White Pizza with Arugula Salad

 - Fresh pizza dough, knead into a circle

- ¼ cup olive oil

- 3 garlic cloves minced

- 2 shallots minced

- Pinch of red pepper flakes

- fontina cheese, shredded (I put mine in the freezer first, it's easer to shred when its hardened)

- crumbled goat cheese

- mozzarella shredded

- thinly sliced red onions

- 1 lemon

- Baby arugula

1. Heat pizza stone and oven to 475.

2. In a sauce pan heat up olive oil, garlic, shallots and red pepper flakes. Put to the side when finished. Don't let garlic burn just toast.

3. Partially cook pizza crust for 5 mins and take out of oven.

4. Brush the oil mixture all over the crust of the pizza. Top with cheeses and red onion. Put back in the oven for approx. 5 min or until crust and cheeses are brownish.

5. In a small bowl whisk together 1 TBSP of olive oil and a squeeze of lemon juice with salt and pepper. Toss in baby arugula and top the pizza with the salad. Then feast!

Creamy Corn Empanadas

• 4 tablespoons butter
• 1/4 cup all-purpose flour
• 1 cup milk
• 1/4 teaspoon smoked paprika
• ½ teaspoon cumin
• Salt and pepper
• 2 cups frozen corn, defrosted
• 1 tablespoon chopped flat-leaf parsley
• ½ cup shredded monetary jack cheese
• 8-10 (6-inch) store-bought empanada wrappers, you can find them in the frozen foods
• Olive Oil

1. Heat the butter in a small saucepan over medium heat. Add the flour and cook until smooth and bubbly, about 3 minutes. Add the milk slowly while whisking constantly. Bring to a simmer, stirring constantly. Add the paprika, cumin and salt and pepper, to taste. Stir in the corn and parsley, return to a simmer. Scrape the filling into a bowl and cool completely before filling wrappers. Once cooled add cheese to mixture.

2. Wet the edges of 1 of the empanada wrappers with a fingertip dipped in warm water. Center a generous 1/3-cup of the filling on the wrapper. Bring the sides of the wrapper together to meet over the filling and pinch the sides together to seal and form a half-moon shape. Lay the half-moon flat on the work surface. Work you way around the edges, bringing about 1/2-inch of the bottom layer of dough up and over the top layer, to make a mini-pleat. Press as you go to seal the pleats. If you don't want to mess with crimping, just seal the edges all the way around with the tips of the tines of a fork. Brush empanadas with a little olive oil before baking.

3. Preheat  oven to 375 degrees F. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper, or use a nonstick baking sheet. Bake until the empanadas are light golden brown, about 25 minutes. Let cool. I love to serve with my tomato soup, perfect combo!

Blue Cheese Dressing

• 1/2 cup mayonnaise

• 1/2 cup sour cream

• Juice from ½ a lemon juice
• salt and freshly ground black pepper

• 3 oz crumbled mild blue cheese

This was super easy! I blended the first 4 ingredients in my Ninja (best kitchen tool ever!) and then folded in the blue cheese. I served this with Spicy Buffalo Style Stuffed Chicken Breasts from the Food Network.

Fresh Tortillas

SO EASY to make fresh tortillas and I had everything in my cupboard. The only thing I would do differently next time is use a tortilla press; it took a lot of time hand rolling each ball of dough. I infused my tillas with lime zest... I think adding cumin would be a nice addition as well! Here is the recipe I used.

Fusilli with Crispy Proscuitto, Broccolini and Mushrooms

Fusilli with Crispy Proscuitto, Broccolini and Mushrooms
Originally uploaded by c3howe

-1 box of Fusilli
-8 slices of prosciutto, julienned
-Sliced mushrooms
-1 bunch of broccolini, steams trimmed
-2 large cloves of garlic, minced
-Pinch of red pepper flakes
-1/2 cup white wine
-juice from 1 lemon(zest it first)
-1/4 cup of parmesan
- 1/2 cup of grated ricotta salata cheese

1. Boil pasta in salted water according to box. Reserve some of the pasta water for later.
2. Fry prosciutto in olive oil until crispy. Remove from oil and place on paper towel.
3. In the same pan, sauté mushrooms and broccolini until tender and add garlic and red pepper flakes.
4. Add wine and let reduce to half. Mix in Fusilli, lemon juice, lemon zest and a ladle of reserved pasta water (it will thicken the sauce). Add salt and pepper to taste.
5. Finish pasta by adding the crispy prosciutto and cheeses!