Summer Pizza

I have had various versions of this dip/spread at parties over the past several years, some with seafood sauce (contains no actual seafood!), some with salsa.  This one is mostly based on a recipe I got from my mum, minus the shrimp because we prefer it without.  It’s always a crowd pleaser.  It looks like unbaked pizza, hence the name.

• 1 brick cream cheese, softened
• ¼ to 1/3 c mayonnaise
• 1 small jar tangy seafood sauce
• ½ red pepper, chopped
• ½ green pepper, chopped
• 3 green onions, chopped
• 1 roma tomato, seeded and chopped
• mozzarella cheese, grated

Mix the cream cheese well with the mayonnaise, and spread over a large quiche pan or plate (at least 10” diameter).  I have Corningware quiche pan with a lid that works well for this.  Although the dip is not as attractive once it’s been squished down by the lid, it doesn’t make it more portable.

Spread the seafood sauce over the cream cheese base, and layer veggies over top.  Spread mozzarella over top.

Serve cold, with crackers or baguette.  It is quite salty, so crackers with less salt might be a good option, although salty rice crackers taste great with it.

Creamy Dill Sauce on Salmon Ravioli with Asparagus

Every once in a while my husband buys some bizarre food item on a whim.  When he brought home smoked salmon and ricotta filled ravioli, I was at a loss as to what to do with it.  He suggested cream sauce, and, faced with a twenty minute time crunch to get dinner on the table this is what I came up with.  It was amazingly good, and I’m going to make it again.  If you can’t get high quality filled pasta such as my local Parma Ravioli sells, you might want to jazz up your sauce a bit with the addition of some capers and dijon mustard.

• 1 brick cream cheese
• 1 ½ tsp dried dill or 2 tbsp fresh
• 1 tsp lemon zest or ¾ tsp lemon extract
• ¾ c milk
• optional:  ½ tsp salt
• bunch fresh asparagus
• 500 g salmon and ricotta ravioli

Put water on for the ravioli in a big pot.

Meanwhile, melt the cheese in a medium pot.  Stir in the dill and lemon.  Stir in the milk, starting with just a bit or it is hard to make it smooth.  Add salt if desired.  Let it heat while you cook the pasta.

When the pasta is almost done, steam the asparagus for just a few minutes in the same pot.

Makes 4 servings.