Moroccan Lamb Tagine 

Celebrating Kitchen Gadgets In My Life, Especially My Latest, The Instant Pot ®

By Marilyn Michael

I’m not a person who embraces the latest kitchen gadgets. Don’t get me wrong, I enjoy things that are fun and make my life easier but, maybe it was growing up, I don’t remember my folks having a lot of gadgets. They used a cast iron skillet, an electric frying pan, a set of Revere Ware pots and sundry other pots and pans, some of the baking pans had dark stains from years of use. It was the era of Corelle® so we had a casserole or two. And, of course, Tupperware®, remember burping the lids, and those Tupperware® parties? Ah, the social life of the Middle Class in the 1950’s. There was the ubiquitous potato peeler and hand cranked can opener and remember those triangular coiled egg whisks? Our pancake turner handle was red and white and was a bit chipped from years of use. My folks both cooked but didn’t bake a lot so we just had a hand-held electric mixer. Their go-to desserts were pies, with huckleberry being the gold standard. The large kitchen knife had a natural well-used wood handle and was kept sharp by my Dad, something he’d learned to do growing up on a farm. 

Over the years with my enjoyment of attending estate sales here and there and a husband who loved to cook, we’ve accumulated a gadget or two. I figured that for the price you would pay at an estate sale, if we didn’t like/use it we could donate it. I keep myself stocked with a Krupp’s coffee grinders to use for spices in the Indian dishes I make, you often see them.  I tried a meat slicer but it turned out not used much and was donated. We’ve tried a couple mandolin type devices and liked one more than the other. I snagged a full sized Cuisinart Food Processor that amazingly, for the $8 I spent for it, has worked perfectly for years. A special friend bought me a Cuisinart Epica system perfect for smaller blending jobs like an onion or some whip cream. I found a smaller sized rice cooker that, surprisingly we used and enjoyed, especially after I discovered the tasty idea of cooking rice in coconut water.  After a discussion with a friend about my frustration with the cheapness of most coated electric frying pans, she suggested a stainless steel Faberware that she had used when cooking on a fishing boat in Alaska. She ultimately gifted me with one she had snagged at a second hand shop. I’ve loved using it from everything from soup to nuts (yeah, I do toast a nut or two sometimes). 

I’ve never been too happy with the boat’s electric oven, the heat was flaky. I treated myself to a Frigidaire® Toaster oven that was also a convection oven and love it so much that when the first one went out, I bought another just like it, this time with an extended warrantee. To try to get myself to drink more water I took the advice of a gal in my boating organization and bought a Soda Stream seltzer water machine. We like the seltzer water, and I do drink more, we’re not so fond of the flavorings you can use, although the lemonade is good.  And I’ve been inspired by my friend who loves to cook to use my crockpot regularly, often once a week. In fact, at a yard sale recently, I bought a smaller one to see which one I might use more. 

Finally I have to talk about the very large Mirro® pressure cooker I own and have lugged around since 1972. Yeah, the ancient era of the Whole Earth Catalog and whole food cooking, alternative radio stations and the emergence of aerobics. Newly married (my starter husband as a friend puts it) and a poor cook, I guess I had an inspiration that it might get me started on cooking as an adventure. It didn’t, but I did learn to make Mostaccioli, from a friend who grew up in large Italian family. It is kind of spaghetti sauce with penne noodles and cottage cheese. The addition of the cottage cheese in the meat sauce seemed exotic to me at the time. Mom had never thought of doing that. Anyway, I’ve used that pressure cooker over the years, maybe twice a year or so and was never afraid of it exploding. A while back we made a beef stew in it with my husband’s secret ingredient as part of the sauce, Bloody Mary Mix. The pressure cooking truly does infuse the flavor into the ingredients more intensely than even slow cooking. 

This brings me to the Instant Pot®, the latest addition to our kitchen gadgets. It’s been a ‘hot’ item for about a year, I guess. You hear about it all over the Internet and in a conversation here and there. Even though I was familiar with pressure cooking, I paid only limited attention. All the hype about sauté’, pressure cook, slow cook, etc. all in one seemed a bit too good to be true.  Then one day in an online newsletter I receive, www.frugallivingnw.com, I noticed that the normally $115. Instant Pot® could be had for about $53 at Fred Meyer with their discount and some coupons. At that price, I thought, I wouldn’t feel so guilty if I didn’t really take to it. And, if I liked it, it was ideal for the boat because I could get rid of my slow cookers, and rice cooker and depend less on my electric frying pan for sautéing, saving dishes to wash. 

I’m in love! I have, truthfully, used it every day since I’ve had it. I’ve made Frittatas for breakfasts from left over ingredients like creamed spinach, portabellas, ham, cheddar, tomatoes, a shallot, Cavander’s brand Greek Seasoning Salt…sooo tasty and healthier, no frying. I’ve made Moroccan Lamb Tagine (a recipe inspired by the cookbook that came with the pot). It had an amazing taste from ingredients like ginger, cinnamon, turmeric, cumin and garlic rubbed with olive oil into the meat, then the added beef broth, onions and honey and dried apricots all infused through the pressure cooking into the lamb. It took about half an hour to cook. Then I cooked rice in the pot for 4 minutes. Lamb Tagine under an hour, Cool! 

I’ve made beef stew, spaghetti and meat sauce and improvised a creamed spinach chicken and pasta dish. Browning some chopped onion on the sauté’ function, I then seasoned and browned two chicken thighs. I nuked frozen spinach to defrost then squeezed out the moisture in a colander. Took out a metal bowl that fits inside the Instant Pot®, stirred together the spinach, onion and some whipped chive cream cheese and sour cream (the original recipe called for Alfredo sauce). I poured chicken broth into the pot and deglazed it from the chicken frying. Then I dumped dry spiral pasta (it’s what I had) in the Instant Pot®. The thighs went on top of the pasta then the metal bowl with the spinach onion sauce went on top of the chicken pieces. Lid on, after the pressure built up I set it the pressure cooking function for 4 minutes. I let it cool down for 4 minutes releasing the last of pressure. The pasta cooked in broth topped with creamed spinach sauce and cut up thigh meat, I even impressed myself.  And Goodwill is going to receive my slow cookers and rice cooker. 

Moroccan Lamb Tajine

Inspired by Instant Pot® Electric Pressure Cooker Recipes 

This recipe by Laura Pazzaglia www.HipPressureCooking.com.

Amazing sauce and the lamb and fruit melt in your mouth.

Ingredients:

1 lb. lamb cut into pieces approx. 2” pieces

Olive oil

½ tsp cinnamon

½ tsp ginger powder

½  tsp turmeric powder

½ tsp cumin powder

2 garlic cloves chopped (I used a heaping teaspoon of pre-chopped)

1 medium onion, roughly sliced

1 cup, approximately, dried fruit soaked in boiling water. Ideally apricots and dried cranberries or, if you like, raisins (I quartered the apricots)

1 cup vegetable stock (chicken or beef would work if that's what you have)

1 cinnamon stick (can leave out if you don’t have it)

2 Tbsp. honey (I had no honey, so I used maple syrup)

Salt & pepper to taste

3.5 oz. chopped almonds, toasted (I toasted cashews)

Sesame seeds toasted

Instructions:

Mix the ground cinnamon, turmeric, cumin, ginger and garlic with 1 tablespoon of around a tablespoon of olive oil to make a paste, coat the meat with this paste and set aside. Slice the onion into rings and set aside.

When ready to prepare dish, turn Instant Pot® on sauté. When it reads “hot” add a Tablespoon or so of olive oil and sauté the onions until they are soft. Remove the onions and add the lamb browning on all sides. Add the vegetable broth and deglaze the pan, scraping the bottom to get all the bits. Add the onion and a cinnamon stick.

Lock the Instant Pot lid and press Manual setting and set time for 25 minutes. (Follow directions from the manual).

When done use the Natural Release pressing cancel and waiting for the heat and steam to come down on their own, mine took about 10 minutes, check your manual for guidance. 

Add rinsed and drained fruit, honey or syrup and with the pot on sauté, reduce the liquid simmering everything together for about 5 minutes.

The sauce is so delicious that you need to serve it over rice.

(If no Instant Pot®, saute the onions and meat then place it with the broth in a baking pan and bake when nearly done saute it with the fruit and honey or syrup reducing the sauce.)

Instant Pot® Rice

Wipe out the Instant Pot® insert. Put 1 cup rice and 1 cup water with a pinch of salt into the Instant Pot. Lock the lid and set on Rice function. After it heats up (the time starts) cook for 4 minutes (the manual gives rice/water amounts/time). Reduce steam using the Quick Release method, see manual.

Fueling Both Body and Soul:

Creamy Potato Soup and More

 

These aren't the creamy Yukon's in the recipe I offer, but I come from a long-line of potato lovers.

Here's my Dad in the 1960's proudly displaying his 'potato crop'.

Politics, domestic violence and foreign affairs have many of us a bit unsettled lately. I look outside more often to cloudy and grey. I’m reminded that when things are stressing, distressing or depressing it’s important to pay attention to what I call The Body’s Agenda. Faithfully using my brain training daily work to reduce stress and lessen the chemicals of negative emotion (you might meditate or otherwise focus the brain). Some people exercise but, couch potato that I tend to be, that’s a tougher one to add. I allow myself to curl up with a mystery or true crime, Ann Rule lately. I go to bed earlier than usual when my body needs too. And, I pay attention to food. When I’m addressing the Body’s Agenda, I need food that is comforting to both mind and body. 

Just the thought of a thick and creamy potato soup with bacon and onion makes my taste buds stand up in anticipation. When those creamy potato chunks melt in my mouth with an oniony, bacony taste…I close my eyes to savor each bite. Making potato soup seemed easy enough but I had to figure out a consistent,  “just right” recipe. I finally nailed it. Our favorite potato soup, which I make in a high sided electric frying pan, comes together fast and easily and is perfect every time.

Haven’t had potato soup in a while? Give this a try, it will fuel your soul as well as your body and the day will seem a little less grey.

CREAMY POTATO SOUP

Ingredients:

4 cups Yukon Gold potatoes for creaminess, peeled and cut into 1” pieces (about 6 potatoes)

1 large sweet onion, chopped

5 slices of bacon (I use low sodium bacon)

32 oz. chicken broth (I use low sodium broth)

1 pint Half and Half

Salt (it doesn’t take much) and pepper to taste

 

Instructions:

Fry the bacon (I like med. rather that crisp). While bacon cooks, chop the onion. Remove and drain bacon on paper towels.

Fry the onion in the bacon grease on med. low until translucent.

When onion is done, add the potatoes to the pan, stirring into the onions.

Pour the chicken broth into the pan and simmer potatoes and onions until a chunk is easily pierced with a fork. Turn down heat and add the Half and Half, stirring into the chicken broth, potato, onion mixture.

Simmer very slowly for about ten minutes to combine and warm the ingredients.

 

And More…

It truly must be comfort food season. A friend just emailed asking for my ‘recipe’ for a simple comfort food treat that I’ve told her I love. It isn’t the healthiest or the fanciest, but I don’t claim to be a purest. So if you have some Kraft Macaroni and Cheese in your pantry or have fond memories of eating it (whether or not you’ll admit either), you and your taste buds will be comforted by my Mac and Tuna. It makes a ton and freezes well so your soul, if not your body, will be comforted when you’re hungry and tired. Takes about three minutes to nuke a portion.

EASY MAC AND TUNA

 

Ingredients:

4 boxes Kraft Macaroni and Cheese

1 cup milk

2 sticks butter (1 cup)

2 cans tuna, drained

1 can Cream of Mushroom Soup

 

Instructions:

Boil the macaroni and make up the macaroni and cheese as directed on the box (four boxes require 1 cup butter and 1 cup milk).

Pour the prepared Mac and Cheese into a large bowl and add the tuna and soup. Stir until combined and heat through.

I freeze individual servings in zipping bags.

 

 

Polenta!

It’s Versatile, Delicious and I Love the Texture

by Marilyn Michael

It’s Zucchini Season and I encourage you to make the Tomato Zucchini Dahl I offered earlier. It freezes well so you can put up some of that zucchini in a way that you’ll love to eat. This vegetable dahl is delicious on its own or served over rice but was the inspiration for my Indian Italian Fusion Casserole with its layers of polenta, seasoned dahl and cheese. This dish is so yummy that it will pass with even dedicated meat eaters. Last night, though, I took one out of the freezer and happened to have some Italian sausage on hand. I crumbled 8 oz. of that sausage and fried it adding it on top of last polenta layer then topped with cheese. WOW, an amazing new dimension of flavor. I promise you’ll be asked for the recipe if you take a vegetarian version of this casserole to your next potluck. You will, though, have enough for a couple casseroles, so make one for the freezer. Just leave the cheese off the last layer of polenta and when you re reheat it, add some Italian sausage and then top with cheese.

Versatile Polenta

This brings me to polenta. If you haven’t used it, you don’t need to be intimidated by polenta. For the casserole above, you can buy one of those premade polenta rolls and lay slices down for the polenta layers. When I make it I separate the layers of cooked polenta with plastic wrap before letting them set up. A friend who now makes it lets all the polenta set up then slices it into layers. My same friend hadn’t ever eaten polenta and now loves the texture and versatility. When I make it I have some left over and let it set up in a ½ inch layer then slice it up and fry it in the morning. If you’re fond of Mexican dishes, why not make up taco seasoned meat and layer it with polenta and cheese. You’ll get the same texture as tamale.

Basic Polenta

This is the basic polenta recipe that I use.

Ingredients:

6 cups water

2 teaspoons salt

1 3/4 cups yellow cornmeal

3 tablespoons unsalted butter

Instructions:

Bring 6 cups of water to a boil in a heavy large saucepan.

Add 2 teaspoons of salt. Reduce heat to low and slowly in a stream whisk in the cornmeal to avoid lumps. Cook until the mixture thickens, stirring often, about 15 minutes. Turn off the heat.  

Add the butter, and stir until melted.

Rich Breakfast Polenta Casserole

This is a rich and delicious polenta recipe that can be used as a breakfast dish or side dish and can be prepared a day ahead.

Ingredients:

5 egg yolks

8 cups water

2 cups polenta

2 tsp. salt

4 tablespoons butter

1 tablespoon cooking oil or olive oil

3 heaping teaspoons garlic, minced

1 med. sweet onion, chopped

1 - 14o z. can of diced tomatoes

¼ cup parmesan cheese

Instructions:

Sauté chopped onion and garlic in oil until golden. Set aside.

Bring salted water to a boil, turn to medium and slowly add the polenta. Ideally beat it in with a wire whip to remove all lumps. Continue stirring until the mixture completely thickens. Remove the polenta from the heat.

Whisk the egg yolks in a bowl tempering them by adding some of the hot mixture (so eggs don’t cook) then add egg yolks to the hot polenta along with the butter, onion & garlic mixture, tomatoes and Parmesan cheese making sure to blend evenly.

Pour into large coated baking dish. Allow to cool, cover and refrigerate.

Reheat at 325 for approx. 10 minutes, or until heated through. Cut into squares or spoon it out.

A BIT OF FOOD STREAM OF CONSCIOUSNESS

by Marilyn Michael

Here's some food stream of consciousness penned while I was munching on some chips and salsa (btw, we love the Safeway Brand Mango Salsa)...

For dinner I made meatloaf topped with some Kinder's Mild BBQ Sauce (our fav) and asparagus topped with butter and dry Parmesan then browned under the broiler. So organized, I also made mini-meatloaves to freeze in my handy dandy mini meatloaf pan that makes six. Never hard to tempt husband with meatloaf. He reminisces about his mother's meatloaves. (That makes me think of something I heard on the morning news, the plural of beef is beeves.)

I so enjoy cooking, it's amazing given my cooking illiteracy most of my life. I recently won two online cooking classes  from the Rouxbe Cooking School. Looking forward to checking them out. The Cooks Roadmap and Plant-based cooking Level 1.

This stream of consciousness on food is making me think of spanakopita. Can't remember how I got started making spanakopita. Need to make some... so yummy for breakfast. Found that wrapping a cutting board in plastic wrap, taping it tight in the back, makes it easy to work with the phyllo dough.

Cleaned out my fridge-top freezer a while back, so far so good in keeping in organized.

• Have some bags of turkey broth for soup, we like it much more than chicken broth and homemade has less salt.
• Have two bags of shrimp. Made garlic shrimp pasta the other night, yum.
• Have some pizza sauce and pizza dough and chunks of Mozzarella. They're the other half of the sauce and dough I made for our Shrimp Portobello Pizza the other night. Never knew till later in life how easy it is to make homemade pizza.Have a bag of hamburger which I mix with sautéed sweet onion before freezing into small baseball sized rounds. Easy for tacos, hamburgers, quick breakfast hash, sloppy joes, etc.
• Have my bag of mini meatloaves.
• Have some chicken thighs; make tasty fried chicken strips that I've gotten good at making with Panko crumbs. We dip them in Bleu Cheese Dressing. Reminds me, I've got to make some Tandoori Chicken Salad, get a craving once in a while.
• Have a bag of small sweet rolls which fit just right in those snack zip bags without zipping, then I put them in a gallon zip bag, keeps them better.
• Have popsicles, husband's big on them these days.
• My veges are from Trader Joe's, a bag of Asian Stir-fry Veges (a quick fix with the chicken), a bag of Soycatash (mixed veges with edamame, love edamame, and a bag of peas. Made Tuna and peas, celery and onion in cream over toast the other night. And love a pea, pecan, water chestnut salad mixed with mayo.
• And finally have a couple large chunks of fish, salmon and cod that a friend who has a cabin in AK gave us.

Well, there you go, just what you needed, an inventory of my freezer, probably did it more for me than you, lol. I think a writing acquaintance, who is an expert on Once A Month Cooking and freezing ahead, would be proud of me. No actual entrees frozen, but pretty prepared for numerous dishes.

Bubble and Squeak – Quintessential Comfort Food

Didn’t make corned beef and cabbage this year - cutting down on sodium. In fact, processed meat of any kind is a rarity these days, gone from having been a much enjoyed lunch staple. Ya gotta have a good pastrami sandwich once in a while! In this corned beef time of the year, I fondly remember some tasty Reubens from our past…sour kraut, Thousand Island dressing…yum. How could we get a similar comfort food experience but a little healthier, I pondered as I stared longingly at the corned beef? The cabbage WAS on sale? Bubble and Squeak came to mind. I had discovered it once while typing into Google some ingredients I had on hand to see what recipes would come up.

With a nod to you Downton Abbey fans, Bubble and Squeak is an English dish, basically a term for how to use up leftovers. Some recipes incorporate other vegetables and some include ham. Good ole green cabbage and Russet potatoes are used. In my version I’ve livened it up by using a fancier onion and bacon to give it a sweet richness.

The dish is fried and the trick is to let the bottom brown while the flavors meld. Depending on the frying pan you use (I used my electric Faberware), you can turn it out onto a plate with the browned side on top. This is quintessential comfort food; its only downside is you’ll want to eat too much. We were able to enjoy a bacony flavor throughout while eating much less salty meat.

BUBBLE AND SQUEAK

Ingredients:

1 small head of green cabbage, chopped
1 large sweet onion, chopped
6 Slices of thick bacon (butcher cut ideal)
4 medium Russet potatoes, boiled
1 generous Tablespoon butter - per serving (I used unsalted)
Salt and Pepper to taste (I use the 50% salt product and it requires less because of the saltiness of the bacon)

Suggestions to serve on the side: Sour Cream and for an International flare, some pico de gallo for a tang.

Directions:

Put water on to boil for the potatoes. Chop the cabbage into 1” chunks. Chop the onion.  Chop the bacon into ¼ chunks. Peel and cut up the potatoes.

Boil the potatoes until fork goes through easily. Remove from the boiling water with a slotted spoon into a bowl and immediately submerge the chopped cabbage in the water, cover letting it steep. When the potatoes cool a bit, rough mash them or crush them with your hand. 

While potatoes boil, fry the bacon strips till medium, not super crisp. Remove with a slotted spoon to a dish, not on a paper towel. Fry the chopped onion med. low in the bacon grease until soft.  Drain the cabbage, now soft.

Add the potatoes, cabbage and bacon to the onions, seasoning with salt and pepper to taste. Mix together well with a pancake turner leaving the potatoes rough chopped. When mixed well pat it down until flat, place the lid on the frying pan and continue heating until the bottom browns a bit.

Serve with a Tablespoon of butter melted on top each serving.

Shrimp and Portobello Pizza Splotches

by Marilyn Michael

With Toppings, Before the Cheese

Pizza! Americans love pizza and my husband really loves pizza. As adventurous as we are with food, though, we had never ventured far into the yeast-involved realm of cooking, thus, we had never made homemade pizza. I’m going to tantalize you with our foray into homemade pizza, in fact, it's a gourmet pizza with multidimensional flavors and, it’s simple to make. 

Many “Foodies Over 50” are paying more attention to ingredients in processed foods. We had started looking over all the unhealthier, unpronounceable stuff in the frozen pizza’s we often bought. We had also decided to cut down on processed meats in our diet. This caused a pizza problem. So it was time to step up. Given our foodie proclivities, we decided to take our pizza topping to another level adding a unique dimension of flavor between the sauce and cheese.

We had recently started incorporating Portobello’s more into our food repertoire. One-inch thick strips just sautéed in butter or marinated and then grilled offer a chewy yet creamy texture and a rich taste, a step up from traditional sides or hors d oeuvres. Another, healthier meal lead-in we’ve come to enjoy is sliced avocado topped with fresh shrimp and drizzled with sweet, tangy Catalina dressing or lighter French dressing.

Contemplating our pizza adventure, the ingredients of Portobello and shrimp came to mind. But, inventive cook that my husband is, it was going to be more than just plunking the mushroom and shrimp onto the pizza sauce. Because of my interest in Indian cuisine we keep on hand, as a staple, a Mango Ginger Chutney from Trader Joe’s (it’s available online for those of you not lucky to have a TJ’s in your neighborhood, but other sauces you may have on hand will work, as I will explain). Imagine thick chunks of Portobello and medium shrimp (we keep some frozen) sautéed in butter and brought together with the sweetness of the chutney. It’s hard not to munch down too much of this topping before getting it on the pizza. In fact, this quick and simple topping would be impressive served over rice or, even more exotically, over the Coconut Rice I offered you in an earlier post. 

But, back to pizza.

Having been yeast-challenged, we warily looked over pizza dough recipes. “Hmm”, we pondered, “what had we been afraid of, they seemed pretty similar and awfully simple to put together. Yeah, but maybe there was some trickiness in working the dough or letting it raise or something.” Well, tricky it wasn’t and easy it was. So, if you’ve made homemade pizza, you already have the dough down or buy it frozen. If, like us, you’ve never tried it, start with the easy and, so far, no fail dough recipe we offer. If there are two of you it even freezes well giving you enough for another round of what we call, Pizza Splotches.

When these babies come bubbling out of the oven, they look great and taste even better.

Ingredients:

Dough:

1 ½ cups bread flour (I often use strong flour recommended for pizzas, but regular flour works)

1 teaspoon dry yeast

½ -2/3 cup s lukewarm water

1 tablespoon olive oil

Topping:

Butter (we use no salt)

5 or 6.medium fresh shrimp per splotch (I cut each shrimp into three chunks before spooning the sauce onto the dough.)

Two Portobello caps sliced into 1” strips then cut into 1” chunks.

About 3 Tablespoons of a sweet, thick sauce as a binder (We use Mango Ginger Chutney and have used Fig jam; you could use apricot or other fruit preserves you may have on hand.)

Grated Mozzarella

Tomato-based pizza sauce of your choice (As it doesn’t take a lot, we make it easy keeping prepared pizza sauce on hand, our favorite is Classico brand.)

Instructions:

Starting with a large mixing bowl, Sift in the flour. Add the yeast, stirring it in. Pour the water and oil into the center of the flour and mix it into a soft dough. (I happened to have some disposable plastic gloves on hand that made this step slick, no sticky fingers)

On a lightly floured surface, knead the dough for around ten minutes. This was kind of fun, better than one of those little stress balls, but I digress. You’ll want it smooth and elastic.

Grease a large bowl, I use metal, and place the dough in the bowl covering with plastic wrap. Put it in a warm place for about 1 hour to let it rise. It needs to double in size.

While dough is rising prepare the topping. Slice the Portobello caps into 1” strips then into 1” chunks. Begin sautéing in butter on medium heat until they start diminishing in size. Peel about 12 med. shrimp fresh or frozen. Add shrimp to mushrooms and sauté until bright pink and done. When shrimp have cooked for about a minute add the chutney and mix well. Remove topping onto a plate (I cut up the shrimp into three pieces each at this point) and set aside.

Preheat oven to 425.

Back to your lightly floured surface, with you dough now raised, knead it again for 2 to 3 minutes. There are two of us so, when done, I cut the dough ball in half then cut each smaller dough ball into four pieces. I freeze one quartered dough ball in a quart-sized bag for later use.

Lots of Cheese!

On a lightly greased cookie sheet, spread each quarter into a splotch (no perfect size or shape) each is about the size of a large pizza slice.

Spoon and spread pizza sauce onto each splotch. Spoon on the shrimp and Portobello topping allowing 5 or 6 shrimp per splotch. Top with Mozzarella.

Bake for about 12 minutes until crisp.

The Finished Product