Makes 20 Mini Pita Pizzas

These Pita Pizza Bites are simple yet delicious and will round out your Superbowl menu perfectly.  These bite size pizzas have prosciutto, fresh mozzarella and a homemade tomato sauce.  Enjoy!

Ingredients

• 20 mini pitas
• about 4 large fresh mozzarella balls, sliced into 5 slices
• 1/2 cup Parmesan, shredded
• 10 slices of prosciutto
• 5 large basil leaves roughly chopped
• 1 1/2 cups pizza sauce (see below for recipe)

Directions

1. Place the pitas on a baking sheet.
2. Dollop 1/2 of a Tablespoon of sauce on each pita.
3. Top each pita with a slice of mozzarella and 1 teaspoon of Parmesan cheese.
4. Broil in your oven on high for 2-4 minutes, watching to make sure they don’t burn.
5. Top each pita with 1/2 a slice of prosciutto and sprinkle with basil.
6. Serve.

Pizza Sauce Ingredients

• 1, 14.5 oz can diced tomatoes
• 2 Tablespoons ketchup
• 1/8 teaspoon granulated garlic
• pinch of salt

Pizza Sauce Directions

1. Stir all of the ingredients together in a medium sauté pan.
2. Bring to a simmer over medium heat and smash tomatoes with the back of a spoon.  Allow to simmer and reduce for 5 minutes, stirring occasionally.
3. Remove from the heat and set aside.

Makes 16 Large or 32 Small Potato Skins

Get ready for Kickoff with two varieties of my delicious potato skins, Chilli and Cheese and Bacon and Blue Cheese, two fun twists on the classic appetizer.

Ingredients

• 8 large or 16 small russet potatoes, washed
• 7 slices of bacon
• 2 Tablespoons brown sugar
• pinch cayenne pepper
• 2 cups mascarpone
• 1 cup blue cheese, crumbled
• 2 cups chili, canned
• 2 cups Cheddar cheese, shredded
• 1/3 cup Sour cream
• 1/4 cup Chives

Directions

1. Pre heat your oven to 375°.
2. Pierce potatoes with a fork and bake on a baking sheet for 1-1 1/2 hours or until easily pierced with a fork.
3. Remove from the oven and set- aside until cool enough to handle.
4. Lay bacon strips on a baking sheet lined with Sil Pat or parchment paper.
5. Mix together brown sugar and cayenne.
6. Sprinkle brown sugar over bacon.
7. Bake for 12-16 minutes or until crispy. Remove from the oven and set-aside.
8. Once the potatoes have cooled, slice each one in half length-wise.
9. With a spoon scoop out most of the inside, leaving a 1/4inch rim left with the skin, reserve the scooped out potato for later mashed potatoes.
10. Remove from the oven and fill each one with 1 Tablespoon mascarpone (1 1/2 tablespoons for large potatoes).
11. Top half of them evenly with blue cheese and cut up the bacon and crumble the cooked bacon over the blue cheese.
12. Evenly fill the remaining potatoes with the chili and top with cheddar cheese.
13. Place filled potatoes back in the 375° oven and allow the cheese to melt, about 5-7 minutes.
14. Remove from the oven top both with scallions  and the chili ones with sour cream.

Makes 22 Sliders

Sliders are the perfect appetizer for the Big Game, no matter what side your friends are rooting for, these sliders will be a winner!

Ingredients

• 1 pound ground beef
• 12 oz or 1 cup ground sausage
• 1/4 cup yellow onion, finely grated
• 1/2 teaspoon Worcestershire
• 1/4 teaspoon granulated garlic
• 1 teaspoon red wine vinegar, I use Mr. Vinegar’s vinegar
• salt
• 2 Tablespoon olive oil
• 2 cups yellow onion, sliced 1/4inch thik
• cheddar or swiss cheese, sliced,1 inch squares
• 1/3 cup mayonnaise
• 1 Tablespoon ketchup
• 2 teaspoons sweet relish
• 1/8 teaspoon sugar
• 1 teaspoon of red wine vinegar (I prefer Mr. Vinegar’s Red Wine vinegar)
• 22 Hawaiian sweet rolls

Directions

1. Pre-heat your oven to 375°.
2. In a mixing bowl mix together beef, sausage, onion, Worcestershire, garlic vinegar and pinch of salt.
3. Scoop into 18-22 large golf ball size balls and pat down into patties.  Keep wrapped in plastic in the fridge until ready to cook.
4. In a medium sauté pan over medium/high heat add olive oil and onions. Allow to caramelize for about 10 minutes, stirring occasionally.
5. In a medium mixing bowl mix together mayonnaise, ketchup, relish, sugar, vinegar and a pinch of salt.  Keep in the fridge until ready to use.
6. When ready, heat a large heavy bottomed skillet over high heat.  Salt and pepper both sides of each burger and when the skillet is  hot spray with cooking spray and a add the burgers.  (Don’t over crowd, work in batches if needed).
7. Cook about 2-3 minutes on each side to get a nice crust and place on a baking sheet and top with cheese.
8. Once all of the sliders have been seared, place them in the oven for about 5-10 minutes or until the internal temperature reaches 160°.
9. Slice each roll in half and spread the top and bottom with the mayo sauce.
10. Place a patty on each roll and top with caramelized onions.

In this healthy version of the classic appetizer, we are using frozen spinach and frozen artichokes.  Unless you harvest the spinach right out of your garden, frozen is a good way to go because spinach rapidly looses nutrients after it has been harvested.  Frozen spinach is harvested and frozen right away, locking in the nutrients.  Artichokes are best fresh, but very labor intensive, frozen is the next best thing.

Quick Tip: Assemble, but don’t bake.  Keep in the fridge for a day and bake according to the recipe or wrap with plastic and foil and freeze for a few months.  Bake from frozen in a 400° oven for about 1 hour covered, uncover and bake until bubbling.

Serves: about 6-10

Ingredients

• 1/2 cup light mayo
• 1,  8 oz package 1/3 less fat cream cheese
• 1/2 cup mascarpone cheese
• 3/4 + 1/3  cup parmesan cheese
• 1/2 cup plain yogurt
• 1 teaspoon garlic, minced
• 1/4 teaspoon Tabasco
• pinch of salt and pepper
• 1 3/4 cup artichoke hearts, frozen and thawed, sliced in half
• 1/2 cup frozen spinach, thawed and water squeezed out
• 1/3 cup sun dried tomatoes, minced

Directions

1. Pre-heat your oven to 375°.
2. In a mixing bowl, combine mayo, cream cheese, mascarpone, 3/4 cup parmesan, sour cream, garlic, Tabasco, salt and pepper. Mix well.
3. Stir in the artichoke hearts, spinach and sun dried tomatoes.
4. Spread into a 2 quart baking dish. Sprinkle top with remaining 1/3 cup parmesan cheese. Bake for 30 minutes or until bubbling.
5. Serve with whole wheat crackers.

A New Year’s Celebration just isn’t complete without Champagne, and I’ve put together a selection of three different Champagne drinks to help you ring in the New Year.

We’ll start off with a delicious “Mexican Bubbly”, along with M&J’s Champagne Spritzer and finish the trio with a Pomegranate Champagne Twist.  Champagne is a fun and easy drink to get creative with!

M&J’s Champagne  Spritzer

• 1 part Chardonnay
• 2 parts Pineapple banana juice
• Champagne

1. In a large pitcher mix the chardonnay and the juice together. Fill a champagne flute 3/4 full with chardonnay/juice mix and top with champagne.

Mexican Bubbly

• 3 parts Limeade
• 1 part Tequila
• Champagne

1. In a large pitcher mix together limeade and tequila. Fill a champagne flute 3/4 full with limeade and tequila mix and top with champagne.

Pom Pom

• Pomegranate juice
• Champagne
• Pomegranate seeds

1. Fill a champagne flute 1/4 full with pomegranate juice, fill to the top with champagne and top with a few pomegranate seeds.

This appetizer is the ultimate in make ahead.  Arrange the platter up to a day ahead, keeping the bread separate. When you are ready to serve, put the platter out on the counter finish with the bread and serve.

This can be out for several hours with out refrigeration.

Ingredients

• 8 oz or 2 large balls fresh mozzarella cheese
• 5 dates, sliced and half and pit removed
• 10 slices prosciutto
• 1 cup pitted mixed olives, in a small bowl
• 1 1/2 cups marinated artichokes, in a small bowl
• 1/2 pound Brie3/4 pound White cheddar, sliced thin
• 1/2 pound blue or gloucester cheese
• 1/2 pound parrano or gouda cheese, sliced thin
• 1 1/2 cups tomatoes
• 1 1/2 pounds salami
• 1 baguette, sliced into 1/2 inch rounds

Directions

1. Slice each mozzarella ball into 5 slices.
2. Lay half of a date on each slice of mozzarella. Wrap each mozzarella and date with a slice of prosciutto.
3. On a large platter place the bowls of olives and artichokes in the middle.
4. Arrange cheeses, salami, prosciutto wraps, tomatoes and bread around the olives and artichokes.

You can make your own dough or buy it from grocery stores like Trader Joe’s or from your local pizza parlor.  Make sure to get prosciutto di parma, its texture and flavor make all the difference. You can add more or less to each pizza based on your preference.

Click here to read more and get the recipe.