Tag Archives: cheese

Flourless Pizza?!

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I probably wouldn’t believe it either. But I promise, I’m not lying – this pizza has no flour. No carbs. No gluten. No guilt. And it tastes amazing!

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Trust me, I was a little skeptical when I first saw this idea on Pinterest. But then I tried it and I fell in love.

Cauliflower Pizza Crust
Makes 8 slices. Gluten free. Adapted from Eating Bird Food.

Ingredients
1/2 head cauliflower
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 tsp dried oregano
1 tsp dried basil
1 egg
1 C shredded cheese (mozzarella, parmesan, etc)
salt and pepper to taste

Instructions
1. Preheat oven to 400F. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper or a silicone mat, or use a pizza stone if you have one.
2. Put cauliflower florets into a food processor and pulse until crumbly. You should have about 2 cups.
3. Saute over medium heat about 5 minutes.
4. In a large bowl combine cauliflower with all remaining ingredients. Mixture should be crumbly.
5. Spread crust on pan about 1/4 inch thick, pressing down with your fingers so it sticks together.
6. Bake 25-30 minutes until edges are crispy.
7. Remove from oven, top with sauce and any toppings, and broil another 5 minutes. Serve hot.

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Cheesecake Party

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I’ve gotten behind on my blogging again :( But I’m SO excited for all of the cooking I’m going to do over Thanksgiving! Since I’m so behind, I’ll make this a double recipe post just to make it up to you. The first one is a dessert you can definitely have at your Thanksgiving. Yes, it’s pumpkin. Of course.

A couple weeks ago, we had a party at our house. I’d been wanting to use my mini cheesecake pan again, so I thought, why not make cheesecake for the party? My roommates said, “WHAT? What kind of college party has cheesecake?!!” The best ones, of course. And everyone appreciated the cheesecake, so I win.

If you don’t have a mini cheesecake pan, you can still bake this in a regular springform pan, but scale everything back to 2 packages of cream cheese.

Mini Pumpkin Cheesecake
Makes 2 1/2 dozen.

Ingredients
for the crust
26 regular (not Double-Stuf) Oreos – 2 rows in the package
4 Tbsp butter, melted
for the cheesecake
3 8oz packages cream cheese
3 eggs
1 15oz can pumpkin
1 1/2 tsp vanilla
3/4 C brown sugar
1 1/2 tsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp nutmeg

Instructions
1. Preheat oven to 350F. Grease cheesecake pan.
2. Put Oreos in a food processor until you have fine crumbs. Pour in melted butter, stir. Press about 1 1/2 Tbsp into the bottom of each well in the pan (I found a shot glass works best for this – it’s really difficult with your fingers).
3. Bake crusts for 10 min. While they are cooling, begin the cheesecake.
4. With an electric mixer, combine cream cheese, eggs, pumpkin, and vanilla until completely smooth.
5. Stir in brown sugar, cinnamon, and nutmeg until combined.
6. Pour into each well, filling completely to the top. Bake 20-25 minutes until set.
7. Let cool about 15 minutes then remove from pans. Chill in fridge (or on your porch if it’s cold enough and your fridge is full like mine…) for at least 1 hour before serving.

So to go with all that cheesecake, I guess you might need some real food… maybe… Sometimes…

Quinoa Risotto
Serves 2-3.

Ingredients
1 C uncooked quinoa
2 C vegetable broth
1/2 C sliced baby bella mushrooms
1/2 C diced red onion
2 Tbsp olive oil
1/2 C white wine
1/4 C parmesan cheese
1/4 C goat cheese
3/4 C fresh spinach
salt and pepper, to taste

Instructions
1. Cook quinoa in vegetable broth, either on the stove top or in a rice cooker.
2. Saute mushrooms and onion in oil over medium heat until onions are translucent. Add quinoa and cook a couple more minutes.
3. Add wine and stir until absorbed. Turn off heat.
4. Add cheese and spinach and stir until cheese is melted and spinach leaves are wilted. Serve immediately.

My Super Fancy Dinner Party

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Sorry for the super late post! I’ve been busy doing so many fun and exciting things, like going to a taping of The Daily Show, seeing Batman, and going to the beach!

Anyway last weekend I had a Super Fancy Dinner Party. With paper plates because I had five people over and only four plates. I went to this super fancy grocery store, Eataly, right around the corner from my apartment, and got all sorts of great, overpriced ingredients.

Fresh pasta…

Ripe eggplants…

And I made…

Eggplant Parmesan
Serves 6. Original recipe here.

Ingredients
2 medium eggplants, sliced about a half inch thick
2 eggs, beaten
breadcrumbs seasoned with basil and oregano
2 bottles tomato sauce
~1/2 C grated parmigiano reggiano
~8 oz shredded mozzarella

Instructions
1. Preheat oven to 350F.
2. Dip each side of the eggplant slices in the eggs, then coat thoroughly in breadcrumbs. Bake for 5 minutes on each side. (You may have to do this in several batches – don’t stack slices on top of each other!)
3. Spread tomato sauce on the bottom of a 9×13 pan. Place down a layer of eggplant slices, and sprinkle with both cheeses. Add another layer of sauce, eggplant, and cheese, continuing until you’ve used all the eggplant. Top the final layer with sauce and cheese.
4. Bake for 35 minutes. Serve on top of pasta.

Now, if you know me at all, you know I couldn’t stop there. Obviously I made dessert.

How delicious do those look? I recently got a super cool mini cheesecake pan from Norpro, which I’ve been dying to use. It’s funny – I think a lot of people think cheesecake is really difficult to make, but these were so easy. The only thing is you really can’t do it without a mixer – you’ll never smooth out all the chunks.

Mini Lemon Cheesecakes
Makes 12. Adapted from here.

Ingredients
for the crust
7 honey graham crackers
3 Tbsp butter, melted
1 Tbsp sugar
for the filling
16 oz low fat cream cheese
2 eggs
1/2 C sugar
3/4 tsp vanilla
1 Tbsp lemon juice

Instructions
1. Preheat oven to 350F. Grease cheesecake pan.
2. Crush graham crackers, either by hand or in a food processor. Mix with butter and sugar.
3. Divide crust between wells of pan (about 1.5 Tbsp each). Press down evenly in each well – I used a shot glass to help since it’s a little hard with your fingers.
4. Bake crusts for 10 min. While they cool, begin the filling.
5. Thoroughly mix cream cheese, eggs, sugar, vanilla, and lemon juice, using either an electric mixer or a food processor.
6. Fill each well about to the top and bake for 15 minutes.
7. Remove from oven and let cool. Then remove cakes from pan and chill in the fridge for at least an hour.
8. Garnish with berries and dark chocolate to serve.

PieCake

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It’s funny that my blog is called Square Root of Pie but I don’t actually have an recipes for pie on here. I made an apple pie once, but it was before I started the blog. I actually really wanted to bake a pie for July 4, but I ended up taking the bus to Pittsburgh for the holiday so I wasn’t about to hold a pie in my lap for eight hours.

I did this instead, and I’m really proud of it. The recipe is completely my own, and it came out really good! I’ve had apple pie with cheddar cheese once or twice, and although I was definitely afraid to taste it the first time, it’s actually really great! Feel free to use as much or as little as you want though – I actually only put the cheese on half because I knew some people probably wouldn’t want it.

Apple Pie Cupcakes with Brown Sugar Frosting
Makes one dozen.

Ingredients
for the cupcakes
1 C flour
1/2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp cinnamon
1/2 C sugar
3 Tbsp butter
1 egg
1 tsp vanilla
3/4 C applesauce
1 Tbsp lemon juice
shredded sharp cheddar (optional)
for the filling
1 granny smith apple, peeled and diced (about 1 C)
1 Tbsp brown sugar (not packed)
1/4 tsp cinnamon
for the frosting
1/3 C brown sugar, packed
2 1/2 Tbsp butter
dash cinnamon
2 Tbsp milk
1 C powdered sugar

Instructions
1. Preheat oven to 350F. Prepare cupcake tin with paper liners. (I used silicone pans, but the cake was so moist that it was actually a bit difficult to remove them from the pans without them falling appart! I definitely recommend the paper.)
2. Prepare the filling. In a small bowl, toss the diced apples with cinnamon and brown sugar. Set aside.
3. For the cake, in a medium bowl mix flour, baking powder, baking soda, and cinnamon.
4. In another bowl, cream together butter and sugar. Add the egg, vanilla, applesauce, and  lemon juice.
5. Gradually add the flour mixture to the wet mixture. Fill cupcake wells about 2/3 full and top with spoonfuls of the pie filling.
6. Bake 18-20 minutes. If using, top with cheddar around the 12 minute mark.
7. When cupcakes are almost cool, begin frosting by heating butter, brown sugar, and cinnamon in a small saucepan over low heat, stirring constantly.
8. Add the milk and let boil until it thickens. Remove from heat and add sugar. Frost a *thin* layer on the cupcakes – the frosting is very sweet!

The Last Weekend

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I’m still playing catchup on all of my finals week cooking! I have this post and then one more to go, so hopefully I’ll be all up to date pretty soon.

This was the very last weekend breakfast – sad. I think we made it on a Friday, but whatever. When you don’t have classes, everyday is the weekend. In case you want a full wrap up, here’s a list of all the weekend breakfasts successful enough to make it on the blog:

Crepes
Cappuccino Pancakes
Mango French Toast
Blueberry Walnut Muffins
Apple Banana Muffins
Almond Biscotti
Pear and Chai Scones

and last but not least…

Ricotta Pancakes with Blueberry Syrup
Makes 8-10 pancakes. Adapted from here.

Ingredients
for the pancakes
1 1/2 C flour
1 tsp baking powder
pinch salt
2 tbsp sugar
1 egg
1/2 C milk
3 1/2 tbsp butter, melted
3.5 oz ricotta (we used 1/4 of a 15oz tub)
for the syrup
3/4 C frozen blueberries
2 Tbsp sugar
3 Tbsp maple syrup
1-2 Tbsp corn starch

Instructions
1. In a medium mixing bowl, sift together dry pancake ingredients. In a smaller bowl, mix together the wet.
2. Pour wet into dry and mix until well combined. Add more flour if needed.
3. Fry about 1/4 C worth of batter on each side until golden brown.
4. For the syrup, bring blueberries and a couple tablespoons of water to a simmer over medium heat. Add sugar and maple syrup to taste, and corn starch to thicken.
5. Serve pancakes still hot with a heaping spoonful of blueberries on top.

These were so good but sooo heeaaavy. We ate four each and felt like we were going to pop.

Did you try out any of the Weekend Breakfast recipes? What was your favorite? I liked the cappuccino pancakes and pear scones the best. Let me know in the comments!

 

“_____ Week”

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Last Week. Tech Week. Show Week. Stress Week. I Have No Time Week. It’s the last week of classes, the week of my dance show, the week when everything is going on all at once and I’m freaking out. Which means I’m stress baking to make myself feel better, but also that I don’t have much time to blog. So next week is Cookie Week, where I post all the different cookies I’ve made so far. I’ve got three already.

Last last weekend, instead of breakfast, we made delicious spinach lasagna rollups.

You can check out the recipe here. They were pretty straightforward to make, and very good, but next time I’d put more cheese. Mostly because I love cheese.

Anyway, onto the main event. Breakfast from last Saturday. Amazing. I wish I could eat these everyday. They’re sweet but not too sweet – I hate when breakfast gets too close to dessert. Making them was so quick that I really could do it on any random morning.

Applesauce Banana Muffins
Makes 10 muffins. Original recipe here.

Ingredients
2 ripe bananas
1/4 C sugar
1/4 C applesauce (if using unsweetened, add a bit more sugar)
1 C flour
1/2 Tbsp baking powder
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
1 tsp vanilla
1 egg

Instructions
1. Preheat oven to 350F.
2. In a medium bowl, mash bananas and mix in sugar.
3. Stir in remaining ingredients.
4. Pour into a muffin pan and bake 20-25 min until a knife comes out clean.

They’re really light, so don’t feel bad if you eat two. Or three. Or four. Which I did. They’re also pretty good with a little bit of butter on top, but they don’t need it.

Overly Enthusiastic

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This weekend was Spring Carnival at my school, aka the only time CMU resembles any sort of normal university. People are crazy and silly and go go go go for three days straight. It just makes me wonder… how would I have possibly survived if I went to a real school? By the end of Carnival I was just sleepy. What if it were like this every weekend? I would die. Or have no friends. Or both.

My favorite part of Carnival is Holi, which is basically an excuse to eat delicious Indian food and get really dirty. It’s especially fun when it’s raining out, because you get super muddy too. I really want to know what the color powder is made of – it actually dyed my blonde hair pink! I don’t know how long it will last, but it looks pretty cool considering it was accidental.

I had a zucchini left over from when I failed making zucchini bread a little while ago (don’t ask, it was a huge disaster) so for lunch a couple days ago I decided to make pizza. Since I’ve been cooking more and more, I’ve been getting more comfortable with randomly throwing things in a bowl rather than actually measuring them. It’s great for my cooking skills but bad for my recipe posts. I’m gonna put estimates but check out the original recipe if you really want to know the actual measurements.

Zucchini Boat Pizza
Serves one. Original recipe here.

Ingredients
1 medium zucchini
1 Tbsp bread crumbs
1 Tbsp parmesan cheese
dash dried oregano
3 leaves fresh basil, chopped
2 Tbsp marinara sauce
shredded cheese
toppings (mushrooms, olives, bell peppers, etc)

Instructions
1. Preheat the oven to 425 F.
2. Wash the zucchini and slice lengthwise. With a spoon, scoop out the innards, chop them further, and put into a small mixing bowl. Put the zucchini shells on a foiled baking sheet.
3. Add bread crumbs, parmesan, oregano, basil, and marinara to the mixing bowl with the zucchini and stir well. Refill the zucchini shells with the mixture.
4. Top with shredded cheese and any toppings (I didn’t use any).
5. Bake for 20 min (mine took 15 in the toaster oven).

Embarrassing: I got way too excited to eat this/make people jealous that I only took an Instagram photo with my phone and completely forgot to use my foodtography camera. So that’s what you get.