Caprese Puff Pastry Pizza

Recipe No. 6
Caprese Puff Pastry Pizza

Serving Size for this Recipe: 6-8 people
Average Cost: $9 to $11


This is a fun little dish to throw in the mix for your weekly menu!  Taking the classic caprese salad recipe and using a soft buttery puff pastry to tie it all together.  This is So super simple but so super good.  You're gonna need a few things:

1 pkg of puff pastry
2-3 Roma tomatoes
1 lb. of fresh mozzarella cheese- BelGioioso is a good one that you can find at most grocers.
1/2 cup of fresh basil leaves
1 tbsp of balsamic vinegar
3 tbsp of good extra virgin olive oil
salt and pepper to taste

Lay out the puff pastry on a sheet pan, dock the pastry with a fork and cook as instructed on package.  Making these small holes will keep that pastry from puffing up (like a pizza crust!)
In a small bowl- whisk together the vinegar, oil, salt and pepper. 
Once it's cooked- let it cool for 10 minutes, then add the sliced tomato, torn basil leaves, thin slices of the mozzarella, and (whisk it together one more time) and drizzle over the balsamic dressing.  Add some kosher salt and fresh cracked black pepper and eat it!

Remember to K.I.S. in the kitchen!
Keep It Simple.

I hope you have a great day, foodies!

New Kid on Campus

Critique No. 10

Restaurant

Next Door Pizza & Pub

3385 SW Fascination Dr.

Lee's Summit, MO 64081
816-763-1200
http://www.nextdoorpizza.com/
Hrs: Sun-Thur 11am-10pm, Fri-Sat 11am-11pm

Cuisine: Italian/American, Buffet, Pizzeria

Maximum Occupancy: 95 plus the Patio

Bam! I'm back.  Sorry for the time in between posts- you know...life.  Well I am bringing back a story about my trip to a new face near the Metropolitan Community College-Longview Campus.  The place is Next Door Pizza & Pub. I was told by a dear friend that I must try the pizzeria, and I must try it NOW! 

This is what went down.  As you drive up to the New Longview community in Lee's Summit you first notice the colorful buildings and of course the college. Take a left at the stop light and you will drive right past Fascination Drive. On the corner you'll see NDP and ask yourself, where am I suppose to park? Keep driving, the majority of the parking is in back.  There was a nice patio area on the side for good weather days.  I walked in the back door and was greeted by a the owner Patrick Cuezze.  For lunch there are two choices- order off the menu or you can hit up the buffet.  I always try to get a variety of offerings from a new place, so I went with the menu (since it was a pizza only buffet). I didn't have a chance to try one of their 10 ON TAP or 30 BOTTLED BEERS, but- apparently they are just as much into their micro brews as they are their pizza! The waitress was nice and engaging,she took my drink order and I glanced over the menu and looked around the restaurant.  As I looked up I saw this beautiful sight hanging above the door.

If you can't read that (go see an eye Dr.)

It says "We Proudly Serve Mendolia's Italian Sausage, We only serve the Best!"

This made me exceedingly happy, because A: Mendolia's is the best sausage in the world (bias??) and B: Mendolia's is a Kansas City classic.  I love seeing local businesses support each other!!!  I have grown up eating mendolia's my whole life, and when I saw on the menu the sausage grinder- I knew that was it.  It was served with hand cut, double cooked fries.  The waitress told me to substitute for the Puerto Fries (same fries, just covered with bacon, queso and jalapenos) I went for it- I like to take the recommendations, I also got 2 squares of thier thin crust pepperoni pizza to try out their namesake.   So my order was in, I'm sitting there, trying to get a vibe on this place.  It's kinda quirky with the sports stuff, and all the doors hanging from the walls, ceilings and everywhere else you looked. Patrick later told me that the doors were all designed and painted by community members, organizations and groups.  

(You can design a door too! Just call and talk to Patrick about it.)

I didn't care for the music that was playing, just pop radio garbage (that's a big deal for me as a diner.  I like to feel relaxed when I eat, and the music was making me annoyed)  I put all that aside when I saw this set in front of me.

Lets start with the pizza.  This was a paper thin, cracker crust.  I mean just crispy and good, not dry. but crispy.  Great flavor from the sauce, nice melting cheese (they use only GRANDE mozzarella), and Rosa Grande Pepperoni- (which was very small in diameter- about the size of a nickel).  Now the pepperoni threw me off a little, because when they cook up, they tend to cup up so a little pool of grease forms inside.  Patrick says that's fine with him.  I prefer the pepperoni to be a little bigger around, but lets move on.  The Grinder:  Right off the bat, I noticed that it was not cut down the side like a hot dog bun.  This was a hollowed out piece of Italian bread with the sausage cut up and put inside with the sauce and cheese, then capped off with what I would call a "bread cork".  It was a sesame toasted flavor that hit me first, then more bread, and i realized my first bite was all bread and sauce.  So....eh, idk about that.  Next bite, tender, perfectly cooked Italian sausage, cheese, and sauce with the crusty bread and the Ah! and the Oo! it was good. I set that down for a second to dig into the puerto fries.  This was like HALT!! PEPPER ATTACK MEETS MUSHY POTATO!!  It was explained to me that the fries that day hadn't been double cooked. So they didn't develop a nice crunchy exterior, instead, they were mush with all that cheese just adding to the mush.  The jalapeno and Fresno Chiles that were on the dish- in my opinion- way too much heat for a side dish to have.  I stopped there with the fries.  Finishing the pizza and sandwich, I felt somewhat sad that I just paid $3.00 extra to "puerto" my fries.  There were a lot of things I liked but some pretty big misses as well for this trip to NDP.  I did enjoy talking with Patrick and his wife after my meal, just finding out about them and their place. Some bonuses I found were: They have gluten free options for those in need of them, and on Monday's Kids eat free (see website for details), and they give great discounts for students!  Patrick says they have the best pizza in town, But wouldn't you say that if you were the owner?  For them only being opened for 4 months, and never being in the restaurant biz before, I'd say they have a great future ahead of them.  Class dismissed.

Overall Rating: 4 out of 5

Please visit this locally owned business and see if you agree!

Thinking Italian?

Critique No.2
Restaurant:
Original Pizza and Italian Restaurant
905 NW Chipman Rd
Lees Summit, MO 64063
(816) 554-1322

Cuisine: Italian/Buffet
Max. Seating Occupancy: 55
Price Point: $5.99 for all you can eat buffet, average prices off menu- $10+

When you drive down Chipman Road heading north you'll find the run of the mill fast food places. With all that you see you can kind of miss the stand alone building that Original Pizza and Italian Restaurant occupies. When I first walked in I wasn't sure if they were open because it was very dark inside- only natural light coming from the wrap around windows and a few fluorescents. It looked a typical buffet with a salad bar and hot bar. A few TVs playing sports and 10 or so tables with no one sitting at them. I was the only one there at lunch time on a week day. The overall atmosphere was kind of awkward. Now the food! I first tried their claim to fame- Pizza. It was a thin crust with the large pepperoni and sausage pieces. It was very tasty- good sauce, nice bite from the thin crust, and good mouth feel from the cheese. I then went to the spaghetti and meatballs; an all time favorite of mine. I was disappointed when I saw pasta that was dry and hard on top and somewhat mushy underneath. The sauce with a dark black film on top and meatballs in a separate pan. The meatballs were sitting in what looked like tomato flavored water, about 3/4 of the way up. I did taste it, and it was pretty much tasteless. The meatball was very bland and mushy.
Perhaps they should consider dropping the Italian restaurant part and stick to the pizza? Its unfortunate that my visit was like this, and they do have other locations...
Speaking for the Lee's Summit location, The pizza, I'd give an 8 out of 10, but I have to say I was quite disappointed in the quality of the other food offered on the buffet; salads included.

Overall Rating: 1 out of 5

Please visit this locally owned business and see if you agree!