Egg Roll Wrappers

After working all day, I traveled to three stores last night to find egg roll wrappers. Who would’ve thought they’d be so hard to find! Eventually, I gave up. Instead, I looked up the ingredients of egg roll wrappers and set my sights on making it happen in my kitchen. And it happened. And I’ll never buy them again because these were just too easy. I noticed they didn’t crisp up quite the same, but it’s easily fixed with a quick bake in the oven after frying them or tossing them in a dry skillet to “toast” them once they’re done. But, in all reality, I just ate them as is and didn’t miss the super crisp bite. It was crispy enough for me. 😉

Ingredients:
2 1/4 c flour
1/2 ice cold water
1 t. salt
1 large egg, beaten

Mix all ingredients in a large bowl until combined. Cover and let rest for up to an hour. Turn out onto a floured surface and knead for about 3 minutes, adding flour to the workspace if needed. The dough should be soft, pliable, and have good elasticity but not too sticky. Cut the dough into 12 equal(ish) pieces. Do the best you can, but there’s no need to bust out the scale here.

Use your fingers to gently flatten the dough, and then using a floured rolling pin, roll out the dough into a very thin piece. Mine had no actual shape to them. I started with wanting them square, then moved to circle, then just wanted them thin enough to do what they had to do.

Use wax paper or parchment paper to separate them as you make them (don’t be like me). You definitely don’t want to stack the raw egg rolls on top of each other. When I was ready to fill them, I pulled the edges a bit to restretch the dough… think of what it looks like when someone is working a pizza dough. Fill them with your desired filling (I’ll post one soon). Once I have my filling in there, I fold the sides in and roll it up. I use a bit of egg to seal the dough on the seam.

Warm a cast-iron skillet that’s filled about halfway with vegetable oil over medium heat. Cook the egg rolls for about 3 minutes or until the desired color, turning often.

Enjoy!

Skillet Gnocchi with Brussels Sprouts

We’ve talked before about how we can roast gnocchi instead of boiling it – you can see the recipe for Roasted Veggies and Gnocchi here.

Did you know you can also cook shelf stable gnocchi in a skillet? You can, and I’m going to show you how. 😉

First, you pour your favorite wine into your favorite wine glass.

Ingredients:
10 oz shaved brussels sprouts
500 g shelf stable gnocchi, uncooked
Zest from 1 lemon
4 T butter (in 1 T pats)
Olive Oil
Kosher salt
Pepper
Red pepper flakes
3/4 c shredded parmesan cheese

Heat a large skillet over medium-low heat. Drizzle about a tablespoon of olive oil into the pan and add the brussels sprouts. Sprinkle with about a teaspoon of kosher salt and cook for 5-7 minutes, stirring often. Add 1/2 the lemon zest and cook for another 5 minutes or until done. Remove to plate.

Into the same skillet, add another drizzle-1 tablespoon olive oil and add gnocchi in a single layer. Cook for 3-4 minutes without stirring. Continue cooking, stirring often until soft and golden on all sides. Add butter the skillet (separate it through the pan, though, don’t drop it all in one spot. 😉 ) and allow it to cook down until it’s browned and smells a bit nutty.

Add brussels sprouts back to skillet, add salt and pepper to taste. To serve, top with red pepper flakes, lemon zest, and fresh parmesan. Enjoy!

Buttered Peach Ricotta Toast

What a perfect start to my Saturday — after the coffee, of course.

What you’ll need:
Greek Style Pita (no pocket)
Ricotta Cheese
Peach, sliced
Butter (about 1/3 stick)
Cinnamon
Blueberries
Almonds
Turbinado sugar

What you do:
Melt butter in a large skillet over medium low heat, add sliced peaches. Cook, turning gently for a couple minutes, then add a generous sprinkle of cinnamon. Cook for another couple minutes. Remove to plate.

Add pita to skillet and toast on both sides in the cinnamon butter beautifulness happening, and remove to plate. Smother as much ricotta as you like – I used about 1/2 a cup, layer peach slices, add almonds, and drizzle with remaining butter on the peach plate. Sprinkle with turbinado sugar. Enjoy!

Pizza Egg Rolls

So, I tried the time-lapsed video option with this recipe. Well, let’s just say I’ve not yet mastered that skill. In fact, I’ve not even noticed it. 😉 Feel free to check it out here. It’s okay if you laugh. I certainly did! 

If you’re looking for a super easy weeknight dinner that the toddlers – adults in the house can help make, this is the one. And there are, literally, hundreds of combinations. I have a finicky six-year-old, at least when it comes to pizza, in the house: cheese, pepperoni. Please and thank you, that’ll be all. There’s also, quite possible, a string cheese obsession in full force here. Maybe you know something about it. Maybe not. Anyway, this quick pull together snack makes everyone happy.

Ingredients:
Egg roll wrappers
Mozzarella string cheese, unwrapped please. 😉
Pepperoni
Vegetable oil

For the sauce:
6 oz can of tomato paste
Italian seasoning
Red pepper flakes
Sugar
Salt

Set up a bit of an assembly line – apparently, that’s something I like around here, it must be my history with Ford Motor Co. I had the cheese and pepperoni on the same plate. Position your egg roll wrappers on a diagonal with one corner pointed toward you. A small bow of water to help wet the egg rolls can go wherever it makes sense for you.

Place 5 pepperoni in the middle-ish, a bit closer to you than directly in the center. Add a cheese stick, roll the corner closest to your body over the pepperoni and cheese. Fold in the sides toward the center, and roll away from you until there’s about an inch on the wrapper left. Dip your fingers in the water and wet the corner, finish wrapping, set aside on a plate, and finish wrapping the rest.

Heat about an inch of oil in a large skillet over medium heat, and cook for 1-2 minutes on each side. Similar to the first pancake, don’t expect great color on your first try. It’ll take some practice to know what heat is best for your pans and your stove. Drain on a paper towel covered plate.

While the egg rolls are cooking, mix up a quick and easy sauce to serve with them, though, eating them alone is totally okay, too! Add a can of tomato paste to a small saucepan. How you season it is also really customizable, this is just a quick and easy version. Add about a tablespoon Italian seasoning, 1/2 t red pepper flakes, and don’t be shy with the salt – tomato past really needs the salt! Add about 2 tsp to start. I also add about a teaspoon of sugar just to help balance the acidity. Mix in about 1/2 c water and heat through. If it’s still too thick, add more water, taste, adjust, taste, stir. You probably need more salt; go ahead and add it. (did you know that most home chefs get sent home from cooking competitions for undersalted/underseasoned foods?). Serve alongside the pizza egg rolls! Enjoy!