Italian turkey sausage is great in this tasty sauce! It has a lower fat content then regular sausage; consequently it’s a bit healthier.

If you like a bit of sausage in your lasagna, this sauce recipe is perfect!

To make this sauce you will need:

• 2 tablespoons of olive oil
• 1 cup of chopped yellow onion
• 2 garlic cloves, minced
• 1 1/2 pounds of sweet or hot Italian turkey sausage, casings removed
• 1 (28-ounce) can of crushed tomatoes in tomato puree
• 1 (6-ounce) can of tomato paste
• 1/4 cup of chopped fresh parsley
• 1 teaspoon of dried basil
• 1 teaspoon of dried oregano
• ½ teaspoon of sugar
• 1 ½ teaspoons of salt
• ½ teaspoon of pepper

It’s a really good habit to get all your ingredients prepared before you turn on the stove. It makes the cooking process go much more smoothly.

That means you need to:

1. Chop the onion
2. Mince the garlic
3. Chop the parsley
4. Remove the casings (that’s the really thin skin) from the sausage
5. Open the cans of tomatoes and tomato paste
6. Measure the spices

Now we are ready to start cooking!

Heat 2 Tablespoons of olive oil in a large (10 to 12-inch) skillet or frying pan. Add the onion and cook for 5 minutes over medium-low heat, until translucent.

“Until translucent” is a typical term used to describe cooking onions. Raw onions are fairly opaque. As you start to cook them, they slowly reach a point where they become almost see-through. They have not turned brown, and are not supposed to for this recipe.

Add the garlic and cook for 1 more minute, or until you can smell the garlic cooking.

Add the sausage to the onions and garlic. I like to use a combination of both hot and sweet sausage. We need to cook it over medium-low heat, breaking it up with a fork, for 8 to 10 minutes, or until no longer pink. This is just like browning ground beef.

Because this Italian turkey sausage has a lower fat content then regular Italian sausage, there will be very little fat to drain off. (If I were using regular sausage, I would definitely drain off the fat before adding the remaining ingredients.)

Now add the remaining ingredients:

• 1 (28-ounce) can crushed tomatoes in tomato puree
• 1 (6-ounce) can tomato paste
• 1/4 cup chopped fresh flat-leaf parsley
• 1 teaspoon dried basil
• 1 teaspoon dried oregano
• ½ teaspoon sugar
• 1 ½ teaspoons salt
• ½ teaspoon pepper

Simmer the sauce, uncovered, over medium-low heat, for 15 to 20 minutes, until it has thickened.

This turns into a really thick sauce which is great over any pasta. Enjoy!

You can view and print this recipe here.

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Green beans are one of those vegetables that are available year round at the grocery store. Make sure you buy ones that have a nice bright color and are free of blemishes.

With just a sprinkle of salt and two minutes in the microwave, you’ve got a fresh vegetable for dinner. Given they cook so quickly, make only enough for what you are going to eat for dinner tonight.

About 24 (four inch long) green beans will be enough for two servings.

The first thing you have to do is “top and tail” the beans. That’s the official term used to nip the tips off each end of the beans.

You can line them up and with a knife cut the ends off. As long as the beans are young and fresh, they should not be stringy. If they are stringy you will need to nip the ends off, one at a time, with your fingers. This same technique is used when making snow peas as well.

Sort of drag the tip off, pulling any of the stringy bit off as you go.

Rinse the beans in a colander.

Put them in a microwave safe dish. Add about 2 Tablespoons of water.

Cover the beans with plastic wrap leaving a small corner open.

If you seal them completely, the plastic wrap will almost shrink-wrap itself to the beans. This makes it a lot harder to remove the plastic wrap and much more likely you will get burned by the trapped steam.

Some people serve green beans with lashings of butter, or with almonds. I prefer them just with salt and sometimes a squeeze of lemon juice.

Cheers!

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For beginner cooks with hectic schedules, Do-It-Yourself pizza is a quick and tasty weeknight dinner solution. In the time that it takes to have pizza delivered, you can actually make your own!

All you have to do is create the basic elements:

• a doughy crust
• tomato sauce
• shredded cheese
• and whatever toppings you like.

The nice thing about DIY pizza is that you can have fun personalizing it. You can incorporate your favorite flavors and textures, or whatever happens to be in the fridge. There’s no fixed recipe to follow! Let’s get started.

First, the crust!

Ready-made crust: The bread section of the grocery store typically offers several brands of ready-made crusts that you simply top with whatever you like and bake according to the instructions. Some of these crusts even come with a package of tomato sauce! They’re usually sold in rounds that make enough for several people.

In addition to ready-made crusts, there are several different types of "breads" that will work as a pizza crust. In the photo below there a some great choices for a quick pizza crust including focaccia, crumpets, English muffins, pita bread and tortilla wraps. (Keep reading for the recipes using these various breads as a pizza crust!)

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Tortillas (wraps)

If you like thin-crust pizza, you can’t get thinner than this! It’s a good idea to pre-heat the tortilla in a toaster oven or regular oven at 350F just for a few minutes to make it a bit more solid, then turn the oven up to 450F. Put the wrap(s) on a foil or parchment paper-lined baking sheet.

Tortillas are the base for Humbecue Pizzas -- dressed with hummus, barbecue sauce, spinach, ham and feta cheese. Photo courtesy of Jenn at Eating Bender.

Then add whatever sauce, cheese and toppings you like. Go easy on toppings so that the whole thing doesn’t get soggy. Put the tortilla in the oven for 10 minutes and check to see when it’s done – the edge of the tortilla should become brown and crispy. Here’s a recipe for Humbecue Tortilla Pizzas, which are made with hummus, barbecue sauce, spinach, ham and feta cheese.

Pita bread

Pita bread is another great option for those who like thin, crispy pizzas. There’s no need to toast the pita before putting on the toppings; follow the same baking directions as with the tortilla pizza.

Here, plain old pita gets dressed up with Italian sausage, peppers and carrots.
Photo courtesy of Cookthink.com

This Pita Pizza (shown above) topped with Italian sausage, peppers and carrots looks simple and scrumptious.

Focaccia bread

For a more substantial crust, use focaccia bread, which is often sold in big rectangular pieces. When it comes to baking the pizza, preheat the oven to 450F and cook for 10 to 15 minutes.

English Muffins

Here at startcooking.com we have already posted a video on English Muffin Pizzas, which are topped with tomato sauce, ground beef and cheese.

These mini pizzas are irresistible, and if you don’t have any ground beef on hand, you can make them with tuna.

Crumpets:

If you would prefer to substitute crumpets for English muffins, go right ahead, old chap!

Bagels and baguette

A lot of bagel shops now have bagel pizzas.

Making your own is easy as long as you have the necessary ingredients on hand! Buy your bagels ahead of time and store them (sliced!) in the freezer. Bagels freeze beautifully as long as they are wrapped tightly in plastic wrap and then put in a zip lock bag.

The Sauce

Pizza traditionally has a layer of tomato sauce between the crust and the cheese. You can buy ready-made pizza sauce in a can or jar, or use tomato sauce (the kind you would use for pasta). If you don’t have either of these on hand, you could try tomato paste or salsa.

Some pizza lovers prefer their pizzas “white” – with no tomato sauce. White pizzas may be topped with pesto, ricotta or Parmesan cheese and pine nuts. Or with alfredo sauce (which you can buy ready-made) and other toppings.

In this recipe for Spinach, Mushroom and Goat Cheese Pizza , from Cooking By the Seat of my Pants, the sauce is a combination of sour cream and Greek vinaigrette.

Spinach, mushroom and goat cheese pizza -- not something you see on a takeout menu!
Photo courtesy of Jerry D. Russell at Cooking by the Seat of my Pants.

If you love basil, try Pioneer Woman's version of pizza using pesto rather than tomato sauce, fresh mozzarella, tomatoes, basil and parmesan.

The Cheese

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Mild: Most pizza places use mozzarella cheese, which turns nice and gooey when it melts, and has a very mild flavor. Other mild cheeses that can substitute for mozzarella are colby, cheddar, gouda, edam and Monterey jack. You can grate the cheese yourself or buy bags of pre-grated cheese. Ricotta, bocconcini and fresh mozzarella are other mild options that offer a gourmet twist because of their rich, milky textures.

Strong: Try mixing mozzarella with stronger-tasting cheeses, or going for something really distinctive. You’ll find that you can use a smaller amount of cheese if it’s strong-tasting. In our video on English Muffin Pizzas, startcooking.com suggests blue cheese with chopped fresh sage and walnuts. Some other strong cheeses to try are: parmesan, provolone, goat cheese, aged cheddar and gorgonzola.

Toppings

This is where you can really make a pizza your own. Here’s a list of topping ideas to get you started, as well as some great-tasting combinations.

Tip: Any meat toppings should be cooked before being added to the pizza.

Meat options:

• Ground beef
• Bacon
• Ham
• Pastrami
• Chicken
• Sausage

Vegetables

• Onions
• Mushrooms
• Peppers
• Broccoli
• Spinach
• Corn kernels
• Oil-packed sun-dried tomatoes
• Artichoke hearts (canned)
• Hearts of palm (canned)

Other toppings:

• Anchovies
• Chopped nuts
• Fresh herbs, like basil or sage

Combinations:

• Hawaiian: chopped ham and pineapple
• Mexican: ground beef, avocadoes, salsa
• Greek: feta cheese, olives and oregano

Good luck with your pizza creations!

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