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Browsing Tag: Italian
Tonight I made a quick family favorite dinner; chicken picatta with asparagus. This dish has always been a hit; the lemony sauce and the briny capers are the stars here. A perfect way to change up your ‘same old’ chicken while making a different pasta dish. This dish is surprisingly light and a great warm evening dish when you may not want a big heavy meal. It is also quick to prepare – another benefit on those warm Summer evenings and who would have thought you could get so much flavor from such a simple dish! Perhaps that is one reason this dish is a regular menu item in Italian restaurants. And who can blame them… I certainly can’t. Yet, I love to…
Tonight’s dinner is a simple and delicious pasta dish – pasta all’amatriciana. Basically this centruries old dish is a peasant meal of guanciale (cured pork jowl), tomatoes, chile, pasta and pecorino cheese from the Italian village of Amatrice. I researched numerous recipes for this dish and interestingly enough settled on the simplest and most authentic version according to the Food52 blog. The smoky flavor of the cured pork jowl, combined with the spiciness from the hint of chile, the sweetness from tomato and the nutty saltiness of Romano intermingle so well that this pasta dish is perfection. No onions, no garlic, no basil, oregano or fennel is needed, that is just how good this dish is. Traditionally made with bucatini, I opted for thin…
Are you ready for another pasta dish? This dish is similar to other tortellini dishes I have posted earlier – Tortellini with Prosciutto and Asparagus and Tortellini with Pancetta and Brussel Sprouts with a change up on the light sauce and vegetables used. Also like the other dishes, this one is quick and easier to prepare, perfect for a weeknight dinner. For an intense flavor to compliment the salty and smoky prosciutto and sweet red peppers, I use butter, lemon juice, and prosecco in the making of the sauce for this dish. Kissed with red pepper flakes and lemon zest, you will enjoy the nuanced interplay of flavors in this dish. Well, at least I hope you do! Let’s get busy – all this writing has…
Ok, ok… I know it is a lame name for a homemade knock-off of that box meal Hamburger Helper™, but I thought it was appropriate to describe my twist. Packed with vegetables and balanced with meat, pasta and cheese, this meal is as hearty as it is simple to make. This recipe is for a one pan casserole with Italian flavors, but I can see many variations possible. So skip the box and cook with fresh ingredients to enjoy that same simple and hearty meal with no preservatives, artificial colors or flavorings. Are you up for the change? Then give this one a try! Save Print Hamburger Henchman Prep time: 15 mins Cook time: 30 mins Total time: 45 mins Serves: 2…
Are you ready for another ‘comfort food’ dish? Tonight, I made spaghetti and meatballs. To fit the bill for comfort food and satisfy my hunger, I wanted the meatballs well seasoned and the sauce flavorful. For the meatballs, I used a mixture of beef and pork spiced with traditional Italian flavors of onion, garlic, parsley, basil and oregano. I then made a green pepper and fire roasted tomato sauce with sweetness from a grated carrot and a spicy hint of smoked paprika. This dish fires on all cylinders for me – tender and flavorful meatballs under a blanket of robust red sauce on a bed of thin spaghetti, accented with fresh parsley and Parmesan cheese. To be honest, I should have made this dish on a…
I know you all have a friend that reminisces about something from their childhood or neighborhood where they grew up. My friend from Chicago routinely grouses about not being able to enjoy a Chicago-style Italian Beef Sandwich. Being in the Pacific Northwest, he just has not found anything that claims to be Chicago-style Italian Beef compare to what he enjoys back home. So, after a lot of research I decided to take the challenge to silence his fussing and try to satisfy that taste of his hometown. Now I have never been to Chicago so I have no way to compare, but this sandwich was delicious, incredibly delicious, insanely delicious… so I think it was a success. His take on it… a solid thumbs…
Remember in one of my first posts I mentioned planning to reduce the possibility of waste. Well, when I used the ricotta in two recent recipes (Simple Stollen and Lemon Blueberry Ricotta Waffles), I still had approximately 1/4 cup remaining. Not wanting to waste it, I built this recipe around it. It is a simple recipe and easy to adapt to other ingredients like chicken instead of sausage; brussel sprouts, green beans or cauliflower instead of broccoli; etc. Just know that for all the planning, sometimes you just have to wing it. So, are you ready to try something new and delicious? If so, then dive right in! Save Print Orchiette with Italian Sausage and Broccoli with Lemon Ricotta Sauce Prep time: 10 mins Cook time…
Tonight I decided to use my new quick pizza dough recipe in a skillet pizza. Think deep dish (sort of Chicago style) pizza. I am really liking this new pizza dough recipe – it is fairly simple and the results are fantastic. I tweaked my pizza sauce recipe as well and think it is a winner too. Just remember to allow it to cool sufficiently or else the pizza will fall apart (I couldn’t wait and experienced this issue first hand!) Save Print Skillet Pizza Prep time: 10 mins Cook time: 20 mins Total time: 30 mins Serves: 1 Ingredients Pizza dough Pizza sauce Toppings 5 oz Canadian bacon 8 oz can pineapple chunks, drained 2 – 3 oz mozzarella cheese, shredded…
When you feel like really enjoying a pizza, nothing beats making it yourself. Take out, take and bake, and delivery are all OK, but there is something about making it yourself – especially when paired with my pizza dough recipes – Pizza Dough and Proscuitto, Ricotta and Basil Pizza. So, here’s a very simple, yet extremely tasty pizza sauce you can make at home. Save Print Pizza Sauce Prep time: 5 mins Total time: 5 mins Serves: 1 Ingredients 1 14.5 oz can fire roasted tomatoes, drained 3 oz fire roasted red peppers ½ tsp minced onion ¼ tsp minced garlic ½ tsp Italian Herb Seasoning (or dried oregano) ¾ tsp basil ½ tsp balsamic vinegar 1 tbsp tomato paste ⅛…
Another experiment based on a published recipe from Fleischmann’s and once again I tweaked it. I have made this dough several times now and I like it with the substitution of bread flour for part of the all purpose flour. Give it a try, you won’t be dissapointed! Save Print Pizza Dough Prep time: 1 hour 15 mins Cook time: 15 mins Total time: 1 hour 30 mins Ingredients 1 cup bread flour 1 cup all purpose flour 1 packet (1/4 oz) pizza crust yeast 1½ tsp sugar ¾ tsp salt ⅔ cup warm water (120 – 130 degrees) 3 tbsp olive oil Instructions Preheat oven to 450 degrees. Add bread flour, ¾ cup of all purpose flour, yeast…