Recipes tagged with: Italian

These beauties will wow your guests but the big smiles will come after they take a bite! The sweetness of the fig with the melted goat cheese and the almost crispy prosciutto makes a fabulous combination for the perfect appetizer. This also goes great with a glass of red wine!

You can enjoy your favorite white fish in parchment paper.  The fish steams and gathers all of the flavors.  This is not only a healthy and lovely dish but everyone gets excited to get their own package to open and enjoy.

There are so many ways to prepare flank steak and it cooks so fast you can have dinner ready in no time at all! I like to marinade for the day with salt, pepper, garlic powder and olive oil in the refrigerator in a sealable bag. Just heat the grill, prepare your salsa verde and this dish can be on the table in no time at all!

*CHEFS NOTE* Don't shy away from the anchovies as they make this salsa verde extra special and it does not have an anchovy taste, but amazing flavor addition. If you do not have anchovies then use 1/2 teaspoon of anchovy paste!

Don't you just love fresh herbs in the summer.  We have pots of herbs along our walk way and it smells amazing.  At the lake we do a lot of entertaining and making my Fresh Herb Chimichurri Chicken Kabobs are always a hit!  

I like to marinade the prepared kabobs in the refrigerator for several hours.  Then save some of the pesto to serve along side the kabobs.  Delicious!

Cindy's Tip!  If using wooden sticks be sure to soak in water for at least 30 minutes before preparing the kabobs. That will prevent the sticks from burning while grilling!

With all of the garden vegetables my husband requested a gazpacho and OMG it was great to use what I had just picked from my friends garden.  We just love living at the lake during the summer and our friends came over to enjoy this with us.  

I do realize how lucky I am and try to show my gratitude every day!  We have a wonderful family and friends who truly love to be around us.

I did state it takes 25 minutes and that is the time to chop, put together and clean up.  The longer you let it sit in the refrigerator the better. Try to give it 2 hours to let the flavors combine.

All you need for this recipe are the ingredients (and add other fresh vegetables), a food processor and a bowl! Enjoy this Paleo Summer Soup!

OMG - That is the only work I can think of to start this recipe.  I love one pot recipes and this one was  a big hit for dinner.  We had another couple over for dinner and my husband kept asking me, "are you sure that pan is big enough"  Of course honey!  My lodge cast iron pan is Amazing and has not left my stove stop for the entire month of December!  The shallot sauce really made this dish pop with extra flavor.  All of those bits from the lamb along with the shallot, mustard and broth were the perfect combination!

Go ahead and make this! 

BTW! Mostly because it's just Glenn and I (and of course Jake) we don't need to do big shopping therefore I go almost everyday.  Almost everyone I know has told me the meats at Costco are great!  We really had a hard time believing that as we go to specialty meat markets for ours.  Well, I was at Costco with my sister-in-law and she grabbed 2 so I decided to get myself a few.  WOW the meat was amazing!  Very impressed by their meats.  Great for families or entertaining!

The name devil chicken came from the amount of red chili pepper flakes you add to the dish.  I happened a lot of garlic and roasted it then didn't know what to do with it so I added to the sauce of this dish.  OMG delicious!

You can ask your butcher to cut up a whole chicken to feed a family.  I love left overs so picked up 2 bone-in breast and 2 thighs for my husband and I.  

I also used the  garlic in my sauté garlic and roasted up butternut squash to complete this dish.

Enjoy!

Our family loves artichokes.  It all started with my Nana. Every Easter and Christmas Eve she would be steaming a big pot of artichokes.  We would all be so excited to be sitting around the table eating them!  Of course, the heart is the best part but getting to it pedal by pedal it very exciting too.  My mother still makes artichokes and so do I.  

I enjoy them often.  I make 2 for myself - One for now and another for tomorrow (or tonight).  

You need to add tons of garlic in the leaves and drizzle with lots of EVOO.  

Enjoy xo

I just LOVE eggplant and always pick up 2 each week at the grocery store or more often if I spot them in the produce department and they look amazing.  That is why I have a category for Eggplant. 

At the lake we enjoy our "happy hour" and I love making something different especially when our lake neighbors are over.  Since I am Italian expect lots of garlic!  

Yummy..

xo

Gnocchi is so easy to make and everyone gets so excited when you serve it to them.  I decided to make this as a side to my Pork Milanese dinner and it was a big hit.  I pan fried them after they boiled but you can omit this step but it's really good.  

This recipe went great with my pan seared pork chops!

Thank you to my friends at DiFiori for the best pasta around!  Their gnocchi was amazing.  We love you guys.

Enjoy xo

I had some left over grated zucchini from another recipe and there are always shallots and cubanelle peppers in my refrigerator.  I have fresh thyme in my garden and decided to make this side dish.  I then topped it with an over easy egg and slices of fresh tomato.  I did drizzle extra virgin olive oil over it all before my first bite!  Delicious...  

I love our farmers market here in Palm Beach Gardens.  Every Sunday I take the 2 mile ride and pick up all of my fresh vegetables, fruits and a jug of Kombucha.

I normally make a crustless quiche but since we had company and my husband loves a flaky crust I found this one from Emeril and it was DELICIOUS!

Enjoy..

This is an Italian favorite! When ever this salad was offered at any restaurant in Tuscany we would order to enjoy before dinner with a glass of red wine! We have noticed that many Italian restaurants here in the states are now offering a grilled calamari salad, with their own personal twist.

*Cindy's Note* This is a recipe you want to prepare and enjoy immediately!

My husband loves my short ribs and he says it's always better when I freeze it and he warms it up a few weeks later.  At our lake house during the summer there are nights we just want something easy.  Leftovers work perfect.  

I made grilled polenta and topped with warmed up the left over short ribs.  OMG it was amazing!  Great way to use up food handy in the house.  

We love this recipe from Giada and will be making this a few times over the summer.  We add basil then drizzle EVOO and balsamic vinegar.  Go ahead and try our copycat recipe!

Adding a spicy fried egg to a rib eye just adds another great texture and amazing flavor.  It’s almost a way to show off your creative side of cooking! 

We have a local fish market near our lake house and he does keep a small selection of fresh fish he picks up each day.  Therefore I decided to go to the fish market first then plan out the rest of my meal.  

Believe it or not I am not (well was not) a fan of swordfish but for some reason it looked really fresh and gave me this inspiration for the meal I made for my husband.

This dish was super easy to make and amazing beyond belief!  Every bite my husband was taking he kept saying; "this is delicious".  He grilled the fish so a team effort made this a special dinner for us.

Note:  You will notice in the ingredients I am not giving the amount because I used it through different parts of the recipe.  I did list the amount during the directions.  Paleo delicious!  OMG yes..........

We love veal and enjoy grilling to perfection!  We hope you love this recipe!

Cindy's Tip!  I marinated the veal for 2 hours in the refrigerator then let them come to room temperature while the grill was heating up.

I grew up enjoying anchovies in many of our Italian dishes. While in Tuscany, we loved a grilled white anchovy but I decided to add a fresh gremolata. This will dazzle your Italian friends! You can use sardines but the white anchovies are really good for you!

*CHEFS NOTE* "What is gremolata?"

First, it sounds kind of sexy and sophisticated when you say gremolata! This 3 ingredient beauty is simply a condiment made from finely minced parsley, minced garlic and lemon zest. Traditionally served with veal (Occo Buco) and can go with steak, chicken, or seafood. I love to drizzle a little extra virgin olive oil to really make the gremolata shine! You can also substitute mint (for the parsley) and serve with lamb chops.

We just love having friends and family over while we are at the lake.  My long time friend Pam and her husband Tom visited for the weekend and I want to spend time with them and not slaving over the stove but serving them amazing food.  I have known Pam since 1993 and I just adore her!  We did enjoy the weekend and the weather was just perfect.

This quiche was a big hit!

Go ahead and make it - you will love it too!