Pepperoni Pizza: Homemade sauce &dough!

Using the dough from an old post, I decided to make a Pepperoni pizza tonight. With cramps like a BITCH, I decided I needed to get my mind off of them. And cooking is always the best medicine 😉

Really, all I want to share here is how I made the sauce!

2 cans of diced tomatoes, pureed until NEARLY smooth. I like to leave a little bit of the chunks in there. For more of a hearty tomato bite. You don’t have to, you can puree it completely. You can also just use a can of tomato sauce. I didn’t have one, or fresh tomatoes, so I decided to be cheap about it.
1 green bell pepper, diced
1 half of a yellow onion, diced
Two cloves of garlic, minced, or more to taste (I’m pretty sure I used like… 4 cloves haha)
Pinch of each of the following (add more to your taste): Oregano, Basil, Parsley, Salt, Pepper, Red Pepper flakes, Thyme.

I sauteed my onions & bell pepper first in the sauce pan, and then added in my tomato puree.
At this time I cranked up the heat to let it reach a boil, and threw in my herbs and spices.
Once it’s hit a boil, you can leave it to simmer for an hour or so, give or take.
I let it simmer a while so all of the flavours come together nicely.
Really, this is all about YOUR taste, and how you like your pizza sauce. I like a heart, veggie filled sauce. You’ll typically find me adding way more of everything. Especially garlic & onion. Omnomnom!

Once I’ve got my dough all rolled out, I put it on a cornmeal dusted baking pan (if you have a pizza stone, you are awesome. I don’t. Yet.)

I spread a good amount of sauce onto the dough, and then add slices of pepperoni.
I like to do this in layers, by the way.
So, Pepperoni, then cheese. Then more pepperoni, then more cheese.
You can add whatever you like, underneath or on top. I was going for something a little more simple.

Here’s my progression:

Pop that baby in at about 450, for 15-20 minutes. Let it cool before cutting! Otherwise your cheese and toppings will slide RIGHT off. Let it sit about five minutes or so, cut to your liking, and freakin’ enjoy!!

Sweet and Sour Chicken with Vegetable Fried Rice

I definitely grew up loving Chinese take out. It was a go to for a lot of different reasons, though usually it comes down to the fact that it’s just… GOOD. It’s a comfort food, entirely. So many carbohydrates, so many great sauces and stir fries and soups. Don’t even get me started on spring rolls. Uh, yum.

So, what is the bad part then? It’s usually just downright horrible for you, at times greasy, and really the price of going out for it just adds up too high. There have been a few places over the years that I always make an exception for, for a certain reason. For a little hole in the wall place outside of Chicago, it was the fried rice and their egg rolls. Oh lord, were they good. Here outside of Seattle… there’s a place literally short walking distance from our neighborhood. They have this great soup, sizzling rice soup, that’s really just to die for. That is my opinion, of course. Though, I’ve heard it’s pretty popular with most of the locals.

One of my favorite dishes when I wasn’t a vegetarian was the Sweet and Sour Chicken. I loved the heavily breaded white meat, a sticky sauce. Pineapples in it are even better. I think it’s also known as “orange chicken” to a lot of people. I could be wrong on that. But there aren’t Oranges in it, so I’m only assuming that’s in reference to the sauce?  Ha-ha 🙂

I decided to look up a few recipes for a Sweet and Sour sauce, and kind of made a baby out of them. It turned out alright the first time, though my sauce never quite thickened up. I don’t think I had enough chicken to sauce to absorb a lot of it, first of all, and I’m not entirely sure my measurements were all correct. It is just one of the woes of always quartering or halving my recipes to fit a family of two; and not six. I’m also awful at math. AWESOME. Anyway, I got it right this second time, though! And I was excited to share it. My rice wasn’t half bad, either. Though, I’m definitely in need of some better Soy Sauce. The stuff I’ve been using is just… blah. Minor details, so on with it!

I used one full pound of Chicken Breast (so use that in comparison to the measurements on the sauce and coating. My recipe is for one pound of chicken) diced to about an inch all the way around. You can do whole breasts, I learned the first time, but it definitely looks (and works out) better with cut up chicken.

(At this time heat your oven to 325)

Preparing the Chicken before the sauce:

• One cup of flour
• Salt and Pepper
• 2 eggs beaten
• 2 tablespoons or so of Oil, for browning the outside

Heat a large skillet on medium-high heat with the oil. Let get nice and hot, but not smoking. You don’t want the oil burning on you.

Salt and Pepper your chicken to taste. Once that is done, dip it in the egg, and then into the flour. Shake off any excess. Add the chicken to the skillet once thoroughly heated. Cook on all sides until golden brown on the outside. It should only take a few minutes. There’s no need to cook the chicken all the way through, as it will cook in the oven later with the sauce.

Once they’ve reached a nice, golden brown…go ahead and toss them in a baking dish big enough to accommodate them all. You should be able to fit one layer. Now, they are ready for the sauce.

The Sauce:

• 3/4 cup sugar
• 4 tbs ketchup
• 1/2 cup vinegar
• 1 tbs soy sauce
• 1 tsp garlic salt

****If you do not have Ketchup, you can substitute with Tomato Paste. Here’s how:

Substitute 1/2 cup tomato sauce and 2 tablespoons sugar and 1 tablespoon vinegar for 1/2 cup ketchup.*****

Mix all the ingredients together in a large bowl until sugar has dissolved and all ingredients are mixed well. Pour over the chicken.

Baking:

Once chicken and sauce have been prepared in a baking dish, cook in the oven for about one hour. You will need to turn your chicken every 15 minutes or so, to allow the breading to soak up the Sauce.

Once cooked all the way through, remove from oven and let sit for a few minutes. The sauce will thicken more, and it allows the chicken to cool slightly.

Serve immediately with fried rice (recipe follows).

Fried Rice:

One cup uncooked white or brown rice. Cook as directed on package, set aside.

• 3 tbs sesame oil
• 1 cup frozen peas and carrots (thawed)
• 1 small onion, chopped
• 2 tsp minced garlic
• 2 eggs, slightly beaten
• 1/4 cup soy sauce
• Handful of diced green onion for topping.

In a large skillet or wok heat up oil and sauté the vegetables together until tender. Once tender, slide vegetables to one side of the skillet and pour the beaten eggs onto the other side. Cook eggs until nicely scrambled, and then put the mixture together. At this time, add in your cooked rice and soy sauce. Heat until rice is hot again. You can play with the soy sauce here, depending on how much flavor you want. Don’t forget the amount of Sodium involved, though!! My suggestions are measure it out to your needs, or get lower sodium sauce. Toss in the green onion at the last minute of cooking, and serve immediately with Sweet and Sour Chicken.

I hope you enjoy this recipe, and that it turns out as well for you as it did for us! Please leave me your feedback, additions, questions & comments! I’d really appreciate it ❤

~StellaBlue