Strawberry Tart

Ingredients

Crust:
36 honey graham crackers (about 9 sheets)
2 tablespoons sugar
2 tablespoons butter, melted
4 teaspoons water
Cooking spray
Filling:
2/3 cup light cream cheese
1/4 cup sugar
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/4 teaspoon almond extract
Topping:
6 cups small fresh strawberries, divided
2/3 cup sugar
1 tablespoon cornstarch
1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice
2 tablespoons sliced almonds, toasted

Directions

Preheat oven to 350°.
To prepare crust, place crackers in a food processor; process until crumbly. Add 2 tablespoons sugar, butter, and water; pulse just until moist. Place mixture in a 9-inch round removable-bottom tart pan coated with cooking spray, pressing into bottom and up sides of pan to 3/4 inch. Bake at 350° for 10 minutes or until lightly browned. Cool completely on a wire rack.
To prepare filling, combine cream cheese, 1/4 cup sugar, and extracts in a medium bowl; stir until smooth. Spread mixture evenly over bottom of tart shell.
To prepare topping, place 2 cups strawberries in food processor; process until pureed. Combine strawberry puree, 2/3 cup sugar, and cornstarch in a small saucepan over medium heat, stirring with a whisk. Bring to a boil, stirring constantly. Reduce heat to low; cook 1 minute. Remove glaze from heat, and cool to room temperature, stirring occasionally.
Combine 4 cups strawberries and juice; toss to coat. Arrange berries, bottoms up, in a circular pattern over filling. Spoon half of glaze evenly over berries (reserve remaining glaze for another use). Sprinkle nuts around edge. Cover and chill 3 hours.
Note: You can use either an 8 x 12-inch rectangular pan or a 9-inch round tart pan. The recipe also works with a 9-inch springform pan and a 10-inch pie plate

Jean Kressy, Cooking Light APRIL 2003

Note: keep an eye on your almonds in the oven when toasting to prevent burning. Also with the left over starwberry puree make popsicles.

Tomato Basil Pesto Pizza

Turn oven to broil.

5 ingredients

Pesto sauce
Mozzarella cheese
Ricotta cheese
Tomatoes
Basil

Boboli thin crust pizza dough
Spread on pesto
Sprinkle mozzarella cheese
Dollops of ricotta cheese

Place in oven, broil for 5 min. We wished we cooked it a little longer. So add a few minutes depending on how hot your oven is. When cheese is melted take out of oven.

Add sliced tomatoes on top
Place small basil leaves on tomatoes
Top with ground black pepper and red pepper flakes

Eat up!

This recipe was from Cooking Light magazine.

Pepper Steak Sandwich

Ingredients

• 2 tablespoons butter
• 1/4 medium onion, sliced
• 1 green bell pepper, sliced into long strips
• 1 yellow pepper sliced into long strips
• 1 red pepper sliced into long strips
  
• 2-3 tri-tip steak
  
• 1 teaspoon Hot pepper sauce
• 1 c mozzarella cheese
  
• salt and pepper to taste
• 1/3 French baguette, cut in half lengthwise
  

Directions

1. Melt 1 tablespoon of butter in a large skillet over medium heat. Add the onion; cook and stir until tender. Push onion to the side of the pan, then add the bell pepper and cook just until tender, about 3 minutes. Remove from the pan with a slotted spoon, and set aside.
2. Add the remaining butter to the skillet. No need to clean the pan, just let it heat up a little bit. Place the steak in the skillet along with the pickled peppers. Season with salt and pepper. The steak cooks really fast, just a couple of minutes. Once the steak is mostly browned, return the onion and pepper to the pan. Cook until heated through. Adam cooked the steak on the george foreman grill.
   
3. Turn off the heat, and place the slices of cheese over the top of the pile so they can melt. Scoop the whole pile into the awaiting bread, making sure to pour some of the juices onto that wonderful sandwich.

This is Adam's famous sandwich he learned to make when he lived in Chicago. He could open up his own sandwich shack, because it's that good!