Ingredients: 4 Tbsp 100% Extra virgin Olive oil 10 fresh cherry tomato cut into large chunks 2 mozzarella cut into pieces basil chopped black olives chopped salt black pepper
Preparation: In a large bowl put the tomatoes, mozzarella, basil, olives, salt, black pepper and extra virgin olive oil then gently mix thoroughly. Allow the mixture to stand for 15 min. Serve.
Anyone who knows Italians knows you have to have pasta as the second course. Okay, okay, maybe this can be the main course.
Orzo with Sausage, Peppers and Tomatoes (compliments of Foodnetwork.com/Recipes)
Ingredients:
1 red bell pepper 1 orange bell pepper 1 pound orzo pasta 3 cups chicken stock 3 cups water 1 tablespoon kosher salt 2 tablespoons olive oil 7 ounces (2 links) mild Italian turkey sausage, casings removed 1 clove garlic, minced 2 plum tomatoes, chopped 1/4 teaspoon red pepper flakes, optional 2 tablespoons chopped fresh flat-leaf parsley Salt and freshly ground black pepper 1/2 cup ricotta salata cheese, crumbled
Directions:
Using tongs, place the bell peppers over a gas flame. Cook, turning occasionally, until the skins are charred on all sides, about 5 to 6 minutes. (Alternatively, place the peppers on a baking sheet and broil for 5 to 8 minutes, until charred.) Place the charred peppers in a medium bowl. Cover the bowl with plastic wrap and allow the peppers to steam for 20 minutes. Under running water, peel away the charred skin from the peppers. Pat the peppers dry with paper towels. Remove the stem and seeds from the peppers and cut into 1/4-inch thick slices. Set aside. In a medium saucepan, bring the chicken stock, water, and kosher salt to a boil over high heat. Add the pasta and cook until tender but still firm to the bite, stirring occasionally, about 8 to 10 minutes. While the pasta is cooking: In a large skillet, heat the oil over medium-high heat. Add the turkey sausage and saute until cooked through, about 4 minutes. Add the garlic and cook for 1 minute. Add the bell peppers, tomatoes, and red pepper flakes, if using, and cook until heated through, about 2 minutes. Drain the pasta, reserving about 1/2 cup of the cooking liquid, and transfer to a large serving bowl. Add the sausage mixture, 1 tablespoon of the parsley, and season with salt and pepper, to taste. Toss well to combine all ingredients, adding reserved cooking liquid, if needed, to loosen the pasta. Top with the ricotta salata and sprinkle with the remaining parsley. Serve.
Dessert
Chocolate Chip and Mascarpone Cupcakes (also compliments of Foodnetwork.com/Recipes)
Ingredients:
Cupcakes:
5 ounces unsweetened chocolate, chopped
1 cup water
1/3 cup mascarpone cheese, at room temperature
2 1/4 cups sugar
1 cup vegetable oil
3 large eggs
1 tablespoon vanilla extract
3 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon fine sea salt
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1 cup (6 ounces) semisweet chocolate chips (recommended: Nestle morsels)
Ganache:
1 cup (6 ounces) semisweet chocolate chips (recommended: Nestle morsels)
2/3 cup heavy whipping cream
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
Special equipment: 2 (12-count) muffin pans with paper liners
Directions
For the Cupcakes:
Place an oven rack in the center of the oven and preheat to 325 degrees F.
Combine the unsweetened chocolate and water in a small saucepan over medium-low heat. Stir constantly until the chocolate is melted, about 2 minutes. Cool for 2 minutes. Whisk in the mascarpone cheese until the mixture is smooth.
Beat the sugar, oil, eggs, and vanilla in a large bowl for 30 seconds. Stir in the mascarpone mixture. Whisk the flour, baking soda, salt, baking powder, and chocolate chips in a medium bowl. Add the dry ingredients to the chocolate mixture. Stir until just blended.
Divide the batter among the prepared muffin pans. Bake for 20 to 25 minutes or until a tester inserted into the center of a cupcake comes out with no crumbs attached. Cool the cupcakes completely before dipping, about 1 hour. For the Ganache:
Place the chocolate chips in a small bowl. Combine the heavy cream and vanilla extract in a small saucepan over medium-low heat. Cook until small bubbles appear on the outside edge of the cream. Pour the hot cream mixture over the chocolate chips. Using a fork, gently stir until all the chocolate is melted and the mixture is smooth.
Dip the tops of each cupcake in the ganache and transfer to a baking sheet. Place the dipped cupcakes in the refrigerator to set, about 15 to 20 minutes. Allow cupcakes to return to room temperature before serving.
Cook’s Note: For puffier cupcakes allow the batter to rest in the muffin pans for 20 minutes before baking.
It’s June! Why do I feel like there is something symbolic about June? Is it because summer’s here? No, that’s not it. Is it because school’s out? No, that’s definitely not it. Is it somebody’s birthday? I think that’s it! But who? Maybe you can all help me. Until I figure it out, I am posting a recipe for Sicilian Ricotta Cheese Cake. Why do I feel like Sicily represents this person? Anyway, if you know who it is, and you want to make this person a cake, here it is. Otherwise, make it for yourself and/or your family in honor of this adorable and talented Sicilian (what IS his name?).
Sicilian Ricotta Cheesecake
Sicilian Ricotta Cheesecake
Serves: 8
Ingredients:
32 ounces ricotta cheese, drained…
1 orange (for 2 teaspoons orange zest/grated rind)
⅓ cup flour
1 cup sugar
6 eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
18 graham crackers (2 packets from a 14 oz box)
1 stick butter
Instructions:
Preheat oven to 325 degrees F.
Generously grease a springform pan with butter.
For graham cracker crust, crush graham crackers in food processor until consistency of bread crumbs; stir with melted butter until mixture holds shape when squeezed. If needed, add a little more melted butter.
Firmly press graham cracker “crust” into bottom and along bottom sides of spring form pan; set aside.
Sift together flour and sugar in small mixing bowl.
In medium bowl, stir together ricotta cheese and orange zest. Slowly fold in flour mixture with spatula until well blended and smooth.
Add eggs, one at a time, continuing to blend with spatula. Stir in vanilla extract.
Pour batter into spring form pan and gently smooth top with spatula.
Bake for 55-60 minutes, until cake is firm all the way to top center. Cool completely and refrigerate for 2-3 hours to set.
You must see this video. Chef Pasquale is too cute for words. Pizza Rustica is an Italian tradition at Easter time.
My Mom always made it with pepperoni and hard boiled egg, but there are so many variations and you can put in it what you like (as like Chef Pasquale). As Mom got older, it was too much for her and time consuming to make the dough, so the store-bought dough works just as well.
Here is a blurb I found on recipes.wikia.com: “Unlike the flatter surfaced pizza commonly made in homes and restaurants, Pizza Rustica resembles a pie that is filled with cheeses and meats, which may include ricotta, mozzarella, provolone, and Romano cheese combined with meats such as sausage, salami, and prosciutto, or perhaps mortadella and soppressata instead of the sausage and salami. The ingredients are then baked within a pie dough crust and covering. The dough may be either pastry dough without sugar or yeast dough, both of which encase a savory filling of meats and cheeses.”
Happy Easter to everyone. For those of you who do not celebrate Easter, I wish you all a Happy April.
A week or so ago I made a call out to you all with an invitation to join Liz, Myron and LiJoy by becoming an active contributor to the site.
As usual there you are, my friends whose faces I can’t see, with hearts I know so well. Thank you to all who volunteered. We asked this brilliant group to join us:
Food Contributor : Leelee
Volunteer Clerical : Julie
“All Things Italian” : Ann (anncruise)
Contributing Authors: Jana (ScoobyDoo) Jeannette Giglio Kitty (kittykam) “Sometimes Sugar, Sometimes Salt”
Plus, a few others of you (as you know) are sending feature stories. They are so fun! The sharing of stories is one of my favorite parts of this site.
Welcome and Thanks Ladies! I have already been working with most of you so it’s just another step for all of us.
P.S. I have all of your acceptance letters, so it’s too late to back out.
~Marie
Here’s one:
Marie, yes. I humbly accept your invitation to become a regular part of this site, and deeply appreciate the opportunity. I hope, that in some way, I am able to support and encourage the feelings of pride, and expressions of love for our guys that exist here. I would like to use, “SOMETIMES SUGAR, SOMETIMES SALT” as my “title”, because God knows that there will be sprinkles of both within the journey to whatever their destiny holds, be it together, singularly, or both. All that we can do is to make sure they feel our love.
Hummm, maybe I can start with this? Thanks again! KITTY
You may have read some time ago when the Guys were in Abruzzo at Gianluca’s home and they were having a local dish called Arrosticini. Then, most recently, there was our Ignazio dueling with skewers of Arrosticini.
I have Arrosticini and I’m not afraid to use it!
So I thought I would write about this local fare.
Pronounced phonetically as Ah-ro (long o and don’t forget to roll your “r’s”)-sti-chee-nee, they are little cini’s that are roasted. (JUST KIDDING).
From Wikipedia:
Arrosticini are a traditional dish from the region of Abruzzo. Arrosticini (rustelle or arrustelle in the local dialects; also known as spierini or spidducc’) are typically made from castrated (I’m not going there!) sheep’s meat (mutton), cut in chunks and pierced by a skewer. It is cooked on a brazier with a typically elongated shape, called canala as it resembles a gutter.
There are two main kinds of arrosticini: those made industrially, consisting of cubical chunks of meat with a side of 1 cm (1/2.5 inches) on skewers with a maximum length of 10 cm (4 inches); and those made by hand, for which the meat is cut with a knife in chunks of different sizes, alternated on the skewer with pieces of ovine fat (doing so provides more tenderness and a more pleasant smell). This kind of arrosticini requires meat of very high quality because it has to be cooked for a longer time.
Arrosticini originate from the food consumed by shepherds and other inhabitants of the mountainous areas in Abruzzo within the villages of Civitella Casanova, Carpineto, and Villa Celiera, who were accustomed to eating even less refined food than hard sheep meat.
Arrosticini are often accompanied by slices of traditionally home-made bread soaked in extra-virgin olive oil with large amounts of peperoncino in olio. The traditional beverage accompaniment is Montepulciano d’Abruzzo wine, or — as it is done in some restaurants — a drink consisting of two parts of red wine and one part of gassosa (roughly the Italian equivalent of beverages like Sprite).
Traditionally, arrosticini are eaten with bare hands, pulling the meat off the skewer piece by piece using one’s teeth.
They are produced throughout Abruzzo, both industrially and in a home-made fashion. They are also found in other areas with large populations of Abruzzesi.
1. Cut the meat into small pieces (about ½ – 1 inch)
2. Thread onto wooden skewers about 10 – 12 inches long
3. Grill skewers over a moderate coal fire to prevent them from drying out
4. Season with salt after cooking
5. The meat goes well with homemade bread brushed with olive oil
~~Leelee
***
Thanks Leelee.
It’s a small world. They’re merely eating shish-kabobs with wine spritzers.
Sounds Yummy! I’m going to try that the very next time Kroger has a sale on castrated sheep’s meat.
Come in and share the love of life, friends and Il Volo!
