Another reason this is a hit is because this recipe gives restaurant quality flare. I’ve been to several restaurants where they have a burrata appetizer with an assortment of veggies or fruits. This one is different and something guests probably aren’t expecting at a home cookout! The fennel and onion because sweet, charred and tender on the grill and it’s truly the most delicious combination with the creamy, tangy burrata. Pair it with sweet cherry tomatoes, balsamic glaze and salty capers and you have a flavorful masterpiece.

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Not going to lie to you, I impulsively served this with honey mustard ranch. I just randomly decided “lets mix all this together because I have a bottle of ranch right next to me” but you don’t have to serve it with this! Ketchup, mustard, plain honey mustard, plain ranch or ketchup/mayo works great! Live your truth!

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This recipe is gluten-free because I used cassava flour as my binder, but if you are not gluten intolerant and don’t want to buy cassava flour, feel free to use all purpose flour!

Not into traditional frying? You can spritz these with nonstick spray and air fry them for 15-20 minutes at 375 F.

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When I was developing this recipe, I could never put my finger on *why* I love this focaccia. It’s one of those things that I can’t stop eating whenever it’s in front of me, but I can’t figure out which part of it is my favorite. Is it the nutty, spongy dough that’s soaked in floral olive oil? Is it that combination of pumpkin seeds, shallots and herbs WITH the dough? Is it the sea salt on top? WHY do I love this so much?!?! I still don’t know the answer, but maybe you can figure it out for me.

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Before I get to the steps so you can make this yourself, I want to highlight that this pumpkin focaccia would be a very impressive and seasonal side dish at a dinner party, Friendsgiving or Thanksgiving. It’s a BREAD for god’s sake…so making that from scratch and making something no one has ever had before  is impressive x 92103802384 (as long as your friends are the type to appreciate a fun dining experience.) Along with being an impressive side, it’s also a great bread to make for the week. I prep this on Sunday night, and then I eat a piece with some fried eggs for lunch. Or I have a slice with olive oil as a snack.

What type of olive oil did you use?

When making focaccia, it’s important to use a flavorful extra virgin olive oil. When I say flavorful, I really mean great quality cold pressed olive oil that naturally has flavor. I’m not talking about infused olive oil or anything of that nature. The brand of olive oil I used is California Extra Virgin Olive Oil.

Can I make this on a thin sheet pan instead of a casserole dish?

Yes, you can but I don’t think you should. In my opinion, a thicker pan is best for the texture/flavor of this particular focaccia. I tried a thin, crunchy version and it didn’t hit the same. I’m not sure why, but that’s my personal opinion.

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Homemade dough is a labor of love, whether it’s croissant dough or puff pastry, which I use for this recipe. I’m not a professional pastry chef, so I am leaving the dough to the professionals for this recipe. All you need is some thawed puff pastry sheets- I used DuFour Puff Pastry, you can find it on Amazon or at Whole Foods! You also need a mason jar, drinking glass or biscuit cutter to cut the dough into circles, an air fryer or oven (anything you can do in an air fryer, you can do in an oven!), powdered sugar, and some raspberry jam. The whole process takes 30 minutes or less and you’ll be enjoying warm, flaky cronuts. If you’re a visual learner like me, feel free to check out the reel I posted on Instagram for a quick 30 second tutorial on how to make these!! 

 

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Here are just a few occasions where cronuts will absolutely slay. Showing up with a plate of cronuts is a sure fire way to make friends (speaking from experience!) Breakfast with friends. Neighborhood BBQ or gathering. Baby shower. Bridal shower. Birthday party. Self soothing Sunday morning where you need something sweet and delicious. Literally any time that you’re craving something easy and delicious – you can just make one at a time!

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These summer rolls are a play on the traditional Vietnamese spring roll (Gỏi cuốn.) Typically, the Vietnamese spring rolls consist of vermicelli rice noodles, shrimp or pork, veggies and herbs wrapped in super thin rice paper dough. The wrapper is usually thin and soft (if you’ve ever had a rice roll at dim sum, it’s similar to that.)  In other Asian cultures, spring rolls can be fried and crunchy, but in Vietnam they are soft like dumplings. Even within Vietnam, the summer roll has a bunch of different names, depending on what region you’re in. 

These veggie summer rolls came about because I wanted a healthy snack /meal to have on hand throughout the week. My husband and I have been so busy with construction and work, it hasn’t left much time for a well thought out snack, which leads to us grabbing the sugary protein bars to tide us over. After a few too many days of that and me asking myself “how much chocolate is it acceptable to eat in a week?,” it got me thinking… I wish there was a convenient snack that was packed with veggies but didn’t taste like …well … grass! And thus these summer rolls were created. I like to make a bunch and keep them in the fridge with a little dipping sauce. They are super easy for grab n go, plus they are absolutely full of veggies (and vegan friendly!).

These will keep in the fridge for about 4 days, so add them to your weekly meal prep day and store them in a sealed container, un-cut and with just a little space in between each roll (so they don’t stick). All the veggies included are for my own taste, but you can totally make these your own! If you don’t like some of the veggies I included, skip them or substitute them for one you do like. You can also add some fresh mango if you have it, and add or substitute mint leaves or basil for cilantro. If you are cutting and using all fresh veggies, the most time consuming part is just the washing and chopping, but it’s pretty quick and easy. If you buy pre-cut veggies or leave some out, your prep time will be even less. It is important to use fresh veggies here, though- if you’ve got some in your fridge that are about to expire.. this isn’t the right dish for those. Opt for a stir fry instead.

Summer rolls and spring rolls are traditionally served with a peanut or a hoisin sauce, but I went a little different direction with this lemongrass sauce. Trust me, it is SO good. Obviously if you don’t like lemongrass, feel free to use a peanut or hoisin based sauce. Or, you can add creamy peanut butter to this lemongrass sauce for the ultimate flavor party. 

Let’s talk about Lemongrass for a second. If you’ve never seen or cooked with lemongrass before, it can be intimidating. It’s this long, yellowish green stalk with tough, fibrous layers on the outside, and delicious smelling lemony goodness on the inside. In the grocery store, you’ll find it near the ginger and peppers. To cook with it, start by peeling away the first two layers of that really tough skin to expose the softer interior. You really only use the middle portion of the stalk, so cut away about an inch off the bottom, and a couple of inches of the thin flimsy part of the stalk. After that, cut it like you would a scallion and mince it up. Don’t throw away the ends though- we are gonna soak those in the sauce for even more flavor! 

Just a reminder that this recipe is vegan friendly and gluten-free, but a lot of the ingredients in both the roll and the sauce can be flexible and adjusted to your preferences. Double check the packaging on your wrappers to make sure they’re certified gluten free

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This recipe was born like a lot of my other recipes: because I had the ingredients lying around and I wanted to make something fun with them. What’s great about this tart is that it’s its “own thing,” meaning it’s *similar* but different enough than pizza, and it’s *similar* but way more decadent than a simple Caprese salad. It’s crusty, buttery, cheesy, hearty, refreshing, herby, next-level and oh, so special.

What is Caprese?

If you aren’t familiar with Caprese and you’r reading this like “wtf?” let me give you the rundown on my favorite salad made of cheese. Caprese stems from Insalata Caprese which means Capri salad in Italian. It’s a traditional summer salad said to come from the island of Capri. Italians enjoy it as a simple side dish made with fresh tomatoes, sweet basil, and mozzarella, drizzled with balsamic vinegar. It features the colors of the Italian flag and can also be made as a pizza, pasta, or a sandwich. The fact the Italians categorize Caprese as a salad is extremely important to me because it debunks the myth that salads have to have lettuce, or that salads can’t have cheese. I love you, Italy. I really do. Thanks for being you.

Let’s talk about this Parmesan Crust…

The parmesan crust that I make in this recipe is a traditional pie crust infused with shredded aged parmesan. I recommend grating your own cheese because you get a finer consistency and much better quality taste and aroma. I do want to note that it’s important to use a food processor for this step for it to easily turn out perfect. If you don’t have one, you can also make a perfect crust, but it will require the pinching method, where you meticulously pinch the butter into the layers of flour as if you were making a pie crust. This is also called “cutting the butter into the flour.”

Sounds amazing, but an I use pre-made pie crust?

If making the crust isn’t sounding fun to you…do not fret. You can use regular old store-bought pie crust.  A pre-made pie crust isn’t going to have as many flaky layers, but using one doesn’t hurt if you want to save time. You can also top it with Parmesan before the first baking stage to achieve a similar Parmesan-infused quality that the homemade crust will give you.

Why do I have to bake the tart crust before adding the filling?

This probably wasn’t a question you were wondering, but I wanted to throw it in here because this step is important!!! The reason we bake the crust before filling it is because it can get very soggy when adding the tomatoes (which have a ton of water.) Something else that’s important during this step is to weigh down the center of the crust so that it doesn’t rise. Lots of people use pie weights for a purpose like this, but I just used dried chickpeas. You can use weights or really any dried legume on top of parchment paper. If you do use dried legumes, you can store or reuse them as pie weights later on…but don’t try and eat them because they will probably taste weird.

Can I make this tart with other toppings?

YESSSS. If you don’t vibe with Caprese, here’s another favorite of mine. Add tomatoes with balsamic, gruyère and caramelized onions. You can make this 100% French or make the Italian spin that I did. Another option is prosciutto with figs and salted honey….brie…. oh jeez…literally anything that goes with Parmesan, honestly.

I don’t have a tart pan, can I use something else?

I didn’t have one either! I used a sheet pan and made a rustic-style flat crust with larger edges. I just rolled it out and shaped it into this giant rectangle toaster streudel looking thing. But you can make it any shape that your heart desires so long as you bake it before you put the filling in. No one likes soggy tarts.

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Partnership or not, this is a super easy appetizer, lunch or snack option that I would definitely be enjoying no matter what! Portofino Tuna is simple, smooth and elegant. They have Italian style tuna (yellowfin or albacore) which is hand selected, then canned with extra virgin olive oil and sea salt. Their products are high quality and extremely accessible. I always have a few cans in my pantry for salads, bowls or …you guessed it…toasts!! Or melts! Can’t forget the beloved tuna melt while we are here.

This recipe incorporates garlic confit, which I’m linking my recipe to here. If you don’t have the time or energy to make garlic confit, don’t worry!! You can just roast some garlic or cook in a pan until fragrant and soft and use that instead. The only thing I would steer clear from is using raw garlic because that can be really harsh and mess with your stomach.

This recipe can be whatever you want it to be. Don’t want to make pesto? Use pre-made pesto or chopped basil. Don’t have cherry tomatoes? Cook some canned crushed tomatoes in a skillet and spread on top of the bread? Can’t find sourdough? Use whatever bread YOU like! It’s really that easy! The important thing here is that you are using high quality tuna. You know I’m going to tell you to go buy Portofino Tuna because I genuinely believe it’s a superior high quality Italian style tuna brand that elevates any dish.

By the way, you can find Portofino Tuna on Amazon or click here to find where it’s available in stores.

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These buffalo chicken poppers (named coined by all of you – thank you!) are like a hybrid between a juicy chicken meatball and a chicken nugget. They’re made with a ground chicken mixture: cream cheese, buffalo sauce, celery and scallions, plus spices and aromatics. Then, we add gluten-free bread crumbs to the mixture to hold it together, and coat the nuggets in gluten-free bread crumbs for the ultimate crunch. The only difference between nuggets and meatballs in this case is the shape, so if you want to serve them as meatballs on skewers instead, be my guest!

Want to jazz it up even more? Add everything seasoning to your bread crumb mixture for extra crunch and flavor. You know I love my everything seasoning, so I didn’t want to go on overkill with the seasoning for Instagram purposes…but I do have to say that I love these with everything seasoning.

I know this may seem obvious, but when making this recipe, please make sure that the cream cheese, buffalo sauce and bread crumbs you are using are certified gluten-free!

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Serve this dip with crackers (I love to enjoy with Cheez-Its for an extra WOW factor,) tortilla chips, pita chips, baguette, crostini, pickles… the world is your oyster.

 

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