Italian cooking has to be my all time favorite. So many flavors, textures and aromas. Italian pastas are a great way to stretch the food budget, too. Pasta is fillings. Whenever I make up a batch of Fettuccine anything, we are bound to have several meals out of it.
Category: Italian Cooking
A Salad – How Utterly Absurd!
Today is National Absurdity Day. Seems fitting, given the insanity in America today. This is the day when oddness and weirdness reins supreme. In searching for something absurd to share, I had to agree with the National Day Calendar’s retelling of events that took place in America between 1913 and 1920.
Roasted Chicken Thighs Caramelized Lemons
Caramelize anything and the flavor just naturally pops. It doesn’t matter – onions, pan seared asparagus, even lemons just naturally taste better once caramelized. There’s something about heat releasing the natural sugars that brings a new dimension to the dish.
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Nugget Chicken Cacciatore
This chicken is awesome with a light pasta side, a simple toss salad and warm bread. Pour wine into jelly jars, put Dino on the record player and just say oh yeah that’s amore. I love casually elegant Italian suppers. While white wine might seem the logical choice, please think red. A nice Chianti is perfect.
Seared Scallops Over Squid Ink Spaghetti
While strolling through the ales of my local World Market one day, I spotted several interesting pastas of the dried variety. One in particular that really got me excited was the Squid Ink Spaghetti. Wow! I’ve always wanted to try squid ink pasta. Here was my chance.
Quick Spaghetti and Meatballs with Garlic Bread
Okay folks, this is a hack to end all hacks and a cheat to end all cheats. If you can boil water and turn on the oven, you can have a fast and filling Italian Feast. The key here is quality over quantity.
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Mushroom Pork Chops Marsala
Marsala dishes, like Picatta dishes, are interchangeable – that is chicken, veal or pork will work in either. My favorite Piccata is veal, for no other reason than veal was my introduction to Piccata, with chicken as a close second since that was the first Piccata I ever cooked. Although I must confess, the Pork Piccata is also delicious as part of my fabulous Six Course Italian Supper. Then again, the buttery-lemony sauce with a kiss of wine that gives Piccata its unmistakable signature goodness works well with fish such as Dover Sole. Oh let’s face it, I like Piccata.
Spicy Shrimp Linguine Marinara
You know me, if it’s Friday, it’s gotta be meatless or a seafood or some other pre-Vatican II throw back. Say what you will, eating “meatless” once a week really is a smart, healthy choice.
Baked Spaghetti Casserole
Have you ever noticed that something happens when you bake pasta? Take Rigatoni – cook up the pasta, pile on the sauce and cheese and it’s great. Take those same ingredients, mix it all together in a casserole dish and bake it – totally different taste and texture.
Asparagi al Limone e Gemelli
Foods just sound so much more interesting in French or Italian. This dish sounds fancy, when all we are really saying is Asparagus with Lemon and Pasta. Okay, so we are mentioning the type of pasta, too.
Return to Me Oh Chicken Vesuvio!
Have you ever seen the 2000 romantic comedy, “Return To Me” with David Duchovny and Minnie Driver? It was written and directed by Bonnie Hunt, and was the last film of Carroll O’Connor’s career. He died a year later, and we lost one of the great ones. If you haven’t seen it, I’m not going to spoil it for you other than to say this was a beautiful romantic comedy, a real throw back to a more innocent time in the film industry.
Serving up Crock Pot Spaghetti Family Style
Recently while putting together our menu planner and subsequent shopping list, I asked Hubby what he wanted for dinner. While I had most of the coming week planned out, there were a couple of holes that needed to be filled. On those rare occasions when I can’t make up my mind, I like to get a little input from the menfolk.
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Italian Sausage with Mini Bells over Pasta
For those of you who have been following along, you know that we are growing San Marzano tomatoes in our garden. When we planted two small plants in our garden in the spring, we knew nothing about these tomatoes, aside from the fact that the whole canned tomatoes are some of the more expensive canned tomatoes on the shelf.
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Lemon Spaghetti Pairs Perfectly with Scallops
Before we get into this awesome Spaghetti side dish, I need to take a moment to say thank you to a very special man. He has been at the center of my world for 33 years, and I cannot imagine life without him. Happy Anniversary, sweetheart.
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Rigatoni Bolognese with Easy
We all know what a Bolognese is, right? Well, that really depends upon your perspective – be it within the Italian understanding of Bolognese or outside Italy. Believe me, for this dish to wear the title Bolognese we are talking outside Italy – way, way outside!
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