Sunday, January 1, 2012

Recipes: Holy Guacamole & Savory Monkey Bread

HAPPY NEW YEAR!  This is going to be such a great year for me.  I'm getting married 6 months to my best friend, and I feel like I'm going to land a GREAT job this year (fingers crossed!!).  I wish you all a happy & healthy 2012!


We rang in the new year with some of our closest friends and I brought some homemade guacamole (upon request from the hostess) and this delicious monkey bread courtesy of Fun & Fearless in Beantown, one of my favorite local bloggers.  I played around with it a bit (hers was vegetarian but the original recipe calls for pepperoni so I added both basil AND pepperoni ...such a rebel) and it was a big hit and SUPER easy.  Take a look at the guac recipe and the monkey bread below!


HOLY GUACAMOLE (NOTE: Measurements are eyeballed!)
3 avocados
1/2 red onion, minced
1-2 Tbsp. minced garlic
1-2 tsp. light Ranch dressing (or substitute light sour cream)
splash of Red Hot
juice of 1/2 lime and 1/2 lemon
salt & pepper






Slice avocados into small chunks and drop into bowl with other ingredients.  Gently bled together, leaving chunks of avocado (or stir longer for a more pureed texture).  Serve with tortilla chips!




PIZZA MONKEY BREAD 
2 lbs pre-made pizza dough
6 mozzarella sticks sliced into 8 pieces each (don't use reduced fat...they won't melt as well)
turkey or regular pepperoni slices
chopped basil
4 Tbsp. butter
2 cloves garlic, sliced

Let pizza dough rest at room temperature wile you prepare the other ingredients. Preheat oven to 400 degrees.  Melt butter and garlic in a pot over medium heat until melted.  Baste a bundt pan with the butter and set the rest aside for now.  Take a small amount of dough (I used about the size of a pepperoni) and place the pepperoni, chopped basil, and mozzarella in the center.  round the dough to cover the fillings.  


Once you fill the bundt pan with dough balls one time around, baste the top of the balls with more butter.  Repeat another row with remaining dough/filling and baste top with butter. 



Bake for 35 minutes until golden brown.  Wait about 10-15 minutes before flipping onto a platter.


1 comment:

Fun and Fearless in Beantown said...

Glad to hear the monkey bread was such a success! Happy New Year!