What I Made: June 16 & 17, 2012

Ah, the weekend.  I often try to take it a little easy on the weekends since I cook a lot during the week.  For some reason this weekend, I was incredibly motivated to cook and bake.

Okay, well I wasn't motivated ALL weekend.  Saturday morning was spent running errands and I wasn't in the mood to make lunch, so we picked something up.  I kicked it into high gear for dinner.

© You Want Me to Cook?
Portobello Mushroom Burgers

I got the recipe for Portobello Mushroom Burgers from All You.  Initially, I was looking for a Mushroom-Quinoa Burger I found in January's issue, but for some reason it was nowhere to be found on their website.  Since I recycle my magazines as soon as I've read them, the recipe has been lost (to me at least) forever.

Fontina, Caramelized-Onion and Pancetta Pizza

Recipe modified by You Want Me to Cook? on February 6, 2011.

For a commentary-free and printer-friendly version of it, please click here.

Recipe originally published by Cooking Light daily e-zine on Thursday, March 5, 2009.

I’ve always loved pizza.  My mother used to make her own pizza dough and pizza sauce from scratch.  She had special bricks and pans that she used to cook them.  In fact, we had this large antique oven in the basement just for cooking pizzas (it may still be there for all I know).  Sad to say, I was only ever in charge of stirring the sauce and chopping some of the toppings.  To this day, I still have no idea how she makes her pizza dough.

This recipe was one of those dishes that sounded absolutely delicious, but every time I read through the ingredient listing and directions, I would say, “yum, but not this week… too much going on.”  After having dinner with my uncle and aunt who made us the most delicious pizza with their own homemade pizza dough, I was inspired.  I pulled this out and decided this would be my pièce de résistance of our Super Bowl Sunday meal.  Besides, if I was going to put a lot of effort into a dish, why not do it for guests?  I did have the phone number of our favorite pizza joint out, just in case.

By the way, it is a three-smoke-alarm recipe.  Yeah, I needed to ventilate the kitchen when I was done.

My finished product: © You Want Me to Cook? Fontina, Caramelized-Onion and Pancetta Pizza

Picture published with recipe: © Cooking Light

My pizza didn’t seem to be as piled high with “stuff”.  My crust definitely looks crispier and more golden – a trait that is a requirement for my pizza.  Overall, I wouldn’t turn away either pizza, and I was eager to try it.