Sunday in the Kitchen

Spent the weekend in the kitchen. It's been raining and blustery for several days, so what better activities than cooking and baking some special comfort foods?!

Yesterday, I stuffed pasta shells with a ricotta and spinach filling and smothered them in a homemade marinara sauce. Tangy and delicious! Later in the evening, I baked a super-moist chocolate cake and mini-muffins.

Today, I frosted the cake and muffins just as the morning was beginning to bluster like crazy. Then, I made pizza dough. In between the assembly and baking of two pies, I started the dessert we will take to our friends' home later tonight: a pear-apple-cranberry tarte tatin. I pre-heated the oven to 450 degrees F to accommodate the snacking pizza.

First, I rolled the pizza dough very thin, placed it on a square of parchment paper which was on top of a large wood bread board. Then I brushed the dough with olive oil, topped with 1/2 cup of leftover marinara, 3/4 cup of shredded mozzarella, super-thin slices of tomato and garlic, basil, salt and pepper, then threw on some more olive oil. I slid the parchment paper onto my pre-heated baking stone in the oven for exactly 15 minutes. I let the pie rest on a cutting board for 5-10 minutes, and ate half while making my dessert!

The pear-apple-cranberry tarte tatin is baked to perfection and the second pie just came out of the oven, so when I publish this post, it will be snackie time!