Cinque White "Pizza" + Giveaway

ENTER THE LUCINI ITALIA GIVEAWAY TODAY!

Yesterday marked the first football Sunday of the season so Shaun and I spent the afternoon couch-bound watching my beloved Giants. Not only do football Sundays signal the beginnings of autumn and constant Sunday lounging, but it also marks our weekly smorgasbord of Game Day Eats. We often try to come up with fun and delicious dishes to mark the occasion each week, and the kick off of the season was no different.

When Lucini Italia was sweet enough to send some product samples over to TAA, I couldn’t wait to get to work on cooking up a fresh recipe for our football spread. Makers of gourmet, packaged Italian goods, Lucini Italia sent over olive oils, viniagrettes, sauces and their new product, Cinque e Cinque, an all natural and easy-to-bake up fritatta mix made from chickpea flour. Used in sweet and savory dishes, Cinque can be cooked up into a healthy alternative for tarts, flatbread, pizza and more. Since I'm all about finding white flour alternatives, for this game day I decided to make a deep dish pizza with the Rosemary Cinque e Cinque for a filling and healthy football snack. Oh, and as a bonus for all of you readers, Lucini is sponsoring today’s Giveaway by offering one lucky reader a prize pack of Lucini goods!

• 1 of each Cinque e’ Cinque (Traditional, Savory Rosemary, Fiery Chili)
• 1 of each Pouch Sauce (Rustic Tomato Basil, Spicy Tuscan Tomato, Tuscan Marinara with Roasted Garlic)
• 1 Lucini Premium Select Extra Virgin Olive OIl
• 1 Pizza Sauce
• 1 Fig & Walnut Savory Balsamic Artisan Vinaigrette

To enter to win, answer this simple question in the comments:

What is your favorite Italian dish or ingredient?

and check out how I made a delicious deep dish white pizza...

Cinque Deep Dish White ‘Pizza’
1 pkg Lucini Cinque e Cinque, I used the Rosemary variety
3 C water
3 tbsp extra virgin olive oil, plus more for greasing pan
1 C part skim ricotta
1 egg white
2 1/2 tsp kosher salt, divided
1 tsp dried parsley
1/4 tsp garlic powder
mozzerella cheese, shredded
parmesean cheese, grated
1/2 C fresh basil

Preheat your oven to 500 degrees. In a 9" cast iron skillet, baking dish or stainless steel pan with high edges, coat the bottom and sides of the pan with a bit of olive oil, using a silicon brush to spread it around.

Heat the pan in the oven for 5 minutes and remove from oven. Meanwhile, whisk together the package of Cinque e Cinque, 2 tsp salt, water and olive oil until there are no lumps. This will require a bit of elbow grease to get 'er done. Pour mixture into the heated pan. For a thin, crispy crust, just coat the bottom of the pan. For a deep dish, quiche-like crust, pour the entire contents into the pan (this is what I did).

For thin crust, return to oven and cook for 10 minutes. For the thicker crust, I cooked it for almost 30 minutes to get it nice and firm. The original recipe says it requires only 12 minutes, so I'd check it at this point and just keep cooking to your liking. Meanwhile, in a small mixing bowl, combine ricotta, parsley, 1/2 tsp salt, egg white and garlic powder with a rubber spatula until light and fluffy.

Remove Cinque from oven when desired firmness is reached and spread ricotta mixture on top. Next, layer on the mozzarella cheese, chopped basil and parmesean. 

Return to oven for about 10 minutes until the top is golden and bubbly. Mmmmm.

Slice like a pizza and devour immediately.

Now, I will tell you that this is not your typical pizza. The 'crust' is less like traditional pizza dough and more like a firm quiche. But the absence of white flour makes this super healthy while the rosemary adds the perfect amount of flavor. Oh, and the ricotta-mozzarella topping is just the icing on the cake, if you will. And your kitchen will smell outta this world delicious.

So there you have it - the story of how I turned a healthy frittata mixture into a delicious pizza, worth of Game Day. And now it's your turn! Enter the Lucini Giveaway for a chance to win some yummy, gourmet Italian eats between now and Thursday 9/16 at noon! Just answer the question mentioned above:

What is your favorite Italian dish or ingredient?

Note: Winners will be announced on Friday morning, 9/17 and will be chosen at random.

Game Day Eats: Ultimate Pizza Dip

You may or may not know about my fascination with pizza. From Pizza Fridays at work to ordering it once a week for dinner (though still searching for the perfect slice in Hoboken or Jersey City... recommendations welcome!) it seems like that would be enough. That is until I stumbled upon a life-changing recipe. This recipe has become a serious staple on our weekly football-watching Sundays and it's sure to make a major appearance on Superbowl Sunday. It's the Ultimate Pizza Dip - delicious and a crowd-pleaser to boot.

Ultimate Pizza Dip

1 pkg cream cheese (I use 1/3 less fat)

1 8oz can Red Pack tomato sauce

1 medium onion, diced

Mozzarella cheese, shredded

Pepperoni (I use the turkey kind)

Black olives (if you'd like)

Dried oregano & basil

Tostitos

Preheat oven to 350 degrees

Spread cream cheese in bottom of 9 inch pie plate

Pour tomato sauce over cream cheese

Sprinkle with basil & oregano (to your taste)

Sprinkle diced onion over seasoned sauce layer

Sprinkle cheese over top (generously!!)

Add whole pepperoni slices and black olives(if using...I didn't) on top

Bake for 20-25 minutes uncovered until cheese is brown and bubbly and looks like this...

Serve with Tostitos.

*For another twist add bell peppers or red pepper flakes

So what do you think? What are you doing, and subsequently eating, on Superbowl Sunday?

If you missed Part I of Game Day Eats, check out Roasted Garlic and Goat Cheese Crostini.