Italian

Parmesan & Pepperoni Crustless Pizza

Parmesan & Pepperoni Crustless Pizza

If you bake a layer of Parmesan cheese in the oven it will crackle and pop after a while, turning into a crispy, cheese cracker that’s much tastier than any pizza crust I’ve encountered. I topped this baked cheese crisp  (which is a popular dish called Frico in Italy) with pizza spices and toppings before sliding it into the oven. The results: crustless pizza!

Spooky Spaghetti Carbonara

Spooky Spaghetti Carbonara

A recipe for black spaghetti carbonara with mushrooms that is spooky looking, yet elegant enough for a Halloween themed adult dinner party.

Linguine with Walnut Pesto

Linguine with Walnut Pesto

Walnuts taste even better in pesto than pine nuts. Spinach linguine keeps this easy pasta recipe a lovely shade of green.

The Italian Stallion Hot Dog

The Italian Stallion Hot Dog

This no-recipe recipe is my tribute dog to Sweathog, Vinnie Barbarino. This recipe has become very popular since I first created it for my monthly column on the FoodNetwork.com. The people of the Internet have spoken, and they have said that it’s a cross between a pizza and a hot dog, and that is not untrue.

Spaghetti Squash Supreme Pizza Boats

Spaghetti Squash Supreme Pizza Boats

A healthy recipe for creamy, cheesy, supreme pizza flavored spaghetti squash, for the pizza flavors that you crave in cute single servings. They are fairly low in calories, very filling and taste like pizza. So it’s win-win-win.

Lasagna Grilled Cheese Sandwich

Lasagna Grilled Cheese Sandwich

Get the secret to how to make a perfectly melty grilled cheese sandwich with my recipe for a n oven-baked Parmesan crusted grilled cheese sandwich that tastes like lasagna. 

Chocolate, Coffee, Pistachio Biscotti with Sprinkles

Chocolate, Coffee, Pistachio Biscotti with Sprinkles

Biscotti means “twice baked” in Italian. First you form the crumbly dough into one stiff mass and bake it whole. Then you let it cool, slice it, and bake it again at a lower temperature. That’s what gives biscotti an almost cracker-like quality, which goes especially well with coffee. This triple-chocolate double-baked treat is dipped in a dark chocolate coating with sprinkles on top.

Two-Ingredient Pizza Dough

Two-Ingredient Pizza Dough

This Greek yogurt pizza dough recipe has only two ingredients! With this pizza dough trick, you’ll be a pie-making pro in no time.

Fried Monster Eggs!

Fried Monster Eggs!

These monsterized pesto-fried eggs are green and frightening looking, but delicious and monstrously easy to make.

Sicilian Shrimp with Hot Peppers and Lots of Garlic

Sicilian Shrimp with Hot Peppers and Lots of Garlic

These shrimp go great with a glass of wine and a conversation. It’s a dish to be shared, because if everyone is eating it, you won’t have to worry about reeking of garlic… or you could just eat it all by yourself when no one else is around to the same effect. It’s fun either way.

Homemade Thin and Crispy Pizza

Homemade Thin and Crispy Pizza

It took me forever to figure out how to make a thin crust pizza at home. I practiced stretching the dough for months. First I tried to roll out the dough onto a pizza stone. That did not work. Then I purchased a non-stick 16″pizza tray with holes in it which was perfect, but it still took me awhile to get the process down. There were a lot of misshapen hole filled crusts that I would have to peel off of the pizza tray and  wad up in a ball for another go around. Below is my step-by-step procedure for getting the dough almost paper thin. I also posted an IPhone video below my husband Jason made of me that illustrates the whole procedure.

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cover of The Unofficial Elf Cookbook by Jackie Alpers. Treat every day like Christmas with recipes inspired by the classic film "Elf".
The Unofficial Elf Cookbook by Jackie Alpers
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