Hummus Pizza Torte

Extended Shelf Life for: Hummus, Tomato, Jalapeno, Onion

If you continue reading, you're going to discover, that this is one of my infamous posts where I give you nothing exact - just ideas and general guesstimates on how this can be created in your home. And, I'm okay with that. Because what I really want you to know is that Pizza Torte's are amazing! And you should, without a doubt, get a spring-form pan so you can make a pizza torte, because, like I said, they are amazing!

Ingredients/Directions (more of less):

Buy or prepare a batch of pizza dough. Personally, I love using my bread maker for this task because I know that it will have risen within a certain time, no matter what, since the bread machine can control temperature and humidity whereas my Laramie kitchen isn't always so predictable.

Split the dough ball into three equal parts.

Prepare your filling, you can do something traditional, or if you have some random bits and pieces of things to use up, like a tub of hummus, try out something like this:

•  Saute 1 diced Onion, 2 minced Garlic Cloves and 1 diced Jalapeno in a bit of Olive Oil. When they are tender, throw in one diced Tomato for an additional one or two minutes. 
• Add 1 tub of Hummus (that's about to expire or otherwise ~ we used a sun-dried tomato hummus, that honestly wasn't that delicious to my taste-buds, too strong, but still a good concept, trust me!)
• Thin out with additional olive oil or water, use as your filling/sauce.

Place the first round  of pizza dough into your spring form pan, spread in half of the filling, top with cheese, repeat, finish the torte off with the final pizza dough round on top, seal up the edges, bake at 350 (probably- I'm currently in Sturgis, not with the cookbook where I got the recipe for this torte) and bake 15-20 minutes (or more) until crust is golden. Let torte sit for about 5 minutes before removing from the pan and cutting into appropriately sized serving pieces. Enjoy!

Masala Black Eyed Peas and a Re-Make

Recently, I was asked what my favorite thing to cook is...the answer, nothing really. What I LOVE to do however is take some insignificant amount of leftovers and create an entirely new meal the next night...so from a hearty dish of Black Eyed Pea Masala on rice to Open Face Hummus and Masala Sandwiches, this post is a feature of what I love most about working in a kitchen!

Masala Black Eyed Peas:

Saute one Onion in a touch of olive oil, add 2 tsp. Cumin Seed (or powder if that's all you have). Once onions are translucent add 1 Tbsp. Ginger and 1 Tbsp. Garlic and saute for about 30 seconds. Add 2 cups of prepared Black Eyed Peas and Cayenne Pepper to taste, additionally add 1 tsp. Turmeric, 2 cans of diced Tomatoes, 2 tsp. Garam Masala, 1 tsp. Sugar, 1 Tsp. Salt and a bit of water (1/2 cup perhaps) and simmer until everything is tender, mixed and delectable. Serve over rice prior to a game of Pandemic or any other such thing.

Re-Make - Open Face Hummus Masala Sandwich:

Using leftover Masala and prepared Hummus simply slather a piece of bread with hummus, top with masala, carmelized or stir-fried onions, thinly sliced zucchini, cheese and bake until warm and cheese has melted. Add an egg on top for added protein - viola! You've just made that one cup of leftover masala stretch one more night for three or four mouths!