There’s something so wonderfully addictive about Nutella. I’m not sure what it is, really, maybe the aroma of the hazelnuts mixed with the soft texture of the chocolate, and the knowledge that you can spread it on your favorite foods and call it breakfast the way the Europeans do. Clearly, the Europeans are very intelligent when it comes to breakfast.

When I saw this recipe for homemade Nutella from Elana’s Pantry, I loved the simplicity of the ingredients that she used. It also, quite honestly, looked good for you!

She uses agave instead of refined sugar, simple unsweetened cocoa powder and protein rich nuts. So I thought I would give it a whirl. Literally.

You begin by laying the hazelnuts out on a sheet tray or roasting pan and roasting them in the oven for 8-10 minutes. The idea is that you want to accentuate their nuttiness but not make them so dark that they become bitter.

When they are ready they will be slightly darker and their skins will crack.

This is good because you now will need to rub the skins off with a paper towel. This isn’t the easiest thing to do, but just do your best. Some skins just want to stay on. If most of the skins are off, that works, since you’re just trying to take away any extra bitterness that the skins add.

Then transfer the nuts to a food processor …

And blend away. You are going to begin to make a nut butter and as it blends it will start to become creamy.

This is what it looks like when it is halfway there.

You’ll want to scrape down the sides several times along the way so that it blends well.

It will look something like this when it is ready. You can see the oil from the nuts have begun to release.

Now you add the cocoa …

The vanilla …

The salt …

The agave …

And the hazelnut oil. Hazelnut oil is a bit tricky to find in some places. I found this at a health food store, but you would be fine without it if it’s not something you have available.

After another good blend you’ll have a nice chocolaty mixture. It will be a bit denser than the store-bought Nutella, but still chocolaty, nutty and delicious.

You can serve it with so many things, for breakfast, dessert, or an afternoon snack. It’s so versatile. And this version is pretty guilt-free, too.

Thank you to Elana for the tasty and healthy recipe! Check out her wonderful blog Elana’s Pantry—she has a new book out as well featuring delectable cupcakes!

Printable Recipe

Homemade Nutella

by elanaspantry on February 5, 2010 in Gluten-Free, Homemade Ingredients, Special Dietary Needs February 5, 2010 Gluten-FreeHomemade IngredientsSpecial Dietary Needs

See post on elanaspantry’s site!

4.83 Mitt(s) 6 Rating(s)

Prep Time: 10 mins

Cook Time: 8 mins

Difficulty: Intermediate

Servings: 6

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I haven’t had Nutella since I was a student traveling in Europe decades ago with a EuroRail pass, sleeping in youth hostels. Back then, we used to eat the chocolate stuff for breakfast. These days, I find the real thing a little too sweet for my taste. So I was happy to see Amy’s Scattergood’s Homemade Nutella recipe in the Los Angeles Times—what a great idea! And the perfect starting point for a version of my own.

Ingredients

• 1 cup Hazelnuts
• ¼ cups Cocoa Powder
• 5 Tablespoons Agave Nectar
• 1 Tablespoon Vanilla Extract
• 1 Tablespoon Hazelnut Oil
• 1 pinch Celtic Sea Salt

Preparation Instructions

Roast the hazelnuts at 350° for 8-10 minutes until they darken a bit and smell fragrant.
Transfer the hazelnuts to a towel and rub off the skins if you can (I didn’t have a lot of luck with this).
In a food processor, grind the hazelnuts to a smooth butter, about 5 minutes, scraping the sides as needed.
Add the cocoa, agave, vanilla, oil and salt and process until well blended, about a minute.
Store in a glass mason jar in the refrigerator.
Bring to room temperature prior to serving.

 
 
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There’s so much to say about Georgia, we don’t know where to start. Leaving Wall Street for the French Culinary Institute, followed by a stint at the Gramercy Tavern and La Chassagnette in France, her passion for food and food traditions are evident and inspiring. Visit her site at Georgia Pellegrini, where you’ll find more recipes, photos, learn all about her wonderful book Food Heroes, and enjoy her latest adventures.

Feet have growing pains, you know. It’s true because our 5-year-said so. I asked him to put away his toys and his response was, “I cannot walk as I have too many growing pains in my feet.”

I get those around my waist. Odd.

Well, no need to expand your waist or feel any guilt with this grilled cheese recipe. After all, it’s made with some extra nutrients.

Start with fresh ciabatta or your favorite bread. Cut two slices (per sandwich) about 1/2 inch thick.

Grab your favorite prepared pesto or make your own.

Let the schmearing begin.

Did you schmear the pesto all over both pieces of bread? Please do so.

Grab your favorite type of olives and prepare to chop them up.

Chop up to your preferred size and scatter over the pesto on one of the slices of bread.

Now slice up that gor-gee-ous tomato into two or three slices, depending on the width of the bread, and layer over the olives.

Slice up your favorite cheese. Instead of staring at it on a super pretty plate, go ahead and stack them on top of the olives.

Still staring, eh? Please place them on the sandwich. (I know. It’s a pretty vision.)

That’s better. Top with the slices of tomato, then go ahead and heat up your panini press or indoor grill.

Spray both sides of the sandwich with olive oil or butter-flavored nonstick spray. Place that sweet sandwich on the press/grill and listen to the music-like sizzle. Allow to toast up until the sandwich is nice and brown.

Place the sandwich on the plate, cut in half and prepare to dig in.

Dang it, the little hands beat me to it.

Printable Recipe

Pesto, Olives & Tomato Grilled Cheese

by Jennifer (Savor the Thyme) on May 25, 2011 in Main Courses, Sandwiches May 25, 2011 Main CoursesSandwiches

See post on Jennifer (Savor the Thyme)’s site!

4.60 Mitt(s) 5 Rating(s)

Prep Time: 8 mins

Cook Time: 8 mins

Difficulty: Easy

Servings: 1

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This is a less-guilt comfort food because you gain nutrients from the tomatoes and olives (but don’t tell anyone). Hal-le-lu-jah!

Ingredients

• 2 slices Ciabatta/Bread
• 1 Tablespoon Pesto
• 1 Tablespoon Olives, Chopped
• 2 slices Tomato
• 5 slices Fontina Cheese

Preparation Instructions

Plug in/turn on your indoor grill or panini press.

Slice the ciabatta (or your favorite bread) into approximately 1/2-inch slices. Spread the pesto (make your own or use your favorite prepared pesto) all over one slice of the bread.

Chop up the olives (or buy them already chopped) and scatter them over the pesto. Lay the tomatoes on top of the olives and finish up the sandwich by placing the cheese over the tomatoes and top with the remaining slices of bread.

Spritz one side of the sandwich with olive oil spray, flip carefully and repeat. Place the sandwich on the grill/press and let the magic happen. Allow to cook until the bread gets all crispy and brown and the cheese is gooey. Flip and repeat if not using a panini press.

 
 
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Jennifer Leal is a mom of two children ages 5 and 7. She lives in Rhode Island with her family and is the creator of the blog Savor the Thyme, which focuses on celebrating healthier food and family togetherness, all peppered with personality.

Grilling pizza has been on my bucket list, right smack in between eating baklava on a beach in Greece and owning more shoes than Imelda Marcos. It’s been intimidating, perhaps because I’m often afraid of lighting up the grill on my own and sending my immediate surroundings into flames. But then I spied this Grilled Breakfast Pizza from A Cozy Kitchen and my mouth started to water. It seemed easy … and delicious … and not scary … and cheesy … and delicious. Cheese was bought. Bacon was fried. Dough was made. Scallions were sliced. It’s quite possible I may never be able to eat pizza again without the signature char marks of a great grilling experience. Fabulous doesn’t even begin to describe it.

To begin, I made a batch of whole wheat pizza dough from Sunshine Mom. You can use any pizza dough —make your own or buy it at the store, just make sure you love it.

Along with your pizza dough, you need mozzarella cheese, parmesan cheese, fried bacon, eggs, scallions, fresh parsley, chives, olive, kosher salt and black pepper. The perfect breakfast ingredients, right?

To make it easy on yourself, begin by slicing you greenery and bacon. Set it aside. Make sure to fry an extra piece of bacon because you will easily eat too much. Or maybe that’s just me?

Also grate your cheese. I recommend buying the cheese in the brick and grating it yourself. It is so much better. And you get an arm workout. Makes up for the extra slice of bacon.

Lay your pizza dough on a floured surface and grab your rolling pin. If you don’t have a pin, a great bottle of wine works too.

Roll it out to 1/4-inch thickness. This is important! If it is too thick, it won’t cook properly.

Drizzle it with olive oil …

And brush it all around.

Preheat your grill to the highest setting.

Lay your pizza dough on a large round pizza sheet (I found this easier than a plate) and carry your ingredients to the grill.

Using a pair of kitchen tongs, place your dough directly over the heat. I found using a large spatula in conjunction with the tongs helped.

Grill the dough for about 30 seconds, just until char marks appear.

Then flip it over and place it on a side of the grill without direct heat.

Crack your eggs into a bowl to make sure no shells get mixed in and gently drop each egg onto the dough. Before doing this, make sure that your grill is on a level surface! I may have had 4 eggs take a ride on the slip and slide pizza dough and drop inside the grill. Oops.

After cracking the eggs, close the lid and cook for 5-6 minutes, or just until the eggs are almost set.

Once set, cover the pizza with cheese.

Then add your bacon and close the lid for another 2-3 minutes.

By this point the crust should be crispy and the pizza is done. Gently lift it again with a pair of kitchen tongs and a spatula and place it back on the pizza sheet. Top it with your greenery: chives, scallions and parsley!

Cut yourself a big ole’ slice. I love a little runny egg, but if that’s not your thing, just let the pizza cook a big longer right after you crack the eggs.

Breakfast is served!

This was a fabulous way to spice up our weekend breakfast. It was a nice change of pace and kept us full for hours. You can experiment with your own toppings and different cheeses. And who says this is only for breakfast? I think it makes for a fantastic dinner, too. Thanks so much Adrianna and Caroline for the recipe—it was definitely a winner. Be sure to check out the girls’ blog A Cozy Kitchen for more delicious recipes. My favorites are their fabulous cocktails. I wonder if I could pass one of those off for breakfast?

Printable Recipe

Grilled Breakfast Pizza

by A Cozy Kitchen on July 29, 2010 in Main Courses, Pizza July 29, 2010 Main CoursesPizza

See post on A Cozy Kitchen’s site!

5.00 Mitt(s) 4 Rating(s)

Prep Time: 15 mins

Cook Time: 10 mins

Difficulty: Intermediate

Servings: 2

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Grill some pizza dough, crack three eggs on top, add some bacon and cheese and voila! Grilled Breakfast Pizza. (Check the related blog post for step-by-step pictures.)

Ingredients

• 12 ounces, weight Prepared Pizza Dough
• Olive Oil, For Drizzling On Pizza Dough
• 3 whole Eggs
• 3 strips Cooked Bacon, Cut Up In Pieces
• 1 cup Grated Mozzarella
• ¼ cups Grated Parmesan
• 1 pinch Kosher Salt
• 1 pinch Freshly Cracked Pepper
• 1 Tablespoon Minced Flat-leaf Parsley
• 1 Tablespoon Minced Chives
• 1 whole Scallion, Trimmed And Thinly Sliced

Preparation Instructions

Adapted from The Big Sur Bakery Cookbook.

Generously dust the surface of your kitchen counter with flour and roll pizza dough to a 1/4-inch thickness. Drizzle both sides of dough with olive oil and set aside on a plate. Gather all the toppings and dough and move outside next to the grill.

Once your grill is nice and hot, place the pizza dough on the hottest part of the grill, making sure to check it every 30 seconds or so to ensure proper cooking. Once grill marks appear, flip it and move the dough to a place on the grill that does not have direct heat. Crack the three eggs onto the dough and cover for 2-3 minutes. Once the eggs are just about set, sprinkle the cheeses, bacon and salt and pepper. Cover for an additional 1-2 minutes, or until cheese is melted. Move promptly to a plate and sprinkle with parsley, chives and scallions.

Note: If you’re not in the mood to spark up the grill, then here’s the way to cook it in the oven. My advice is to get yourself a “pizza stone” from Lowes or Home Depot. Simply pre-heat your oven to 450F, roll out the dough, crack the eggs on top, sprinkle with mozzarella and parmesan cheese, then add the pieces of bacon and salt and pepper. Cook in the oven for 8 to 12 minutes, checking on it after 5 minutes and rotating it if necessary. When the crust is golden, the cheese is melted and the eggs yolks are cooked to medium, remove from the oven.

 
 
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Jessica Merchant is a personal trainer turned food writer and blogger. Her blog, How Sweet Eats, is where she proclaims her love for all things sweet, all things bacon, and everything else in between. She works her magic in her Pittsburgh kitchen, which she shares with her husband of 2 years.

 
During my restaurant days, I used to make marshmallows from time to time. It was a rather complicated affair, with complicated ingredients like “inverted sugar.” I was delighted to see several recipes for marshmallows here on Tasty Kitchen that were much simpler. This one is by TK member Calamity Anne, and is originally for plain homemade marshmallows. I decided to add my own twist to it just like the olden days and make them flavored. Can you guess which flavor?

The ingredients that you need are sugar, light corn syrup, salt, vanilla, a mixture of cornstarch and powdered sugar, gelatin mixed with … water or your flavoring liquid—in this case, carrot juice!

You can really use any sized dish with sides. It just serves as a mold out of which you will cut your marshmallows. You’ll need to coat the dish with a bit of oil.

Then add a few tablespoons of the powdered sugar and cornstarch mixture.

Shake the mixture around the pan until it is well coated. You can leave the excess mixture in the bottom of the dish.

Next, let the gelatin and carrot juice mixture dissolve in a saucepan.

To that, add your granulated sugar.

Give it a stir and let it dissolve completely, then turn off the heat.

Pour the mixture into a mixing bowl that will fit to an electric mixer with a whisk attachment. You’ll need to scrape the liquid out of the saucepan since it’s very sticky.

To the bowl, add the corn syrup.

And the salt.

And the vanilla.

Whisk away for a while, and watch the mixture completely transform itself!

In about 15 minutes, it will be light and fluffy like, well, marshmallow fluff.

With a spatula, coax it out of the bowl. This is a sticky situation as well.

Spoon it into your coated baking dish…

And smooth it out with a spatula.

Now let it sit for about 2 hours so that it sets.

Once it is set, wet a knife and loosen the outsides of the marshmallow from the sides of dish.

Then you can cut them into any shape you please, wetting your knife every so often to make smooth cuts.

I went for the square look, but you could even use a cookie cutter if you’re feeling adventurous.

Toss each cube into the rest of your cornstarch and sugar mixture.

Pull them out one by one and give them a shake to remove any excess powder.

Set them on a wire rack, set over paper towels. This will help the outer skin dry out.

Then cover the whole affair with a paper towel and let them sit for up to 24 hours. If you’re feeling impatient you could skip this part, but it will help them store well and prevent them from sticking together.

Give these a try sometime! They’re a fun treat for a party or holiday. And think about the flavoring possibilities—they are endless! I’ve also tried lime juice and grapefruit juice, among others. Thanks to Calamity Anne for this great recipe! (Also check out this other marshmallow recipe from katydid.)

Visit Calamity Anne’s blog for her own step-by-step instructions and photos for these homemade marshmallows.

 
 
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There’s so much to say about Georgia, we don’t know where to start. Leaving Wall Street for the French Culinary Institute, followed by a stint at the Gramercy Tavern and La Chassagnette in France, her passion for food and food traditions are evident and inspiring. Visit her site at Georgia Pellegrini, where you’ll find more recipes, photos, learn all about her wonderful book Food Heroes, and enjoy her latest adventures.

Our garden has asparagus popping up all over the place this year. We didn’t plant them; in fact, they were planted by my grandmother in the 1970s and they are still showing up all these years later. For that reason, I will always love asparagus and am always looking for new ways to cook them. […]