Recipes tagged with: Italian

Every Italian gets excited when Arancini's are being served.  I used to make them with my Nana and dip them in tomato sauce.  Or we would serve with sauce at the bottom of a bowl then the arancini on top.  

You can add you favorite filling such as peas, meat, or your favorite combination.  Using wild or cultivated mushrooms really makes these arancini's even more amazing!

If you want to make my homemade Paleo Italian Breadcrumbs - Go here for the recipe!

Enjoy

This was certainly the hit of the party!  I served this Paleo Pasta Primavera with my Paleo Pork Roast Loin and it disappeared right in front of me!  

Quail is a very traditional dish in Italy, you do not want to overcook this delicate poultry. I love to grill eggplant, zucchini and red pepper to serve with this dish!

*CHEFS NOTE* Quail can be hard to find at your local grocery stores. I go to D&D Market in Hartford, CT for my Italian meats, sauce, and other ingredients.

This is a great dessert for entertaining.  You can make these a day in advance and let sit in wine or martini glasses until ready to serve.  If making in advance, just add the berries before serving.

This recipe can also be found in my cookbook:

I always go to DiFiore's Pasta Shop when I am hungry.  Everything looks amazing and I always go for the cutlets.  Please warm one up for me now and I will take a container full to go!  On this particular Saturday day I was looking at the chicken cutlets and eggplant cutlets and it came to me!  Parmigina Lasagna! I always have homemade sauce in my freezer and a box of no-boil lasagna from DeCecco not to mention my beautiful baking dish from Emile Henry to prepare, bake and serve this delicious dish.

If you don't have sauce handy go ahead and pick some up at DiFiore's!  Or go ahead and make your own.  You won't believe how easy it is to make this delicious lasagna!  Head over to DiFiore's today and make this now!! STAT..

As an Italian, it just doesn’t get better than pasta and eggplant! Give this pasta a la norma a try for a perfect weeknight dinner!

I love making this Pasta Primavera dish in the spring with fresh vegetables! You can be very creative when adding your favorite vegetables. You can also make this dish “Paleo Italian” by substituting spaghetti squash or zucchini noodles. You can also use gluten free pasta!

Give it a try..

Are you wondering why I called this dish Pasta Surprise? You can create this dish in so many delicious variations that no matter how you serve it. Each taste is amazing and everyone will smile as you gave them a huge surprise! Give it a try…

I love my one-pot recipes and even though I needed a pan to boil the pasta there was no need for a colander nor a platter or bowl to serve the dish.  My beautiful pan served as a perfect serving dish! All of my dried herbs are from Simply Organic!

I used 2 hot and 2 sweet chicken sausage which added amazing flavor to the sauce!  You can also just add the frozen peas into the hot sauce!  This is a 30 minute meal perfect for a family of 4.  

When we enjoy pasta from a box there is only one I will serve my family (and myself). It has to be DeCecco Pasta!  

Tip: You can add in onion, peppers, zucchini or any other vegetables you have handy in the refrigerator.  Go ahead clean out that crisper draw and make this a hearty family meal!

If you love this recipe but don't want to use pasta!  Take a spaghetti squash and poke about 10 holes using a long metal skewer.  Put in the microwave for 10 minutes.  Let cool, slice, remove seeds then take a fork and add strands into the sauce.  Paleo dinner served... 

Recently I have been experimenting with different recipes and I wanted to take one of my signature Italian dishes and reconstruct them so anyone can enjoy. I took a typical penne dish and put a vegan and also vegetarian twist on it. My family loved this  meal and were shocked that it was vegan!

The classic "Biscotti" as they are often known here in the United States.  In Italian, the word biscotti simply means "biscuits".

You can also find this recipe in my cookbook:

Italian Paleo OMG Ragù!  This was simply amazing.  We are at our lake house for the summer and our friends came over. I had a super busy day and while at the butcher deciding what to make the pork butt looked amazing.

I did serve this dish with a creamy polenta.  I am Italian!!  What can I say...  If you want to keep it Paleo then serve with sauté vegetables or sauté garlic spinach (I do that a lot).

Anyway..  Enjoy..

xo Cindy

PS:  This freezes well and taste even better the next day!  You can also prepare this meal in your slow cooker.

I just love my one-pot recipes!  Especially when I cook in a beautiful pan then serve form it as well.  You get to scoop up all of the extra flavors.  

You can add any potatoes (sweet as well and just chop them up) but the colorful baby potatoes just looked to amazing and I couldn't pass it up.  Hubby really enjoyed this meal after a long trip to NYC!

Oh and before I forget - This is also a 30 minute meal and a perfect dinner for 2! 

My husband wanted veal milanese which I make often over an arugula salad but I felt like changing it up a bit and came up with this super yummy recipe.  You can make it a paleo recipe by using a GF breadcrumb or make your own paleo bread.  You can also use coconut cream for the sauce.  I decided to make a traditional recipe and even make homemade gnocchi to go with the dish, garlic sauté spinach and a vegetable filled salad with homemade dressing!  Glenn just loved this dish and so did I....   Go ahead and give it a try.

Note: In this recipe I made enough for 4 people (we had company that night) so I bought 8 boneless pork loin chops (they seemed small to me) and we actually had 2 left over and it was great for lunch the next day!.

This Portobello ragu is hearty and flavorful. I love to serve over zucchini noodles or with sautéed chicken. You can use fresh or dried herbs for this ragu. My recommendation would be to add the fresh herbs in towards the end of the cooking process but the dried herbs can go in right away!

You can also find this recipe in my cookbook:

This is the perfect paleo breakfast for 2!  I cut up my onions, peppers and other vegetables in the beginning of the week so I have them handy.  On the weekends I love to create a new recipe using my left overs!  This one was a perfect Sunday breakfast for my hubby and I.  

I am also sharing my tip on making the perfect poached egg....  

Enjoy this Paleo breakfast recipe!

How to clean a portobello mushroom

Holding the mushroom in the palm of your hand and using a small spoon gently go under the stem of the mushroom and lift it out.  Use the spoon and carefully rub the spoon around to remove the gills then discard.  Use a paper towel or clean kitchen towel and wipe around the mushroom.

I love quinoa and I know many Paleo followers will say that it's not allowed but I love it!  We don't have it often but I think it's really good for us to eat.  I served these over a quinoa salad full of vegetables then drizzled with EVOO and Balsamic.  Perfect to bring to a summer outing.  That is what I did and everyone loved it.  It went great with my friends Lisa's ribs!

Enjoy

(PS - I didn't need the entire bunch of kale for the meatballs.  I cooked it all up and added the rest in the quinoa salad.)

I love quinoa and am really enjoying creating amazing recipes that even my family is enjoying!  These are so good.  

Cindy's Note:  I have different size melon scoops and ice cream scoops.  They are great to keep your meatballs all the same size. You can make these from mini-meatballs to larger sized.  You decide...

In Italian, "semifreddo" means half cold or half frozen.  Semifreddo is typically an ice cream that is almost the texture of a mousse.  The ingredients include part ice cream and whipped cream to create this delicate dessert.  This is made right in your freezer! I love the combination of raspberries and pistachios, but you can be creative on your choices! 

You can also find this recipe in my cookbook: .

Ribollita is a Tuscan stew that is thick and filled with dark green beans and vegetables cooked down, then boiled again. This is my paleo version of this traditional stew. I love using the combination of cabbage, kale and swiss chard but you can also use any other savory greens such as chicory.

This was a "just because" new recipe!  I love ricotta and we don't indulge often but since we are entertaining tonight it seemed right!  Not to mention it's amazing!

Today I wanted to use my new KitchenAid®Stand Mixer and was planning on making meatballs. Then I spotted the fresh ricotta, beef and veal at D&D Market

I love to add either parmesan or romano to my meatball mixture! It is so easy grating a block of cheese with my Kitchen IQ grater.

Beets have become wildly popular lately! I get so excited when I see a beet salad on a menu or when at a friend's house and they ask, "do you like beets?" I remember being a little girl and being served the canned beets which have no flavor and the texture is not very pleasant. When you roast beets they really come to life and adding my simple Dijon dressing makes this the perfect starter for any dinner party or just because!

*CHEFS NOTE* We all think about the dreaded red beet fingers and hands when it comes to beets. I like to take fresh beets and cut the green off as close as I can get to the beet. Then scrub with water and a brush to really get it clean. Then roast and let cool. Once is it cool, the skin should come off very easily with your fingers. I try to go fast so red isn't everywhere but you can also wear gloves. Another way is to peel the beet while under cold water- again going fast!