Egg and Vegetable Bake

I can't remember where or when I got this recipe, but the card is well used and stained. It's always come in handy for a quick lunch or brunch or sometimes even dinner. My family loves it and its great for diabetic cooking.

1 tablespoon olive oil
1/2 cup chopped onion
2 garlic cloves, minced
3 cups veggies (your favourite frozen variety is fine too)
1/2 cup diced red bell pepper
1/2 teaspon basil leaves
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon pepper
4 eggs
4 ounces chedder cheese

Preheat oven to 400 degrees. In a 12 inch skillet heat oil. Add onion and garlic and saute until onion is translucent. Add vegetables and seasonings stirring constantly. Saute until the veggies are tender-crisp, about 5 minutes. Remove from heat.

In medium bowl beat eggs; add 2 ounces of cheese and the veggies and stir to combine.

Grease an 8 x 8 x 2 inch baking dish with olive oil. Transfer mixture into the dish and sprinkle with the remaining cheese. Bake for 25 to 30 minutes (until puffy and browned and a knfe, inserted in center, comes out clean.)

Cutout Cookies

If you have young children, there will be an occasion where you will need to make cut-out cookies. My 2 1/2 year old grandson has been studying the stars in playschool. In the next class, every child will attend in their pyjamasa, with a flashlight, and their going to view a star show (via projector) in the classroom. So I thought I'd pull out my recipe for cut out cookies and make some starcookies for him to take.

This has got to be one of the best recipes I've found because the cookies are slightly chewy and don't break in the plate or storage container.

1/2 cup butter at room temperature
1 cup sugar
1 egg
2 to 3 tablespoons milk
1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla or almond extract
2 to 2 1/4 cups all purpose flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
Assorted decorations such as candies, raisins or colored sugar crystals

In a medium bowl, beat together butter or margarine, sugar, egg, milk, and vanilla until light and fluffy. Add flour, baking powder, and salt, beating until blended. Divide dough into 2 equal portions. Wrap and refrigerate until firm, 1 hour or longer. Prior to baking, allow dough to stand at room temperature until soft enough to roll easily.

To bake cookies, preheat oven to 375 degrees. On a lightly floured surface, roll dough 1/4 inch thick. With lightly floured cookie cutters, cut into desired shapes.




Place 1 inch apart on ungreased baking sheets. Bake 7 to 10 minutes or until edges are golden. Remove cookies from baking sheets; cool on racks. DEcorate as desired. Let stand until set. Makes about 48 2 1/2 inch cookies.

Incredible Edible Bean Dip

My family rants and raves about this dip. I get the same reaction whenever I bring it to a party. It's easy to make, easy to freeze, and always a hit.

1 14 ounce can refried beans
4 to 6 chopped green onions
1/4 cup of chopped jalapeno peppers
1 500 ml container of sour cream
1 8 ounce bar of cream cheese
1 package taco seasoning mix
1 cup grated cheddar
1/2 lb ground beef (cooked)

Soften cream cheese.
Add refried beans, sour cream, taco seasoning, jalapenos, and green onions.
Add cooked ground beef.
Mix all ingredients together and pour into pie dish.
Cover with grated cheese. Bake at 350 degrees for 30 minutes.

This dish freezes well so you can make it ahead of time!

Mamma's Pizza Crust

I've been using this pizza crust recipe for years. It came to me from a very popular authentic Italian restaurant and it's never let me down. I usually throw all the ingredients into my breadmaker to simplify it. For the sake of accuracy and authenticity, however, I've provided the actual recipe.

1 tablespoon sugar
1 cup warm water
8 g. package regular yeast
3 1/4 cup all purpose flour
1 1/2 cup semolina
1/2 tbsp. salt
1 small egg, beaten
1 tablespoon olive oil
1/3 cup milk
1/2 tablespoon honey

Have all ingredients at room temperature. Dissolve sugar in water and stir in the yeast. Let sit for 5 minutes.

Measure 2 3/4 cup all purpose flour in a large bowl, add all the semolina and the salt.

In a small bowl, mix the egg, oil, milk, and honey. Add enough warm water (about 1 tablespoon) to make two thirds of a cup.

Make a well in the center of the flour mixture, add yeast mixture and milk mixture. Stir well until most of the flour is mixed in.

Now start to work the dough adding from the extra half cup of flour as you need it.

The dough needs to become smooth and workable, but not sticky. Then continue kneading for about five minutes.

Form into a mound and set it onto a floured surface at room temperature. Leave for about an hour, till about doubled in bulk.

Punch down until all the air is gone from the dough. Roll and spread into two 12 inch pizza pans.

Fresh Tomato Salad

I always have this salad on my table whenever there are fresh tomatos in my house. I always serve it with fresh Italian bread and it can be a meal in itself. You can also add chunks of mozza! I am constantly changing ingredients in this recipe and you can never go wrong. Add and delete ingredients to your taste.

3 to 4 Tomatoes
1 Cucumber
1 Green onion
Mozzarella
Basil
Garlic
Extra Virgin Olive Oil
Olives
Capers
Salt
Pepper

Mix all ingredients and toss!

Tiramisu

Tiramisu

I am crazy about Tiramisu! It is my all time favourite desert. So needless to say, I've tried many different recipes. But this recipe stands out as the very best! It looks more complicated than it seems, but it is easier than you think and well worth the effort.

Ingredients: Hot Milk Sponge

MILK, 1/4 cup
BUTTER, 2 teaspoons butter
FLOUR, 1-1/4 cups
BAKING POWDER, 1 teaspoon
EGGS, 3
SUGAR, 1-1/4 cups
EGG YOLKS, 3

Ingredients: Mascarpone Cream

ESPRESSO COFFEE, 1/2 cup + 2 tablespoons
HOT WATER, 1/2 cup + 2 tablespoons
SAMBUCCA, 3 tablespoons
MASCARPONE, 1 cup
KHALUA, 2 tablespoons
EGGS, 3 separated
SUGAR, 6 tablespoons
HEAVY CREAM, 1 cup
VANILLA, 1/4 teaspoon vanilla
SALT, a pinch
COCOA POWDER, enough to sprinkle
POWDERED SUGAR, enough to garnish

Directions: Sponge Cake

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.
Grease and lightly flour an 8 by 11-inch sheet tray.
Heat milk and butter until the butter melts.
Stir the flour and baking powder together and set aside.
Beat eggs, sugar, and yolks.
Fold in the flour mixture and the milk.
Pour into the prepared pan.
Bake for 10 minutes.

Directions: Mascarpone Cream

Combine the espresso, water and the Sambucca, and set aside.
Combine the mascarpone and the Khalua in a large bowl, beat until smooth.
In a medium bowl, beat the eggs yolks, and 3 tablespoons of the sugar together until smooth.
Set over a hot water bath and beat for 3 minutes until light and foamy.
Remove from the heat, and without waiting beat this mixture into the mascarpone mixture. Set aside.
Whip the cream until the cream holds a firm shape.
Fold in vanilla.
In two small additions, fold about 1/3 of the mascarpone mixture into the whipped cream.
Then fold the whipped cream into the remaining mascarpone mixture. Set aside.
Beat the egg whites and salt on medium until foamy.
Increase the speed and add the remaining 3 tablespoons sugar, beat until glossy, not dry.
Fold the egg whites, all at once into the mascarpone.

Directions: Assembly

Cut the sponge cake in half crosswise.
Place in a pan large enough to fit the halved sponge cake snugly.
Moisten the cake with half of the espresso mixture.
Top with half of the mascarpone mixture, spreading it out evenly.
Sprinkle generously with cocoa powder, and powdered sugar.
Top with the other half of the sponge cake layer.
Moisten with the remaining espresso mixture.
Top with the remaining mascarpone mixture, spreading evenly.
Sprinkle generously with the cocoa powder and powdered sugar.
Refrigerate, uncovered, for 2 hours.

Peppers in Oil

One of my favourite things is hot peppers in oil. I add this to a nice plate of pasta. My mother and my aunts always made it and gave me a jar or two for my pantry. They don't have a recipe, so I was always afraid to try it because it is preserving and there is always a risk.

To make peppers in oil, cut the peppers in small bits. Be sure to wear rubber gloves as the peppers are hot and can really heat up your fingers. Boil them in a solution of 50 percent water and 50 percent vinegar for a minute or two. Place into sterilized jars. Top it up with extra virgin olive oil right to the very top. Seal and store.

No pasta dish is complete without a light sprinkling of hot peppers on top!

Pitselle - My family's heritage recipe

Pizzelle (pit-sell-eh) - Pizzelle are a traditional cookie from the Abruzzi regionof Italy. They are thin wafer cookies that look almost like a waffle. The word pizelle means little, round, and flat.

For decades, blacksmiths forged pizzelle irons out of cast iron with a family crest or the name of the woman. These were passed down from generation to generation, just as a precious piece of jewelery.



According to an article from the Lonely Planet Publications on the Festival of the Snakes:

Legend has it that the mountainous and bucolic area around Abruzzo was once so infested by snakes that life tended to the short, sharp and brutal rather than the long and cheerful. The local shepherds, back in 700 BC, appealed to Apollo for help. His advice was to capture the snakes, domesticate them by draping them around his statue and then release them into the bush again.

Curiously, this seemed to work and the ritual has been replayed ever since. Somewhere along the way, however, the fickle mortals dumped the old Greek gods for the newish Christian gods and indulged in a bit of historical revisionism. Apollo became Saint Domenica and a few touches of modernity, like fireworks, were added to the ritual.

Celebrations begin on St Joseph's Day, 19 March, when the first snakes of the season are netted and caged. Two months later, on the first Thursday in May, the village is stirred by an 8am revelry call of fireworks, followed by a traditional mass. After the mass, the statue of Saint Domenica is hauled through the streets of Colcullo, where villagers drape the captured serpents, boa-like, around the stone neck of Saint Domenica.

This ritual and the procession is usually accompanied by a noisy band of villagers, barking dogs and merry-makers. At the edge of the village the squirming mass is released back into the bush and the villagers, so it is said, are immune from snake bites for another year.

Today, pizzelles continue to be revered and celebrated at feasts. In the small Abruzzi town of Salle, they honor a 12th century monk named Beato Roberto. Celebrants attach pizzelle to tree branches and proceed down the street with them.

Although my mother still uses her pizzelle iron (a cherished heirloom she brought with her from the old country when she immigrated to Canada in the 1950's, I prefer to use a modern, electronic model.



From the youngest to the oldest, I have yet to meet the person who did not like a pizzelle. During Christmas and Easter and other family get togethers, I see that they are the very first cookie to disappear from the cookie platter.

Here is my favourite pizzelle recipe, handed down through my Abruzzese mother and her mother and grandmother before her:

6 eggs
6 cups all purpose flour
2 cups sugar
3 teaspoons pure anise extract or a few drops of pure anise oil
1 cup melted butter or oil
4 tablespoons baking powder

Beat eggs and sugar. Add cooled melted butter or margarine, and anise extract. Sift flour and baking powder and add to egg mixture. Batter will have a dough like consistency. Form into 1 inch balls and place on the grids in the pizzelle baker. This will make about 150 small pizzelle.

Lasagna alla Bolognese

My roots are Veneto from my father's side and Abruzzese from my mother's side. So most of the food I enjoyed as a child was Abruzzese. When I went to Italy as a young teenager, my father's mother cooked her bolognese sauce for me and I absolutely loved it. I also enjoyed lasagna alla bolognese at a relative's home near Vicenza. So Lasagna alla Bolognese became my all time favourite lasagna recipe.

Lasagna alla Bolognese

Ingredients:

An 8 ounce can minced plum tomatoes
1/2 pound ground beef
1/2 an onion, minced
A small carrot, minced
A 6-inch stalk of celery, minced
A few leaves of basil (if it’s in season), and a small bunch of parsley, minced
1/4 cup unsalted butter
1/2 cup dry red wine
1 cup beef broth
2 cups grated Parmigiano
2 cups milk
2 1/2 tablespoons of flour
Olive oil
1 tablespoon vegetable oil
Nutmeg, salt, and pepper to taste
A pound of store-bought lasagne, either fresh or dried

Preparation:To make the meat sauce, start by mincing the onion, carrot, and celery. Sauté the mixture in two tablespoons of olive oil in a heavy bottomed pan till the onion’s translucent, then add the meat and continue cooking till it’s browned. Add the parsley, basil, salt, pepper, and a pinch of nutmeg, red wine, and broth. Simmer over a low flame till the wine’s evaporated. Then thicken the sauce with a half tablespoon of flour, let cook for a few minutes, and add the canned tomatoes. Check the seasoning and simmer the sugo over a low flame, for at least a half hour.

Make a béchamel sauce by melting the butter and adding the remaining flour, stirring to keep lumps from forming. Cook until the flour begins to brown, then add the milk, a few drops at a time, stirring briskly to keep lumps from forming. Should they form anyways, remove the pot from the flames and stir them out before adding more milk. Add a pinch of grated nutmeg (optional) and continue cooking over a low flame till the sauce thickens somewhat. Set it aside.

Meanwhile, bring a pot of lightly salted water to boil, adding a tablespoon of oil to it to keep the sheets of pasta from sticking to each other. Butter an oven-proof dish while the first few sheets of pasta are cooking. Remove the pasta with a slotted strainer when it’s a little bit al dente. Drain it well and add some more sheets to the water. Meanwhile, preheat your oven to 385 F (190 C).

Lay the first layer of pasta in the dish, following it with a layer of meat sauce, another layer of pasta, a layer of béchamel with cheese, and so on, till the pasta, sauce, and béchamel are used up. Go easy on the Parmigiano with the top layer, because it can become bitter as it browns. Heat the lasagne through in the oven and serve with more grated Parmigiano on the side.
Yield: 4-6 servings

Beef and Bean Casserole

Winter is definitely on its way. Time for some cozy comfort food. So today, I made my all-time screaming family favourite casserole. Now this is definitely not an Italian recipe, however, I am, so anything I make I consider Italian.

Thought I would share it with you all since it's easy to make. Fair warning, I remember my mom making a similar casserole when I was a kid, but I never had the recipe. So all the ingredients are from my own invention or enhancement from watching her all those years ago. But you can never go wrong if you vary the ingredients.

3 cans Heinz beans in tomato sauce
2 lbs ground beef
1 can Campbell's tomato soup
1/2 cup Ketchup or your favourite barbecue sauce (I like Cattleboys)
1 onion
2 or 3 cloves of garlic
1/4 cup soya sauce

Carmelize the onion and garlic. Add the ground beef and brown well. Add the remaining ingredients. Pour into a casserole dish and bake at 350 degrees for 1 hour.