Macaroni and Cheese with Fresh Herbs

The weather in Wisconsin is so unreliable.  After several days of temperatures in the 80s and 90s, the temperature dropped about 30 degrees to cool, windy, rainy weather.  And with that weather, came an immediate appetite shift from salads and fresh vegetables and fruits to warm, creamy comfort foods.  It's amazing how our bodies work with the weather, isn't it?

Not willing to completely succumb to the craving because I really wanted to use all the fresh herbs proliferating in my garden, I decided to make a baked macaroni and cheese that still remained decidedly spring-like by using more delicately flavored cheeses than the traditional sharp cheddar and several of those fresh, flavorful herbs.  The result was a lovely, elegant, creamy macaroni and cheese that practically burst with the bright flavors of the herbs.

The method for a baked macaroni and cheese is the same as a stove-top macaroni and cheese.  In fact, it is all made on the stove-top, then assembled, topped with a buttered crumb mixture, and baked until golden and bubbly.  To make everything go smoothly, it is best to get your ingredients together in individual bowls before you start; combine the cheeses and herbs, garlic and mustard in one bowl for quick and easy dumping into the pot of warm milk, and the topping in another.

Macaroni and Cheese with Fresh Herbs
serves 4-6

• 8 oz medium size shell shaped pasta
• 1/4 c butter
• 1/4 c flour
• 2 c milk (preferably whole milk)
• 1 1/2 c (6 oz) Fontina cheese, shredded
• 1/2 c (2 oz) Parmesan cheese, shredded (not grated)
• 1 large clove garlic, pressed
• 1 Tbs fresh oregano, chopped
• 2 tsp fresh rosemary, chopped
• 1 tsp fresh marjoram, chopped
• 1 tsp dijon mustard
• 3/4 tsp salt
• few grinds freshly ground black pepper
• 1/2 c dried bread crumbs
• 1/4 c Asiago cheese, grated (you can use Parmesan if  you'd like)
• 2 Tbs butter, melted
• 1 Tbs fresh parsley, chopped

Preheat oven to 375F.  Butter a 2qt baking pan.

Bring a large pot of water to a boil.  Boil pasta according to package directions.  Drain and set aside.

In medium saucepan over medium heat, melt butter.  Whisk in the flour and cook for several seconds until the mixture is bubbly.  Slowly, whisking constantly, pour in the milk.  Continue to whisk until the milk mixture has thickened and just begins to form the first thick bubble or two, about 3-4 minutes.  Stir in the Fontina, Parmesan, garlic, oregano, rosemary, marjoram, dijon, salt, and pepper.  Remove from heat and continue to stir until the cheese melts.

Toss the pasta with the cheese sauce and pour into the buttered pan.

In a small bowl, combine the breadcrumbs, Asiago, melted butter, and parsley.

Sprinkle over the macaroni and cheese.

Bake in preheated oven for 20-25 minutes, or until the crumbs are browned and the cheese is bubbly.

Sundried Tomato Alfredo Sauce

The garden beds are finally in and planted.  We decided to go with some old barn boards and a lot of reinforcement.

In the front bed is an assortment of lettuces and salad leaves, arugula, spinach, spring onions, chard, and eggplant. The second bed has broccoli, cauliflower and some Roma tomatoes.  The third bed contains some more Roma, a few San Marzano, and plenty of Beefsteak tomatoes (the cherry tomatoes will be in pots near the kitchen). The last bed has garlic, white and red onions, carrots, and bell peppers (including those cute little cherry peppers that I love so much in summer salads).

We tilled the 16' x 24' bed below, but need to till it again and then greatly amend the soil, and it will contain corn, green beans, pie pumpkins, kidney and cannellini beans, potatoes, and leeks.  This is the spot where my old garden was before we had the bright idea to till it under and plant grass.

Those are my three apple trees in the upper left corner of the picture, and I'm hoping like crazy they produce more than a collective 20 apples in their 4th year.

Unfortunately, the fence I was hoping to use to grow the peas, cucumbers and green beans won't be installed until the first week of July.  I guess I'll just have to fashion a make-shift fence around the new plot for this year.  Oh well.

But I've got a compost bin now.

Oh, and here is my kitchen herb garden, filled with parsley, rosemary, thyme, basil, cilantro, and chives:

The sage, oregano, and lavender is out in the perennial garden along with the roses and lilies (which is behind all of the beds in the top picture).

Tim wants to order shitake and oyster mushroom spores to inoculate some logs and hopefully we will have some fresh (and dried) mushrooms.  We need to look into portobello mushrooms, too, because those are my favorite and so versatile to work with in the kitchen.

So, my friends, that is what I've been doing all week (month, really).  That, and wagging my finger at my kids who are not exactly going to be done with school the first week of June (just like I told them they wouldn't be if they didn't follow the schedule and went along with their schedule - but that's another story, and this is a recipe and food blog, not a homeschooling blog written by a mother who has no problem with saying "I told you so").

Today, however, I spent in the kitchen making bread and my favorite mushroom ravioli.  I made enough ravioli to freeze and we also enjoyed some for dinner topped with this amazing, rich, slightly sweet, creamy sauce.  The sauce is dreamy over any pasta, really, but the cream and sundried tomatoes really compliment the assorted mushrooms in the ravioli (which will be my next post).  This alfredo also makes an awesome dip for bread - so yummy!


Sundried Tomato Alfredo
makes a little over 1 cup

• 3 Tbs butter
• 1/4 c chopped sundried tomatoes (not oil packed)
• 1 garlic clove, minced
• 1 cup heavy cream
• 1 cup freshly grated Parmesan cheese
• 1 Tbs chopped fresh parsley
• 1/8 tsp grated nutmeg
• salt and freshly ground pepper to taste

Melt butter in a medium saucepan over medium heat.  When it's ready to sizzle, stir in the tomatoes and garlic.  Saute for about 2 minutes, or until garlic becomes fragrant and tomatoes soften.

Remove the pan from the heat.  Whisk in the cream.  Return the pan to the heat.  Heat just until the cream begins to bubble (do not boil), whisking often.  Remove from heat.

Stir in the Parmesan, parsley, and nutmeg until the cheese has melted. Season with salt and pepper.

Serve over hot pasta or use as a dip for baguettes.  Yum.

Broccoli with Horseradish Cheese Sauce

It's only the the middle of April, and in my mind, my garden is lush, green, organized, clean, dripping with ripe red tomatoes, gorgeous eggplant, and tender lettuce leaves in abundance.  My bell peppers are huge, the broccoli hasn't bolted, and there is more than enough spinach to blanch and freeze. The birds are singing, the bees are buzzing, and the sun is shining after just the right amount of warm rain.

In reality, it's about 45 (F) degrees, snow is possible tonight, and my "garden" looks exactly like this:

Yup.  You betcha.  For your viewing enjoyment, I hauled out my seedlings and placed them in the future garden area.

The raised beds did not make it in last fall (ahemTimcoughcough), and now that I am less than 6 weeks away from needing to plant, I'm going to opt for some "lasagna garden" type prep work.  I thought about foregoing any raised beds and just piling ingredients, but Tim located some free pallets (did you know they come in different thicknesses and lengths?  I did not!) so we are hoping to be able to recycle them into the perimeter for the beds, which will be extra nice for the budget. This weekend, if it doesn't snow, we'll be putting in six 8'x4' beds, lining the bottom with lots of newspaper so I don't have to dig up all the sod, piling it full of a manure/peat moss/topsoil combo from a local nursery, mixing in my own household vegetation compost, grass clippings and last fall's chopped leaves, covering it with black plastic, and crossing my fingers until late May.  I have never had a garden bed where I didn't dig the grass out first, so I'm kind of curious to see how it works. Either way, I'll still have about 8 inches of hopefully good dirt on top of the old grass, so that's something, right?

Will keep you posted.

There is another area not in the picture that will be home to a Three Sisters Garden (sweet corn, pie pumpkins, and shell beans), and a plot for potatoes.  In a few weeks we will be having a cedar split rail fence (with wire mesh on the inside) installed, and I'm hoping to try out some grape vines.  The plan is to also have my cucumbers, cherry tomatoes, and two kinds of peas climb the fence, too.

Anyway, on to the recipe.  As I said earlier, the broccoli in my gorgeous mental garden hasn't bolted, and is flourishing like mad.  We like to just eat it raw, but cheese just makes everything taste a little bit nicer.  This cheese sauce is spiked with horseradish and garlic for a fun, tangy change of pace.  I prefer to use a steamer basket (I use my pasta pot with the basket/strainer and a cover) for cooking broccoli, but if you don't have one, you can just use a big covered pot with about an inch of water in the bottom.

Broccoli with Horseradish Cheese Sauce
serves 6

• 2 lbs fresh broccoli, cut into florets
• 2 Tbs butter
• 2 Tbs flour
• 1 c milk
• 1 clove garlic, pressed
• 1 cup shredded medium or sharp cheddar cheese
• 2 tsp prepared horseradish
• 1/4 tsp salt
• few grinds fresh black pepper

Place 1-2 inches of water into the bottom of a large pot with a steamer basket inserted on top.  Place the broccoli in the basket.  Bring the water to a boil, cover and reduce heat to medium.  Steam the broccoli for about 5 minutes, or until just fork tender.  Remove from heat and vent the cover to prevent further cooking.

Meanwhile, in a medium saucepan, melt butter over medium heat.  Add the flour and whisk until bubbly (about 10-20 seconds).

Slowly pour in the milk, whisking constantly. Add the garlic. Continue to whisk until the mixture thickens and just begins to bubble; about 4 minutes.  Add the cheese, horseradish, salt and pepper.  Remove from heat and whisk until the cheese melts.

Give it a taste and adjust salt and pepper if necessary.

Serve cheese sauce over warm broccoli.

Stawberry Almond Cheesecake Bites

For so many of us, a large portion of Valentine's Day includes the whole family.  Ever since my kids were small, we've made this fun and healthy treat to celebrate the national day of Love.

Kids love to help pulverize the graham crackers, and they do a fantastic job.  Simply place the crackers in a ziploc bag and give them a rolling pin; they seem to know exactly what to do.  Even though my kids are teenagers now, this is still a favorite job.

While they are having fun beating the blazes out of the graham crackers, you can get the cheesecake dip together.  In a matter of minutes, you have a "build your own" sort of strawberry cheesecake bunch of love going on.

Strawberry Almond Cheesecake Bites
Makes about 1 cup dip

• 1 quart fresh strawberries, hulls in tact, washed and patted dry
• 4 oz cream cheese, room temperature
• 1/3 c plain yogurt
• 1 Tbs heavy whipping cream
• 2 tsp raw  honey
• 1/3 tsp pure almond extract
• 1/2 c graham cracker crumbs (preferably home made)
• 1/4 finely chopped almonds

In a medium bowl, beat cream cheese, yogurt, whipping cream, honey, and almond extract with a hand held mixer until smooth and creamy; about 2 minutes.

Place the cream cheese mixture into a bowl.

Combine graham cracker crumbs and almonds in another bowl.

Grab the strawberries by the hull, dip them into the cream cheese mixture, then roll in the graham cracker mixture, and enjoy.

Happy Valentine's Day!

Chocolate Chip Pecan Cheese Ball

I used to think cheese balls were kind of hokey and only showed up on my grandmother's holiday table, destined to be avoided by nearly everyone because it just looked...questionable.  Boy, have I been wrong.  I've been playing around with some different cheese ball ingredient combinations and I think I might actually be in love with the whole idea.  I know I just posted a savory cheese ball recipe (Herbed Olive and Cheese Spread), but this one is sweet and it's too yummy not to share right away.

In other chocolate chip cheese ball recipes, I've noticed many of them call for a lot of additional butter (probably for spreadability), but I decided to use a small amount of coconut oil instead.  The result is a sweet and decadent chocolate chip and pecan spread with just the perfect hint of coconut flavor.  I'm happy to say it's one of those cream cheese spreads you will want to eat with a spoon, but it tastes amazing with firm fruits, graham crackers, bagels, or vanilla cookies.  It makes a lovely holiday presentation centered on a platter surrounded by red and green apple slices, too.

Chocolate Chip Pecan Cheese Ball

• 8 oz cream cheese, room temperature
• 1/4 c unrefined coconut oil 
(such as Spectrum Unrefined Organic Coconut Oil)
• 2 Tbs raw honey
• 1/2 tsp pure vanilla extract
• 1/2 c plus 1/3 c mini chocolate chips (or well chopped semi sweet chocolate), divided
• 1/3 c chopped pecans

With a hand held mixer set to low speed, blend together the cream cheese, coconut oil, honey, and vanilla.  Stir in 1/2 c chocolate chips.

Cover and refrigerate at least 1 hour.

On a plate or board, combine the remaining 1/3 c chocolate chips and pecans.

Form the chocolate chip cheese mixture into a ball.  Roll in the chocolate chip and pecan mixture.

Refrigerate until ready to use.  Serve with apples, pears, bagel slices, graham crackers or vanilla cookies.

Herbed Olive and Cheese Spread

Of all the wonderful food offerings of the holiday season, I must confess that the appetizers are my favorite.  I spend entirely too much time munching from the appetizer tables, it's true, but with holiday bean dips and vegetable dips and cheese spreads and crostini and antipasto and...what's an appetizer junkie to do?  I'd like to promise that this year I will exhibit much more self control, but I know I'd be lying.  I just really can't help myself.

In this festive and pretty cheese spread, both green and black olives are combined with sundried tomatoes and creamy Fontina cheese, and then rolled in fresh herbs.  I used a combination of parsley, thyme, rosemary and oregano, but adding basil or marjoram would taste wonderful, too; they key is to choose at least three different fresh herbs rather than just one or two.

Herbed Olive and Cheese Spread

• 8oz cream cheese, room temperature
• 3/4 c Fontina cheese, shredded
• 1/4 c green pitted olives (I used pimento stuffed for additional color), sliced
• 1/4 c pitted kalamata olives, sliced
• 1 Tbs sundried tomatoes (oil packed), chopped
• 3 Tbs assorted herbs (parsley, thyme, rosemary, oregano, basil...), chopped

With a handheld mixer, blend cream cheese and fontina until blended.  Stir in the olives and sundried tomatoes.

Cover and refrigerate for at least 1 hour.

Spread the herbs on a plate or cutting board.

Form the cheese and olive mixture into a 6 inch log (or whatever shape makes you happy).  Roll the log in the herbs.

Keep refrigerated until ready to use.  Serve with pita chips, toasted baguette slices, or assorted crackers.

Pasta Broccoli Bake

The three most requested dinners by my children are pizza of any theme, Creamy Potato Soup, and this Cheesy Broccoli and Pasta dish.  I think it's all about the cheese with them.

Cheese is one of life's indispensable pleasures for us.  In our area, there are several small (and large) scale dairies that produce some amazing local cheeses.  We often drive to one that is nearby just to get fresh cheese curds, still warm and squeaky, and end up eating most of them in the car on the way home.  That same dairy also has the most amazing fresh mozzarella sticks - salty and pliable, and they just melt in your mouth.  We also live very near a fromagerie that specializes in artisan cheeses from around the world, and when the children were learning about new countries in our History class, we would always go over to the fromagerie and sample cheeses from that country and then buy some of our favorites to create a dish from whichever country we were studying.  And on Christmas Eve, when all the other children left cookies and milk for Santa, mine left him French goat cheese and crackers (Santa doesn't love goat cheese, by the way, and one year he left a note thanking them for their generosity, but requesting fresh cheese curds and smoked gouda).

This dish is a recipe I found on Allrecipes a few years ago.  Really, the only things I changed in the recipe were the some of the instructions, a couple of the measurements, and I use real garlic instead of garlic salt; the combination of cheeses and few herbs and spices were already such a perfect match for the broccoli.  Here is the link to the original recipe: Pasta Broccoli Bake.  I don't suggest using frozen broccoli though, because it just doesn't pack enough broccoli flavor for some reason.  I have used broccoli that I purchased in the summer, quickly blanched and then froze, and that was fine, but the commercial frozen broccoli just doesn't work well.  Use fresh if you can find it, and keep the florets large so they don't get soggy in the pasta water.

Also, penne pasta works, but not as well as a pasta with ridges to hold the sauce, so try to use a corkscrew shaped pasta such as fusilli or rotini.

Pasta Broccoli Bake
serves 8 - 9

• 8 oz dry whole grain fusilli or rotini pasta
• 1 1/2 lbs fresh broccoli florets 
• 1/3 c butter
• 1/3 c flour
• 3 c milk
• 1 1/2 c shredded sharp cheddar cheese
• 3/4 c shredded parmesan cheese
• 2 garlic cloves, pressed
• 1 tsp salt
• 1/8 tsp freshly grated nutmeg
• 1/4 tsp dried thyme
• 3/4 c shredded swiss cheese

Preheat oven to 350F.

Bring a large pot of water to a boil.  Add in the pasta, then the broccoli, and stir.  Return to a boil, reduce heat, and simmer uncovered for about 6-8  minutes, or until the pasta is al dente and the broccoli is just tender. Do not overcook.   Drain.

Place the sharp cheddar, parmesan, garlic, salt, nutmeg, and thyme in a small bowl.  Set aside.

While the pasta and broccoli are cooking, melt butter in a medium saucepan over medium heat.  Stir in flour with a wire whisk.  Gradually whisk in the milk.  Continue to cook over medium heat, whisking often, until mixture is thick and just beginning to bubble, about 5-7 minutes. Remove from heat.

Immediately whisk in half of  the sharp cheddar and parmesan mixture until melted.  Whisk in the rest until all is melted.

Place the broccoli and pasta back in the empty pot.  Pour the cheese mixture in and mix well.

Transfer to a 9x13 pan (no need to oil the pan).

Top with the shredded swiss cheese.

Bake uncovered for about 20 minutes, or until bubbly.  Allow to stand about 5 minutes before serving.

Easy Stovetop Macaroni and Cheese (shortcut 3)

Eliminating those so called convenience foods can be hard.  We tend to reach for them when we are hungry and short on time, and also because we just don't understand the mystery of how to recreate the food on our own.  If I had to sit down and make a list of all those foods right now, boxed macaroni and cheese would be somewhere near the top of my list.  It's interesting how often we reach for it to make a quick lunch, when in fact, making your own macaroni and cheese is just as quick and cost effective as making the boxed varieties.  It's also easy to customize and adjust the quantity.  So, I'm going to share two recipes; a basic, how-to version, and our favorite stove-top version.  Both can be made in about 12 minutes, and both equal the same amount of servings as the 7-8 oz box.  With the simple measurements, it is very easy to double the recipes.

Basic Stove Top Macaroni and Cheese
serves 2-3

• 4 oz small macaroni shells or elbow noodles
• 1 Tbs butter
• 1 Tbs flour
• 1 c whole milk
• 1 c cheese of your choice, shredded (I prefer a combination of sharp cheddar and parmesan)
• salt to taste

Bring a pot of salted water to a boil and cook pasta according to package directions. Drain and return to the pot.

While pasta is cooking, melt butter in another small pot over medium heat.  With a wire whisk, stir in flour and cook for about 30 seconds (or until the mixture is bubbly).  Gradually whisk in the milk.  Cook, whisking constantly, until the milk is thickened and bubbles begin to rise to the surface (do not boil) - about 4 minutes. Stir in half the cheese until blended.  Stir in the other half of the cheese until melted.  

Pour the pasta into the cheese sauce and mix well.

                            ___________________________________________________________

Very easy, very quick.  Now, if you want to flavor it further, you can change the cheese flavors, add spices, garlic, peas or broccoli...anything you like in your macaroni and cheese.  The next recipe is one of our favorite ways to eat it.

Easy Stove Top Macaroni and Cheese
serves 3

• 3/4 c sharp cheddar cheese, shredded
• 1/4 c Parmesan cheese, shredded
• 1/2 tsp stone ground mustard
• pinch nutmeg
• pinch thyme
• few good pinches of salt
• few grinds of freshly ground black peppe
• 4 oz macaroni shells
• 1/2 cup frozen peas
• 1 Tbs butter
• 1 small garlic clove, finely minced
• 1 Tbs flour
• 1 c whole milk

Place the cheeses, mustard, nutmeg, thyme, salt and pepper in a small bowl.  Set aside.

Bring a pot of salted water to a boil and cook pasta according to package directions. Two minutes before the pasta is done, add the frozen peas.  Drain the pasta and peas and return to the pot.

While pasta is cooking, melt butter in another small pot over medium heat.  Stir in garlic, cook for about 30 seconds.  With a wire whisk, stir in the flour, and cook for about 30 seconds (or until the mixture is bubbly).  Gradually whisk in the milk.  Cook, whisking constantly, until the milk is thickened and bubbles begin to rise to the surface (do not boil) - about 4 minutes. Stir in half the cheese mixture until blended.  Stir in the other half of the cheese mixture until melted.

Pour the pasta and peas into the cheese sauce and mix well.

Spinach and Feta Thin Crust Pizza

Making your own pizza is easy and fun - the possibilities for topping combinations are nearly endless.  The crusts are easy to tailor, too; thick, thin, herbed, cheese stuffed...  And the sauces!  Red sauce, white sauce, pureed beans, no sauce at all...  The best part, though, is that it's inexpensive, not very time consuming, and the whole family can get involved.  Pizza is just good, no matter how you look at it.

A few kitchen items I use when I make pizza include my food processor, a rolling pin, a pizza peel and a pizza stone.  No, you probably don't need any of those things, but I find they make the process easy and improve the quality and flavor of the finished pizza.  If you do not have a pizza peel or stone, you can always pat the crust into some jelly roll pans (or cookie sheets) and bake them on the bottom rack, but you will get a crisper, more evenly baked crust with the stone.

For this pizza, I like a thin, crispy crust.  It's pretty simple to achieve this with a basic pizza dough recipe; more yeast and less oil yields a thicker, more bread-like crust, and less yeast and more oil will turn into a crispy, thin crust.

Working with yeast isn't as tricky as a lot of people tend to think it is, and that is especially true with a pizza crust.  With this recipe, we will "proof" the yeast before we add it to the dry ingredients so that there won't be any Oops My Yeast is Dead surprises.  We'll feed the yeast some honey while it hangs out in some warm water and when it foams, we'll know our yeast is happy and our crust will be awesome.  If it doesn't foam, you need to go buy some new yeast and throw the old yeast away.  There is really no need to check the temperature of the water with a thermometer - it just needs to be warm enough to not be too hot.  It should be between 90-105 degrees, so you should be able to put your fingers in the water without needing to pull them back out right away, and it should be warmer than your hand.

The dough recipe makes enough for two 12-14 inch pizzas.  You can either use it all  now, or freeze half; after the rise, form half of the dough into a ball, wrap it well in plastic wrap and freeze.  Thaw when ready to use.

For the dough:
2 cups unbleached white flour
1 cup whole wheat flour
1 tsp kosher salt
2 Tbs olive oil, divided
1 1/2 tsp active dry yeast
1 tsp raw honey
1 cup warm water (about 90-105 degrees)

Pour the water into a 2 cup (or larger) measuring cup.  Quickly stir in the honey and yeast, breaking up any clumps of yeast.  Set aside to rest for about 3-5 minutes, or until there is anywhere from 1/4 inch to 1/2 inch of froth on top.  It will look like this when it is ready:

Meanwhile, insert the blade (the dough blade is ideal, if you have one) into the food processor.  Place the flours, salt and 1 Tbs olive oil into your food processor.  Give it a few pulses to mix.  When your yeast and water are ready to go, turn your processor on "dough" speed and slowly pour the yeast mixture through the tube.  If the flour looks a little dry, add some more water by tablespoons full until it catches and creates a ball.  Let the ball whirl around in there for about 30 seconds (this the "kneading" part we are able to skip by letting the food processor do it for us).

Place the remaining 1 Tbs olive oil in a large bowl.  Remove the dough (it will be sticky) and place it in the bowl, turning to coat in the oil.  Cover with plastic wrap (or even a clean towel) and set aside to rise for about 45 minutes while you get the rest of your pizza ingredients together.

Spinach and Feta Thin Crust Pizza
makes one 12 - 14 inch pizza

2 Tbs olive oil
2 Tbs minced garlic
1/2 tsp crushed red pepper flakes
1/2 c shredded Provolone cheese
3 c chopped fresh spinach
 5 or 6 sun dried tomatoes, thinly sliced
1/4 c thinly sliced red onions
a handful of pitted olives, chopped or sliced
1/4 c shredded fresh Mozzarella cheese
3 oz Feta cheese, crumbled
Grated Asiago or Parmesan
1/2 recipe thin crust pizza dough (above)
Cornmeal for dusting the peel

Preheat oven (with stone) to 500F. *If you are not using a stone, lightly oil two jelly roll pans or pizza pans and adjust your oven racks to the lowest level.

Dust your pizza peel generously with cornmeal. Divide the dough in half (decide if you will be making two pizzas - if not, wrap the other half of the dough in plastic wrap and freeze or refrigerate).  With a floured rolling pin, roll out the dough directly on the pizza peel into a 12-14" inch round.  *If using pans, either roll it out or pat it into the prepared pans.

Using a pastry brush, evenly brush the olive oil over the whole crust.  Sprinkle with the minced garlic, crushed red pepper flakes, and provolone.  Top with spinach, tomatoes, onions, olives, Mozzarella, Feta, and grated Asiago or Parmesan.

Slide onto the pizza stone and bake for about 10 minutes, or until the crust is crisp and the cheese is just beginning to lightly brown. *If using pans, place them on the bottom rack and continue as directed for baking time.