this is a page for
Browsing Tag: Italian
Tonight’s pasta dish is another one of those staples found in most Italian restaurants and has about as many differing recipes. I based my recipe on the America’s Test Kitchen version which uses three types of pepper to give this sauce its signature kick. According to my research, ‘arrabbiata’ is used to describe the spiciness of this dish, claiming it to be ‘angry’. Now I did not want the dish to be so hot and intense that all the other aspects of the dish are lost. I desired a notable spiciness with a subtle sweetness and fulfilling umami undertones to deliver a robust, flavor packed meal. The heat in this version sneaks up nicely on you and you know it…
Tonight’s dinner is an Italian classic – spaghetti alla carbonara. This dish of few ingredients produces a wonderfully robust meal. Like Pasta all’Amatriciana and Pasta Putannesca, this recipe is about quality ingredients and timing. I used David Leite’s recipe from his blog Leite’s Culinaria. He has an engaging post about the origins of this dish – rumored to have been created by coal miners – so I’ll defer to his research and expertise on that subject. But I will dive into this dish with enthusiasm. Getting the timing right on this recipe is not as hard as you may think if we use a little trick when cooking the noodles. I used a large skillet instead of a…
What? Did I just hear a collected groan and harrumph of disbelief in being able to make a delicious lasagna for one? Well, you are partially correct. This recipe is perfect for two… or one with a nice serving as leftovers. Normally I do not like leftovers, but there are a few dishes I make exceptions for – goulash, schnitzel, and lasagna among my favorites. This recipe is a little more involved than my typical quick and easy style, but this dish deserves the extra effort. But in all honesty, the toughest part may be finding a small baking dish. I use a 7x5x1.5 (3 cup) size Pyrex baking dish. Once you have that small baking dish, just think of how wonderful it will be to…
Tonight’s dinner is a quick and tasty dish – easy to prepare and enjoy. In this recipe, I used the Parmesan and Black Pepper fresh ravioli from Buitoni which I think worked perfectly. The rest of the ingredients are just fresh sage leaves, garlic, unsalted butter, and grape tomatoes. I also added a bit of diced prosciutto and red pepper flakes to my version, which is optional but highly recommended. This dish comes together quickly with the ravioli taking a mere 7 minutes and the rest taking less than 15 minutes. Quick, easy and tasty… here’s a dish that works for a busy weeknight or a busy weekend. That alone must be the reason this dish is so popular on restaurant menus! Save…
Here is another Italian restaurant staple – pasta puttanseca. This dish’s claim to fame is its pungency and how that relates to its origin – i.e. puttanesca meaning ‘from the prostitutes’ or ‘in the style of the prostitutes’. It is rumored that the dish was favored by Italian prostitutes to keep their clients from trying to kiss them. A girl’s got to have some boundaries right? Well upon further research, it seems there is little written documentation about this dish prior to the middle of the 20th century. Which means pasta puttanesca may have been a simple dish made only at home and not seen as restaurant fare (or fare an upstanding diner would want to be seen eating…
Tonight I made a dish found at nearly every Italian restaurant I can ever recall visiting. It is a simple, yet delicious scallopini style dish featuring Marsala wine as the primary ingredient in the sauce. If you do any research on this dish, you will find the variations for this recipe are widespread. Typical variations start with whether to use dry or sweet Marsala. Next there is the whole ‘should I include cream or not’ debate. And let’s not even begin the discussion on whether the chicken should be dredged in flour or not. So, after a lot of reading and contemplating on how I have made this dish in the past, I created this recipe as a compilation of what I learned through…
Last night I decided to try something new with Caprese salad. Instead of just layering the tomato, mozzarella, and basil and dressing with olive oil and balsamic glaze, I wanted to incorporate the basil into the dressing. My thoughts were to put basil into every bite easily and I needed a tasty medium to hold the basil. I could use olive oil (which would have worked just fine), but I wanted to punch it up a little. So, out came the blender and a bottle of champagne. Yes, that’s right… I chose to use champagne as the medium to carry the basil in this experiment. And the results, delicious. Of course, feel free to play with the ratios to get the results you desire. I…
Here is a pasta dish I believe will really satisfy you. This is a variant of a dish I posted in March – Tortellini with Prosciutto and Asparagus. The difference is perfect for summer – a basil sherry cream sauce. Using fresh basil is a must for this dish and the hardest part of this dish is timing all the parts. So take a chance and expand your repertoire with something new… like this dish! Save Print Tortellini in a Basil Sherry Cream Sauce Prep time: 30 mins Cook time: 15 mins Total time: 45 mins Serves: 1 Ingredients 2 oz prosciutto, diced 4½ oz fresh tortellini 5 oz asparagus, sliced into 1½ inch lengths ½ cup basil leaves, fresh…
Here is a dish that will bring fireworks to your taste buds, just in time for the Fourth of July. I have been meaning to make this dish for you, but sadly I keep pushing it down the list. Well, tonight is the night and I am doing it. I used Chef John’s recipe as a base, of course adjusting it for a single diner and tweaking it with part of the recipe from America’s Test Kitchen. The combination of the Chef John’s simplicity and ATK’s flavor boosting technique take this dish to new heights. The lip-smacking tingle of heat from the pepper, the slight smokiness from the paprika (my idea!), the sweetness from the tomatoes, the brightness from…
Hey, what’s up? Have you missed me? Well, I had to handle some business this week and that kept me out of the kitchen, but I am back at it now. And with this being the first week of Summer, this week’s cocktail was better suited to Saturday mornings than a Friday night. This cocktail holds a special place in my heart. The first time I had one was in Venice at Harry’s Bar, where the drink originated. And my girlfriend and I were thoroughly entranced by this delicious sipper. So much so, we bought one of those 6 packs of pre-mixed Bellinis available all over Venice. Well, while taking the train from Venice to Rome, I was clowning around with…