Recipes starting with I

As you may know (if you follow my blog) that we just love to entertain.  I love making it easy for me so I don't have a big mess to clean and prep as mush in advance.  My dishes looked like I spent all day but they don't know but I took a nap before everyone arrived...  Enjoy

Note:If you want to make this dish Paleo just omit the puff pastry and serve the beef with mushroom and roast your favorite vegetables!  Also, if you sear your beef in a really hot pan for just a few minutes to get that nice crust.  Set aside and bake for 15 at 400 and it will be perfect medium rare!

My husband and I have a "bring a friend" to dinner almost each week and the same 2 friends are invited! Mostly they get to test out new recipes so I decided to make them these Individual Blueberry Pie Crumbles using new canning jars I got in from  and we all just loved this Paleo Dessert!

You can also make this is a baking dish and just share but I thought the individual jars were just darling!

Antipasto (plural antipasti) means "before the meal" and is the traditional first course of a formal Italian meal. Traditional antipasto includes cured meats, olives, peperoncini, mushrooms, anchovies, artichoke hearts, various cheeses (such as provolone or mozzarella), pickled meats, and vegetables in oil or vinegar. You can really add your favorite ingredients to make it your own and you guests will just love it!

My nana and I loved making Italian baked eggs on the weekends. We loved making everyone their own special serving to enjoy. My grandfather always had a very large garden and we would send him to pick fresh tomatoes for us! There is nothing better than a fresh fresh picked tomato! We would use whatever herbs we had handy.

 Nana and I would add green scallions to ours and diced onions to my grandfathers. Everyone had his or her special request.

Anything that starts with Italian has to be amazing! Try Italian Beef (Pot Roast Style) for dinner! This Italian and Paleo recipe.

This little Italian bruschetta appetizer is always a favorite. Sometimes I like to create a bruschetta bar with selections of Italian meats, olives, cheeses or a traditional tomato and basil. You can be extremely creative and everyone will love to bite into these crispy toasts with yummy toppings!

I love to use plum tomatoes for this bruschetta. First of all they remind me of my grandmother and they are hearty and can sit for a while in olive oil and still stay firm and tasty!

This is a great make ahead dish!  You can marinade the fish a day in advance.  Allow the fish to sit for 4 hours then drain.  The fish is now cooked.  Cover and refrigerate.  2 hours before you are ready to serve add the additional ingredients, toss together and enjoy with plantain chips or divide into decorative martini glasses or jars.

Garnish with fresh parsley.

Enjoy!

In the fall comfort foods seems to make everyone happy!  I love to serve this in an individual bowl for everyone to sit and enjoy each bite!   The ground chicken goes so well with the acorn squash.  You can use ground turkey, beef or pork and still make this meal amazing!

I hear from a lot of my friends that when they make an entire pot pie (in a pie pan), a lot of it goes to waste. Let’s make individual chicken pot pies. It is so easy!
Prepare these the night before, then when you get home from work, just preheat the oven while you’re getting settled in. Put them in the oven, and in 30 minutes you have a great dinner!
This is also a great recipe if you made a whole chicken the night before and want to use the leftovers.

My kitchen smelled amazing preparing this Italian Paleo recipe, Italian chicken thighs with lemon!

This is such a great dish.  I made this for one of my cooking classes and we used myLe Creuset Braising Pan and this dish came out just amazing! Due to the time and large class we did not remove the chicken but added tomatoes, lemon juice, green onions and tampanade into the pan and covered for 10 minutes (after we cooked the chicken) and this was truly a mouth watering dish!

Paleo Italian food is simply amazing and full of flavor!

Enjoy this Italian chopped salad with your favorite meal. I love adding cannelloni beans but you can omit them if you follow the Paleo Diet. I have added the recipe below for the fresh parmesan crisps! You may want to hide them before they are gone..

Being Italian we enjoy many seafood dishes on Christmas Eve. I love this dish because you enjoy a variety of seafood in a herb filled tomato sauce!  My nana would make a large pot and I enjoyed dipping the bread in the delicious tomato sauce! This traditional recipe from my family is also a perfect Paleo Recipe or Gluten Free if you are following a health diet!

Luckily we have the best seafood market around. If you are in the Hartford area go over and say hello to my friends at City Fish Market in Wethersfield. You will only receive fresh fish and the service is outstanding! Ask for Tully and he will cut the perfect piece of fish just for you…

In the summer, either from my garden or from the farmers market, i just love the large fresh tomatoes. This is a great brunch to share with your family and friends. Not to mention it makes you look fancy!

Here is my little secret; when my husband travels for business I make this for dinner and enjoy every bite. Sometimes I add in leftover salmon or other vegetables from a past meal.

*CHEFS NOTE* If you are pairing this for Sunday brunch, you can whisk the eggs and other ingredients together the night before and store in a sealed container. You can prepare your tomato and keep in the refrigerator on a platter, lightly seasoned with salt and covered lightly with a clear wrap. When you are ready to bake, just assemble, place in the oven until done and serve

Braciole is a popular Italian dish. Using flank steak works the best as it becomes very tender after slow cooking all day.  You can roll the meat with your favorite filling.  I had frozen kale handy along with the other ingredients.  I picked up the flank steak at Joseph's Classic Market.  

Enjoy this Italian specialty!  

PS  If you don't have kitchen twine at home just ask your butcher! They will be more than happy to provide some for you. 

I am known as the "frittata queen".  I love to use up leftover for frittata's or any fresh vegetables and/or meets I have handy.  This recipe was created after my family left from a 7 day visit and we only had eggs/bacon and a few ingredients in the house and I made this sandwich for lunch!  Perfect...

(be sure to check out my Paleo Italian Bread Recipe)

Use my Paleo Italian Rolls for this great sandwich!  I added my Paleo Mayonnaise on each slice as well.

When I was a little girl my Nana always had Sunday dinner at her house. Even is she was making meatballs she would make an Italian Pork Roast.  I seem to do the same thing as you always want to have enough food... 

I was at our local fish market (City Fish, Wethersfield, CT) and actually went in to pick up salmon for dinner but saw beautiful Mahi Mahi. We really enjoyed this dinner with the Italian herbs.