Barbecued Bruschetta

Happy Monday! Did you have a fabulous long weekend? We've had a good mix of R & R, barbecues, visits with friends and downtime with the poochies.

Today I was planning to putter around the house and do some long overdue closet organization, but what I ended up doing was flipping between a marathon of The Big Bang Theory and a marathon of Two Guys, A Girl & A Pizza Place. Our weather has gone through a dramatic change from hot, sunny and humid to cool, gray and rainy. It was the perfect day to veg out and do a whole lotta' nothin'! 

I really had nothing planned in terms of meals for today, so I pulled out a pizza dough that's been thawed since Saturday. I've been dying to try a pizza dough on the barbie and there seemed like no better time than the present.

Earlier this summer, Lisa did a guest post for Cait at Beyond Bananas giving instructions on barbecuing a pizza. I followed her directions for the crust. It was super easy! If I can have success on the barbie, trust me when I say so can you (we uh, won't talk about that time I almost singed my eyebrows off) :-D !!!!!!

Andrea's Kick Butt Bruschetta

The thing I absolutely love about this bruschetta is the addition of sundried tomatoes. It kicks up the flavour and puts this bruschetta over the top. Today I used all fresh ingredients from my patio garden and it tasted absolutely dreamy! I used a barbecued pizza crust today, but often I slice up a baguette and bake it in the oven. This make a great appetizer that you can get ready before the party and takes just a few seconds to finalize so you can WOW your guests!

2 c. diced tomatoes
1/3 c. sliced sundried tomatoes
1/2 c. thinly sliced fresh basil
1 tbsp minced garlic
 2 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
2 tbsp balsamic vinegar
sea salt & pepper, to taste
1 - 1.5 c. shredded mozzarella

Add all ingredients, except the mozzarella, into a small bowl and mix well to combine. Let it sit in the fridge for at least 30 minutes.

Cook the barbecue pizza dough according to Lisa's directions. Once the crust is cooked on one side, flip it and evenly spread the bruschetta mix over the crust followed by the mozzarella.

Close the lid to the barbecue and let the crust finish baking. Once the crust is cooked and the cheese is all ooey gooey and delicious, remove from the barbecue.

Let sit for a few minutes. Slice into squares and serve.

Hint - the one thing I would do next time is use a slotted spoon when spreading the bruschetta mix onto the pizza crust. Mine ended being a little runnier than I would have liked.

mmmmm.....fresh basil & tomatoes.......

Lightly oiling the dough helped it not to stick to the grill ~ it worked perfectly!

So, I think I need to work on even cooking. It still worked out great, but didn't make for a real cute pic!

Have I ever told you how much I love bruschetta?

I could eat the tomato mix with a spoon :-D

So Good! I couldn't wait to take a bite!

Everyone will love this appie and will be asking you for the recipe!

What is your fave appetizer to serve ~ link it up and share your recipe with me!
What was the best thing you did to celebrate the last long weekend of the summer?

Have a great evening - Enjoy the last few hours of this marvelous holiday Monday,
Andrea

Balsamic Gnocchi with Garlic Butter & Roasted Butternut Squash

Have you ever eaten gnocchi before?

If your answer is no, you better go out to the grocery store right now and pick some up - it's the bombdigity!

I hadn't had gnocchi until recently. I've seen it and always thought the cute little potato dumplings looked appealing, but never got around to trying them. That was until the day I saw a recipe on How Sweet It Is for Balsamic Gnocchi.  This recipe is easy, delicious and Derek said that he would eat this meal every single day ~ this says alot considering no meat was involved.

I am not going reiterate the recipe for Balsamic Gnocchi because I pretty much stuck right to Jessica's recipe. The only changes I made were that I added lots more veggies (sorry Jessica, that might ruin the recipe for you).  I used one pepper, 4 green onions, 1 small zucchini and a handful of crimini mushrooms and I used Earth Balance instead of butter for the basil garlic butter.

This recipe is to die for. It only takes 20 minutes to whip up and would be a great meal to wow your guests with.

As a side, I decided to roast a butternut squash (ok, I admit it....I cheated and I bought a pre-cut squash). Squash is one of my all-time favourite foods in the winter and there is no other way to make it other than slow roasting in the oven. I just wish they would peel like an orange - my wrists are so sore by the time I finish the peeling and chopping, I can hardly use my stirring hand to finish the meal! I could eat a whole roasted squash myself....in fact I probably have :-) At least squash is good for you; that's better than eating a whole cheesecake by yourself .. er, not that I would know or anything.

Roasted Butternut Squash

1 butternut squash

2 tbsp olive oil

1 - 2 tsp sea salt

sprinkle of pepper

Peel and cut the butternut squash into bite size pieces. Place in large bowl. Add the olive oil, salt and pepper and stir to evenly coat the squash. Place on a greased cookie sheet and bake at 400 for approximately 15 minutes.

 Flip the squash pieces and cook for an additional 15 minutes. I like my squash to come out crispy and starting to brown - the pieces are so sticky and sweet you will understand why I could eat the entire squash myself. If you are like me and you don't time all the components of your meal quite right, you can speed up the baking time by putting the broiler on for just a few minutes per side.

Perfection!

...and in as easy as 1, 2, 3 you have an amazing meal that will wow your family and  friends and even your meat lovin' husband.

Right about now you're wishing you were my friend aren't ya?? :-)

What's your favourite type of squash?

Do you have an awesome recipe of gnocchi you'd like to share?

I hope you all have a relaxing Sunday evening and to my Canadian friends, Happy Family Day tomorrow....and to my American buddies, Happy President's Day! I hope your day off is filled with family, friends and lots of good eats.

Andrea