grilled vegetable antipasto- aka "the pile"

Recipe inspired by all of my sister's effortless antipasto creations, Cooking Light's "Fire-Seared Antipasto Platter" and Ina Garten's "Roasted Tomato Caprese Salad." I think I've rolled all the best ideas into one recipe- enjoy!

Ingredients

2 tsp. sugar 
1/8 cups plus 2 teaspoons olive oil
4 tbsp. balsamic vinegar
6 garlic cloves, minced
3 tbsp. fresh lemon juice
salt and pepper

6 plum tomatoes, halved and seeded
2 red bell peppers, quartered and seeded
2 yellow bell peppers, quartered and seeded
2 zucchini, cut into 1/2-inch-thick discs
1 red onion, cut into 1/2-inch-thick slices
1 eggplant, cut into 1/2-inch-thick discs

3 ounces prosciutto, thinly sliced
3 ounces capocollo, thinly sliced
1 fresh mozzarella ball, thinly sliced
3 ounces provolone, thinly sliced
fresh basil
mixed olives

Consider also including marinated artichoke hearts and grilled portobello mushroom caps to the platter.  

Instructions 

1. Get the tomatoes going!
Preheat the oven to 275. Whisk together 1/8 cup olive oil, 1 tbsp. balsamic vinegar, 2 garlic cloves minced, 2 tsp. sugar, 1/2 tsp. salt, and 1/4 tsp. pepper. Arrange the plum tomatoes on a sheet pan. Drizzle dressing over the tomatoes. Roast for 2 hours. Then cool to room temperature.

2. Get the other veggies going!
Preheat the grill to high heat. Whisk together 2 tsp. olive oil, 3 tbsp. balsamic vinegar, 3 tbsp. lemon juice, 4 garlic cloves minced, and 1/4 tsp. salt. Toss veggies in dressing. Grill veggies until desired charring is achieved. Then cool to room temperature. 

3. Arrange on a platter.

artichoke and arugula pizza with prosciutto

Ingredients

1 tablespoon cornmeal
pizza dough
2 tablespoon pesto
1/2 cup (2 ounces) shredded mozzarella cheese
1 (9-ounce) package frozen artichoke hearts, thawed and drained or 1 small can
2 ounces thinly sliced prosciutto
2 tablespoons shredded Parmesan cheese
1 1/2 cups arugula leaves
1 1/2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice

Directions

1. Position oven rack to lowest setting. Preheat oven to 500° F.
2. Sprinkle pizza stone with cornmeal. Roll out dough on a lightly floured surface and place on pizza stone. Spread the pesto evenly over dough, leaving a 1/2-inch border. Sprinkle mozzarella cheese over pesto. Place pizza stone on the bottom oven rack; bake at 500° for 5 minutes. Remove pizza from oven.
3. Coarsely chop artichokes. Arrange artichokes on pizza; top with sliced prosciutto. Sprinkle with Parmesan. Return pizza to the bottom oven rack; bake an additional 6 minutes or until crust is browned.
4. Place arugula in a bowl. Drizzle juice over arugula; toss gently. Top the pizza with arugula mixture. 

*Adapted from Cooking Light

chicken sausage, roasted red pepper, and artichoke pizza

Ingredients

1 pre-baked pizza crust
1 lb. chicken sausage (I like roasted red pepper, artichoke chicken sausage)
1/2 cup roasted red peppers, thinly sliced
1/2 cup canned artichokes, drained and halved
1/4 cup pesto, homemade is best
fresh mozzarella, sliced

Instructions

1. Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F.
2. In a nonstick skillet, cook the sausage. Do not brown, you will overcook the chicken sausage.
3. Spread pesto evenly on the crust.
4. Add sliced mozzarella, then roasted red peppers, and finally the artichokes.
5. Cook for about 10-15 minutes, until the cheese is melted and the tips of the artichokes are slightly browned.

pesto portobello pizza

Ingredients

1 tsp. pine nuts, toasted
1 tbsp. olive oil
3 portobello mushroom caps, sliced
1/2 cup pesto, homemade is best
1 tomato, sliced or chopped
1-2 cups shredded mozzarella cheese
pre-made pizza crust
handful of fresh basil leaves

Instructions

1. In a nonstick frying pan, toast your pine nuts then remove from pan.
2. Add olive oil to hot pan and saute the mushrooms until softened.
2. Begin to build your pizza: Spread a thin layer of pesto on crust. Sprinkle 1 cup of shredded cheese. Then layer mushrooms. Then layer tomatoes. Then top with a final cup of cheese. Sprinkle on pine nuts.
3. Cook until crust is golden brown and the cheese has melted in a 400 degree F oven, about 10 minutes.
4. When finished cooking, remove from oven and sprinkle with fresh basil leaves.

tomato, broccoli, spinach and feta cheese pizza

Ingredients

1 large tomato, thinly sliced OR 1 container of cherry tomatoes, halved
1 box of frozen broccoli, defrosted and drained well
1 box of frozen whole leaf spinach, defrosted and drained well
1 cup feta cheese
1/2 cup shredded mozzarella cheese
1/2 cup pizza sauce (I recommend Rao's Pizza Sauce)
1 prepared pizza crust

Instructions:
1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees F.
2. Thaw spinach and broccoli, squeeze out any excess water.
3. If you are making you own dough, I recommend pre-cooking the dough until it is light brown so that the crust doesn't get mushy when you add the toppings.
4. Spread pizza sauce on crust. Then sprinkle with mozzarella cheese. Then add broccoli, spinach, and tomatoes. Then sprinkle 1 cup of feta cheese on top of it all.
5. Cook until cheese melts and the crust is golden brown, takes about 15 minutes.

sausage, pepper, and mushroom pizza

Ingredients

2 sweet Italian sausage links
1 cup thinly sliced onion
1/2 cup thinly sliced red bell pepper
8 oz. mushrooms (can use shiitake, cremini, portobello or a mixture of those)
3-5 garlic cloves, minced
1 prepared pizza crust
1/2 cup pizza sauce (I recommend Rao's)
3/4 cup shredded mozzarella cheese
2 tbsp. thinly sliced fresh basil

Instructions

1. Preheat oven to 450 degrees F.
2. Remove casings from sausages. Cook sausage in a large nonstick skillet over medium heat until browned, stirring to crumble (I like to use a potato masher to crumble the sausage). Add onion, pepper, and mushrooms to pan; saute 8 minutes or until tender. Stir in garlic; saute 1 minute. Place pizza crust on a pizza stone. Spread pizza sauce evenly over crust, leaving a 1/8-inch border. Top evenly with mushroom mixture. Sprinkle evenly with cheese.
3. Bake for 8 minutes.
4. Remove from oven; sprinkle with basil.

*adapted from Cooking Light

vegetable lasagna

Ingredients

1 large eggplant
3/4 tsp. salt
2 tsp. olive oil
1 medium onion
3 garlic cloves, chopped
3/4 tsp. fresh ground pepper
1/2 tsp. fresh oregano, chopped
1/8 tsp. red pepper flakes
1 (28 oz) can of crushed tomatoes
1 cup fresh basil, chopped
1 cup (8 oz) part-skim ricotta cheese
cooking spray
1 (8 oz) package of precooked lasagna noodles
1 medium zucchini (1/4 inch slices)
1 medium summer squash (1/4 inch slices)
2 1/2 cups shredded part skim mozzarella cheese

Instructions

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.
2. Arrange eggplant slices in a single layer on several layers of paper towels. Sprinkle evenly with 1/2 tsp. salt; let stand for 15 minutes.
3. Heat oil in large skillet over medium heat. Add onion and garlic to pan; saute for 2 minutes, stirring frequently. Add remaining 1/4 tsp. salt, 1/4 tsp. black pepper, oregano, red pepper flakes, and tomatoes; bring to a boil. Reduce heat and simmer for 10 minutes, stirring occasionally.
4. Combine basil, ricotta, and remaining 1/2 tsp. black pepper in a small bowl.
5. Spread 1/2 cup tomato mixture into the bottom of a 13 x 9- inch baking dish coated with cooking spray. Arrange 4 noodles over tomato mixture. Top with half of eggplant, zucchini and summer squash. Then spread half of ricotta mixture on veggies (do a plop then press method). Then start again with another layer of noodles. Then 1/2 of the remaining sauce. Then the rest of the veggies. Then the rest of ricotta mixture. Then finish with a final layer of noodles and sauce. Top it all with shredded mozzarella.
6. Cover with foil coated with cooking spray. Bake for 35 minutes. Uncover and bake an additional 25 minutes or until browned.
7. Cool for 5 minutes then enjoy!

*Adapted from Ellie Krieger