use all the batter.
Add the bacon back into the leeks.
Fill crepes with bacon/leek mixture, then cheese, then sauce. Roll up and serve or keep warm as you fill them.
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I loved this dinner. I served them with some salad which made it feel super easy. I enlisted Mr. J to the assembly line to fill. The crepe itself isn’t quite sweet or savory. I adore the consistency. Crepes are super thin and have the slightest egg flavor without feeling like breakfast. I love how soft and delicate they are.
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It only made me wish I had dessert fillings around. More crepes to come!

Have leftover leeks? Make Potato, Leek, & Bacon Pizza or chop it up to freeze it so you can add it into your lasagna/soup/enchiladas next time!

BLT Pasta Salad

Now that the 4th is over, the pressure is off for your food to be red/white/blue. Phew!

I was thinking this pasta salad was getting so hearty that it didn’t really need to just be a side, I thought it could be almost the whole meal. I put it on salad with a few more veggies and thought it was great!

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Ingredients:

6 oz plain greek yogurt
1 envelope Ranch Dressing (or Italian Dressing)
10 oz dried pasta (any shape you like)
4 slices of bacon
2 tomatoes
1 cucumber

Directions:

In advance: mix yogurt and dressing packet together and refrigerate for 3+ hours.
Boil pasta until cooked through, but just a little al dante. (I cook it longer than when I prepare hot pasta).
Fry bacon until crisp.
Let pasta cool.
Chop tomatoes, cucumbers, and bacon.
Mix dressing onto room temperature pasta.
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Chill for an hour-or-two before serving.
Serve as pasta salad or on top of a green salad.
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Basil would have been a good addition to make the pasta salad be more BLT instead of the lettuce. I used Greek yogurt to up the protein and lower the fat from mayo. If it dries out, add a tablespoon or two of milk to get it creamy again before serving.

There are pretty much a million substitutions for this one…ready? go!

Bacon & Beer Festival

I did it. I went to Bacon & Beer Fest. Finally! The tickets sell out in the first 10-minutes online. Luckily, Ms. L was on it and grabbed a few. It benefits Community Servings and Lovin’ Spoonfuls. I love those two groups but was disappointed that there was zero representation of the organizations.

The event was great, though now it is a bit outdated. Better late than never. The lighting and crowds didn’t make it an ideal photo-op, but I had to snap a few while juggling my beer cup and spork.

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Check out the crowds. There were restaurants on the floor and breweries and more restaurants around the edges on 2 levels.
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Bacon, cheese, and fig spread on a crustini:
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This was huge and not our favorite, but I really liked the idea.
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This mac & cheese had smoked pork and avocado cream.
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This was my favorite sweet bite of the day. It was a take on a smore from Petit Robert.
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Leek and Potato Pizza with Bacon

I was feeling like dinners had been too wintry and I wanted something springy. I’m ready for spring and Boston sure feels fresh and rejuvenated. We are on the mend and with a springy-feeling drizzle and a sunny hug this weekend helped us heal and move forward.

I spotted leeks at Trader Joe’s. Thanks to Joe, I didn’t have to slice and soak. It also meant I didn’t have to try to use leeks in everything I cooked from now on.

Ms. L was coming so I figured bacon was just the addition she would appreciate. All hell was breaking lose at work. I needed to make this delectable pizza. I needed something I could do well. I’m sure Ms. L would have understood if I was too overwhelmed. When other things are going wrong, I just want dinner to be comforting.

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Ingredients:

pizza dough
2 cups leeks
2 tbs pesto
8 oz shredded mozzarella
4 oz St. Andre cheese
2 russet potatoes, thinly sliced
2 strips of bacon

Directions:

Preheat oven and pizza stone if you’re using one to 400 degrees.
Saute leeks in butter and olive oil until cooked through.
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Spread pizza dough onto the pizza stone or onto a lightly greased pan and poke a few holes with a fork.
Pre-bake the dough for 10 minutes until the dough puffs and is somewhat cooked, but not crisp.
Fry the bacon until almost cooked (it will continue baking on the pizza)
After removing the dough from the oven, spread pesto onto the dough.
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Top with shredded mozzarella, sliced potato, leeks, soft cheese, and crumbled bacon.
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Return to the oven for 20 minutes until the crust crisps and the cheese melts.
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Remove from the oven, and let sit for at least 5 minutes before cutting.

This was so good. The two cheeses were perfect. St. Andre crumbles like butter and is like brie, times 10. The cheese plus potatoes plus bacon was so well balanced. The leeks are fresh almost oniony almost garlicky.

I loved this and will make it again, for sure.