rolling one half into a 10-inch circle on a lightly floured surface. Place the dough onto a pizza pan or a pizza peel that will be used to slide the dough onto the hot pizza stone. Be sure to flour the pan or pizza peel liberally with flour so that the assembled pizza will slide off easily.
8. Spray the pizza dough with a generous amount of olive oil spray. Spoon 3 to 4 tablespoons of sauce onto the dough, followed by I cup of shredded mozzarella. Sprinkle I cup of diced chicken on next, followed by ¼ cup of the cooked bacon. Sprinkle 2 tablespoons of diced roasted red bell pepper and 2 tablespoons of diced roasted yellow bell pepper on the pizza. Sprinkle ¼ cup of thinly sliced onion on next, followed by just a couple tablespoons of additional mozzarella. Slide the pizza onto the pizza stone and bake for 9 to 10 minutes or until the cheese and crust begins to brown. Remove from the oven and sprinkle with 1 tablespoon chopped green onion.
9. Slice pizza into 8 pieces and serve. Repeat for remaining pizza.
• MAKES 2 PIZZAS, 8 SLICES EACH.
CARRABBA’S BREAD DIPPING BLEND
When you sit down for Italian-style grub at one of the more than 168 nationwide Carrabba’s restaurants, you’re first served a small plate with a little pile of herbs and spices in the middle to which the waiter adds olive oil. Now you’re set up to dip your sliced bread in the freshly flavored oil. To craft a version of this tasty blend at home you’ll need a coffee bean grinder or a small food processor to finely chop the ingredients.
1 tablespoon minced fresh basil
I tablespoon chopped fresh parsley
I tablespoon minced fresh garlic
I teaspoon dried thyme
I teaspoon dried oregano
I teaspoon ground black pepper
(freshly ground is best)
½ teaspoon minced fresh rosemary
½ teaspoon ground sea salt or
kosher salt
¼ teaspoon crushed red pepper
½ teaspoon olive oil
⅛ teaspoon fresh lemon juice
1. Combine all the ingredients, except oil and lemon juice in a small food processor or coffee bean grinder Chop briefly until all ingredients are about the same size.
2. Stir in oil and lemon juice.
3. To serve, combine about 1 teaspoon blend to 3 to 4 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil on a small dish. Dip sliced bread in mixture.
• MAKES ABOUT ¼ CUP BLEND.
CARRABBA’S HOUSE SALAD DRESSING (CREAMY PARMESAN)
When Johnny Carrabba and his uncle Damian Mandola opened the first Carrabba’s restaurant in 1986, they used a collection of their own traditional family recipes to craft a terrific Italian menu. You’ll even find the names of friends and family in several of those dishes including Polio Rosa Maria, Chicken Bryan, Scampi Damian and Insalata Johnny Rocco. Now we can easily re-create the taste of the delicious dressing that’s tossed into the salad served before each Carrabba’s entree. And we need only six ingredients. For the grated Parmesan cheese, go ahead and use the stuff made by Kraft that comes in the green shaker canisters. And if you don’t have any buttermilk, you can substitute regular milk. Since it’s so thick, this dressing is best when tossed into your salad before serving it, just like the real thing.
½ cup mayonnaise
¼ cup grated Parmesan cheese
¼ cup buttermilk
1½ teaspoons minced garlic
½ teaspoon minced fresh parsley
½ teaspoon lemon juice
Whisk together all ingredients in a small bowl.
• MAKES I CUP.
CARRABBA’S CHICKEN MARSALA
MENU DESCRIPTION: “Fire-roosted chicken breast topped with mushrooms, prosciutto and our Florio Marsala wine sauce.”
To reverse-engineer this big-time favorite entree, I ordered the dish to go, with the sauce on the side, so that I could separately analyze each component. After some trial and error in the underground lab, I found that recreating the secret sauce from scratch is easy enough with a couple small cans of sliced mushrooms, a bit of prosciutto, some Marsala wine, shallots, garlic and a few other good things. Cooking the chicken
8. Spray the pizza dough with a generous amount of olive oil spray. Spoon 3 to 4 tablespoons of sauce onto the dough, followed by I cup of shredded mozzarella. Sprinkle I cup of diced chicken on next, followed by ¼ cup of the cooked bacon. Sprinkle 2 tablespoons of diced roasted red bell pepper and 2 tablespoons of diced roasted yellow bell pepper on the pizza. Sprinkle ¼ cup of thinly sliced onion on next, followed by just a couple tablespoons of additional mozzarella. Slide the pizza onto the pizza stone and bake for 9 to 10 minutes or until the cheese and crust begins to brown. Remove from the oven and sprinkle with 1 tablespoon chopped green onion.
9. Slice pizza into 8 pieces and serve. Repeat for remaining pizza.
• MAKES 2 PIZZAS, 8 SLICES EACH.
CARRABBA’S BREAD DIPPING BLEND
When you sit down for Italian-style grub at one of the more than 168 nationwide Carrabba’s restaurants, you’re first served a small plate with a little pile of herbs and spices in the middle to which the waiter adds olive oil. Now you’re set up to dip your sliced bread in the freshly flavored oil. To craft a version of this tasty blend at home you’ll need a coffee bean grinder or a small food processor to finely chop the ingredients.
1 tablespoon minced fresh basil
I tablespoon chopped fresh parsley
I tablespoon minced fresh garlic
I teaspoon dried thyme
I teaspoon dried oregano
I teaspoon ground black pepper
(freshly ground is best)
½ teaspoon minced fresh rosemary
½ teaspoon ground sea salt or
kosher salt
¼ teaspoon crushed red pepper
½ teaspoon olive oil
⅛ teaspoon fresh lemon juice
1. Combine all the ingredients, except oil and lemon juice in a small food processor or coffee bean grinder Chop briefly until all ingredients are about the same size.
2. Stir in oil and lemon juice.
3. To serve, combine about 1 teaspoon blend to 3 to 4 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil on a small dish. Dip sliced bread in mixture.
• MAKES ABOUT ¼ CUP BLEND.
CARRABBA’S HOUSE SALAD DRESSING (CREAMY PARMESAN)
When Johnny Carrabba and his uncle Damian Mandola opened the first Carrabba’s restaurant in 1986, they used a collection of their own traditional family recipes to craft a terrific Italian menu. You’ll even find the names of friends and family in several of those dishes including Polio Rosa Maria, Chicken Bryan, Scampi Damian and Insalata Johnny Rocco. Now we can easily re-create the taste of the delicious dressing that’s tossed into the salad served before each Carrabba’s entree. And we need only six ingredients. For the grated Parmesan cheese, go ahead and use the stuff made by Kraft that comes in the green shaker canisters. And if you don’t have any buttermilk, you can substitute regular milk. Since it’s so thick, this dressing is best when tossed into your salad before serving it, just like the real thing.
½ cup mayonnaise
¼ cup grated Parmesan cheese
¼ cup buttermilk
1½ teaspoons minced garlic
½ teaspoon minced fresh parsley
½ teaspoon lemon juice
Whisk together all ingredients in a small bowl.
• MAKES I CUP.
CARRABBA’S CHICKEN MARSALA
MENU DESCRIPTION: “Fire-roosted chicken breast topped with mushrooms, prosciutto and our Florio Marsala wine sauce.”
To reverse-engineer this big-time favorite entree, I ordered the dish to go, with the sauce on the side, so that I could separately analyze each component. After some trial and error in the underground lab, I found that recreating the secret sauce from scratch is easy enough with a couple small cans of sliced mushrooms, a bit of prosciutto, some Marsala wine, shallots, garlic and a few other good things. Cooking the chicken
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