Pizza by Elizabeths – Greenville, DE

http://pizzabyelizabeths.com/

I enjoy the concept of gourmet pizza – especially when it tastes good!  I went to Pizza by Elizabeths with two friends and enjoyed the Field Greens With Curried Pecans salad and The Ashley – fresh tomatoes, brie, olive oil, garlic, basil, and locatelli romano cheese.  There were so many choices for pizza, that it was hard to decide, but I chose this mostly because I’ve never had brie on a pizza before!

The salad was pretty delicious and they give you the dressing on the side, so no worries about it being overdressed.  I enjoyed with the raspberry vinaigrette, which was kind of thick.  It was still good, but not the same style of vinagrettes that I have seen at other restaurants.  The pizza was more garlicky than I expected, but not overpowering.  It was good, but not great – I was also a little disappointed because one of the four slices had almost no toppings on it – just the honey wheat crust.  By the way, the wheat crust is very tasty and does not detract from the taste of the pizza.

My friends were from out of town and one had leftovers that I had the opportunity to much on.  She had ordered the White pizza – creamy alfredo sauce topped with mozzarella and Monterey jack, sautéed spinach, artichokes, and chopped fresh tomatoes.  I can’t speak for what it tasted like fresh off the brick oven, but as leftovers it was okay.  I do not like artichokes, so I removed those.  The sautéed spinach seemed pretty dry.  The cheese was a good part of it though!

I will definitely enjoy Pizza by Elizabeths again and keep on trying different combinations of pizza!

Homemade Pasta with Ragu

This was my first time making homemade pasta (except for gnocchi, but that didn't require my pasta roller and cutter).  I used a whole wheat recipe, and, with the help of my Kitchen Aid standmixer and pasta attachments, I think I ended up with a pretty tasty pasta.  It didn't take as long as I thought it would and I enjoyed watching the pasta attachments do their work!


Whole Wheat Pasta - expected time 1.5 hours
(from AllRecipes.com)


Ingredients
1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1 1/2 cups whole wheat flour
1/2 teaspoon sea salt
4 eggs
2 teaspoons olive oil


Directions

1. Stir together the flours and salt in a medium bowl or on a clean board.
2. Make a hollow in the center and pour in the olive oil.
3. Break the eggs into the hollow one at a time while mixing quickly with a fork until the dough is wet enough to come together.
4. Knead on a lightly floured surface until the dough is stiff and elastic.  Cover and let stand for 30 minutes to relax.
5. Roll out dough by hand with a rolling pin (or a pasta machine) to achieve the desired thickness of noodles.
6. Cut into desired width and shapes.
7. Allow pasta to air dry for at least 15 minutes.

The pasta was a bit clumpy, but I think that if I had let it air dry for 20-25 minutes, it would have been perfect.  I served with jarred sauce (Ragu with extra vegetables) because I only wanted to try one homemade item that night.  The taste was very light and fresh and the texture was soft (except for a few clumps).  I added some Parmesan and Mozzarella, but the recipe definitely did not need them (as with some pastas).  I just love cheese!  Overall, a fantastic meal and one I look forward to making time and again.