Antipasto

Antipasto

 

 

My grandmother was not a big fan of appetizers.  Occasionally, she would serve carrots and celery with extra virgin olive oil (salted and peppered).  Usually, salad was served after the main meal, not before dinner.  Only a few exceptions were made to these rules because my grandmother believed (and rightfully so) that if you spend hours making a dinner, validate the dinner by serving that great meal.  For special events, such as someone's birthday or anniversary, she would make an antipasto.  Her rule of thumb was everything had to be fresh.  She used imported Genoa salami, imported prosciutto, domestic provolone, calamata olives, etc.  It really is not important that you use similar ingredients, the dressing is what matters most.  Serve this on romaine lettuce, however.  I like making croutons out of Italian bread.  I also sprinkle the whole thing with extra cheese (grated parmigiano regiano)....   (I am sorry this picture did not come out too well but it matters not...you get the drift!!!)

 

 

Italian Dressing:

 

This is my grandmother's recipe which she never wrote down...I have done my best to capture the essence of her dressing.  (A good over-the-counter version is Ken's Steak House Italian Dressing)

 

 

1 teaspoon garlic powder
1 teaspoon onion powder
1 teaspoons dried oregano
ground black pepper

salt

fresh thyme (I use several sprigs since I grow it in my garden)
fresh parsley (I use the Italian kind because I grow it in my garden)

fresh rosemary (you get the idea)

celery seeds (to taste)

poppy seeds (to taste)

good balsamic vinegar (to taste)

extra virgin olive oil (to taste)

 

Use a blender.....taste and add whatever...

 

Antipasto:

This changes every time I make it.  Start with romaine lettuce.  The rest is up to your imagination.

1/4 lb. of Italian Genoa salami

1/4 lb. of imported prosciutto

tiny peppers

tiny fresh tomatoes

Italian cheeses

home made croutons

 

I suggest that you go to the Italian section of your market, pick out six or seven things you like and marry them with everything else here.  This recipe is hardly engraved in stone.  However, allow the dressing to marinate over the antipasto for at least thirty minutes before serving.



Pasta y Fagioli

 

 

Pasta y fagioli

 

 

 

This recipe is a combination of two.  One is from my grandmother, Lucy Piermarini, and one is from my aunt, Lucy Tocci.  They are similar in nature but my grandmother was from Rome and my Aunt Lucy was from Sicily.  By combining both of their recipes, I came up with a unique twist that features the best of both worlds.  My grandmother always saved prosciutto ends for her recipe and my aunt always used smoked ham hocks.  If you can get a prosciutto end, use one and then add two smoked ham hocks.  This will give you wonderful flavor.

 

 

Ingredients:



1 bag of yellow eye beans (dry)

1 large onion

half a bunch of celery, with leaves

3 or 4 fresh carrots

2 ham hocks and one prosciutto end or three smoked ham hocks

six Italian sausages

1 head of garlic, chopped finely

1 large can of San Marzano tomatoes (with basil)

2 cans of San Marzano tomato paste

1 can of been consommé

12 ounces of chicken broth

1 large can of cannelloni beans

1 large can of white kidney beans

1 cup of peccarino romano cheese

2 cups of cooked elbow macaroni

salt and pepper to taste

 

 

The night before you make this hearty soup, soak the yellow eye beans in cold water.  This will prepare them for the soup. 

 

Sweat these out by chopping and simmering over low heat for about 30 minutes.  Take off the heat.

 

Have a crock pot handy.  Put all the remaining ingredients (except for the canned beans and pasta) in the crockpot.  Simmer for 8 hours.  One hour before serving time, undercook the pasta by three minutes.  Add the canned beans (and their juices) and the pasta thirty minutes before serving.

 

Serve with a good loaf of Italian bread and plenty of freshly grated parmigianno regianno.

No Bake Cheesecake

 

 

No Bake Cheesecake with Herb Infused Balsamic Vinegar Reduction

This no-bake cheesecake is somewhat tricky to make but if you have all the ingredients at room temperature before  you start, assembly should be easy.   If you are making this recipe for vegans, substitute the gelatin with agar.  Start this recipe by making the herb-infused balsamic vinegar reduction because this needs to be cool for serving.  One of the best things about this cheesecake recipe is that it sets quickly.  This cheesecake serves four to six people.

Herb Infused Balsamic Vinegar Reduction

Allow for a minimum of thirty to forty-five minutes to reduce this sauce for optimal flavor.  You can do it in fifteen minutes and get a good flavor profile but it is very important to allow the final reduction to cool completely before refrigerating.

16 ounces of  frozen raspberries in sugar

1 sprig of fresh rosemary
2 to 3 sprigs of fresh thyme
1 ounce of lemon grass (comes in a tube at grocery store)
Juice of one whole lemon
Lemon wedges (from the squeezed lemon)
½ cup of really good balsamic vinegar
Pinch of salt

In a really good saucepan, put all of the above ingredients.  After you squeeze the lemon juice out of the lemon, throw the lemons in the saucepan (not the seeds).  You can put the herbs in cheesecloth or just throw them in the saucepan and strain out the reduction later.  Cover the saucepan.  On medium heat, allow the mixture to come to a soft boil.  Reduce the heat to lowest simmer and cook for anywhere from fifteen to forty-five minutes.  Taste the reduction after fifteen minutes and adjust seasonings accordingly (if anything, you may need to add agave or sugar---whichever you prefer).  Remove from heat but keep the cover on.  Allow to cool thoroughly and then strain the mixture into a blender using a fine sieve.  Discard the herbs and lemon wedges but hold the sieve because you will need to strain this out again.  Using your blender on a low setting, simply pulse until you get a sauce.  Strain out the sauce over a deep bowl to remove the seeds from the raspberries.  If you like the consistency of the sauce, the sauce is done.  If you want to blend it further, throw it back in the blender (after wiping the sides of the blender for stray seeds).  Put the sauce in a plastic container and refrigerate until serving time.

Easy Cheesecake

My regular cheesecake takes three days from start to finish because each process must be refrigerated.  This recipe has a flavor profile similar to the complicated cheesecake dish but can be made by anybody with little effort.  Have all ingredients at room temperature.  I use Nilla wafers because I’m not a big chocolate person and my regular cheesecake starts with Nilla wafers.  If you like, you can use any prepared pie crust (graham cracker, chocolate, etc.) and make the recipe in a pie plate instead of a seven inch springform pan.  It will taste equally good but the shape will be different.  If using a springform pan, generously butter the bottom of the cheesecake pan and the sides.  Before buttering, I take the base of the springform pan out and trace a parchment circle which I cut out with scissors.  Put the springform pan together and after I butter, I place the parchment circle on top of the  bottom of the pan.  This will help keep your cheesecake from sticking.

Cheesecake Ingredients:

Crust:

Half a box of Nilla wafers, crushed
1 stick of butter at room temperature

Crush the Nilla wafers.  Mix the butter with the crumbs.  Press the crumb mixture onto the parchment paper in the springform pan.  The residual heat from your hands will help make this process smoothly.  Place the pan in the refrigerator while you make the filling.

Filling:

1 gelatin sheet, dissolved (vegans use agar)
16 ounces of marscapone cheese
4 ounces of cream cheese
Juice of one lemon (squeezed with seeds removed)
8 ounces of white chocolate, melted with 1 tablespoon of butter
Zest of one lemon, grated
1 cup of marshmallow Fluff (this eliminates the need for sugar) (vegans use ½ cup of superfine sugar instead of the Fluff)
2 ounces of lemon cello or lemon flavored vodka
1 teaspoon of good vanilla

Cut the gelatin sheet in half and put in a bowl of cold water to dissolve the gelatin sheets.  Strain out the gelatin sheets in a good strainer (gelatin sheets will soften after about ten minutes.)  Warm either the vodka or the lemon juice (room temperature or a tad warmer).  Put the softened gelatin in the warm liquid and using a whisk, blend until the gelatin totally dissolves.  (You must use this liquid right away to avoid gelatin lumps.)   Put all the ingredients in the mixing bowl and using a hand mixer, blend until there are no lumps and filling is smooth.

Take pie crust out of the refrigerator.  Put in the filling.  Tamp the springform pan gently to get a smooth texture.  Refrigerate the whole thing.    This cheesecake sets very quickly because of the combination of gelatin and marshmallow but the marshmallow can easily be eliminated.  If you eliminate the marshmallow, taste the filling and adjust with superfine sugar.  You can also allow for more lemon zest if you like the flavor profile to taste more lemony.  I prefer the combination of lemon and vanilla but this is a personal choice so feel free to experiment.  Refrigerate the cheesecake until you are ready to frost and decorate it.

Frosting

8 ounces of white chocolate
2 tbl. of butter
8 ounces of marscapone
Juice of half a lemon
Lemon cello to taste 
Pinch of salt

Melt the white chocolate with butter until it is smooth and has no lumps.  Place the mixture in a mixing bowl and add remaining ingredients.  Blend well with a hand mixer until the frosting is creamy and smooth.  Refrigerate until time to frost the cheesecake.

Assembly

 This works best if you can complete the entire operation quickly.  Have your serving plate ready and on hand.  Remove the frosting from the refrigerator to warm up a little bit while you plate the cheesecake.

Take a beautiful platter and put one tablespoon of the frosting mixture in the center of the plate.  This will hold the cheesecake on the platter and keep it from sliding all over the place while you frost the cheesecake.

Using another plate, put the plate on top of the cheesecake.  Open the springform pan and remove the bottom and the parchment paper.  Take the cake platter with the frosting dab on it and put it on the bottom of the cheesecake (crumb filling side).  Turn the plate over and it should have unmolded perfectly.

Take a good spatula and after giving the frosting a mix or two with a wooden spoon, frost the sides and the top of the cheesecake.  Decorate with fresh raspberries and drizzle the balsamic reduction around the edge of the cake.  Serve the cheesecake with the remainder of the balsamic reduction, fresh raspberries and whipped cream.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Spinach Casserole

Spinach Casserole

 

 

This is a very simple vegetable dish that you can make in about ten minutes.  Allow 30 minutes for baking time.  This spinach dish really goes with anything.

 

Preheat oven to 375F

 

 

Ingredients:

 



1 pkg. of frozen spinach, thawed out with water squeezed out
1/2 cup of grated Parmiagiano Regiano
1/2 cup of heavy cream
1 egg
1 stick of melted butter
1/2 cup of grated Stoufer's stuffing mix

Butter a baking dish and put one tablespoon of the grated stuffing mix in the bottom.  Shake the baking dish to distribute the breadcrumbs evenly.

In a large mixing bowl, toss all other ingredients with a fork.  Spoon into baking dish and bake until casserole puffs up.  Serve warm.

 

Blueberry Cobbler

 

 

Cobbler is an easy dessert to make since Bisquick came on the market.  It's a simple task to take any filling and create a nice dessert that can be served with freshly whipped cream or ice cream.  You can use a canned filling or create your own with fresh ingredients.  This is a very creative exercise that can be very rewarding. 

 

 

Bisquick Crust:

 

2 cups of Bisquick



1 cup of sugar

1/2 tsp. of cinnamon

1/2  tsp. of freshly grated nutmeg

1 stick of butter (room temperature)

 

Put Bisquick in a big mixing bowl.  Add the butter and cut with a fork.  Add remaining ingredients.  Set aside.

 

Preheat oven to 350F.

 

Filling:

 

2 cups of fresh blueberries

2 tbl. of juice (I use orange juice)

1 tbl. of cornstarch

1/2 cup of sugar (I use turbinado sugar in baking but you can use regular sugar)

 

Mix these ingredients and set aside for a bit to macerate.

 

Assembly:

 

Put the filling into a baking dish.  Cover with the crust.  Dot with butter and bake for 30 minutes.

Strawberry Rhubarb Pie

Strawberry Rhubarb Pie

 

 

This is probably my husband's favorite pie.  Use fresh rhubarb (in Massachusetts, this is only available from about May through October).   Allow for 30 minutes of prep time because the filling has to cool down before you put it in the pastry or it might melt the pastry dough.  (If this should happen, you have to start over so always have a backup refrigerated crust in your fridge.  Good news is the filling can simply be poured back into the bowl while you pick the melted crust out of it.)

 

6 stalks of rhubarb



2 cups of frozen strawberries

1 cup of sugar (I like to use bar sugar or turbinado which is a finer sugar)

1 tbl. of lemon juice (just take a fresh lemon and squeeze the juice out of it)

Grated lemon zest (obviously, do this before you cut and squeeze the lemon)

1 tsp. of white vinegar

Freshly grated nutmeg (please don't used dried nutmeg for this recipe)

 

Cut the stalks of rhubarb into cubes.  Put all the ingredients in a large glass bowl and nuke in a microwave for about 7 minutes.  Allow this mixture to cool down.  Mix with a fork.  Set aside.

 

Preheat oven to 400F. 

 

Prepare the pie crust or use a refrigerated piece of pie crust dough.  Put one rolled out crust in a pie plate.  Cover with the strawberry mixture.  Roll out the other piece of dough and cut into strips.  Make a simple lattice crust by twisting the strips and spacing out as shown above.  Bake for about 30 minutes.  Allow the pie to rest before refrigerating it.

White Lasagna

White Lasagna

 

 

When I teach folks how to make white lasagna, it is always surprising to them that you can create a terrific crowd pleaser using two sauces.  This is one of my staples for my daughter's family because they are vegetarians.  I will include both the vegetarian recipe and the meat recipe.

 

 

White Lasagna

 

Fresh pasta sheets undercooked by a couple of minutes (I don't like the boxed ones)

2 cups of béchamel sauce

2 cups of mornay sauce

6 to 8 eggs

32 ounces of ricotta cheese

1 cup of parmigiano reggiano

1 cup of peccarino romano

6 cloves of garlic, smashed and minced

salt and pepper to taste

Shredded mozzarella

 

Cook the pasta sheets for just a couple of minutes in salted boiling water.  Cool in a colander.

 

In a large mixing bowl, put in the ricotta.  Add the eggs, one at a time, mixing with a wooden spoon.  Add the parmigiano reggiano and peccarino romano.  Add a little salt and pepper (taste).  Add the garlic.  Refrigerate while you make the sauces. 

 

At this point, preheat the oven to 350F. 

 

Bechamel Sauce

 

2 tbl. of butter

1 tbl. of flour

2 cups of heavy cream

salt and pepper to taste

 

Melt butter in a saucepan over low heat and add flour to make a roux.  Add cream.  Add salt and pepper.  Allow the sauce to thicken and take it off heat.  Let it cool down.

 

Mornay Sauce

 

2 tbl. of butter

1 tbl. of flour

2 cups of heavy cream

1 cup of gruyere cheese

A little dry white wine

 

Melt butter in a saucepan over low heat and add flour to make a roux.  Add cream.  Stirring constantly, add cheese and wine.  Allow the sauce to thicken and take it off heat.

 

Assembly

 

Put a layer of pasta sheets in a rectangular baking dish.  Add 1/3 of ricotta mixture.  Cover with 1/3 of Bechamel Sauce.  Repeat this twice more.  Cover with the Mornay Sauce.  Top with shredded mozzarella.

 

Bake for approximately one half hour until the lasagna is golden brown.

 

To make the meat lasagna, cook the pasta sheets in chicken broth.  Make a filling with Italian Sausage by cooking the Italian sausage over low heat and adding fresh mushrooms and one cut onion and six cloves of garlic.  Put the meat filling in the middle of the lasagna and otherwise, finish the lasagna as previously described .  Bake the same way.

 

Sponge Cake with Strawberries

KEEP IT SIMPLE

 

 

Every great cook I know always has something in the freezer to make if unexpected guests visit.  I usually have a sponge cake frozen that can be converted easily into a great dessert.  This dessert is also very low in calories and contains very little sugar.

 

 

Sponge Cake with Strawberries

 

1 container of frozen strawberries, thawed out

1 container of Cool Whip (Lite)

1 sponge cake

 

Divide the sponge cake by cutting it in half.  Cover the bottom layer with Cool Whip.  Spoon strawberries over the Cool Whip.  Place the top half of the sponge cake on the bottom half.  Frost the entire thing with the Cool Whip.  Cover with strawberries.



Chocolate Pudding Light

 

 

My father is diabetic so I'm always looking for a way to lighten a dessert for him.  This version of chocolate pudding has a very rich flavor but is low in calories and contains very little sugar. 

 

 

1 box of fat-free chocolate fudge instant pudding mix

 

1/2 cup of Nutella melted in 1/2 cup of chocolate syrup

 

2 oz. of freshly brewed strong coffee

 

1 cup of lowfat milk

 

1 cup of Cool Whip Lite

 

1 tsp. of vanilla

 

1/2 cup of fresh raspberries

 

strawberries to garnish pudding

 

In a deep mixing bowl, put in pudding mix.   Using a hand mixer, mix the pudding, coffee and milk.  Add the vanilla and set the mixture aside.  Fold the Cool Whip and fresh raspberries into the mixture with a wooden spoon.  Fill dessert dishes with the chocolate pudding mixture, garnish with Cool Whip and top with fresh berries.  Refrigerate until serving time.  Makes four (4) servings.