PROUD ITALIAN COOK

Winter Vegetable Torte

2012-01-26T18:17:00.000-06:00

I love my springform pans I use them for so many things, I think I have every size they make. They're great for layering vegetables that are "glued together" with various cheese, as in this torte.
This recipe was born from small containers of roasted vegetables I had tucked away in my fridge, and one large sweet potato, and I must say it turned out mighty good, a different variation than my zucchini, eggplant version.

You can't get a better side dish because everything is all contained in one flavorful wedge!

I started with very thinly sliced sweet potato, then each layer a different veg, sprinkling grated cheese in between and ending with the sweet potato on top.
I used a 6 inch springform pan that was deep and allowed me to have many layers, just remember to press down in between, place the pan on a baking sheet so you won't have drips in your oven when cooking and cover the top with foil. Roast at 425 for 20 minutes, then take the foil off and roast another 15 minutes until the top is golden. Let it rest for 30 minutes before you slice it into wedges.

Use your imagination and the vegetables of your choice, here's a list of what I used for my winter vegetable torte.
No doubt I will be making this again!
Buon Appetito

Playing with Portobello's

2012-01-19T16:03:00.001-06:00

Large portobellos are so meaty and satisfying, it's the perfect vehicle for pasta topped stuffing.

Tiny star pasta called stelline, tossed with garlic, red, yellow and orange peppers, fresh herbs and cheese of your choice. For a nice light lunch or dinner, it's delicious served with a salad, or you can have it as a side dish to accompany your favorite protein, either way you'll love it, and it looks pretty too!

The topping could be made in advance then arranged on the mushrooms at the last minute.

In a small pan drizzled with olive oil add minced garlic, finely diced red, yellow and orange diced peppers. Stir in fresh herbs like basil and parsley and your favorite shredded cheese, I used romano and asiago. Toss in your precooked tiny pasta.
The mushrooms I slightly precooked in a 425 degree oven until they started to wilt a little.
Top each mushroom with the pasta mixture, then place under the broiler for up to 5 minutes or until the topping is golden or mushrooms are warmed through.

Portobellos also make a fantastic meatless lasagna, stack three high and fill each cap with a layer of marinara then top with a mixture made up of of ricotta, grated romano, mozzarella, asiago, basil and parsley.
Prepare mushrooms as above.
Spoon more marinara over the top and bake for around 15 minutes in a 400 degree oven or just until warmed through.

Buon Appetito!

Faux Spaghetti

2012-01-09T14:47:00.000-06:00

If you're going easy on the carbs right now but have a craving for spaghetti, I have the perfect solution for you!
Al' dente strands of julienned zucchini tossed with roasted veggies of your choice flavored with shaved garlic, olive oil, basil, red pepper flakes and generous amounts of grated romano cheese.

You'll love the flavor and texture and even if you're not watching your carbs it can be the perfect meatless meal along with a salad.

I love my handy julienne slicer it works so fast, before you know it you'll have a pile of zucchini "pasta" right before your eyes, just work the sides and when you reach the seeds, give it a turn.
The core of the zucchini will be left which I then dice and roast up for future use.

I roasted two different color cauliflower for mine and added some cherry tomatoes, next time I'll roast those too, I forgot, but it didn't matter, it was so yummy anyway!

Here's what you do:

First, roast off the veggies of your choice in a 425 degree oven tossed with olive oil, salt and pepper, then set aside.
Have your zucchini "pasta" all ready to go then heat up a large saute pan drizzled with olive oil, add shaved garlic and red pepper flakes, saute until garlic is light golden. Next, add zucchini and cook for only about 2 minutes tossing with some tongs just until wilted and still al' dente. Remove pan from heat, add the roasted veggies, fresh basil, lots of grated romano cheese and of course another drizzle of olive oil!

Time to Lighten Up!

2012-01-03T21:03:00.000-06:00

Gone are all the cookies, cakes and heavy foods, it's time to snap out of it!
Now I'm craving all things green, lighter fare, and it feels good. I've made this salad three times already, it's that good! Simple ingredients, but the combination of flavors work so well together.
Roasted butternut squash, feta cheese, toasted pecans, sliced red onion and a generous sprinkling of pomegranate arils all laying on a bed of spinach tossed in white wine vinegar and olive oil.

I love these little jewels, even though it can be a little messy when de-seeding them. I find that by cutting them in half and whacking the back with a meat mallet or heavy spoon preferably over a bowl does the trick fast and easy and all the arils just fall right out.

Kale is another green I crave and this healthy bowl of soup just makes me feel good.
No real recipe here just leftover roasted butternut squash and chicken along with some white beans, lots of kale, carrots and leeks bathing in a chicken or vegetable based broth cooked with a parmesan rind.
It's all good, lets hope I keep this up!
Buon Appetito!

Nibbles for New Years

2011-12-29T23:48:00.000-06:00

Here's a few of my favorite things to munch on while bringing in the new year!
Bite size mini meatballs and a salad pizza.

Cold broccoli salad with lemon, garlic and olive oil.
Stuffed baby artichokes, because it wouldn't be a party with out them!

Sausage stuffed mushrooms, and goat cheese filled peppers with balsamic glaze.

Eggplant slices topped with tomato and fresh mozzarella.
Creamy pasta with prosciutto and peas.

Fennel, orange and olive oil salad as well as a seafood salad of shrimp, lobster and scallops, bathing in fresh lemon and olive oil of course!

Scallop gratin or just plain old lasagne, love it all!

Wishing you all a Very Healthy and Happy 2012!

Cookie Traditions Old and New

2011-12-20T21:03:00.000-06:00

Each holiday season I like to add a few new cookies to my tried and true regulars, this year I wanted to try out these cookie stamps that I saw in my Williams-Sonoma catalog.
Each stamp is embossed with a beautiful design, a wreath, a snowflake and a gift tag.

The dough is a basic sugar cookie dough that has been chilled then rolled into balls, flattened and then stamped.

I was impressed how well the embossed design showed up, but the decorating part was another story! I bought those edible markers and they didn't work out very well on the bare cookies, next time, (if there is a next time) I'll use a piping bag with a small tip.

One cookie I can always count on our my Fig and Pistachio Biscotti I make them every year and they are truly a favorite!

Along with Cucidati of course!

Traditional Italian fig cookies, it just wouldn't be Christmas without them!

Wishing all my readers a very healthy and happy holiday season filled with family, food and fun!
Thank you for all your support through out the year, I appreciate each and every email and comment!

Ravioli for a Crowd!

2011-12-07T16:52:00.002-06:00

I've been in party mode and haven't really cooked "normal" for a while, so I thought I would share with you how I prepped for a recent party I had for 26 with the main course being 200 homemade ravioli.
Homemade ravioli holds a special place in my heart because I can remember my mom and aunt making them together when my cousins and I were very young, white sheets covering dining room tables and beds, filled with drying ravioli. Today I make them a little different, no more drying on sheets, instead they go right into the freezer after they're made.

All the ravioli were made a few days before and tucked away in my freezer ready for the big day, we made two different versions, meat and cheese.

Because I would be cooking so many ravioli at one time, there was no way I wanted to be boiling them while my house was filled with people, so I opted to make them the night before, something I've never done.

During the week prior to my party I went to a local restaurant supply store and bought commercial size heavy duty foil sheet pans, they were perfect to lay my ravioli on in a single layer.
They were huge and covered my whole oven rack, and even though I don't have a commercial size oven I made them fit by slightly folding up the sides.

All my sauce was cooked ahead of time so assembling was pretty easy. After spreading sauce all over the bottom of the sheet pans I placed my slightly undercooked ravioli on top, single layer, placing more sauce on top. After they cooled down I sprinkled grated Pecorino on top and covered the pans with heavy duty aluminum foil and placed them in my second fridge, ( it's older and has bigger shelves).

The day of the party I took them out of the fridge and got them to room temperature and with the foil still on, I baked them for only 15 minutes in a 350 oven until warmed through, after they were done I dolloped more warmed sauce on top and they were good to go! For a big crowd this was the perfect way to make them, no hot boiling pots all over the place, all that was done in advance.

Thanks to my family, all my dear cousins and their families for such a fun night!

So if you ever doubted cooking ravioli ahead of time for a large crowd like I did, no worries because it was a complete success!

Buon Appetito!

What I did on my Thanksgiving week vacation!

2011-11-30T21:25:00.001-06:00

I had a wonderful dinner with family!

I attended afternoon tea at the Peninsula Chicago in honor of my niece.

The setting was gorgeous, the minute you walk in you feel the elegance!
It was especially beautiful because of all the Christmas decorations they had up, the tree was stunning in warm colors of reds and golds.

Live music filled the air as we sipped on our teas and

ate our goodies. The service was wonderful and they were happy to replenish our plates!
A great experience and a fun thing to do if you're in Chicago with your girlfriends.

I learned how to make Bietole from a master, my daughter -in -laws nana.
This woman is well into her 80's and shes a spitfire in the kitchen, she puts us all to shame!
Bietole is basically swiss chard that is sauteed with lots of garlic and oil.

The sauteed chard is then placed on a pasta dough with enormous amounts of Pecorino romano, more garlic and olive oil then rolled up jelly roll style and baked. It's so simple with just a few ingredients but the taste is out of this world!

Then to top off the week I spent a day at my house making ravioli with my cousin and sister-in-law for a party we're having this weekend, the music was blasting, there was flour everywhere! We were even going to crack open a bottle of wine but opted for coffee instead since it was only 9:00 in the morning!

We ended up making 200 total, a combination of both meat and cheese.
I highly recommend a day of pasta making with family or friends, it's a great way to spend a day!
Buon Appetito!

Making Pizzelle

2011-11-17T22:33:00.002-06:00

Recently I bought a pizzelle maker and I couldn't wait to break it in. I felt very ambitious and had visions of making all different flavors like anise, chocolate, citrus, cinnamon, orange and rum, almond and some even dipped in chocolate and then into nuts, oh yes and sprinkles for the kids! Well I didn't get all that far because making pizzeles are very time consuming!
I have a close friend Jean who can make these in her sleep! Pretty much every event in life like holidays, parties, funerals, or just a few girls getting together you can always count on Jean to bring her pizzelles. Pizzelle making is a true labor of love, you have to be patient, something I need to work on when baking or making cookies!

I followed the recipes that came with my pizzelle maker because they're all basically all about the same, flour, butter, eggs, sugar and the flavorings of your choice. After I did one batch I was pretty much done! I called Jean for advice and she gave me some good tips, like don't be in a hurry, allow a couple of hours, sit down and watch TV while your making them. My recipe said to drop a tablespoon of batter behind the center of the pattern, I did that and they were too big, batter was oozing out the sides and running into each other, I was ready to give up they looked terrible! Jean said to use a heaping teaspoon of the batter ( which comes out pretty thick) and place it in the center, I did what she said and they turned out great!

I've always loved the the designs on pizzelle irons, they make beautiful crispy wafer cookies and always look gorgeous on a platter.

Right now I'm hiding these in a big tin and plan to bring them out as part of our Thanksgiving Day dessert. I made traditional anise flavor and chocolate ones as well.

I made the sprinkled kind for my two granddaughters simply by taking the heaping teaspoon of dough and rolling it into a bowl of sprinkles right before you place the ball of batter on the iron. My advice is to do the sprinkle ones last so that you won't find any tiny sprinkles on your other flavors.

My oldest granddaughter was off of school the day I made these so she taste tested a few and gave me thumbs up all the way, so did her dad!

Jean says don't powder sugar them until the day you're going to eat them, if you have a cool place store them in a can, they last for weeks and still stay crispy, no need to freeze.

Here's the basic recipe with variations:

6 eggs** 1 cup of sugar** 1 cup of melted butter** ( Jean says you can use canola oil if you want in place of the melted butter) **2 teaspoons vanilla** 3 cups flour** 1 tablespoon baking powder**

( For anise flavor add 1 teaspoon of anise seeds and 2 teaspoons of anise extract) if you use pure anise oil, use much less like 1/2 teaspoon or a teaspoon.

( For chocolate flavor add 1/2 cup of cocoa powder)

Melt butter and set aside. Beat eggs and sugar until light yellow, 2-3 minutes. Add melted butter and vanilla or other flavorings. Beat until blended. Sift together the ingredients, fold until just blended, add remaining flour and fold again until just incorporated.

Heat pizzelle iron, place 1 heaping teaspoon of batter in center of pattern. Bake until golden brown, about 30-40 seconds. Remove and cool on a rack. Repeat with remaining batter. This could make six dozen depending on how deep your grooves are on your iron. ( Jean triples this, if you're going to do it you might as well make a bunch!)

Happy Thanksgiving to all!

Making Gnocchi

2011-11-08T22:55:00.004-06:00

Recently I taught a class on making gnocchi at my friends gorgeous home, a hands on class where everyone would take part, we started the day off early, I was all prepped and ready to go!

We made two different kinds of gnocchi, butternut squash and ricotta. The squash was roasted, pureed in a food processor along with other ingredients, and then gently mixed into a dough.

Before we started we munched on a few appetizers and had some drinks, because after all we needed to build up our energy!

And then we got down to gnocchi business, with aprons on, each person had a job, some mixing the dough, some rolling, some cutting, but everyone wanted to try out the gnocchi boards, it was fun to see how fast they were all getting, gnocchi was flying everywhere!

We quickly filled up many trays, this was the butternut squash, I just love the color and taste, a big favorite of the day! Very light not heavy tasting at all.

The key to a light and fluffy ricotta gnocchi is to drain the ricotta of all moisture, I placed my ricotta in a fine strainer over a bowl in my fridge overnight, you can't believe how much liquid comes out! By straining the ricotta you won't have to keep adding additional flour to soak up that moisture which will keep them nice and light tasting.

I roasted mushrooms with olive oil, onions, garlic and zucchini and tossed the butternut squash gnocchi into it all, topped with fresh chopped parsley and generous amounts of freshly grated parmesan.

This is a perfect autumn dish, they just melt in your mouth, and the roasted vegetables just complement it all.

Another sauce that goes well with the butternut squash gnocchi is a fontina cheese sauce with torn spinach leaves and parmesan.

You can never go wrong with a simple marinara for the ricotta gnocchi, always a favorite!

But my new favorite way of eating them is tossing them into crumbled Italian sausage, roasted mushrooms, onions, garlic and cherry tomatoes. All dowsed with olive oil and freshly grated parmesan, and a sprinkling of fresh basil and parsley. Heavenly!

A fun day it was! Thanks to all who attended. The recipes are quite long so I didn't put them in my post but I'd be happy to email them out to anyone if you so desire, just contact me at prouditaliancook@hotmail.com subject, Gnocchi.

UPDATE...

Thank you for the overwhelming response I got requesting my gnocchi recipes, I've sent out close to two hundred already! I've since learned how to post them on my Proud Italian Cook Facebook page. For those of you who are Facebook users you can get the recipes by going to my wall and on the lefthand side under "notes" they will be posted, for any others I will still email them out. Thanks to all!!

Acorn and Butternut Squash Sformato with Parmesan Cream and Balsamic Glaze

2011-10-31T18:00:00.001-05:00

Sformato is a molded dish similar to a souffle, heartier in texture and not as airy. I've seen them made with peas, spinach, fennel, cauliflower, sweet potatoes and carrots just to name a few. It can be served as a first course, a side dish or a light vegetable entree.

Recently I've made both the acorn and butternut squash versions, and I seriously can't tell you which one I liked best, just one taste and you'll be forever hooked! Think about it, intensely flavored squash mixed in with a cheesy creamy goodness that creates a fluffy- like texture and topped off with a sweet balsamic glaze!

Now don't let the ingredients scare you, it's a little on the decadent side but the recipe fills 4 ramekins so do the math, it's not that much. So far I've made this as a side with pork chops and I've eaten it alone just with a salad, a perfect autumn veggie dinner!

Roasting your squash ahead of time makes it all come together really quick. Which ever squash you use cut them in half, scoop out the seeds, drizzle with olive oil and season with salt and pepper. Roast cut side down on parchment 350F until knife goes through, time varies depending on size of squash. Scoop out the squash and puree in a food processor. Into a bowl place **2 cups of pureed squash** 1 egg** 1/3 cup of grated parmesan or romano cheese** 2 tablespoons of mascarpone cheese** 1/2 cup of half and half** salt and pepper**. Pour the mixture almost to the top of buttered ramekins. Place in a baking pan with water to come about halfway up the sides, cover and bake for 30 minutes in a 350 degree oven, or until the mixture is set and cooked through. Let rest a few moments, unmold and serve. 4 servings

Place your little Italian souffle in a puddle of parmesan cream sauce if you so desire, made by reducing cream ( I used half and half) in a pan and sprinkling in some parmesan cheese. To finish it off drizzle on some balsamic glaze!

Recipe inspired by Chef Tony Priolo

I'm quite sure you're going to thank me for this one!

Buon Appetito!

Soup, Sandwiches and Dessert

2011-10-24T11:58:00.000-05:00

I haven't been cooking much lately, it's been a whirl wind couple of weeks here as I lost a much loved cousin of mine to cancer, but recently I had to pull together a quick lunch for visiting family, fortunately I had all the ingredients to make this Sausage and Chard Soup. A big pot of comforting soup simmering on the stove always hits the spot.

Brown 1/2 lb. of crumbled Italian sausage, ( I used spicy)** Toss in 2 chopped carrots, 1 chopped onion and 1 large minced garlic clove** Add 1 1/2 cans of drained cannelini beans ( reserve half can) and a few cups of chopped swiss chard or kale** Pour in 1 1/2 boxes of chicken stock ( reserve the other half box)** If you have a cheese rind or two, put that in** Season with salt, pepper and a sprig of rosemary** Take the remaining 1/2 can of beans and the rest of the broth and place both in a bowl and if you have an immersion blender or just a regular blender give it a whirl and pour into the pot, this will act like a thickening agent. Cook until veggies are tender, it doesn't take long.

In the meantime I sent the husband out to a nearby deli to pick up some Italian Subs consisting of provolone, salami, capicola, mortadella, tomato, onion and oil all on fresh Italian bread.

Worried that it wasn't enough I quickly made some, Peppers and Eggs. Five or six large peppers seeded and cut into strips then sauteed in olive oil until soft, add in a dozen beaten eggs and lots of grated romano cheese, salt and pepper.

This is a big family favorite, such a humble sandwich that tastes like a million bucks! We've been eating this since we were kids, I always top mine with hot giardinera!

No time to bake? No problem! Just make a quick stop at our favorite Italian Bakery, you can never go wrong with Napoleans, Sfogliatelle, and fresh filled Cannoli's!

For all my local peeps if you haven't already done so please check out The Italian Bakery at 82 E. Lake St. Addison, Il. Always consistant and good!

Have I told you that they make a great cannoli cake? We order them all the time! Cash Only.

But my personal favorite are their cannoli's, crunchy and creamy with every bite! Now all you need to do is put on a big pot of coffee, a match made in heaven!

Recently I was gifted by the Fairy Hobmother just for leaving a comment on my friend Claudia's blog which I'm a regular visitor of anyway, a nice surprise in the midst of a very stressfull week. The nice thing is one of you will receive a gift too just by leaving a comment on this blog post from the nice people of "Appliances Online"who are currently promoting the "Bosch" eco friendly appliance range.

I used my gift card towards a new and shiny pizzelle maker, I see all different flavored pizzelles in my near future here on Proud Italian Cook!

Pumpkin, Savory and Sweet

2011-10-12T16:10:00.001-05:00

I knew I was going to like this recipe the minute I saw the picture in Ottolenghi's book, Plenty. His "Crusted Pumpkin Wedges with Sour Cream" just caught my eye! It's all about the coating that gets pressed into the pumpkin and then when baked, turns crispy and crunchy!

I had the perfect size pumpkin just waiting for this recipe, it weighed about 1 1/2 lbs. I just cut it in half, scooped out the seeds and sliced it into wedges.

I have to say this would be perfect with really any squash, I normally don't cook with fresh pumpkin that often so I was surprised it tasted just like any other squash, so next time I think I'll do this with acorn squash instead because I think the crusted rings would look beautiful on a platter. As far as the taste goes it's absolutely delicious!

Each wedge gets brushed front and back with olive oil then a mixture of grated parmesan, breadcrumbs, fresh parsley and thyme, lemon zest, crushed garlic, salt and pepper. The mixture gets pressed on both sides of the pumpkin and then baked in the oven. I did mine at 400F until deep golden. You can actually see the recipe as you look inside the book on Amazon here. A perfect side dish for the holidays!

If you're a regular reader of my blog you know I love ricotta, I don't think a week goes by where I don't have some sitting in my fridge, as I write this another pound is in there calling my name, so when I saw Martha's," Pumpkin Ricotta Crostata" in her book, "Pies and Tarts", I knew I'd be making it.

She of course did hers a lot more fancy in a tart pan with pasta frolla dough with a pretty lattice pattern on top with pine nuts. I wasn't that energetic so I used Trader Joe's pie dough and made a free form tart and garnished it with pumpkin seeds because I'm still not buying pine nuts.

This is made with canned pumpkin, ricotta and mascarpone cheese flavored through out with vanilla and the spices in a pumpkin pie. Martha uses just nutmeg but I like all the warm flavors you get in pumpkin pie spice.

The perfect quick dessert with a dollop of whipped cream and a nice cup of coffee!

Here's Martha's recipe

Happy Fall!

Crock Pot Roast Beef with Giardinera

2011-10-05T23:20:00.000-05:00

I have been making this roast for over 20 years, everyone who eats it wants the recipe, my family loves it and it's almost embarrassing how simple it is to put together! I usually make it one or two times a year, about as many times as I use my crock pot. It's perfect for the fall weather and goes wonderful with either polenta, potato gnocchi or buttered egg noodles on the side.

The cut of meat you get is either a rump roast or a top round. Make slits in the roast with a knife and then stuff slivers of garlic all around. Generously salt and pepper the roast and sprinkle with dried oregano. How easy is that?

The star of this dish is a large bottle of giardinera. Giardinera is a delicious condiment with a mixture of usually carrots, celery, olives, cauliflower, onion, and of course hot or mild peppers, brined and covered with oil, without it it just wouldn't be the same! I hope you could find it in your neck of the woods but here in Chicago I can get it everywhere. There are recipes on the web if you want to make your own.

The other two ingredients are optional, tiny pearl onions and just a bit of stock, less than a cup, but honestly a little water would do just fine!

Just get a nice sear on your roast before you stick it in the crock pot, then pour the whole bottle of drained giardinera on top and then add your water or broth. Cover and cook on low for 8 hours or until very tender, it will make plenty of flavorful juice, enough to spoon over your cut roast or to toss in with some buttered noodles. I've also made this in the oven, searing it first, same way but with tin foil laid on top for half the time at 350F, it all depends on what size roast you have.

I personally like to make it the day before we eat it, because when the meat is cold it slices perfectly plus all those flavors get to infuse altogether overnight.

It's amazing how something so simple can tastes so good! Buon Appetito!

Scenes from Chicago Gourmet 2011

2011-10-01T21:31:00.000-05:00

Last sunday I attended Chicago Gourmet, an interactive epicurian event showcasing more
than 100 of Chicago's finest restaurants and chefs as well as hundreds of renowned vitners, spirit makers and premium breweries from all over the world. The event was held in beautiful Millennium Park where guests enjoyed live cooking demos, seminars, gourmet tastings and book signings by popular chefs, master sommeliers and winemakers.

I was fortunate to get a front row seat to view the cooking demo between Jonathan Waxman of Barbuto, NYC and Mary Sue Milliken of Border Grill, both appeared as contestants on Top Chef Masters, and both said it was one of the hardest things they ever did. It was fun hearing about some of the behind the scene stuff that went on and all the late night partying!

Chef Milliken made quinoa fritters and dulce de leche churros while Chef Waxman was making homemade potato gnocchi that was pan fried and then tossed with diced eggplant, tomatoes, corn, basil and garlic, a recipe from his new book, Italian, My Way.

His tips for making light and airy gnocchi is never working the dough too long and treating it nice and gentle. He also likes to freeze them before they're cooked. His favorite way of cooking them is pan fried straight from the freezer right into the pan with olive oil.

There were tastings from awesome Chicago restaurants, it was a little mind boggling at times because you would go from crab to meatballs, then to mussels, asian, steak, etc, etc.

Note to self, not good to mix foods!

I must say one of my favorite tastings was from Frontera Grill, I love shrimp tacos and this was bursting with flavor!

These beautiful platters weren't too bad either situated near all the tasting tents for all the wineries and other spirits.

Apparently infused vodka and rum is the hot new thing with flavors like, apple, whipped, citrus, espresso, mango, melon, cotton candy, cake and butterscotch just to name a few!

There were lots of cocktails being shaken and poured all day long, I must say these were very popular tents!

Trays and trays of beautiful ruby red crab gazpacho and the most delicious spicy bloody marys with blue cheese stuffed olives, so good!

And of course dessert, there's always room for dessert, especially when it's some Illy coffee and a cannoli!

Roasted Red Pepper Sauce and Fettuccine in Foil

2011-09-23T22:11:00.000-05:00

Lately we've been loving roasted red pepper sauce, a simple combination of homemade marinara blended with roasted red peppers creates a dynamic flavor combination, toss it in some pasta and it is hard to resist!

Every couple of weeks or so I make a huge pot of marinara, I buy a 6lb can of San Marzano tomatoes, saute 12 to 15 cloves of chopped garlic in 3/4 cup of olive oil, 5 teaspoons of salt, pepper and lots of basil, sometimes I might add a small onion but most times I don't.

After it simmers for a good while I let it cool down, pour it into containers and stick it in the freezer for when ever I need it. In this case I held one out to make my roasted red pepper sauce.

I suggest roasting your own peppers, I personally don't like the flavor of the jarred ones and besides, they're too watery for this recipe. I put mine which were drizzled with olive oil, salt and pepper under the broiler, keep watching them until they're soft and slightly charred. Peel the skin off and whirl them in your food processor.

Look at that color isn't it beautiful? Now all you have to do is spoon your already highly flavored marinara into the mix, as much as you want accordingly to your own taste, until you reach the perfect balance of pepper verses tomato. The more pepper flavor the better, that's what you're aiming for here.
My al' dente cooked fettuccine was then tossed with that luscious roasted red pepper sauce, pre roasted eggplant, cherry tomatoes, zucchini and artichokes, I added in some olives, lots of basil and parsley.

For a rustic presentation I placed it into individual foil packets and top it with a few pieces of fresh mozzarella, seal it tight and put it in a 350F oven for 15 minutes until cheese gets gooey and heated through.
So Good!

Buon Appetito!

Roasted Vegetable Strudel and A Farewell to the Garden

2011-09-16T13:27:00.002-05:00

I can't believe how brave I'm getting with phyllo dough, I used to be so afraid to use it, but after my last post I realized just how forgiving it really is. It's so easy to patch it up if you make a mistake and you'd never even see your blooper after it's all baked up.

In my last post I made a "pie" so this time I decided to make a "strudel", a roasted vegetable strudel. It was amazingly easy to make and it tasted phenomenal!

Roast your vegetables ahead of time, I used 2 zucchini, 1 large eggplant, 1 large red pepper, 1 small onion, 3 garlic cloves and a half a bag of frozen artichoke hearts. Dice the veggies, drizzle with olive oil, S&P and roast at 425F until tender and golden.

The most important thing I can say about using phyllo is to keep it covered with a damp cloth as you go layering it. For this recipe I used 6 sheets, I did not drench them in melted butter either, instead I sprayed olive oil over each sheet with my olive oil mister as well as a sprinkling of grated romano cheese on each layer.

When you reach the 6th sheet spread your vegetables all over leaving about a 2" border all the way around. Scatter your favorite cheese combination on top of the veggies, I used fresh mozzarella, grated fontina, asiago and romano. Fold up the border ends over the vegetables then carefully roll up starting up on the longer side until it becomes into a log.

I sprayed olive oil on top of the log along with grated cheese and black pepper and baked it for around 20 minutes at 400F until golden.

Let it cool down a little before you slice into it. This was so good I can't wait to make it again! You can really choose any veggies you like as well as cheese. I served a little dipping sauce made of leftover marinara and roasted red peppers that I swirled in my food processor! What a great combination!

Yesterday I went out and grabbed everything that was left in my garden, the last of my tomatoes and the rest of the kale, the weather is definitly changing here dipping down to the 40's at night.

I gathered all my beloved basil and picked the very best leaves for my pesto, I will miss you!

Buon Appetito!

Kale Made Three Ways

2011-09-09T00:45:00.001-05:00

Three flavors that I adore together are caramelized onions, kale and butternut squash, there's something about the sweetness of the onions, the slightly bitterness of the greens and the buttery squash, it just creates the perfect balance! I was inspired to make this pie after I had a slice for lunch from my local Whole Foods deli. They added pancetta but honestly you don't need it, I think my version with out it was better, plus I added the caramelized onions which made it irresistible!

Our garden soil must be good for kale because it keeps growing and growing so I'm constantly thinking of ways to use it. I recently started freezing it and it's actually nice to be able to reach in the bag and take out just what I need.

After I give it a good wash and snip off the stems I rough chop the leaves and place them into boiling water for a quick 3 minutes, drain and let it cool down on a baking sheet then pack it in a freezer bag for future use.

For my version of the Kale and Butternut Squash Pie I roasted the squash ahead of time and I slow cooked the onions and leeks for around 40 minutes until golden brown and sweet, don't rush them, low and slow, and be generous with the grated parmesan cheese!

I used this recipe which is close to the Whole Foods version I had, it also helped me figure out the phyllo part, which btw, was very easy and forgiving.

All that goodness contained in crispy phyllo dough makes the perfect dinner or lunch!

I had leftover ingredients from the pie so I made this Kale and Butternut Squash Soup, light and not too heavy, perfect for the cool autumn weather we're recently experiencing.

Ingredients were: kale, butternut squash, caramelized onions and leeks, garlic, cherry tomatoes, a can of chickpeas or beans cooked in a vegetable broth, if you have cheese rinds throw them in all the better! In no time you'll have a comforting bowl of good for you soup!

I've made this Kale Pizza several times already, this is a favorite of my husband and BIL and they request it often, again it's just those flavor combinations that go so well together. No butternut squash here just kale, caramelized onions, cherry tomatoes and fontina cheese.

Baked on top of a crispy pizza crust. Two big burly guys didn't even miss the meat!

Now for the winner of the signed copy of Cucina Povera!

The winner is... Barbara F.
Barb congrats! Please email me with your address to prouditaliancook@hotmail.com

Cooking Class with Pamela Sheldon Johns author of "Cucina Povera"

2011-09-06T00:34:00.001-05:00

Last week on a beautiful September evening my friends and I headed into the city to attend a private cooking class with Pamela Sheldon Johns, well known cooking instructor and author of 16 cookbooks. We couldn't ask for better weather, the sky was bright blue and the views of the city were absolutely gorgeous from the 52nd floor condo we were in.

It was a small intimate group of ten lively women and Pamela made us all feel welcome the minute we arrived, popping open bottles of Prosecco as we were getting to know each other.

Our menu for the night was coming straight out of Pamela's new cookbook, Cucina Povera: Tuscan Peasant Cooking. Simple and delicious food born from hard times when nothing was ever wasted and leftovers were recreated over again.

In the beginning of the book you'll read a collection of stories from neighbors and locals that Pamela interviewed throughout her 20 years living in Tuscany, those who have experienced first hand the "poor kitchen" before, during, and just after World War II. The book has more than 60 dishes that bring to life the Cucina Povera philosophy focusing on making great food out of very little using simple quality ingredients.

Our first appetizer was Pinzimonio, quite simply, vegetables dipped in seasoned olive oil fresh pressed straight from Pamela's Tuscan farm.

Next up was Frittura Mista di Verdure, fried flowers and vegetables. A batter is made from flour, eggs and prosecco, the vegetables are then dipped and fried, sort of like tempura, light and crispy. The favorite among all was the fried sage leaves!

Another favorite was Pan' Santo or holy bread, a crostini topped with sauteed mixed greens "anointed" with olive oil.

Ribollita, a classic Tuscan vegetable-bread soup made with beans, greens, an assortment of vegetables, herbs and day old bread. Ribollita was a dish were the leftovers got extended and recreated into other dishes, for instance, day 1, it was a vegetable soup, day 2, a bread soup, day 3, a baked bread soup, and finally on day 4, it became a recooked vegetable stew.

This is a hearty dish especially when the bread is layered in between, it will fill your stomach in no time, a little goes along way!

Other dishes Pamela made were Stewed Beef braised with a hearty red wine served over Polenta, Roasted Tomatoes with Beans and Onions, and for dessert, warm Baked Apples. This is humble comfort food at it's finest!

As night fell the city glowed with all the lights, from our balcony we could even see the fireworks coming from Navy Pier. Beautiful, but a little scary if you don't like heights! ( I stayed close to the door).

Thank you Pamela for a very memorable night. I felt like I was invited over to a friends house for dinner.

The next day I was invited to a blogger event for Cucina Povera taken place at the beautiful and huge Whole Foods in Schaumburg, Il. What a great space they have for cooking demos and classes.

Of course Pamela was again behind the stove cooking up her Farmyard Crostini, a big pot of Farro Soup and a Panzanella Salad with Baked Figs for dessert. I need to stop eating for a week... I'll start tomarrow!

Cucina Povera will be released on Sept 13, but I have a signed copy ready to be shipped out to one of my readers, just leave a comment on my blog from now until Thursday midnight and I will announce the winner on Friday, Sept 9th.

Buon Appetito!

Easy Labor Day Weekend Ideas

2011-08-29T23:04:00.001-05:00

Couscous salad topped with grilled veggies, serve with grilled pita and you'll have the perfect lunch,
or serve it as a side with any roast you might be putting on the grill.
Nothing makes me happier than seeing a platter filled with grilled veggies drizzled with olive oil and balsamic glaze!
A perfect side dish with any grilled meats.

Or slabs of grilled sweet onions with dollops of warm gorgonzola.

For an extremely fresh salad that you can't stop eating, try this Zucchini Carpaccio

Salad. Paper thin slices of fresh zucchini tossed with baby arugula, shredded Parmigiano Reggiano, garlic, lemon zest and olive oil. Topped with toasted walnuts.

For a quick dessert take advantage of all the beautiful apricots that are still available.

Stuff them with sweetened mascarpone and plop a blackberry on top, drizzle with honey or agave and stick them under your broiler. Garnish with pistachio's.

Keep it simple and savor every last bit of all the beautiful summer produce.

Buon Appetito!

Grilled Pork Loin with Tuscan Herbs and the Winners to my Giveaway

2011-08-22T08:55:00.001-05:00

We often cook a pork roast on the grill, I've made so many different versions of it but my favorite way is to slice it open and stuff it with herbs. I have to admit I never have been good at opening one up properly, I would usually have one side thicker than the other. It wasn't until I saw this video that it finally clicked and I got it! Please go and check it out, it's so easy to do and the end result will be a perfect spiral of herbs.

Speaking of herbs, I was inspired to make my own tuscan herb mix after recently reading Judy's post on porchetta, she spoke about how the butchers at the Central Market in San Lorenzo Tuscany each have their own personal herbal mix that they use for their porchetta usually consisting of a blend of sage, rosemary and salt with some adding in black pepper and fennel. She had a link on her blog which showed her version, and as I was reading it she also linked to David Lebovitz who made his own version as well.

This is a terrific way to use up all your herbs, I happen to have a ton of sage growing and I never know what to do with it, I almost feel guilty just letting it go. I can't explain how good this mix is I can't wait to make more my stash is getting low and now I've become obsessed with it!

There's no real recipe here, it's impossible to be exact, but I took Davids advice using 3 parts sage to one part rosemary, 8 cloves of garlic and 1 tablespoon of salt, I also added lots of black pepper and crushed fennel seeds to mine. The hardest part is picking all the leaves off the rosemary and sage branches, it's time consuming but I did it while I was watching TV and the time went by fast, after that it was a piece of cake! I placed everything into my food processor and pulsed it a few times being careful not to liquefy the mix, then spread it out on a large baking sheet to dry for 3 days.

All the flavors intensify, its the perfect complement to grilled or roasted meats and vegetables.

Figs always go well with pork so I decided to make a very quick Fig and Rosemary Spread using 1lb of dried mission figs** 2tbl of fresh chopped rosemary** zest of 1 orange**1 cup of orange juice**1tbl honey**1/2 cup water**salt and pepper. Place everything in a covered saucepan over medium heat, bring to a boil then simmer about 30 minutes until thick. Strain and reserve liquid, if needed add additional water to the fig liquid to total 3/4 cup. Put fig mixture into a food processor and process until smooth. Store the fig spread in an airtight container, refrigerated. Recipe from Savory Baking

So if you find yourself with leftover pork roast, change it up and make this panini! Crusty bread layered with herby pork, fig, spicy arugula and roasted red pepper, crispy and warm, oozing with fontina cheese! Need I say more??

Thank you for all the wonderful comments and emails I received for my blogiversay, I really appreciated each and every one! My 11 year old granddaughter picked the 4 winners to my giveaway and they are, .... Patrice ... Imbottito ... Fallon ... and ... Maryann S.

Please email me at prouditaliancook@hotmail.com with your address so I can get it out to you. Thanks again everyone!

Proud Italian Cook is 4 Today! and a Giveaway

2011-08-15T10:50:00.001-05:00

Today, August 15Th is the Italian holiday called Ferragosto and the day I started my blog, it's very fitting since it's a holiday that revolves around family, friends and food. It's hard to believe it's been 4 years already? It seems like only yesterday that I wrote my first post! I still feel exactly the same way about basil today.
When I reflect back on these past 4 years all I can say is that I'm grateful, grateful that I started this little blog and that I'm part of such a supportive community of people who share a little bit of themselves everyday and who inspire the heck out of me!
If you were to ask me which posts are some of my favorites I would have to say the ones that involve my family and friends, like the time my son ran his first marathon, or the post about my daughter, daughter-in-law and niece walking in The Chicago 3-Day for breast cancer, our picnics at Ravinia, the birth of my granddaughter, making ravioli together and Timpano. Foodie trips with my friends like this and this have become popular, I get quite a few emails requesting I do more.
I must say though that the most emails I've ever gotten on a post so far was the one I did about neckbones, silly me I didn't think anyone would even be interested in it other than my own family so I didn't even post the recipe! but to this day I'm still getting heartfelt emails from readers thanking me for writing that post and bringing back memories they had that were tied to that humble meal, apparently there's a lot of fellow neckbone eaters out there! According to my stats, this has been one of my most popular posts, along with this.

I could go on and on why I love blogging but really I just simply want to say thank you, thank you to all my loyal readers those who have stuck by me since the beginning, actual friends who I've come to know so well. Thank you to all those new to my blog, to my many subscribers, Facebook friends, and those who take the time to write me a personal email, I truly appreciate each and every one of your comments! A special thanks goes out to my husband Tony for always being my number one fan as well as my family and friends.
I don't know whats in store for the next year, but I'll just keep doing what I'm doing and enjoying it every step of the way!

For a small token of my appreciation I'm giving away 4 gifts for 4 years, each will consist of an amazing bottle of Mandarano Balsamic Glaze, (you're going to love how this enhances all your food!), plus The Silver Spoon Pasta cookbook by Phaidon, (because you know I love my pasta, and I love all the Phaidon cookbooks!) The winners will be picked by my 11 year old granddaughter and announced on Monday August 22nd in my next blog post. Just leave a comment and if you'd like I'd love to hear what your favorite Italian dish is. Thanks again everyone!

Sugar Sweet Cherry Tomatoes

2011-08-08T23:22:00.001-05:00

I heart cherry tomatoes, especially with the different combinations of color. The possibilities are endless on what you can do with them. Like little jewels to accessorize your food!

Fortunately for me, now is the time that I'm guaranteed a big bowl full every time I step into my garden!

I've been stuffing them with creamy goat cheese, one bite wonders busting with flavor! Warning... Be careful they're like eating candy you can't stop!

I constantly roast them on sheet pans, bathing the tiny tomatoes in olive oil and shaved garlic, then I tuck them away in my fridge for later use.

Like when I toss them into my scrambled eggs for breakfast along with lots of green onions and serve it on top of crusty Italian bread toast. Simple, but out of this world!

When you roast them the juice seeps from the tomatoes into the garlicky oil and it becomes the perfect sauce for your pasta, add shaved Parmesan cheese and fresh basil. It's as close to perfection as you're going to get!

Thanks again to my friend Linda for sending me the seeds to grow these adorable round zucchini, after I roasted them I stuffed my pasta into it's perfect edible bowl!

Buon Appetito!

Summer in the City!

2011-08-04T23:35:00.002-05:00

Recently we had family visiting us from Florida, we decided to spend the day in the city acting like tourists. We walked up and down Michigan Ave. ending at Millennium Park. The sky's were blue and the weather was perfect, we lucked out with no extreme heat that day!

Along the way we even saw Marilyn, all 26ft. of her in her most famous pose.
Very awesome!

Visited the Observatory in the John Hancock building. I might be partial but I have to say Chicago is such a beautiful city!

Looking down the Chicago River and gazing up at Trump Chicago

Al Fresco dining was everywhere

Horse drawn carriage rides

People watching and taking in the sights

There's always some kind of running event going on in the city of Chicago but Girls on the Run was special to me this year because my granddaughter and her best friend participated in their first 5K.

Here they are warming up before the run.

Girls on the Run is a life changing experience for girls ages 8 to 13, their goal is to encourage positive, emotional, social, mental, spiritual and physical development. Here's the metal she received.

You didn't think I'd leave without showing you some of the food we've been partaking in now did you? Not in one day of course.

Hope you're enjoying your summer!

Harvest Time! Our First Meal from the Garden

2011-07-28T00:01:00.001-05:00

All the heat and rain we've been having this summer is doing wonders for our garden! Every day we're out there picking something new. Kale and swiss chard are growing by leaps and bounds, tomatoes turning red, zucchini, romaine, eggplant, fresh herbs, it's a beautiful thing!

We picked all of this and more over the weekend, we had so much kale that I decided to clean, cut and blanch it for a few minutes, drained it, and after it cooled down stuck it in the freezer. The kale keeps growing all summer long and into the fall, so if you have any good kale recipes, I'm all ears!

See that cute little round zucchini? That's the first time we ever grew them, my friend Linda sent me the seeds after I admired the crop from her garden last year. I have another one almost ready to pick and then I'm going to stuff them both.

So I decided to make use of our first bounty and created a salad using romaine, zucchini, fresh basil and our sweet little cherry tomatoes all from the garden tossed together with a little leftover pasta and diced fresh mozzarella dressed in a light vinaigrette.

For the eggplant I kept them whole and in tact cutting slices and fanning them out, drizzling all over with olive oil, salt and pepper and then roasting in a 400F. oven until tender, after which I brushed each section with basil pesto and tucked slices of fresh mozzarella and juicy tomatoes inside placing them back into the oven just until the cheese melts. Oh so good!

Dinner is served!

Buon Appetito!

Balsamic, Reduced to Perfection!

2011-07-22T18:30:00.001-05:00

A long time ago I tried reducing down a bottle of balsamic vinegar, everything was going good, I was about 35 minutes into it, stirring constantly and watching it slowly thicken up, I turned away for a brief minute and when I came back it was at the point of no return, completely caramelized and stuck to my pan plus I was left with a horrible smell of burnt vinegar lingering in my house, that was the last time I did that! Since then I've been buying bottled balsamic glaze already reduced and ready for me to use on the spur of the moment. You'll always find a bottle or two stocked in my pantry.

Recently I was asked if I wanted to do a product review for Mandarano Balsamic Glaze & Sauce, the company produces and bottles entirely out of Modena, Italy using authentic regional grapes along with an award winning 400-year old family recipe, of course I said yes, and I'm so glad I did! The intense thick, rich, sweet yet sour flavor that comes through enhances everything you use it on, and I mean everything! I would highly recommend it!

Check out their website they're running a promo, with an additional discount at checkout using the letters,PIC

Wonderful on meats of all kinds, vegetables, grilled and roasted (to die for!) I love roasting those mini red, yellow and orange peppers in olive oil and then to finish them off I gently drizzle balsamic glaze all over and toss, add some crumbled goat cheese and it becomes a beautiful side dish, what flavor!

Go easy and taste as you go, you don't need to use so much. Try it on potatoes, eggs, caprese salads, cheese, fruits, I could go on and on, and because its already in a squeeze bottle its a convenient way to garnish your plates just like the Chefs do!

I like to use my glaze as a finishing sauce as I did in this chicken recipe. I marinated the chicken breasts in a zip lock bag for a couple of hours using an everyday balsamic vinegar that I have, ( I would never use my glaze to marinate) along with olive oil and some crushed garlic.
Grill up your chicken and when its done place fresh mozzarella on top along with basil leaves and either a garden fresh tomato slice, or as I did, a roasted red pepper. Garnish and drizzle with that rich and dreamy balsamic glaze! Perfection in each bite!

Like I mentioned above balsamic glaze enhances fruit, think strawberries, pears and apples etc. If you peeked into my fridge right now you would see 3 containers of grilled stone fruits, apricots, peaches and plums. I grill them ahead of time and use them for all sorts of things, like this quick salad above. Simply toss some greens with your favorite vinaigrette, add crumbled goat cheese, ( check out the one below) toasted walnuts and top it with a grilled peach drizzled with balsamic glaze, so simple but it tastes like a million dollars!

OK, my other new obsession, ( thanks to my friend Mary-Alice) is honey goat cheese, have you tried it? Oh my, it's out of this world! Where have I been? She got it from Costco and I've since bought it there and I recently discovered Trader Joes has it, a different brand but it tastes exactly the same. If you don't shop at any of those stores check out your local cheesemonger I'm sure they know all about it, but FYI, my Whole Foods didn't carry it either.

It's creamy, tangy and slightly sweet with a touch of honey, its the perfect balance, everyone that has tried it falls in love at first bite, if you love goat cheese, you'll love this!

Have a nice weekend and Buon Appetito!

Paccheri Pasta and Some Party Ideas

2011-07-15T18:09:00.000-05:00

This is the perfect side dish to all your grilling, individual little bundles of cooked Paccheri pasta stuffed with roasted vegetables, cheese and sun dried tomatoes. Tastes best when served at room temperature with a fresh herb, lemon, olive oil and parmesan dressing drizzled all over the top, great to bring to a party or picnic!
Equally as good is the caprese version using sliced tomato, fresh mozzarella and basil all tucked inside with an olive oil and balsamic glaze drizzled all over the top!

Paccheri pasta are large hollow tubes shaped similar to rigatoni only bigger and wider.

I roasted planks of zucchini and eggplant and then tucked in some asiago cheese and a sun dried tomato for mine.

Just cook the pasta according to the package, let it cool, then stuff them with whatever inspires you!

I had some leftover cooked pasta so I decided to stuff the remaining ones using a zip lock bag filled with spinach, ricotta, lots of grated cheese and an egg. Fill them and stand them straight up, side by side until you fill the pan, adding sauce on top and in between.

I have several mini spring form pans which I love to use and often do for an individual take on this dish.

Olive oil and brush with sauce the bottom and sides of your mini spring form pan, I have a 4" pan. I'm sure you could use a larger one if you wanted to, but I think the smaller ones are cuter and they come out looking like a little flower!

And here's something for dessert that will surely have your guests talking! Vodka infused whipped cream! It comes in many different flavors, we had the chocolate and vanilla. It works just like traditional whipped cream, but only for grown ups!

My daughter brought this over on the fourth of July, it was quite a hit!

Extremely good with strawberries or grilled fruits of any kind, top off your cup of coffee with it, or squirt some on a piece of pie. Use your imagination and enjoy!

Buon Appetito!

Seafood Boil

2011-07-08T16:25:00.001-05:00

We have family visiting us from Florida right now but I wanted to quick show you this fabulous dinner they made for us the other night, a scrumptious Seafood Boil!

Here's all the ingredients, I did nothing but steam the artichokes ahead of time, they took over my whole kitchen and it was great!

Basically you get the biggest pot you could find, add water to it and spice up the water with whole heads of garlic, salt, peppercorns, Old Bay, white wine, lemons, red pepper flakes and onions, being very generous with the amounts! Add your longer cooked vegetables first and then the seafood last, as each component cooks it creates a more intense flavor to the brothy water.

The end result is that every single thing you pick up and eat will be heavily flavored with all those wonderful ingredients, so good! We also had some drawn butter, extra lemons and a remoulade sauce for dipping which took it well over the top!

We ate this in my screened in sun room with all the windows open on a beautiful breezy day, we took our time, talked, and savored every bite! Thank you Jennie and John!

I wonder what we'll be eating tomarrow?

Ricotta and Herb Stuffed Chicken, Grilled Veggie Couscous, and a Fresh Salad from my Garden

2011-06-30T00:01:00.001-05:00

With the long weekend ahead of us and the Fourth of July right around the corner you might consider this as one of your meals, Ricotta and Herb Stuffed Chicken. Placing an herby, cheesy and citrusy mixture of creamy ricotta underneath the skin turns a simple chicken into something quite amazing!

I get all my chicken from Whole Foods, I know where they come from and I love how clean and fresh they look and the friendly butcher behind the counter is always happy to do anything I ask so I don't even have to get my hands messy! Lately every chicken I buy I've been asking him to cut the back out for me, better known as spatchcocked or butterflied. I just love how even and fast it cooks up being cut that way.

For this particular recipe you're going to be loosening the skin all around which will make it easier for you to place your ricotta mixture underneath. Just wiggle your fingers carefully under the skin along the top and bottom of the breast, thighs and tops of the legs.

For the ricotta filling mix up 1lb of ricotta with fresh herbs of your choice, I used basil and parsley along with grated parmesan or romano cheese, salt, pepper, lemon zest and chopped sundried tomatoes. In a small pan, saute 1 clove of minced garlic and either sliced green onions or the lighter part of a leek, when soft, toss and stir into the ricotta mixture.

Lift up the skin and stuff your bird wiggling the ricotta mixture down to cover all areas. Season with salt and pepper and drizzle with olive oil on top. Roast in a 450F oven for 30 minutes with tin foil over the breast part, then remove foil and turn oven down to 400F and continue cooking until internal temperature reaches 180F. Let it rest before cutting into it. (You could grill this but make sure you don't lose your ricotta mixture.)

While the chicken is cooking in the oven you can be outside grilling up some vegetables for this delicious side dish of Grilled Vegetable Couscous, better yet get it done earlier in the day so you can be sipping your favorite drink instead!

Cook your couscous according to the package, I like the large Israeli couscous, toast it first in olive oil then add water, it's usually equal amounts. I had 1 1/3 cups of couscous and the same amount of water. When it cools down to room temperature add your grilled veggies, I used red, yellow, orange and green peppers, Vadalia onions, portobello mushrooms and fresh corn. Add lots of chopped basil, olive oil, lemon, salt and pepper to taste.

I'm excited to share my first romaine salad of the year that my green thumb husband grew for us, he has it growing in pots as well as in the ground.

He won't let me cut the leaves off for fear I might destroy the plant, he's very particular. Look how proud he is!

The leaves were so tender and fresh even the core was delicious, simply dressed with my very best olive oil, fresh squeezed lemon juice and light shavings of Parmigiano Reggiano, simply the best!

Have a great weekend and Buon Appetito!

A Chicago Culinary Adventure with Bertolli

2011-06-24T17:20:00.003-05:00

This past Saturday I was invited along with other Chicago based bloggers to spend the day experiencing authentic Italy in Chicago through the eyes of Bertolli. I was told to prepare my palate for a truly delectable day, and it certainly was!

Our initial meet up was to be at L'Appetito, a cozy Italian deli located on the lower level of the John Hancock building off of Michigan Ave. Our gracious hosts from the Zocalo Group were there to welcome us all. L' Appetito was the first authentic Italian deli on the gold coast and still remains twenty four years later.

The weather was beautiful and the deli was bustling with people inside and out enjoying all their favorite Italian eats like gelato, cappuccino, espresso, fresh baked pastries, cookies, sandwiches, subs and much more!

As we dipped our biscotti and savored each bite of authentic Italian cookies we enjoyed hearing how this family business got started and how much it has evolved through out the years.

You could imagine our excitement when these beauties were brought to our table, Affogato, a classic Italian dessert consisting of creamy vanilla gelato being "drowned" in warm espresso, a match made in heaven! If you haven't tried Affogato yet, you must! It's the perfect summertime dessert! I was so impressed with their gelato, very authentic taste and texture and their exclusive use of Illy brand coffee. Check out a previous post I did on Affogato here.

Our next stop was at Chicago French Market to visit Pastoral Artisan Cheese, Bread & Wine. Waiting for us was an Italian cheese tasting, custom made especially for our event.

Our taste buds were heightened as we sampled, ***Montasio Vino Rosso, a cows milk cheese covered with Cabernet and Merlot. *** Podda*** Taleggio*** a wonderful Gorgonzola DOP Piccante, somewhat spicy, loved it! and the king of all cheeses, *** Parmigiano Reggiano.

After the tasting we had time to walk around the French Market which is actually a year-round indoor marketplace filled with local artisans and purveyors.

Next stop on our journey was to Old Town Oil, located on Wells St. where we had the opportunity to taste specialty olive oils and balsamic vinegars from around the world.

Each one unique in it's own special way, grassy, fruity, spicy, full bodied. Tasting olive oil is similar to a wine tasting. I especially loved their Tuscan Herb, I pictured it drizzled over grilled vegetables, it has a wonderful infused herby flavor!

It was fun sampling all the balsamic vinegars, aged, white and specialty, Some of my favorite flavors were, fig, tangerine, pomegranate, raspberry, honey and ginger, Sicilian lemon, white peach and jalapeno. I never knew there were so many different flavored vinegars!

We still a little time left before dinner so we all walked over to The Spice House, where I was introduced to my new favorite ingredient, tomato powder. Rich tasting and very tomato-ey I can't wait to add it into pasta dough.

The last stop on our journey was dinner at Coco Pazzo, on Hubbard St. Coco Pazzo was the first Chicago restaurant to focus solely on the Tuscan region of Italy. The minute you walk in you're welcomed by the beautiful loft style setting.

But my focus was all on the antipasto table which caught my eye immediately, a colorful display of all my favorite vegetables, meats and cheeses, all cooked to perfection!

Owner, Jack Weiss graciously spent time at our table welcoming us and telling us his story of how Coco Pazzo came to be. Manager Roberto explained the type of wine we would be having with each course from their award winning all Italian wine list, and the talented Executive Chef, Chris Macchia explained the custom pasta menu he created for us.

We started out our meal with amazing antipasto platters along with slices of warm homemade foccacia bread, I would have been happy stopping right there!

Then came the pasta, Mezzelune Gorgonzola, handmade half moon pasta, gorgonzolla filled, asparagus sauce. Tagliolini Neri, black squid ink pasta, rock shrimp, zucchini, tomato, chilles and basil. Pappadelle al Coniglio, homemade wide flat noodles, braised rabbit, white wine, aromatic vegetables, thyme.

I never had rabbit before so I was a little hesitant, but it looked so good I just went for it, and guess what? I loved it!

We finished our meal with a sampling of four different desserts, each one better than the other and a hot steamy cup of espresso!

A big thanks for all the goodies we got to take home throughout the day, and a giant thanks to all the Zucalo gals that took such good care of us, and of course, Bertolli!

Foodie Field Trip to Freddy's

2011-06-14T22:30:00.001-05:00

There's a little Italian gem that is near and dear to my heart, it's located on a corner in a very unpretentious neighborhood, the name of that gem is called Freddy's Pizza, but don't let the name fool you, this is so much more than a pizza place, Freddy's is a landmark!
We've been going to Freddy's for years, ever since my kids were little, and today with families of their own they still continue to go, it's that kind of place, once you go, you're hooked for good!

Last week my girlfriends and I went to Freddy's for lunch, we arrived right before they opened , got a little table in their screened in area and managed to order our lunch before the constant flood of patrons started forming a line. This is a small place, the aisles are tight but nobody cares because you're here for the food, Italian ice and gelato, and it's so worth the wait!

Owner Joe Quercia who emigrated from Naples, Italy and his wonderful wife Ann Marie treat you like family when you walk in, no matter how busy they are they never seem to get flustered and always take the time to walk around asking how everything is, always making you feel welcome.

The aisles are filled with imported pastas, oils, giardinara, eggplant salad and various other Italian goodies, ( too many to mention). Farther down the small aisle you'll hit the deli section filled with imported cheese and meats, fresh mozzarella, homemade sopressata and the most delicious Italian sausage. Warm crusty bread and foccacia is brought out before you and smells are so enticing you just can't resist! Have I mentioned the pepperoni bread? Oh my, when you see it you can't hesitate for a second, because it will be gone!

A slight turn from the deli and you start seeing all the fresh homemade Italian specialties lined up, platter after platter of beautifully presented food. This is old world cooking made with loving hands and the taste confirms it all!

Lemon chicken, eggplant, meatballs, sausage and peppers, Italian beef, prosciutto sandwiches on focaccia, to name a few.

Antipasto everywhere, seafood salad, fried artichokes, roman style artichokes, garlicky rapini, ( Outstanding, I get some every time) arancini, salami salad, caprese, garbanzo bean, I could go on and on!

As you walk along the counter it's almost impossible to make choices because everything looks so amazing!

Thin crust, thick crust, Neapolitan style pizza with every different combination you can think of coming out of the oven piping hot!

Homemade ravioli, gnocchi, and various other pastas bathing in the most delectable sauce.

In the mood for risotto? No problem, it's there for you in all it's creamy glory!

That prosciutto just melts in your mouth!

We have a system when we go there, someone holds the table and a couple of us go up and start ordering, a little bit of this and a little bit of that, old favorites and something new, it dosen't matter what you get, it's all good!.
We bring it back to the table and savor every bite.

No fine china here, heavy duty paper plates with plastic forks and spoons, this was our glutinous table we could barely fit all the plates on. I'm still dreaming about those green olives, so creamy and buttery, I made sure they were all gone before we left.

After we're done eating we go back in for dessert, gelato and Italian ice is a must!

When we're done with dessert it's time to shop for goodies to bring home. A loaf or two of pepperoni bread will always go home with me along with a couple pounds of sausage.

Their Italian ice, what can I say, I crave it on a hot summer day, let's just say we've made many trips out there just for that over the years. Their gelato is amazing, no wonder it has been voted "Best gelato in all of Chicago" by Chicago Magazine!

One lick and you're transported to Italy!

So when you go you absolutely have to try both the Italian ice and the gelato, it's a must!

Here's my friends loaded down with goodies to take home.

I did some shopping too!

I told you I love the pepperoni bread!

In close, if you live in the Chicagoland area and have never been to Freddy's plan to go ASAP, you'll thank me later!

Freddy's Pizza

1600 South 61st. Ave.

Cicero (2 blocks West of Austin Blvd)

M-Sat 10 - 7

Closed Sundays

Cash Only!

The Thrill of the Grill!

2011-06-08T22:40:00.001-05:00

I made this fish yesterday, it was 98 degrees out and my oven wasn't going on. It's so quick to put together, it cooks up fast and the taste? Well, you'll just have to try it, all I can say is that you won't be disappointed!

I take a shallow baking sheet and wrap the top and bottom with tin foil. Drizzle olive oil on the bottom, and add thinly sliced garlic on the top. Place your fish fillets over the sliced garlic, I used tilapia.

Season your fish with salt, pepper, and a sprinkling of paprika for color. Toss in some fresh herbs, I used parsley and basil. Add sliced cherry tomatoes, and kalamata olives and a small handful of capers. Scatter a few lemon slices around and add some of the juice. Finish off by drizzling olive oil all over.

Place the pan on a hot grill and close the lid. The smell is intoxicating as the garlic starts cooking and infuses the fish. When your fish is firm to the touch, it's done! This is great for a crowd, you can even use shrimp and a 1/2 sheet pan for more space. For my 4 fillets I just used a 1/4 sheet pan.

The flavors all blend together leaving an exceptional taste!

Straight from the farmers market, fresh asparagus and sweet knobby onions. ( that's what I call them.) You got to have some veggies on the side!

When I see pretty artichokes I can't resist them, I love them grilled and I often make them throughout the summer, a great way to start out your meal!

Basically I trim and quarter my artichokes and slowly boil them until tender. I let them cool completely down, then I pull out the choke and prickly leaves. Place the quartered artichokes in a bowl, drizzle olive oil all over, place grated romano cheese between the leaves along with salt, pepper, finely chopped garlic and fresh parsley. Place them on a hot grill turning them over until the cheese gets crusty and garlic cooks, it just takes a few minutes.

So good!

NRA SHOW 2011

2011-06-05T20:17:00.001-05:00

Recently I attended the 92ND Annual National Restaurant Association show at McCormick Place, Chicago. Oh what a fun time it was, sensory overload in the best kind of way! Celebrity chefs cooking up close and personal, chit chatting with the audience while the room filled with the smells of their signature dishes. The day I arrived at the culinary showcase arena, Chef Kevin Sbraga, winner of Top Chef DC Season 7, was demonstrating how he smokes olive oil, a trend that's really taking off, (more about that later) and right after that, Chef Rick Tramonto, a well known Chicago chef and cookbook author, started cooking up some good old fashioned Italian comfort food.

Rick Bayless, Marcus Samuelsson, Wylie Dufrense, Gayle Gand and many others were a part of this years show.
The visuals were a food lovers dream, sort of like Disneyworld for foodies! Walls and walls of the latest gadgets, top quality knives of every kind, beautiful platters and plates in all different colors, shapes and designs.
Food companies from all over represented their very best, I was surprised to see how many Italian products were featured, breads, olives, oils, vinegars, pastas, gelato, coffee, espresso, desserts, cheese everywhere you turned, meats, believe me I could go on and on!
Did I tell you there were samples everywhere! Smiling faces ready to pitch their products, and eager for you to taste. I told you it was fun!
High end pastas in wonderful shapes coming straight from Italy.
Entrepreneurs of all sorts looking for distributors.
Dietz and Watson always had a huge crowd around them as the fumes of their gourmet chicken sausages filled the air!
Innovative technology was the focus on equipment to run any type of restaurant or food service business.
I want one of these on my kitchen counter!

And this pizza oven in my back yard!

Vendor after vendor representing all the top brands in cookware, bakeware and specialty pots and pans. Waffle and crepe makers filling the air with sweet smells! Panini grills, meatball machines, honestly I haven't even scratched the surface!

Are you ready for some dessert now? How about some Chicago based Eli's Cheesecake.

A little chocolate never hurt anyone!

Or maybe you prefer gelato?
I had a great time navigating all the isles and looking at all the beautiful displays of food. Thank goodness I wore comfortable shoes! I came home with lots of goodies too.

I have to give a shout out to two of my favorite products, Flamous Falafel Chips, they come in original and spicy, all I can say is... FIND THEM!

So addictingly good!

My ultimate favorite food product of the show was this smoked olive oil from a company called, The Smoked Olive. A Napa Valley couple created this award winning olive oil using their own innovative process to infuse extra virgin olive oil with wood smoked flavor without exposing it to light or heat. There business has taken off in a direction they never could have imagined, they knew they were on to something good when celebrity chefs starting endorsing them and international companies started calling.
When I tasted the samples, I immediately fell in love with the flavor, it's so unique, imagine using it with scallops or any type of seafood for that matter, it enhances meats and all sorts of veggies, a little pricey but worth every luxurious drop! There are 3 different versions
do check them out when you get a chance.

The NRA show unfortunately is not open to the public.

Pizza on the Grill

2011-05-27T23:30:00.001-05:00

Want something fun to cook on your grill this Memorial Day weekend? If you haven't tried grilling pizza yet, forgive me, but what are you waiting for? The texture you get from the dough cooking on the grill is incredible! Light, crispy and crunchy!

Start with good quality dough, either homemade or storebought. Let it come to room temperature before you even attempt to roll it out. I like to cut my dough ball in half, it's much easier to manage on the grill.

Make sure your grill is super clean and all that former BBQ sauce has been burned off and scraped clean. Get the grill nice and hot, coasting on medium high. Your dough is going to cook up so fast, so don't walk away, it can burn!

Fresh, lighter ingredients work best for grilled pizza, have everything ready to go because things go really fast! For this pizza I used veggies that I grilled the day before, eggplant, zucchini, red and yellow peppers with fresh mozzarella for my cheese, all on top of a light tomato sauce base.

In the past I've made many margherita pizza's, you can't go wrong with that, or just melt your favorite cheese on the dough and when its done add some prosciutto and arugula, actually that's one of my absolute favorites!

Think caramelized onions, pancetta with blue cheese, feta or goat, cherry tomatoes tossed with fresh basil and olive oil spread all over creamy bubbly cheese. Another favorite of mine is shrimp with pesto, I could just ramble on and on for an hour about all the good combinations you can make! Chicken is good too, alright, alright I'll stop!

No matter how hard I try my pizza never comes out round, I roll it out round but when I plop it on the grill it morphs into another shape, who cares, it's all about the taste!

And believe me it tastes phenomenal! Pour yourself some wine or grab a beer, ice tea or lemonade and enjoy casual dining at it's finest!

Here's what you do:

Heat your clean grill up to a medium high heat, I like to oil my grill grates a little too.** While the grill is heating up, roll your room temperature dough out and brush the top with olive oil** Place dough, oiled side down on grill, don't move it, it will start to bubble up and cook, use tongs and check the bottom side it should look crispy with nice grill marks, once cooked it will be easy to flip** Pull it off, lower your heat and add all your toppings on the cooked side.** Place pizza back on the grill and when the cheese is all melted and bubbly and the underside is cooked it's done.

Happy Grilling!

My Idea of Fast Food

2011-05-23T20:30:00.000-05:00

Whenever I need to make a quick dinner, my go to meal is always something made with pasta. Having my pantry stocked with a variety of pasta shapes, we never ever get bored! There's always fresh vegetables handy here and using just a few other basic Italian staples you can get something fresh, fabulous and fast on the table in less than 30 minutes!

My pasta of choice for this meal was Tripoline which looks like the long curly edges of lasagne. Put a pot of water on for the pasta and while that's heating up, take a saute pan and drizzle the bottom with olive oil then add in 4 or 5 cloves of chopped garlic. When the garlic gets golden brown toss in a pint or more of cherry or grape tomatoes cut in half and seasoned with salt and pepper, cook gently until softened.

Drain the pasta ( I used a 1/2 lb.) and stir it into the skillet. Add a handful of arugula or two, and 1/2 cup of cubed and drained fresh mozzarella, asiago is good too! Toss until the leaves wilt and the cheese melts slightly. Add some reserved pasta water if needed, more olive oil and a generous handful of grated romano or parmesan cheese.

The combination of flavors blend so well together it might not make it to the table!

Just saying!

No doubt you'll have some arugula leftover, don't waste it, toss it into a bowl and make this incredible salad of arugula, shaved fennel, toasted walnuts with a simple dressing of olive oil and balsamic vinegar, all topped off with thin shavings of Grana Padano.

This is so good, I promise you'll want to make it over and over again!

Buon Appetito!

Small Plates, Long Conversations at Quartino, Chicago

2011-05-16T13:15:00.001-05:00

May is a great time to visit Chicago
usually the weather is perfect, the flowers are in bloom and spring is in the air!
A wonderful time to go sightseeing or just meet up with friends for lunch.

Last week I had the opportunity to meet a blogger friend of mine from Brooklyn, Pat from the blog, Millie Fiori Favoriti. We've been communicating for years but never actually met in person, of course lunch was on the agenda! My dear friend Mary-Alice and I met up with Pat at her hotel and we began our walk to Quartino for lunch.

Located on the corner of State and Ontario
Quartino is known for their Italian tapas, featuring modest sized plates of handmade pastas, seasonal prepared specialties, house cured salumi, artisinal cheese and an array of Neopolitan pizzas.

From the minute you walk in you're warmly welcomed by the waitstaff.

They also have nice outdoor seating a great place to people watch, but on the day we were there it was close to 90 degrees so we opted for inside air conditioning.

I just love the casual atmosphere there, never did we feel rushed through our lunch, we lingered for a good couple of hours and talked and talked.

It was a pleasure to meet Pat, shes just as genuine in person as she is on her blog!

I have to give a big shout out to our friendly waiter Josh, he was extremely attentive to us
and when he heard I had a food blog he quickly told the manager who came out to meet us.

I've eaten here before with family and we have never been disappointed, the menu is fantastic the drinks divine and the prices are unbelievable!

For Pat's visit we decided to order the Salumeria Tasting where you get to pick and choose from your favorite salumi, cheese, and a few different appetizers. We choose prosciutto, spicy sopressata, asiago and gorgonzola cheese, roasted peppers, marinated artichokes, eggplant caponata and an assortment of olives and bread. The perfect platter to munch on!

Our pizza of choice was Funghi, portobello with fresh tomato.

There's always room for dessert! How about some hot chocolate cake with vanilla gelato?

Our waiter Josh highly recommended we also try the apple fritters with gelato, all were so good!

As a bonus we got to meet the talented chef who oversees the kitchen at Quartino, Executive Chef John Coletta, not only does he have an impresive bio, but he's also a cookbook author.

If you're in Chicago and you're looking for great food, friendly service and a relaxing atmosphere to hang out with good friends consider dining at Quartino!

Chocolate Ricotta Tart

2011-05-08T00:10:00.000-05:00

First of all I'd like to wish all the mothers out there a very Happy Mother's Day! To celebrate I thought I'd share something sweet with you today. This is a tart made with rich dark chocolate, ricotta, rum, grated orange rind and walnuts, it's absolutely wonderful! Just put on a pot of coffee or your favorite espresso and your all set!

I was fortunate to be the winner of this awesome bar of rich dark Jacques Torres chocolate over by my friend Pat's blog, Mille Fiori Favoriti. Pat has lived in New York City her entire life. If you want to visit NYC I highly recommend you check out her blog, she'll make you want to pack your bags ASAP!

Jacques Torres known as "Mr Chocolate" is ranked as one of the top pastry chefs of the world, so I knew I was in for a real treat! The second I opened up the bar and unraveled the paper the smell was so intoxicating! Oh, and there's a reason why it's called a Big Daddy Bar, this thing was huge!

I saw this poster in a chocolate shop and thought it was very appropriate for this post.

Here's the recipe!

The filling consists of, 4 1/2 oz of semisweet dark chocolate, broken into pieces, 1 cup ricotta cheese, 1/3 cup confectioners sugar, 2 tbsp dark rum, finely grated rind of half an orange, 1 tsp vanilla extract, 1/2 cup finely chopped walnuts.

If you're adventurous you can make your own double pie crust or just buy a good quality one like I did.

Melt the chocolate in a heatproof bowl over a pan of hot water. Mix together the ricotta, confectioners sugar, grated orange rind, rum, vanilla and walnuts, mixing evenly. Roll out dough to fit into a 9" tart pan with removable bottom. Spoon the ricotta mixture evenly into the pastry, it will be thick, don't worry. Roll the remaining dough and cut into strips to form a lattice top. Place on a baking sheet in a preheated 350F oven for 35-40 minutes, until firm and golden.
ENJOY!

Recipe adapted from Frame by Frame Italian

Springtime Farro Salad

2011-05-02T19:45:00.001-05:00

Farro is an ancient grain that has become quite popular these days, it has a rich nutty flavor with just the right amount of chewiness with great health benefits as a bonus! It's easy to prepare with no fuss at all, just cook up some vegetables to add to it and it becomes the perfect main or side dish!

I made this salad over the weekend to serve alongside some grilled meats but it was just as good eaten all by itself for lunch the next day. Bursting with color, it makes you think of spring doesn't it?

Cooking the farro is super easy, cover the grain with water, add a little salt, bring it to a boil then cover and simmer for about 20 - 25 minutes, drain, then spread it out on a baking sheet to cool down.

I roasted red, yellow and green peppers, red onion, asparagus, minced garlic, zucchini, artichokes hearts and peas, all in a 425F oven tossed in olive oil, salt and pepper until tender but not mushy. You can use any vegetables you want just make sure to cut them into bite size pieces.

When everything cools down toss the farro with the vegetables into a large bowl and add chopped fresh parsley and basil, a couple of sliced scallions, if you have some lemon olive oil drizzle some of that all over or make your own by whisking fresh lemon juice with olive oil, add salt, pepper and a generous amount of freshly grated Grana Padana cheese. I like to toss and taste to see how everything is flavored adding a little more of this and a little more of that!

Happy Spring!

The Mighty Asparagus!

2011-04-25T12:35:00.002-05:00

Even though the weather here hasn't been so great I know it's really spring because asparagus is everywhere, I can't get enough of the stuff and I'm always looking for new ways to make it, so today I'm giving you two recipes that I've recently been addicted to. The one above is the perfect appetizer or side dish, I actually brought this to our Easter brunch. Think prosciutto smeared with goat cheese then place a basil leaf, asparagus, roasted red pepper, shredded carrots and a quick drizzle of balsamic glaze, now roll it up! Oh my, the flavors are amazing, it's sort of like an Italian Style Sushi!
Inspired by Food Jimoto

You can roast or grill your asparagus, I roasted mine, tossed it in olive oil, salt and pepper. Roast at 400F until al dente.

Here's the ingredients you'll need, some of which can be used for the next recipe as well. Prosciutto, goat cheese, shredded carrots, fresh basil, roasted red pepper strips,(not seen here, they were roasting in the oven when I took the photo) and balsamic glaze, the glaze is a key ingredient, it's thick and so flavorful and it stays inside the roll very nicely. You can make your own glaze by reducing down some balsamic vinegar or you can buy some, I got mine at Whole Foods, you can drink the stuff it's so good! (not really, but I love it!) I always keep a bottle in my fridge, I use it all the time, just a little goes a very long way.

I tried cutting the prosciutto lengthwise at first but I didn't like the way it held the asparagus in, it wasn't tight enough within the roll so I cut it in half as you see above and that worked out perfect. If you don't like goat cheese, maybe some mascarpone? or even cream cheese. You can use 1 or 2 asparagus depending on their size and your preference.

I used one large red pepper cut into small strips and roasted them, That one pepper was enough for a huge pan that I made.

A quick drizzle of olive oil on the tips and they were all ready to go, place them on a beautiful platter and people will be drawn to them, I promise.

Put your balsamic glaze in a squeezy bottle and you can get all fancy with it, swirrels, drops, zig zags, you'll look like a professional!

Now on to recipe number two, this is so good you'll want to make this salad over and over again! Take some of that prosciutto you have and crisp it up in your oven, these are going to be prosciutto chips that will garnish and be added to the salad for crunchy and oh so flavorful goodness! Place 4 - 6 slices on a piece of parchment keeping them flat by weighing them down with another baking sheet on top, Cook until crisp at 400F for around 10 -15 minutes, keep checking it.

This Asparagus Salad was inspired by a chef at a farmers market, the components are:

** 1 Pound of grilled or roasted asparagus halved lengthwise

** A spicy green like arugula or frisee ( I couldn't find either that day, so I used a mix that had both)

** 2 radish that are thinly sliced

** 4 oz. of Chevre goats cheese

** 3 Tablespoons of toasted and chopped hazelnuts

** Salt and pepper

Lemon Vinaigrette:

** 2 Tbl fresh lemon juice

** 6 Tbl good olive oil

** Salt and pepper

** Prosciutto chips

In a bowl add your Chevre cheese, 1 Tbl of the vinaigrette and toss gently all your asparagus until well coated. Add your greens and hazelnuts, radishes and more vinaigrette to taste, toss it all gently until coated. Garnish with the prosciutto chips on top. This should serve 4 or 2 very happy people!

Enjoy and Buon Appetito!

Baked Rigatoni

2011-04-15T14:05:00.000-05:00

My neighbors just welcomed a new baby boy into their home. Poor thing, shes been having serious back issues so the other day I walked over and brought some dinner for them. I decided to make a pan of baked rigatoni, because lets be honest there aren't many things as comforting as a pan of baked pasta, are there? It takes less time than making a lasagne, without any sacrifice of flavor. I made this version meatless with 3 different cheese, mozzarella, ricotta with spinach and grated romano cheese, I've also made a meat version many many times in my life adding tiny meatballs between the layers, a big hit for a party because it all can be put together a day ahead of time and then heated right before serving. A big pan of baked rigatoni would also be a great addition to your Easter dinner, because you always need to have a little pasta, no?

I love the large ridged rigatoni it holds the sauce perfectly and visually it looks so good. The box says to cook the pasta for 14 minutes but you'll want to under cook it since it will be baking in the oven. I cooked the one pound box for 10 minutes then drained the water and tossed the rigatoni into a bowl and gave it a quick drizzle of olive oil with a couple of ladles of marinara. Be sure to have enough marinara made because you don't want the pasta to dry out in the baking process. If you're buying your marinara in a jar I would buy two, but please try and make your own if you don't normally do so, it's such a difference!

I make my marinara very quickly using 6-8 cloves of chopped garlic sauteed in about 1/4 cup of olive oil, sometimes I add a small onion, sometimes I don't, to that I add two 28oz cans of San Marzano whole tomatoes that have been squished beforehand, and my favorite ingredient of all time, fresh basil, lots of it! Let it simmer for 20 minutes or so.

I buttered the inside of a 13 x 9 disposable pan, ( since I was giving this dish away) spread homemade marinara sauce on the bottom and then 1/3 of the rigatoni, then with a make shift piping bag I added dollops of ricotta all around the layer of pasta as well as good sprinkling of shredded mozzarella, next added the grated romano cheese all over. Repeat 2 more times starting all over with the sauce again.

The ricotta mixture was made by folding a good handful of chopped spinach (squeezed and drained of all liquid) into a pound of fresh ricotta along with one egg, a healthy dose of grated cheese, salt and pepper.

I like to keep my baked rigatoni a little lighter by not covering the top with a layer of mozzarella, I think there's plenty inside, but that's just my preference.

Ready for the oven, lay a piece of foil on top and bake around 25 minutes at 360F, last 15 minutes remove the foil.

I found this bottle of wine, Rigatoni Red, I sure hope it was good because I strictly bought it for the label which I just loved, it was the perfect compliment to my dish don't you think?

Have a great weekend, and Buon appetito!

Cauliflower "Steaks"

2011-04-08T20:00:00.003-05:00

This is an amazing first course or side dish. Roasted slabs of cauliflower topped off with a tomato olive type salsa. I read about this technique in an older issue of Bon Appetit. Taking a whole head of cauliflower, peel off the outer leaves, standing it on its core end and cutting slabs from it's thickest part, a good half inch or a more keeping everything intact resembling a little tree. I decided to roast my "steaks" so I drizzled each side with olive oil, salt, pepper and a sprinkling of romano or parmesan cheese of course!

Bake in a 400F oven until tender and golden on each side gently flipping each "steak" over with a spatula. Don't worry about the stem and core being attached you're going to eat it all!

The end result gives you the perfect surface for a topping of your choice, think about it for a minute, the possibilities are endless! I might even stick a fried egg on top for some "steak" and eggs next time!

The topping I made had quartered grape tomatoes, sliced green and kalamata olives, finely diced red onion, fresh basil, parsley and olive oil, if I had a jar of artichokes I would have chopped a few in there and maybe even a couple sun dried tomatoes.

It was the perfect compliment to the creamy roasted slabs of cauliflower, and a definite WOW factor! I hope you give it a try.

Buon Appetito!

Big Flavors, Small Bites

2011-04-04T13:33:00.000-05:00

Have you seen these sweet mini peppers in the stores? Colorful and bright, I couldn't resist picking up a bag, they sat in my fridge for a couple of days while I was deciding what to do with them, I knew I wanted to keep them whole, I couldn't bare to chop them up, so after searching the web I decided to stuff them.

This is the perfect appetizer or side dish with no fuss to put together and they look gorgeous on a platter! I roasted mine in a 400F. oven tossed in olive oil, salt and pepper, until tender and slightly golden.

Next, I sliced them open on one side to make a pocket and stuffed them with a mixture of herbed goat cheese and mascarpone, put them back in the oven for a few seconds just to get the cheese warm and then drizzled a flavored lemon olive oil and herb dressing over the top. The sweetness of the peppers balances perfectly with the tangy creaminess from the cheese and the dressing just highlights the whole dish!

Really the possibilities are endless as to what you can stuff them with, think of all the different cheese you can use, mozzarella, fontina, gorgonzola, feta, asiago, I could go on and on!

While my oven was still hot I decided to roast these tiny zucchini I found at Whole Foods as well as some onion and tomato slices, just as I did with the peppers above I drizzled my flavored lemon olive oil and herb dressing all over the top. This is the perfect side dish to accompany any meat of your choice, oh and they taste phenominal!

The dressing I used for both the peppers and zucchini were a mixture of minced fresh parsley and basil, a pinch of salt and black pepper all whisked together with lemon flavored olive oil, or as a substitute you can certainly use fresh lemon with olive oil.

This last dish has to be one of my favorite flavor combinations of late, ask my husband, I've been making it almost every other day, roasted asparagus, salty feta, and sweet roasted grape tomatoes, but what takes this over the top and I truly mean it, is this wonderful lemon olive oil from Olio2go, I covet this stuff! It enhances food to another level and worth every single penny in my opinion! Straight from the bottle drizzle over the warm roasted asparagus or any roasted vegetable, grilled chicken or fish, outstanding in salads. I can't get enough of it, and a little goes a long way, it's packed with flavor as the pulp of the lemons are actually pressed with the olives, a match made in heaven!

As stated above, you can certainly substitute fresh lemon with olive oil whisked together if you so desire. Hey, some people get excited over new shoes, me, I go for the olive oil!

Have a great week, and Buon Appetito!

Weekend Eats

2011-03-25T23:45:00.002-05:00

A Creamy Berry Puff Pancake is the perfect thing to make for that lazy weekend breakfast, why go out when you can pull this together in no time while you're still all comfy and cozy in your slippers!

Put the coffee on, relax and read the Sunday paper while it's baking in the oven, it only takes

20 - 25 minutes.

The batter takes 5 minutes to whisk up, it consists of ,** 1 cup of flour** 1 cup of milk** 4 beaten eggs** a pinch of salt** 1 teaspoon of vanilla** 1 tablespoon of sugar**

Melt 1 tablespoon of butter in an 8 inch oven proof skillet, next pour 1 cup of the batter in, swirl it around and place it in a preheated 450F oven for 20 - 25 minutes.

You'll be able to make two 8 inch pans like I did, using 1 cup of batter in each or one large pan using all the batter plus the 2 tablespoons of butter. I would think at least a 12 inch skillet size would work, although I never tried it. I have a 14 inch and I figured that was too big.

The sides puffed up perfectly just like they're suppose to, creating the perfect vessel to fill!

I filled mine with berries and sweetened ricotta as the base, the ricotta was mixed with,

** orange zest and powdered sugar** **less than a cup of ricotta** ** 2 0r 3 tablespoons of powdered sugar**, taste it to your liking.

Slice it into generous wedges and drizzle with warm maple syrup for the perfect ending!

Recipe adapted from food.com

If you prefer brunch, make yourself this Pasta Frittata, you'll be amazed at the different variations you can create with just, **a handfull of leftover pasta** some eggs** a dollop of ricotta cheese** grated cheese** and fresh herbs**

After my frittata's start to "set" on top of the stove (where the egg mixture stops moving), I like to finish them off under the broiler, but don't walk away, keep watching it, believe me it could burn in a matter of seconds! Just get it nice and golden brown.

I like to serve this with an arugula salad tossed with an olive oil, lemon and parmesan dressing. So good!

If you want to add a little meat to your morning breakfast try this Baked Sausage and Eggs.

I like to serve this in individual gratin dishes for a nice presentation.

** Preheat your oven to 375F. ** Use 1 link of Italian sausage per serving, casings removed and browned before baking** Butter or brush olive oil into your gratin dish** Crack 2 eggs plus 1 egg white into each individual dish** Sprinkle your favorite dried seasonings over top along with grated parmesan cheese, I used fennel and oregano for mine** Scatter with halved cherry tomatoes** Bake until eggs set, ovens will vary**

Relax and enjoy your weekend!

Buon Appetito

Ricotta Stuffed Meatballs

2011-03-19T16:40:00.000-05:00

I got the inspiration to make this the other night while I was flipping channels on my remote, I came across a show on Food Network it was either "Unique Eats" or "The Best Thing I Ever Ate", I can't tell you which one it was but the girl was just raving about these Ricotta Stuffed Meatballs that she ate at some restaurant.

What caught my attention was the brilliant way in which the Chef stuffed them, he did it by freezing balls of ricotta, placing them inside the meat and them forming the rest of the meat all around it.

I couldn't wait to try out his method, it sounded so easy!

Martha once had someone on her show who baked the meatballs first then took a apple corer and cut through the center of the meatball after which he took a pastry bag filled with ricotta and squeezed it into the hole, sounds like a lot of work to me plus you're wasting some of the meatball, and besides I wanted my ricotta cooked.

There was no recipe, I just winged it, you'll be amazed how easy it is to do.
Mix up your ricotta in a separate bowl, I added romano cheese, salt, pepper, chopped basil and parsley to mine, no egg.
The size of your meatballs will determine the size of your ricotta balls, I made a few giant meatballs, like one per person size and I also made regular sized ones, so I rolled my ricotta accordingly, placed the balls on a parchment lined baking sheet and into the freezer they went for about an hour.

While you're waiting mix up your meat, I usually always add, garlic, onion, egg, grated cheese, moist bread, salt, pepper and fresh chopped parsley to mine.

When the ricotta balls are frozen and ready to go, take some meat in the palm of your hand, place the ball of ricotta inside, then cover it with more meat to form a ball, that's it!

Although it's hard to see the perspective in this photo, these were the giant meatballs I made, one was enough per person to fill you up.
I served these big ones with a salad and roasted cauliflower for our dinner.

I also rolled up a tray of regular sized meatballs, I was curious to see if it would work and the ricotta would stay tucked inside after they cooked, and It did perfectly!

Bake them in a hot oven 400F - 425F
until done, of course that it will all depend on the size you make your meatballs.

Let them cool down a bit before you try to stick your fork inside
otherwise the ricotta will just run out. Trust me, I know!

Spoon some freshly made marinara over the top, dowse it with grated cheese
now grab your fork!

I'm telling you my dear friends, this...was ...

good!!

Buon Appetito!

Artisinal Pasta Tools, and a Day of Pasta Making with Friends

2011-03-09T17:20:00.000-06:00

I've been yearning for a corzetti stamp for a long time, practically begging relatives of mine to search out one for me on their recent trip to Italy, which by the way they never could find. Little did I know back then that I could have gotten one right here in this country, specifically from California!

Fast forward about a month later when Terry Mirri, the owner of a company named,

Fatto in America - Artisanal Pasta Tools, contacted me to try out two of his handcrafted artisinal pasta tools, a corzetti stamp and a garganelli board. Their mission is for home chefs to explore food preparation with tools rarely seen by the American consumer. After receiving them and actually seeing the fine craftsmanship that went into each design, the beautiful woods they used, I was in awe!

Corzetti are a highly decorative pasta, but at the same time it's also functional because the embossed pattern helps to hold oily sauces such as different types of pestos.

Just one look at this garganelli board and you will be amazed to see all the work that was put into making this. Fifty six individually cut slats of wood anchored in place with natural jute, all done by hand, oh, and you can also make gnocchi on this too!

Garganelli pasta are thin ridged tubes that are shaped by wrapping ( 2 inch) squares of egg pasta diagonally around a wooden dowel, then rolling it over the slats, ( or combs) to give it it's signature ridges.
Needless to say, I couldn't wait to start making pasta with both of these beautiful tools!

But because it's really not fun to make pasta all by yourself I asked my three good friends, Jean, Joanne and Mary-Alice to join me. Joanne (middle) graciously offered her beautiful newly remodeled kitchen for all of us to work in.

We arrived early in the morning with our aprons and ingredients in hand to the smell of monkey bread baking in the oven, a delicious egg and sausage breakfast ring loaded with all sorts of veggies and cheese, fresh fruit and coffee brewing, not a bad way to start the day off, hey?

After our fulfilling breakfast it was time to get started, we made all the dough first, the eggs were cracked, the flour measured and with a little tweaking with the measurements, into the food processor it went, as each recipe was completed we wrapped the dough in plastic and let it rest for about 30 minutes.

Time to crank out the pasta sheets! Just look at the texture of the dough, nice and smooth. Nice job girls!

I couldn't wait to try this, here's what you do, you cut out the circles with one end of the stamp, ( like a cookie cutter) then you flip the stamp over and place the circle of dough over the embossed side, then take the other section which has the knob handle on it, stamp down over the circle. The underside of the handle, which you can't see in the picture also has the imprint, so when completed both sides will have the beautiful design on it.

Look how easy the dough peels off! Perfection! On a side note I did a comparison with a corzetti stamp that was purchased from a popular online kitchenware site but it was very inferior to Terry Mirri's product, the wood was rough, the circles didn't cut right, I could barely peel the pasta off the stamp, and as for the design factor, you couldn't even see it!

I can't say enough about Terry's products, the craftsmanship is unbelievable, heirloom quality which can be handed down throughout generations! Check out his other products too, he carries polenta and cavarola boards, and a handmade storage box to house your pasta machine.

Aren't they beautiful? This is not something you would make everyday but on holidays or a very special occasion, it will be the object of conversation!

We made multiple trays of these, but waited until we got home to freeze them and place into freezer bags.

Making the garganelli was easy once we all got the hang of it, here's what you do,**cut dough into squares**position squares with point slightly over jute rail**wet far tip with water** place spindle over square**flip the tops of pasta over spindle**push and roll over the slats with your palm**slide garganelli off.

After our trays of garganelli were finished we left them single layered so as not to squish the cylinder and waited until we got home to freeze and bag them up.

We had many scraps leftover from cutting out the corzetti so we became very resourceful and started making spaghetti and fettuccine and even a few pasta sheets.

Pasta was every where, on tables and counters, we had a sea of pasta from one end to the other!

Here we are admiring the fruits of our labor, so much fun, can't wait to do it again girls!

I cooked up my corzetti a few days later and used a garlic, olive oil, basil, parsley and parmesan sauce which I gently spooned over the cooked pasta and sprinkled toasted walnuts all over. Delicate, light and oh so good!

Imagine bringing a huge platter of these out to your table, your guests will be wowed! Look how pretty the design turned out.

Although there are many different sauces you could use for the garganelli I opted for a nice marinara, it was wonderful!

What a labor of love pasta making is but worth all the effort especially when you do it with family and good friends!

Buon Appetito!

Foodie Field Trip

2011-03-02T18:45:00.000-06:00

I meet with my girlfriends once a week, sometimes we meet for coffee early in the morning, sometimes we go to lunch at our favorite restaurants and often we just cook for each other at our homes.

Sometimes we hop in the car and go into the city just to eat a famous sub sandwich or go to get an Italian ice with some pizza.

I could go on and on about our little excursions like the time we went hunting down fig paste and this particular eggplant salad that we're obsessed with, but I need to get to the point of this post!

Our recent "field trip" was to a fabulous place called Caputo's Cheese Market, if you blink you would drive right by it! Located in an industrial area with high fencing all around you barely see the sign as you enter through the gate, the building looks like a warehouse until the door swings open and you're bombarded by every type of pasta you can think of, tomatoes, canned and jarred all over the place and every kind of staple you would want for an Italian pantry.
Here's the layout, they have three specific rooms, the main floor is where the staples are, then on the upper level you'll find the bakery and deli room, salads of every kind, you can even eat lunch there on the tables they have set up. Pizza, panini or any kind of sandwich you want, order your favorite salads and grab a cannoli for dessert!

I just love their olives, my favorite are the massive green olives stuffed with gorgonzola! Every time I open my fridge and see them, I want to pop one in my mouth, they're so good!

Their sausage is made fresh daily, excellent quality with that old world flavor, and they're not afraid to use fennel!

The cheese room is overwhelming, every where you turn there's a different cheese, local and imported from everywhere, the prices are so reasonable one could get carried away, (cough, cough!)

Any of my Chicagoland readers who do not know about this hidden gem, it is worth the ride, go for lunch and spend the afternoon shopping! They have 2 locations, I've only been to the one in Melrose Pk. Here's the link.

Like I said we could have eaten there for lunch, but on that particular day we planned to go to

Danny's Cafe a neighborhood restaurant which happens to be right up the street from Caputo's Cheese Market!

What you'll find at Danny's Cafe is great food in a casual neighborhood atmosphere with generous portions, I mean come on, how many restaurants do you know that actually serve neckbones?

We went there on a Tuesday, otherwise we would have ordered their platter of neckbones which people go crazy over!

Instead we ordered the fried smelts for our appetizer, this was a small order in which 4 people could easily eat from it.

The feta, tomato, asparagus and olive salad was the perfect complement to my favorite sandwich!

My favorite sandwich is, pepper and egg with crumbled sausage, big enough for 2 to share! Not pictured is the hot giardiniera I spooned all over the top, unbelievably good!

I'm stuffed just looking at all this food!

Buon Appetito!

Spicy Tomato Garlic Crab Legs

2011-02-24T16:00:00.002-06:00

It's so nice to have a son who works in the food industry because often I'm on the receiving end of so many nice foodie gifts.

Like the other day when he called me and said " Mom, I'm stopping by on my way home, I'm dropping something off." I opened the door and in he walks with this huge box that he just plopped on my counter and said, " This will be a nice blog post for you!".

Inside the box were leg sections of rock crab, also known as peeky toe crab. Rock crab may not be as famous as dungeness but believe me they are just as tasty, a little more difficult to get to that sweet meat out but definitely worth the effort!

Most of the meat is in the legs any way and as you can see we had no shortage in the leg department, I could have fed my whole neighborhood, instead I sent my daughter home with a huge bag, she left with a huge smile.

The day that I made them they were still slightly frozen so I got out the biggest pot I could find boiled up some water and stuck them in for 5 minutes, when I scooped them out they were perfectly warmed throughout.

We enjoyed this as our Sunday dinner with a little garlic bread, talking, cracking crab and dipping it into our favorite sauces. Our dipping sauces were of course warm butter with lemon, also a remoulade sauce that I picked up from Whole Foods, which was very good and because I like things spicy with an Italian flair, I made a spicy tomato garlic sauce which I'm giving you the recipe for below.

Thanks Tony, it was crab-o-licious!

Spicy Tomato Garlic Sauce

1 head of roasted garlic, squeezed and mashed

1 heaping tablespoon of Sambal Oelek ( ground fresh chili paste) optional

1 cup of white wine

4 tablespoons of butter

3 cups of fresh diced tomatoes, or you can use canned

fresh chopped parsley

Heat the butter in a pan, add the roasted garlic, deglaze with wine, let it cook down a bit, add the chili paste or red pepper flakes if you so desire, the tomatoes and fresh chopped parsley.

I like to spoon mine all over and dip as I go!

Have a great weekend and Buon Appetito!

Cooking with Quality Products

2011-02-17T23:30:00.003-06:00

Recently I received an email from Olio2go, a company whose mission is to seek out the best quality products from all over Italy asking me if I'd like to review some of their artisinal products, after checking out their link of course I said yes!

One of the three products I received was Olio Verde Novello coming from Castelvetrano, Italy on the Island of Sicily, this olive oil was freshly pressed this passed October, and boy can you taste that freshness! It's rich, fruity and slightly pungent all at the same time with hints of artichoke and lemon, I swear I could drink this stuff, oh and I love the shape of the bottle!

Did you know that high quality extra virgin olive oil is very stable when heated and it has a high smoking point? I didn't!

The pappardelle comes from Pastificio Vicidomini, in Castel San Giorgio, near Naples, from a family owned business that has been making high quality pasta since 1812, now 6 generations strong this pasta is made with certified organic semolina and mountain water. There must be something to that mountain water because the flavor and the texture was superb!

The pretty jar of crispy asparagus comes from Villa Cappelli in Puglia perfect for an appetizer or placed into a salad.

For the pappardelle I decided to let the pasta shine through by tossing it with roasted shards of butternut squash. I call it shards because that's what they ended up looking like after I shredded and roasted them up on my baking sheet.

I actually loved how all the jagged pieces looked when tossed among this amazing quality pasta.
I used a basil brown butter sauce and plenty of freshly grated parmesan cheese and cracked black pepper to finish it off.

When I read that Olio Verde had hints of lemon and artichoke, I went out and bought 4 of the prettiest artichokes I could find, I trimmed them, cut them into quarters, scooped out the chokes, cooked them until tender, and then after they were cooled down I placed them into a pool of this liquid gold along with fresh parsley, lemon juice as well as the zest, red pepper and chopped garlic. One word... DIVINE!

I'm sorry but I just couldn't get enough of this olive oil so I went ahead and made a savory baked ricotta, perfect when smeared on top crostini. Ricotta is such a blank canvas, it takes on flavors so well, so when it was finished baking I poured a generous drizzle of it right over the top which made every bite sublime!
.

I had 1 1/2 cups of ricotta sitting in my fridge so with that I mixed in 1 egg, 1/2 cup of grated romano cheese, 5 small cherry tomatoes cut lengthwise, a couple of tablespoons of fresh chopped basil, 1 small minced garlic, zest of 1/2 a lemon, salt, pepper and 3 chopped olives.

Oil a shallow gratin dish, or a ramekin if you want to unmold it, spread the mixture into the dish and bake 375F for around 20 minutes or until nicely golden on top.

Of course if you don't have these particular products on hand you can make any of these recipes using your own favorite pastas and olive oils, but if your looking for an extra special treat, check out Olio2go!

Buon Appetito!

Barese Sausage and Munchies!

2011-02-10T21:30:00.002-06:00

Barese sausage is quite different from your typical Italian sausage which is normally made with fennel. Barese sausages are finger thin, sort of like the shape and size of a breakfast sausage. These sausages are similar to an area in southern Italy around Bari on the Adriatic coast.

Lucky for me I only have to drive about 35 minutes to get to a wonderful Italian market that makes them fresh on a daily basis!

The ingredients in Barese sausage vary but usually they consist of the meat being either pork or lamb or a mixture of both. Herbs, such as parsley or basil, some garlic, parmesan or romano cheese and some type of tomato product either paste, plum or sun-dried.

I have a friend who was born in Bari and years ago he taught me his simple method for cooking them up on top of the stove.

Place the sausage in a skillet with white wine, enough to almost cover them. With your burner on medium high keep turning them often until they reach an ugly gray color and the wine cooks out. I like to poke some holes on each sausage with a tooth pick so the wine really gets in and flavors them even more.

After the wine pretty much dissipates, remove the sausage, drizzle in some olive oil and place them back into the pan and brown them up to a nice deep golden color, that's it! A very simple method, but oh so flavorful!

If you can locate some Barese sausage in your area, I highly recommend you give it a try!

They're perfect as part of an antipasto platter because of their size, in fact I served them on Super Bowl Sunday along with my Balsamic Glazed Peppers with Eggplant, Olives, Marinated Asparagus, Salami, aged Asiago and Provolone cheese, and this addicting Cauliflower Pesto,( Thanks Stacey!) and of course let's not forget the stack of crispy Crostini!

For Stacey's addicting Cauliflower Pesto here's the recipe. My family loves roasted cauliflower with romano cheese so I eliminated the raisins and capers and added 1/2 cup of grated romano to mine. Slather this on a crostini and you will be forever hooked!

Another addicting little treat are these Balsamic Glazed Peppers with Eggplant! Equally as good slathered on a crispy crostini or placed into your favorite sandwich. Wait until you find out how easy they are to make, providing you have a bottle of good quality balsamic glaze sitting in your fridge. Two brands I personally like are Colavita and Blaze if you don't have any please seek some out, it's so nice to have a go to bottle to quickly flavor things up, it's also great drizzled over cheese. Of course you can always make your own in a pan by reducing balsamic vinegar down until it becomes a thick rich syrup consistency.

Here's what you do;

Slice thin strips of yellow, green and red peppers, also peel and slice your eggplant into strips. Toss them all with olive oil, salt and pepper and roast them in a hot 425F oven turning them often until they become tender with a nice deep color. Half way through the roasting process start pouring on the glaze and keep checking and tossing. Start out small but add as much glaze as you like according to your own taste. When they cool down place in a bowl and add chopped parsley and 1 crushed garlic clove, be sure to drizzle in more olive oil! Toss and enjoy!

Buon Appetito Everyone!

Zucchini Lasagne

2011-02-03T12:36:00.001-06:00

I know it's winter, believe me we're still recovering from The Blizzard of 2011, and now it's freezing out but I've had a craving for zucchini, maybe it's because I'm longing for warm weather again but until those days arrive Whole Foods happened to have some beautiful organic zucchini that was on sale the other day, so I guess this lasagne was meant to be!

I have a little problem though, I always buy entirely too much produce for just two people to consume so I'm always on the lookout for ways to use it all up and in this case Zucchini Lasagne solved my problem!

This lasagne is filled with zucchini, layers of ricotta, mozzarella, romano and parmesan cheese, a generous dose of roasted garlic bechamel and a simple basil marinara, a nice piece of this with a wonderful Italian salad will satisfy all your senses!

I sliced all my zucchini about 1/4 of an inch thick then salt and peppered both sides and sauteed each piece in a little bit of olive oil to acquire a nice golden color.

Lasagne is all about the layering, as far as I'm concerned, the deeper the pan the better! I was able to get four nice layers from mine, the key is to let your lasagne rest for about 30 minutes before you cut into it to insure the perfect slice.

I'm normally not a fan of the no boil pasta noodles but I had a box of Barilla so I though I'd give it another try, this time I soaked my noodles in warm water and that seemed to make a big difference, I think I saw Lydia doing that on her cooking show once, so between the soaking and saucing up of the noodles really good, (dare I say) we couldn't tell the difference! I may just be a semi-convert now!

I alternated between the marinara and the bechamel sauce spooning some onto each layer, into my basic bechamel consisting of butter, flour and milk I squeezed a bit of roasted garlic and a nice handful of parmesan cheese. After spraying my baking dish with olive oil the layers went like this;

Pasta noodles

Bechamel

Ricotta cheese mixture ( ricotta, basil, egg and romano cheese)
Fresh and shredded mozzarella cheese

Grated romano or parmesan cheese

Marinara sauce

Zucchini slices
Repeat!

End with pasta on top and a generous amount of marinara to cover. P.S. If you're carb conscious just eliminate the pasta all together!

Bake in a 375F oven uncovered for around 45 minutes. Don't forget to let it stand for a while before you cut into it!

Buon Appetito!

Pears for Dessert, 3 Ways!

2011-01-26T13:15:00.002-06:00

Here's a few simple desserts using fresh pears which I happen to have an abundance of!
Marsala Baked Pears, doesn't that sound good to you? Believe me when I tell you, it was!

The flavor is out of this world because what happens here is while the pears are baking their continually soaking up butter and Marsala to the point where they become beautifully caramelized, when finished and still warm they become the perfect companion to ice cream,
whipped cream, or luscious mascarpone! You can garnish with something crunchy like nuts or crumbled biscotti, need I say more?

Not really a recipe, here's what you do;

Peel and slice pears lengthwise, place them in a baking dish, pour in sweet Marsala wine half way up the side of the pears, place dabs of butter all around and sprinkle wine with sugar or you can even use honey just to sweeten everything up a bit. Place in a 350F oven for around a good hour basting them often, you'll know their done when the liquid becomes caramelized.
Pear and Ricotta Tart, This is a standard recipe I use whenever I want to bake a fruit of any sort with ricotta. I use a 9" tart pan with a removable bottom then place a good pre made pie dough into the bottom, ( I told you it was simple!) of course you can make your own if you like. To insure the dough being crusty and cooked on the bottom I like to blind bake the dough for a five minutes in a 425F oven by placing a piece of parchment paper on top and then adding some beans or pie weights, then remove, take off the weights and reduce oven to 375F.

For the filling;

1lb ricotta cheese

6 0r 7 ripe pear halves, sliced lengthwise and cored

2 eggs

1/4 cup sugar

Fresh orange zest or 1 heaping tablespoon of apricot preserves

Pinch of cinnamon

Mix everything together in a bowl until well blended, (except the pears of course). Place filling into pie shell and position pears all around. ( optional, sprinkle and swirl more cinnamon on top) Bake at 375F for around 30 minutes. While still warm brush apricot preserves on top of pears. Let it cool down while you put on a pot of espresso!

And last but not least, Chocolate Ricotta Filled Pears. Turning creamy white ricotta into chocolate is so quick using cocoa powder and then pairing it with orange is a match made in heaven! I can't wait to try this with strawberries, because we all know how good chocolate and strawberries are!

Poach 3 whole peeled pears in 3 cups of water and 1/4 cup of orange juice, cook around 10 minutes in a covered pan , when pears are tender remove and cool down.When cooled, slice them lengthwise and remove cores.

Ricotta Filling:

1 cup ricotta

1/3 cup of powdered sugar

2 tablespoons unsweetened cocoa powder

1 teaspoon vanilla

Mini chocolate chips, ( as many as you like)

Combine everything into a bowl then spoon the mixture into the center of the pears. Garnish with orange zest and more chocolate chips.

Recipe adapted from BHG

Note: For a real quickie, use purchased bottled pears, I tried it, it's good too!

Buon Appetito!

Comfort Food

2011-01-21T16:30:00.000-06:00

It's cold here today! Chicago is in the single digits and that requires some comfort food and I can't think of a more fitting dish than Chicken with Fennel and Olives, and to make it even more comforting it's served on top of Creamy Warm Polenta.

This is a simple rustic dish, nothing fancy, cooked in one pan and packed with flavor, I guarantee it will make you all warm and cozy inside.

I used chicken thighs but you can use whatever chicken parts you like.

Here's the recipe.

Chicken with Fennel and Olives

6 chicken thighs

1 fennel bulb, sliced

1 onion, sliced

8 cloves of chopped garlic

1 14 oz can of cherry tomatoes ( or diced)

Jumbo green pitted olives

Parsley, thyme, oregano and basil

White wine
In a large oven proof skillet brown up your chicken which has been seasoned with salt and pepper until it has a nice deep golden color, remove and drain the fat. Drizzle in some olive oil and saute the garlic, onion and fennel and then deglaze with a healthy splash of white wine. Add in your herbs, salt and pepper then place the chicken back in. Spread your olives all around then place the pan in a preheated 375F oven for around 45 minutes uncovered.

Creamy Polenta

1 1/2 cups of half and half, cream or milk

1 1/2 cups of chicken broth

3/4 cup of polenta, I used the instant kind

1 tablespoon butter

Grated parmesan ( a nice size handful) and chopped basil

In a deep sauce pan heat your milk and broth until boiling then whisk in the polenta until it starts to bubble and splatter, be careful! Take it off the stove add in butter, cheese, snipped basil, salt and pepper to taste. Tastes best when served immediately, if it thickens up just add more liquid to loosen it up.

Enjoy your weekend, we'll be home Sunday rooting for the Bears! Go Bears!

Spaghetti Squash "Pasta"

2011-01-17T14:20:00.001-06:00

This is a simple and healthy meal I served to my spaghetti loving husband the other day, it's packed with flavor and so good for you. A nice Italian salad on the side, maybe some warm crusty bread and you have dinner on the table in no time.

Once you roast your spaghetti squash this dish comes together in minutes, in fact I roasted mine the day before and had it for dinner the next day.

I cut my squash in half lengthwise, scoop out the seeds, drizzle with olive oil, salt and pepper and then place cut side down on parchment paper in a preheated 350F oven for 40-45 minutes depending on size. I test mine by piercing the skin with the tip of a knife, when it goes through easy, it's done!

I used just a few ingredients; garlic** red onion slices** red pepper** fresh spinach** grated parmesan or romano cheese** fresh basil and parsley.

Saute garlic, onions and red pepper, at the time I made this I had a few of those sweet red thin skinned long peppers so I just cut them into rings and used them.

Next you need to shred all those glorious strands from your squash, a fork works perfectly, it's amazing how much I got from just one squash, enough to feed us twice, talk about "budget friendly!"

Combine your squash with your veggie mix right into the saute pan, on medium heat add in some fresh torn spinach leaves, your grated cheese, the fresh herbs, more olive oil, salt and pepper, tossing as you go along and tasting for just the right amount of everything to your liking.

I'm sorry but I never have an exact recipe for things like this.

Taste as you go, that's my motto and I'm sticking to it!

Buon Appetito!

Anelletti and Corzetti Pasta

2011-01-11T15:03:00.001-06:00

I received an awesome book for review a while back called, The Geometry of Pasta, (Quirk Books) I'm embarrassed to say how long ago it was. This a book I wouldn't normally gravitate to because it has no pictures, the cover is black and white and I convinced myself I wouldn't like it, but once I started reading it I couldn't put it down, I read it from beginning to end in one afternoon.

The book in great detail covers every shape of pasta you can think of, fresh, dry, stuffed you name it, plus all the history behind each shape, where and how they originated, how they're used, plus recipes all throughout. If you're a pasta freak like me I would highly recommend this book.

I love using different shapes of pasta in my cooking, I get bored with the same old thing all the time so when I saw a recipe for Anelletti Al Forno I knew I was going to try it. Little loops of pasta baked together in a sauce filled with cheese, peas and crumbled Italian sausage, placed in a ring mold or in my case a springform pan. You might even want to call this grown up spaghettiO's!

This is the perfect dish to bring to a party or to put out on a buffet, it doesn't have to be steaming hot, great at room temperature and it has a nice presentation. This is also great for a picnic but unfortunately that's not happening here for a while, but I will keep it in mind for the summer.
It doesn't take long to put this dish together either, after you make a quick marinara sauce or quicker yet purchase a really good one, then you cook your pasta until it's very al dente.

Then it's time to mix up your filling and place it into a buttered springform pan dusted with toasted breadcrumbs.

The nice thing is you can do a meat or a vegetarian version. The first one I ever made was with out meat using ricotta, fresh mozzarella, grated parmesan and asiago cheese.

Here's what I used for the filling;

Totally adapted from The Geometry of Pasta

Marinara sauce, around 3 cups or so made with basil and garlic

3/4 lb of cooked and crumbled Italian sausage, casings removed

1 lb of anelletti cooked very al dente

1 cup of frozen peas

4 oz of diced fontinella cheese or provolone

1/2 cup of grated pecorino

1 egg

Basil, parsley, salt and pepper

Get a big bowl and add everything inside together if you have some leftover put it in a ramekin or a smaller mold.

Butter a springform pan, I used a 10 inch and dusted it with toasted breadcrumbs. Pour in the pasta mixture pressing down with the back of a spoon. Top with more grated cheese and then bake at 425F between 35 and 45 minutes. The important thing is to let it cool for at least a good hour or so, then unmold, it could then be cut into wedges or scooped out, whichever you prefer.

I recently received a bag of corzetti pasta as a gift and was waiting for a special occasion to make it. Corzetti ( spelled a couple of different ways) are large coins of pasta cut into discs and embossed on both sides using a hand carved stamp originating from Liguria. The stamps are hard to find here but I'm confident I will get my hands on one soon.

If you want to see a beautiful post on homemade hand stamped corzetti please check out my friend Elaine's post here. I'm in awe of this pasta with it's understated elegance!

The brand I received as a gift was absolutely delicious, I used Elaine's sauce and it was quite a hit on our holiday table!

Buon Appetito!

Vegetable and Barley Stuffed Peppers

2011-01-03T23:15:00.003-06:00

A New Years resolution is a goal that someone sets out to accomplish in the coming year.
I have many goals for 2011 food related and otherwise which I won't bore you with right now but one thing I will continue to do is to eat more meatless meals. I have to admit I really enjoy cooking with vegetables the possibilities are endless and besides all that color on my plate just makes me happy!
Mixing vegetables with your favorite grains and pastas result in a very hearty and satisfying meal, such is the case with my vegetable and barley stuffed peppers.

Roasted artichoke hearts and portobello mushrooms are the two key ingredients here tossed into the barley, and then of course all that goodness gets stuffed into an edible sweet roasted red pepper. Yes, you could use rice, but I urge you make this with barley, it's a welcome change. Oh, and did I mention that barley is a nutritional powerhouse? It's packed with fiber and it even helps lower cholesterol so it's a win win situation all around!

I served a nice Italian salad along side my stuffed peppers and the husband and myself were very happy and contented!

Prepare your barley just like you do rice using three times as much water as barley. When it's finished I like to cool it down on a sheet pan so it doesn't keep cooking and become mushy, you want to retain that nice chewy texture that barley is know for.

The vegetables I used and tossed into my barley were;

Frozen artichoke hearts drizzled with olive oil and roasted in a 400F oven as well as large diced portobello mushroom pieces, diced zucchini is another option as well.

Chopped red onion

Sliced cherry tomatoes

Feta cheese

Fresh basil and parsley

Lemon zest and juice

Olive oil, salt and pepper

Toss all ingredients in a bowl and season to taste

To prepare the peppers slice the top off, scoop out the seeds, brush inside and out with olive oil and roast in oven or under the broiler just until knife tender but watch so they do not colapse, the pepper will be your vessel for the stuffing.

This can be served room temperature or slightly warmed.

Buon Appetito!

Crab Stuffed Shrimp

2010-12-29T20:00:00.002-06:00

No plans for New Years Eve? That's OK, stay in and make this for dinner and ring in the new year at home. Baked shrimp generously stuffed with a delicious blue crab filling all sitting pretty in a champagne cream sauce, every bite is decadent! Perfect for a big party or just dinner for two.

What I like about this recipe is that you can prepare all 3 components in advance. I cleaned and cut my shrimp the night before and placed them in a container in my fridge ready to be stuffed making sure my shrimp was free of all moisture by blotting them with a paper towel.

The filling was also made the night before and placed in a separate container as well as the cream sauce which heats up beautifully when ready to use, I call this stress free cooking!

By cutting the shrimp on the inner circle you'll create the perfect platform to place your mound of stuffing on top. I used about one tablespoon of filling for each shrimp.

You can serve this with a little pasta on the side, something small like orzo or even some rice, I promise you that is all you'll need because the shrimp and crab are really the stars here just remember to swipe each bite through the champagne sauce!

And be sure to have a glass of your favorite bubbly beside you. Cheers!

To Prepare the Shrimp:

Make sure your shrimp is completely dry with no moisture, padding it with paper towel. Remove shell but leave the tails on. Along the inside of the curve take a sharp knife and cut along the length being careful not to cut all the way through. Take out any vein you see and then open like a book and press lightly to flatten.

Crab Filling:

For 3 lbs. of large shrimp I used a little less than a pound of wild caught, fully cooked, blue fin crab, it comes in a can and it's pasteurized. Worth every penny!

For the filling my suggestion is to taste and add things as needed to your own personal liking, since the crab is already cooked you'll have no problem doing that. Here's what I added, you could use more or less.

2 cloves of smashed garlic

fresh parsley

1 teaspoon of Dijon

Tabasco sauce

celery finely diced, 2 small stalks

onion or scallions finely diced 1/2 of a medium onion or a few scallions

1 1/2 rolls of smashed crackers ( Ritz )

melted butter, 3 0r 4 tablespoons

lemon juice and lemon zest

salt and pepper

Saute the diced celery and onions in 1 tablespoon of butter, then add in everything else, the mixture will hold together nicely and you will be able to mound it on top of your shrimp easily.

Place stuffed shrimp on a parchment lined sheet pan and then spray or baste each one lightly with olive oil and a sprinkle of paprika. Bake at 375F for 15 or 20 minutes until pink and the stuffing is warmed through.

After they're baked set them in a shallow pool of champagne cream sauce and garnish with parsley and a lemon wedge.

Champagne Cream Sauce:

1 1/2 cups of white champagne

1 1/2 cups of cream

2 0r 3 shallots diced

Saute shallots in a dab of butter, pour in the champagne, let it reduce and then add cream and whisk until thickened.

From My Kitchen To Yours...

2010-12-22T20:15:00.001-06:00

Ok just one more cookie! At the last minute I caved in and made some Cucidati, I wasn't going to make them at all this year but I was slightly coerced by my brother-in-law and husband who were giving me a guilt trip.

Cucidati are traditional Italian fig cookies very popular at Christmas time consisting of a tender dough that wraps around a thick and flavorful filling of figs, raisins, almonds, orange peel and a few other things that are laced with brandy and warm spices.

On a cold winter day my house quickly warmed up with the scent of cucidati baking in the oven. I don't know what I was thinking, it just wouldn't be the same without a few of these gracing our table!

In the end I made two people very very happy that day, and isn't that the
real reason why we cook anyway?

Here's my favorite recipe.

I want to take this time to wish each and everyone of you a most delicious holiday filled with lots of love and happiness!

From my kitchen to yours,

Marie

Tis The Season To Be Baking!

2010-12-16T14:40:00.003-06:00

By now you're probably deep into baking all your favorite holiday treats, pulling out recipes you haven't made in a year or so. I started my baking last week, placed them in pretty tins ready to give away and share with family and friends. Here is a few of the things I baked so far.

Traditional ANISE BISCOTTI, it's a huge favorite of my husband and brother-in-law, they love that sweet licorice taste of the anise. These biscotti are perfect for dunking in your coffee or espresso and great to have on hand when someone stops by.

To get that true anise flavor I always use anise oil instead of the extract and along with that I also mix in some anise seed, the oil is really strong so you don't need very much but the flavor and smell lingers forever (or as long as your biscotti last,) in fact there's still a lingering aroma of anise inside my house and I finished baking them a week ago!

The dough comes together very quickly it's the baking that will take you the longest since you have to twice bake them. After first baking your logs you want to make sure they cool down before you cut into them for that second baking otherwise you'll have a pile of crumbs. I use a heavy serrated knife to cut through mine, but I just recently got a great tip from my sister-in-laws from Florida, they cut their biscotti with an electric knife! Isn't that a great idea? I'll be on the lookout for electric knife for next year.

The great thing about biscotti is that they last weeks after you bake them and they taste just as good as the first day, if properly stored. I like to put mine in tin cans layered between wax paper, they stay all nice and crunchy that way!

ANISE BISCOTTI

Ingredients

5 cups unbleached flour

4 teaspoons baking powder

1/2 teaspoon baking soda

1/2 teaspoon salt

1 cup of softened butter (2 sticks)
4 eggs

1 1/2 cups sugar

1/2 teaspoon of anise oil, or 2 tablespoons of anise extract

2 tablespoons plus 1 teaspoon of anise seed

Nuts are optional, I would use 1 cup of sliced almonds for this recipe

Directions

Sift dry ingredients together, including the anise seed. Set aside. In a large bowl with a mixer beat butter, sugar, until fluffy, add eggs one at a time along with the anise oil or extract. Add flour mixture and beat on low until blended. Divide mixture into 4 parts. Each part becomes a log measuring around 2 1/2 inches by 9 or 10 inches long. Place logs on a parchment lined baking sheet. Bake in a preheated 350 degree oven 25 minutes or until golden brown on the bottom. Remove from the oven and let them cool down on a rack. Carefully cut them 1/2 inch thick, turn each piece on their side and bake on each side for 12 minutes or until lightly golden.

Makes around 75 biscotti depending on size.

If you were to ask me what my personal favorite biscotti was I would have to say it would be this FIG and PISTACHIO version. Dried fig with just a hint of orange and anise flavors the crunchy biscotti that is studded with pistachio's. You can't beat this with a warm cup of espresso on the side, every bite is so full of flavor! If you like figs you will love these!

I've shared them on my blog before, so if you're craving these crunchy goodies you can check out the recipe here.

Next up is PUFF COOKIES, I make them every year and I always will, they remind me of my mom and aunt. You're probably familiar with these almost every nationality has their own version of them, also known as Mexican Wedding cookies, but to me and my family they'll always be Puff Cookies!

Like puffs of snow these rich and buttery cookies just melt in your mouth, great as a gift in a pretty tin or just placed on a platter for any special occasion, either way they will be most appreciated. I also shared these on my blog way back when I first started blogging, you can find the recipe here.

And finally, I always like to put a new cookie into the mix, well new for me anyway. I've tasted RICOTTA COOKIES before but I haven't ever made them myself until I saw Claudia's version over at Journey of an Italian Cook. Poor thing she lives in Minnesota and just got hit by that big blizzard recently, stuck in the house she's been cooking and baking up a storm! (no pun intended). I'm sure her family has been very grateful for the snowfall!

These cookies are truly addictive, the taste and the texture is perfect, not to sweet, just right!

Please, go out and get some ricotta, you still have time to make these and add them to your cookie tray, I promise you won't regret it!

I'm sending you over to Claudia's blog to get the recipe, the only thing I changed up was that I doubled the lemon zest in the batter, and then for the glaze, instead of 1 teaspoon of vanilla I did 1 teaspoon of lemon extract and more fresh lemon zest. I had a lemon theme going on and it went wonderful with the ricotta flavor, I will make these over and over again and so will you!

Happy Baking, and Buon Appetito!

Cappelletti in Broth

2010-12-09T19:30:00.000-06:00

As I said in my previous post I had the privilege of learning how to make cappelletti from my daughter-in-law's nana who was in for a visit from out of town. This women is in her 80's and is a spitfire in the kitchen! Not a strip of dough was wasted that day, she took over the kitchen like it was a military procedure, every scrap of dough left over was made into something edible, she put all of us "younger" ones to shame as she kept saying, " Come on girls we still have more dough here!" She has the best personality, I want to be like her when I grow up!

Making cappelletti is a labor of love, I didn't realize it until I made them myself, you're working with small disc's of dough each one stuffed individually and then shaped into a little hat, it's very time consuming but so much fun when you're doing it with a bunch of people, there were 5 of us actively making them.

It didn't take me too long to catch on I think after about 15 tries I became an honorary cappelletti maker.

The dough was cut from a handmade disc the size being around 2 inches, then a savory filling of meat and cheese was piped right into the center. Next the dough was folded in half to make a half moon keeping the rounded edge facing down, after that you take the two top end corners and stretch them around the back until they meet, then just flip the bottom edge up a teeny bit to make a tiny brim.
.

After you sit doing them for a while you start to pick up speed and by the time we were finished we ended up with 800!
They were then placed in the freezer single layer on baking sheets until frozen, then into freezer bags.

We each went home with our own goodie bags, I couldn't wait to make these, but such a labor of love requires homemade broth to place them in so that is what I did. The day before we ate them I made a rich chicken stock with leeks, onions, carrots and herbs, when it was finished simmering I strained it twice so it was nice and clear because after all the cappelletti is really the star here.

The next day I warmed up the broth and gently placed the frozen cappelletti in avoiding a rolling boil, you don't want them to break open! Less than 5 minutes later they were finished cooking.

Scooped out with a slotted spoon and gently placed in a bowl, now it's time to ladle your broth over them.

I added freshly grated parmesan cheese on top and savored every bite!

Scrumptiously good to the last drop! Thank you Lena!

Buon Appetito

Butternut Squash Ravioli and Scenes from our Annual Ravioli Making Day

2010-12-06T11:45:00.000-06:00

Each year we get together as a family and spend one whole day making homemade ravioli, I've written about it before and shared pictures of past years on my blog.

Before our day gets off and running we assemble all our tools. This year along with our ravioli we were also going to making cappelletti as well.
What are cappelletti? They look like little baby tortellini, tiny "little hats" of pasta each one stuffed with a savory filling, something I haven't ever made myself but had the privilege to learn this year by way of a master, my daughter-in-law's nana who was in for a visit.

I'm devoting my next post to our cappelletti making so for now, back to the ravioli!

The first thing we always do is to make all the dough at once before we get to rolling it out, it's always done in a food processor, fast and easy! Then we wrap each ball up and let them all rest for awhile before we begin.

We always make meat filled ravioli and the meat filling is always prepared in advance, this is Nana Lena's special recipe and all I can say is that it's fantastic!! It's a mixture of 3 different meats, cheese's, spices and herbs all of which have been passed through a meat grinder.

Along with the meat ravioli we also make cheese filled and I'm in charge of the filling for that. This year I got adventurous and also made a butternut squash filling for us to try.

Even the kids get involved, my two gorgeous granddaughters are here helping out.

Everyone usually settles into their own specific jobs and the ones that they're most comfortable doing.

We ended up making around 400 ravioli
that day along with 800 cappelletti, yes you heard me right, 800! Of course with all that hard work going on all day we had to nourish ourselves, so pizza's and salads were ordered for lunch along with some decadent cupcakes for dessert!

Here's the filling I made for the butternut squash ravioli, a mixture of roasted squash, buttery sauteed shallots, a touch of cream and lots of grated parmesan cheese all blended until smooth in a food processor which I did the day before and then placed in a piping bags. Piping the fillings out result in a very efficient, neat and all in all a much faster way of getting it all done.

When completed all the ravioli are placed single layer on sheet pans and then placed in the freezer until frozen, then eventually they go into freezer bags.

I recently took out a bag of the butternut squash ravioli to have for our dinner, I couldn't wait to see how they turned out!

They held together perfectly as they were boiling in the water, I love when they don't break open and not one of them did!

While they were boiling I made a quick brown butter and sage sauce, I just love the smell it brings into the kitchen.

I drizzled the sauce all over my cooked ravioli and then added more parmesan cheese.

It's hard to describe just how good this was but I'll try, cheesy, buttery, slightly sweet and creamy texture of the filling, nutty, earthy, decadent flavor of the sauce, and the fresh pasta? well what can I say, there's nothing like fresh pasta!

If you haven't ever tackled making fresh pasta why not give it a try, it's so perfect for the holidays!

Buon Appetito!

Craving Something Green!

2010-11-29T10:30:00.000-06:00

I don't know about you but after a couple of days of turkey leftovers I'm turkeyed out and craving something green, broccoli rabe/ rapini will always satisfy my craving!

Broccoli rabe is highly nutritious and contains many antioxidants in just a small portion, something I definitely need right about now!

If you've never tried broccoli rabe it's taste is something similar to kale with a slightly bitter bite to it, wonderful as a side dish and so good with pasta!

Blanching in boiling water for 3 minutes and then placing in an ice bath will help reduce that bite a little, but after all it's a hearty green and that slightly bitter taste is the distinctive quality of broccoli rabe.

Drizzle a generous amount of olive oil in the bottom of a saute pan, add shaved garlic and cook until golden along with red pepper flakes to taste. Place your drained broccoli rabe in the pan and cook until tender around 10 to 15 minutes, you can add a tiny bit of water or even some broth to create steam to help it cook through to your desired tenderness, finish off with a squeeze of lemon on top and a drizzle more of olive oil.

I served my broccoli rabe on the side with spaghetti squash tossed with roasted red peppers and a boneless pork cutlet, I told you I was turkeyed out!

Buon Appetito!