Turkey & Broccoli Alfredo Pizza

If you've been following the last few posts, you'll know that the weekend after Thanksgiving, Schmambs made us a post Schmanksgiving turkey which was big enough to probably feed the whole state of Rhode Island.  Okay, that may be a slight exaggeration, but it was big enough that we were eating it every day.  And to be honest, I was actually starting to get a little turkey'd out.  Almost to a point where I would've been happy not to see a turkey until next Thanksgiving.  Gasp!  I know!  But having turkey oozing out of your ears will do that to you.

There is a place across the street from where Schmambs works.  She has gotten lunch from there a few times and she hasn't been able to stop talking about this chicken and broccoli calzone that they make.  One thing that makes it stand out is that they use alfredo sauce.  Well, we had an abundance of turkey which we could substitute for the chicken.  It wouldn't be the first dish where we've swapped the two proteins.  (Remember Schmanksgiving Eggrolls?)  Anyways, we thought we would give making calzones a try.

We picked up pre-made pizza dough from our local grocery.  Schmambs took the dough out of the packaging and allowed it to proof prior to my arrival at La Casa de Schmambs.  

The dough didn't appear much bigger after a while and we thought we would begin preparing the other ingredients and save the dough rolling until last.  Maybe the dough would magically double in size if we were lucky.  First thing to do was boil the broccoli.  Once cooked, it was drained and then chopped into bite size pieces.

Schmambs put me in charge of making the alfredo sauce.  We cheated and used packaged mix where you just add the milk and voilà, you have sauce in a matter of minutes.  In our defense, it was football Sunday which means it's more important to be watching our team play in the living room than making alfredo sauce from scratch in the kitchen.

While I focused on making sure I didn't burn the sauce, Schmambs took care of chopping up the remaining turkey we had leftover from our post Schmanksgiving feast.

We had originally planned on making two calzones with the pizza dough.  After attempting to roll out the dough for the first calzone, it soon became apparent that it was not going to happen.  Good thing there's always a contingency plan.  We made rectangular shaped pizzas instead.  

Aside from using a different type of sauce, it was like making a traditional pizza.  Sauce on the dough, cheese, and then toppings.  Instead of the red sauce, we used alfredo sauce and our toppings consisted of turkey and broccoli.  And because we love cheese, we added an extra layer on top of the toppings.

   

After making our first pizza, I was hit with a brainstorm.  In the corner was a Costco-sized bag of French's fried onions, sitting there since the green bean casserole debacle a few night prior.  To say we had an abundance of fried onions would be an understatement since we misread the recipe and ended up with enough onions for 100 servings of green bean casserole.  Oops.  I really enjoy onions on my pizza, so I thought it might be a good idea to throw them onto our pizza and hope for the best.

After the second pizza came out of the oven and we tried the slices topped with fried onions, it was decided that the next time we attempt this, fried onions all around!  The onion flavor blended really well with the turkey, broccoli, and alfredo sauce and also added a nice crispy texture to each bite.

Turkey & Broccoli Alfredo Pizza

pizza dough of your choice

alfredo sauce

1 Cup broccoli (chopped up)

1 Cup turkey (chopped up)

4 Cups shredded cheese

1/2 Cup fried onions (optional)

Boil broccoli until it is cooked.  Remove and drain excess water.  Chop the broccoli up into bite-size pieces and set aside.  Chop turkey into bite size pieces and set aside.  Preheat oven according to pizza dough cooking instructions.  Roll out pizza dough and top with a thin layer of alfredo sauce.  You don't want to overload the dough.  Sprinkle 3 cups of the pizza cheese on top of the alfredo sauce.  Repeat the same steps with the broccoli, turkey, remaining cheese, and fried onions.  Put the pizza in the oven and cook until the fried onions are browned and the cheese is bubbling.

Let the pizza sit for 5 minutes when you remove it from the onion to allow the toppings to cool and the cheese to set.  Cut into slices and enjoy!

Chicken with Provencal Sauce

I lived in New Jersey for six years.  While I was living there, when I wasn't ordering take-out, I was attempting to improve my cooking skills to make me more desirable to a future mate.  I even joined an online recipe swap and thru that, a dinner group.  While the dinner group didn't exactly work out (the other ladies in the group were on a far more advanced level than I), I continued to try and master dishes in the privacy of my own home.  My then-boyfriend happily played the part of guinea pig as a home-cooked meal was very rare in our house.  There was one recipe that I continually tried to perfect.  I'm not sure if it was because I knew I could cook it successfully, even if it didn't turn out exactly the way the recipe described it, or because Herbes de Provence ain't cheap and I was determined to finish the bottle, but when I made chicken, this is what I made.

Fast forward a few years.  I've watched a lot more Food Network cooking shows.  I know more things now.  I also have my own personal chef, Schmambs, who has also taught me a thing or two.  The other day, while in the grocery store, Schmambs asks me what she should make for dinner that week.  I suggested tacos.  She vetoed.  I suggested key lime pie.  She told me that wasn't a dinner food.  I got distracted and started talking about carrots.  Distraction is a good thing.  Next thing I knew, I blurted out that I would cook something.  "You??  What are you going to cook??", Schmambs scoffed.  "Chicken with Provencal sauce!"  After a bit more teasing, it was decided that I would give Schmambs a break from dinner and I would cook for us.  Pretty much one of the only things I know how to cook.  And not even that well.  This was our adventure.

The first step would be to trim the chicken breasts to make sure you get rid of the extra flab & fat.  Since these were regular sized breasts, the recipe required the meat be pounded to a ½ inch thickness.  I used to bypass that step by buying the thin sliced chicken breasts.  Having experienced the meat mallet and the awesomeness of being able to whack meat with no boundaries, I don't think I'll ever bypass this step again.

After your chicken breasts have been smooshed enough, season them evenly with salt and pepper.  As you can see, some of the chicken breasts ended up much bigger than others.  Looks like that's a skill I still have to work on perfecting.  

Once the chicken breasts are seasoned, toss them in a non-stick skillet with some olive oil.  Our skillet could only fit three pieces at a time.  And because I was unsuccessful at getting them thin enough, we had to throw the cover over the skillet to ensure that each breast would be cooked thoroughly and safe for consumption.  After we finished cooking the chicken, we threw them in the oven to keep them warm while we made the sauce.

Now, the sauce has always given me problems.  No matter how many times I followed the recipe, the sauce always came out very runny and very broth-like.  As mentioned before, I have watched a lot more Food Network shows since I lived in New Jersey.  And I now know what a roux is and how it can help with whatever dish you might be making.  Schmambs and I have used it for Baked Mac & Cheese in the past.  As an idea on how to make the sauce thicker, we decided to try a roux and make the sauce a little differently than I had previously.  

The recipe says to cook a clove of minced garlic in the skillet before adding the chicken broth and Herbes de Provence.  We cheated and used pre-minced garlic from a jar.  After the garlic cooked for a minute, we added the butter (typically added into the sauce as the last step), and flour to make a garlic roux.  While we didn't really know the ratios, Schmambs just kept sprinkling flour into the skillet until it became a paste-like consistency. When the roux was finished, we added chicken boullion cubes and 2 cups of water and the Herbes de Provence.  We doubled the sauce measurements because I always felt like there wasn't enough when I made it.  We wanted to make sure everyone had enough.  Better to be over than under, I always say!

The sauce turned out to be a huge success.  After bringing the sauce to a boil and making sure the roux was mixed in completely, the sauce seemed to thicken as we continued to let it cook.  It had the consistency of an alfredo sauce and twice the flavor.  I would highly recommend trying the thicker version as it makes it feel like you are enjoying an accompanying sauce rather than having chicken rice soup on a plate.  We decided to pair the chicken on top of rice with a side of boiled spinach.  Makes for a very delicious meal!

Chicken with Provencal Sauce

adapted from the recipe by Lyn Corsale

* 4  - 6 oz skinless, boneless chicken breast halves

* ¼ tsp salt

* ¼ tsp freshly ground black pepper

* 1 ½ tbsp olive oil

* 1 garlic clove minced

* 1 cup fat free, low sodium chicken broth

* 1 ½ tsp dried herbes de Provence

* 1 tsp butter

* 1 tsp fresh lemon juice

* 2 tsp flour

* fresh thyme sprigs (optional)

Place each chicken breast half between 2 sheets of heavy duty plastic wrap, pound to ½ inch thickness using a meat mallet.  Sprinkle with salt and pepper.  Heat oil in a large nonstick skillet over medium heat.  Add chicken, cook 6 minutes on each side or until done.  Remove chicken from pan; keep warm.  You can place heat your oven to 200 degrees, if desired.  Add garlic to pan; cook 1 minute stirring constantly.  Scrape pan to loosen browned bits.  Add butter to skillet and wait until butter has melted.  Sprinkle in flour until mixture is a paste consistency.  Add broth and herbes de Provence and bring to a boil.  Cook until broth mixture begins to thicken (about 3-5 minutes).  Remove from heat and add lemon juice.  Serve sauce over chicken.  Garnish with thyme sprigs in desired.