When you live alone in a condo, space is of importance: I try not to have too many kitchen appliances. The ones that I do have, I try to use to make sure they earn their keep {I'm talking about my ice cream maker and panini maker.}
My other favorite appliance is a dual blender and food processor. I bought it over five years ago because my mom told me to. Guess what? She was right: I love it. I can use it to make hummus, blend soups, crush ice, etc. Alas, over time, the mini food processor bowl started to show wear and tear. Plus, sometimes I wanted to make a recipe that would feed more than just me.
When I got a chance to receive and review
KitchenAid's
Food Processor, I was thrilled. I thought it'd be the answer to my needs. Not only does it have a large 13-cup capacity work bowl, but it also comes with a smaller 10-cup capacity bowl.
This past Sunday I decided to put the KitchenAid food processor through a test in my kitchen and use both of its bowls and two of its blades. But what to make!? I remembered I had a whole wheat pizza dough in the freezer and decided to come up with a recipe for
Potato Pesto Pizza (say that ten times!).
Before I get to the recipe, here are my thoughts on the food processor {you can read the
manufacturer's specifics yourself}
- Unless you assemble your KitchenAid food processor properly, it will not work. Trust me, this is for your own good! Despite having two parents who are engineers, I hate reading directions. So it took me a few times before I figured out exactly how all the pieces fit.
- You can control how thick or thin you want to slice your vegetables by a leaver on the front of the machine. Brilliant!
- This food processor is surprisingly quiet.
- I love that all the blades come in a container that hold them safely and neatly.
- I LOVE the shiny bright red color.
- I used both the large and the small bowl, the shredding and the slicing disk and the chopping blade and found all of them to be efficient!
- I can't wait to make more recipes using my new toy. Thank you, KitchenAid!
And now, it's time for Potato Pesto Pizza!
Potato Pesto Pizza
Ingredients
1 wholewheat pizza dough
3 hand fulls arugula
2 hand fulls spinach
1/4 cup oil
1/4 cup pine nuts
1 garlic clove
1/4-1/3 cup shredded Parmesan {I shredded mine in the food processor}
2 cups sliced potatoes, parboiled in salted water {make sure not to overcook them}
1/4 red onion, sliced
drizzle of olive oil
red pepper flakes, to taste
Directions
1. Preheat the oven to 425.
2. Make pesto in your food processor by combining arugula, spinach, oil, pine nuts, garlic and Parmesan. Season with salt & pepper.
***check out the nice slices of potatoes and onions!***
3. Oil a cookie sheet and stretch your pizza dough into the shape you desire. I used a rectangle.
4. Spread the dough with your arugula/spinach pesto {you will have some left over!}, then add parboiled potatoes and red onions.
5. Drizzle the vegetables with oil and sprinkle with red pepper flakes.
6. Bake for about 40 minutes.
Because I parboiled the potatoes, they were completely tender. The pizza crust turned out crispy and the onions were nicely caramelized.
I sliced the pizza into squares and have enjoyed it for dinner reheated in a cast iron skillet and also for breakfast COLD!
Other things you can add: more Parmesan cheese on top (or try feta), sundried tomatoes, roasted peppers or olives. This is just a template for you to follow.
What's not to love about this carb-loaded pizza?
Disclaimer: KitchenAid sent me this food processor for a review. I was not compensated in any other way and not under any contract to write about it. All opinions are my own.