Italian Pesto Salad

Easy Salads for a healthier lifestyle.  

To keep us healthy and give us energy including lots of good protein is a good idea.  I have found that including some protein in every meal (yes 3 times a day) helps to keep the body going and keep your metabolism running properly. 

Whether you use this recipe the way I have written it or adding some healthy olive oil to it I am sure you'll find it enjoyable. 

Italian Pesto Salad

8 oz elbow macaroni( I used tri color for some color)

1 -7 oz. Jar basil pesto sauce( I used fresh basil pesto)

¼ cup red wine vinegar

½ tsp. Kosher salt

2- 15 oz. cans cannellini beans rinsed and drained

(3 cups baby arugula)

2 oz. Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese shaved

¼ cup pine nuts

Cook macaroni according to directions. Drain and rinse well under cold water. Set aside.

In a large bowl stir together pesto, vinegar and salt.

Add beans, cooked macaroni, arugula, half the cheese and half the pine nuts

Toss well. Serve at once or cover and chill up to 6 hours. Top with remaining cheese and nuts.

Note: I am adding the Bibb lettuce just before serving.

8/29/14

2/15/16

3/22/17

Authentic Italian Pasta Sauce Recipe

When we visited Italy last year we had the pleasure of visiting my husbands family (his mom's cousin and her family) and were cordially invited to have dinner with them.  Everything was homemade and the meal was fabulous.  

From what I knew about Italy or so I thought I knew about it this pasta sauce was not what I had expected.  No basil, no garlic no fresh tomatoes?? How could that be?  No pepper or other seasonings just veggies, good ground minced meat or ground meat as we call it to make a good down home easy pasta sauce. According to Lorena ,our cousin, her mom makes the sauce this way for their restaurant but at home she uses garden fresh tomatoes.  See even in Italy they take short cuts.

It was very hard to say what I enjoyed the most but I definitely loved their pasta sauce.  Light and slightly sweet I asked for the recipe. I'm going to try a pot this way for our sauce this weekend.

My copykat pasta and sauce

It took a while for me to receive it and translating was a bit of an issue but here it is. 

1 carrot chopped
1 stalk celery chopped
1/2 sweet onion chopped
1/2 tsp. sugar
1/2 lb. ground beef
1/2 lb. ground pork
3- 28 oz. cans tomato sauce(clean out cans with a little water)and add to sauce
olive oil
freshly grated Romano cheese
homemade fettuccine pasta

Link to pasta recipe:

Homemade pasta 

In a large pot or Dutch oven on medium heat place approximately 4 T. olive oil.  Add chopped carrots, celery and onion. Saute for around 15 minutes.  Add ground meat, sprinkle a little salt too while  breaking meat up into small pieces and saute slowly until all red has disappeared from meat.  Add tomato sauce and sugar.  Sauce will start to bubble.  Cook on lower heat so not to stick covered slightly for approximately 1 1/2 hours. Buon Appetite!


Thank you Roberta Vispi and her daughter Lorena for sharing it with me.  

 La ringrazio tanto Lorena per avermi aiutato con la traduzione del vostro mamma ricetta. La salsa è ottima e ho pubblicato la ricetta sulla mia pagina e blog. Deliziosa

Roberta, Lorena

Roberta

Roberta's pasta and sauce

10/13/15

copyright i like to bake and cook blog 2015

6/1/16

Angel Hair pasta and tomato medley and spinach

An easy meal in about 30 minutes or less!  

Time was running out and I had to put something on the table. Personally I was so hungry I barely could think straight lol. 

So this is how this meal was created with love and hunger!

8 oz. Angel Hair Pasta
4 T. Butter canola oil blend or butter
1 clove minced garlic
1 cup sliced in half medley of tomatoes (purple, cherry, red and yellow)
1/2 cup baby spinach
Handful of Pecorino Romano cheese for added flavor, of course!

Cook pasta according to directions. (I cooked the pasta while I was simmering the garlic and spinach). 
In a large skillet place butter canola oil blend or buter and melt over low heat.  Add minced garlic and cook slowly until you start to see garlic start to simmer.  Add spinach while keeping heat on low.

 Note: If you can, try to have pasta cook al dente and using pasta tongs transfer from pot to skillet allowing some of pasta water to combine with the butter canola oil, garlic, spinach mix).(about 1/2 cup liquid).  Add tomatoes, grated cheese and toss allowing tomatoes to cook slightly.

Garnish with Basil if desired.

original posted 9/24/15

Shrimp Scampi

Updated picture of shrimp scampi 2/16/24

When I start to plan my menu for the coming week I usually focus on  what may be on sale or what I think we might enjoy eating the coming week.  Since I fell in love with the salad I saw at the specialty store and wanted to duplicate it I also thought if I bought enough shrimp I'd be able to make two meals from the amount of shrimp I purchased..  That is where the shrimp scampi recipe comes into place. 

Add shrimp

1/4 cup  olive oil reserving 1 T for later use

4 T butter reserving 1 T for later use

3 cloves garlic minced

1 lb. large shrimp, cooked,cleaned and deveined( I used medium shrimp)

1 tablespoon lemon juice

¼ tsp salt

¼ tsp black pepper or slight amount of red pepper

3 tablespoons flat leaf parsley(fresh or dried)

1 lb.  angel hair pasta

Heat olive oil and 3 tablespoons of the butter in large skillet over med. High heat..Add garlic and cook 1 minute..add shrimp and cook 1 minute, lemon juice, salt and pepper.  Cook 2 minutes.  Stir  in parsley and remove from heat.

While shrimp is cooking prepare pasta according to directions. Drain and reserve 1/2 cup cooking liquid.

Note;  you can use 1/2 cup chicken broth instead of pasta liquid.

Add pasta to shrimp in skillet and toss to coat..Stir in cooking liquid and remaining tablespoon each of oil and butter..Stir until pasta is coated and butter is melted..Serve immediately.

 Happy Cooking!

M.J.

8/16/11
3/29/13
8/25/14

2/16/24

Sweet Potato Gnocchi from my kitchen to yours,

A wonderful re-post of a delicious meal.


It's fall so why not try your hands at making Sweet Potato Gnocci.  This recipe is super easy and you don't have to be a chef to create it.  Take an hour and make some.  Everyone in your family will love you and it too!

I love any potato.  It is a huge weakness of mine.  Healthy to eat (without added butter or sour cream) unfortunately but still when you are a true potato lover adding a sprinkle of salt and pepper is all you need!

Today I wanted to try my hand at making sweet potato gnocchi.  There are several varieties of Sweet Potatoes and there are Yams!   One is slightly yellow inside and one is orange.   I refer to the orange potato as a sweet potato but is it a yam?? Hope I'm not confusing you because I am a little confused about varieties.  Hopefully the article below will clarify it to both of us courtesy of About. com.

Happy Baking and Cooking!
 M.J

This photo reflects my delicious orange in color and sweet in taste Gnocchi!

I browned some butter and topped the gnocchi.  Adding a touch of cinnamon , sage, or nutmeg for flavor

Mine is a Sweet Potato if I'm interpreting the information correctly.

Yam or Sweet Potato?


Yam or sweet potato, what in the world is it? Many people use these terms interchangeably both in conversation and in cooking, but they are really two different vegetables.

Sweet Potatoes

Popular in the American South, these yellow or orange tubers are elongated with ends that taper to a point and are of two dominant types. The paler-skinned sweet potato has a thin, light yellow skin with pale yellow flesh which is not sweet and has a dry, crumbly texture similar to a white baking potato. The darker-skinned variety (which is most often called "yam" in error) has a thicker, dark orange to reddish skin with a vivid orange, sweet flesh and a moist texture.

Current popular sweet potato varieties include Goldrush, Georgia Red, Centennial, Puerto Rico, New Jersey, and Velvet.

Yams

The true yam is the tuber of a tropical vine (Dioscorea batatas) and is not even distantly related to the sweet potato.

Slowly becoming more common in US markets, the yam is a popular vegetable in Latin American and Caribbean markets, with over 150 varieties available worldwide.

Generally sweeter than than the sweet potato, this tuber can grow over seven feet in length.

The word yam comes from African words njam, nyami, or djambi, meaning "to eat," and was first recorded in America in 1676.

The yam tuber has a brown or black skin which resembles the bark of a tree and off-white, purple or red flesh, depending on the variety. They are at home growing in tropical climates, primarily in South America, Africa, and the Caribbean.

Yams contain more natural sugar than sweet potatoes and have a higher moisture content. They are also marketed by their Spanish names, boniato and ñame.



You can double this recipe or triple if you like.  This was enough for two servings.

1- extra large sweet potato  (microwaved until very soft) and cooled, peeled and put through ricer or you can mash them with your electric mixer for convenience.
1 egg beaten
2+ cups flour
pinch salt

Work potato, egg, salt and flour until it forms a ball.

Place on cutting board with some flour.  Roll dough into long strips (like a tootsie roll)

Cut in small pieces.  In a large pot of lightly salted boiling water place gnocchi.  Stir.  When gnocchi rise to top.  Let cook for a few minutes.  Drain and season with browned butter. Yummy!!! Yummy!

Happy Cooking from my kitchen to yours,

11/9/12 
10/1/13
2/26/14

Easy Pasta Peperonata

I have wanted to make this recipe for a month and today's rainy day allowed me to make it.

I didn't have the fresh peppers so I substituted a jar of red roasted peppers instead.  I drained and patted them, cut them in pieces and adapted it as I saw fitting.  It turned out fabulous and hubby couldn't say enough about this meal.  He even said he thinks he liked the roasted peppers better than if I used fresh.  So now you have it.  Substitution is good most times. In this case it worked well.

Using Farfalle pasta instead of Rigatoni  was a plus, red wine vinegar too. You can easily use balsamic vinegar too.  It is a bit sweeter..

 I did have the mascarpone cheese and it said it was optional but quite honestly I think it added a level of sweet and creamy consistency to this recipe. Try it! I will definitely make this again. 

Thirty minutes from start to finish.  Yummy! 

Original Recipe (Woman's DayMag)
2 red peppers, seeded and sliced
2 yellow peppers, seeded and sliced
extra virgin olive oil
salt and pepper
2 red onions sliced thin
2 cloves garlic minced
fresh parsley if possible
2 T red wine vinegar or balsamic
2 handfuls grated Romano cheese
lb. rigatoni

optional 2 heaping T mascarpone cheese

Over medium heat place cook peppers with a little olive oil, salt and pepper until softened.  Cook slowly covered  because it helps to bring out the flavor when done this way. Add onion and cook until translucent.  Add garlic and parsley and toss around. Cook about 3 minutes more.  Taste and add a bit more of salt and pepper. Add vinegar.  It will sizzle so give everything a good toss. Then add 1 handful of grated cheese and the mascarpone if you like.  Make sure you turn your heat down.

Cook pasta according to directions. Drain but reserve some of the pasta water for later.

Put the peppers, pasta and into a large bowl.  Give them a good toss, a little pasta water, a little more olive oil and the rest of the grated cheese.  Serve immediately.  Yummy!

6/27/15

Rigatoni with spicy tomato sauce

Here I go again trying another persons(chef )(Missy Robbins) pasta sauce. I found this recipe in People Magazine and very tasty.  Try it!  Note:  I did adapt this recipe to our liking. It doesn't take much time to create this wonderful meal.

My adapted version

Recipe:  

1 lb. rigatoni cooked 
1/2 cup olive oil
11 cloves garlic
1/4 can tomato paste*
2-28 oz. cans whole San Marzano tomatoes, drained and crushed reserving 1 cup juice
1 T fennel seed*
1 T chopped oregano, plus whole leaves for serving*
1 1/2 to 2T crushed red pepper*
Grated pecorino Romano cheese (someone else loves this cheese) THE BEST CHEESE

Cook pasta in a large stockpot of well -salted water for 2 to 3 minutes less than the directions call for.
Drain pasta...Reserve 1/4 cup liquid** I reserved 1/2 cup
Heat in a dutch oven over low 8 garlic cloves, and increase to medium-low stirring occasionally until soft and lightly caramelized, 5 to 8 minutes. thinly slice remaining garlic and add to oil.
Cook, stirring occasionally about one minute.  Add tomato paste and cook, stirring often until a deep color develops, about 3 to 5 minutes.

Add tomatoes, reserved tomato juice, fennel, oregano and crushed red pepper.  Cook stirring often for about 30 minutes.

Add reserved liquid to the sauce, stir to combine.  Add cooked pasta and cook until pasta is heated through.  Sprinkle with cheese and oregano leaves.

In 50 minutes you should have a great meal.

****My adaptation is as follows.

Less garlic about 4 cloves all minced
1 used 1 can of tomato paste
I used less fennel about 1/2 tsp.
I did not use oregano at all.  We don't care for it.
Also watch amount or red pepper...It is very hot so adjust to your taste.

Her Version

Happy Cooking from my kitchen to yours,

9/12/16

My Christmas Menu 2016

A few of 2016 Christmas memories.


Every year I host Christmas Dinner since we moved to Pittsburgh.  I usually had both holidays when we lived in Harrisburg but since the move ten years ago some of the hosting has been shared with my daughter and daughter- in- law which I really appreciate.

I love the holidays but quite honestly they are tiring.  I love baking and cooking and enjoy how much my family loves what I prepare but I have many memories of my mom being the host and she was always so tired.  Her house was small and her kitchen was so small it was hard for her to move around if we gathered around her while she prepared so she shushed us away to the other room while she got everything ready.  We always asked to help but other than set the table she wanted to do it by herself.  She would have the kitchen window open (in the middle of winter) and she would be perspiring something terrible.  I used to feel so sorry for her but she liked having us there but it really was too much for her.

I now see where I am getting to the age that all this is starting to get me tired as well so I decided I would do things a little differently than Mom did or even my mother- in -law.  They worked the day and eve of Christmas instead of preparing ahead of time.

I believe that doing some early prep works for me.  I don't feel my mom ever really enjoyed holidays because other than cookies she made the salad and pasta whether it was ravioli or cappelletti very close to the actual holiday. Actually that day or a day before.

I start the beginning of December making my pasta dish, soup and sauces and so far this year I have already made 10 bags of gnocchi and froze them, several pounds of braciole and sausage, hot and mild and meat and marinara sauce. Today I made my soup and mini meatballs for Wedding soup.All freeze well and will be fine for Christmas.

All in all I feel this works for me and when Christmas comes I plan on the night before putting together our antipasto and then removing any items the night before from the freezer(gnocchi not until I am ready to cook them on Christmas) so as to thaw and the next morning only have minimal cooking and plating the dishes.

Dessert will be cannoli, ricotta or custard, Molten lava cake with vanilla ice cream and a few cookies I plan on making. Probably Italian, pizzelles and possibly chocolate chip.  Not too many cookies this year.  I'm leaning on cookie bars as a possibility.

This is my plan and I know it will work. Below is an example of what my Christmas dinner this year will include. 

Large Antipasto

Wedding Soup

Potato gnocchi (photo is ricotta gnocchi)

Braciole

Sausage and meat sauce as well as marinara sauce

Cannoli both custard and ricotta filled

Chocolate Molten Cake too!

Italian Chicken and spinach stuffed shells

When I woke up this morning I had no idea what would be for dinner but since I had fresh ground chicken in the refrigerator it would have to be something using it as the main ingredient.

I looked in my pantry and saw a box of large shells and decided to make a chicken filling for the shells.  No plan just a quick glance and I figured it would definitely make hubby happy.

I knew that if I were going to stuff these shells I would need sauce.  I had plenty of meat sauce in the freezer but thought that chicken stuffed shells would be complimented by a marinara sauce so that's how this meal was developed.  It really didn't take very long to put together and I had never made a bechamel sauce so quickly googled it and thought a nice drizzle of a white sauce would top this dish beautifully taste and presentation. YUM 

The Sauce 

2 large cans crushed tomatoes
1- 15 oz can tomato sauce
1 small onion grated
1 finely chopped carrot
1 small chopped pepper
salt and pepper
olive oil and I happened to have some fresh basil so that's all it took to have a light marinara for this dish.

Saute onion in olive oil with carrot and pepper until carrot is tender.  Add crushed tomatoes and sauce(swish cans with a little water to get every bit of the tomatoes out of the can) and add to pot.

Add some salt and pepper. A few pinches is good.  Allow sauce to simmer slowly for about 1 hour or so.

The Bechamel Drizzle

2 T. Butter
2 T. flour
3/4 cup milk
1/2 tsp. salt
pinch of nutmeg(optional)

Place butter in small pan on low heat.  When butter is melted add flour, milk and salt.  Turn heat up a bit and Whisk until thickened.  If sauce is too thick you can thin with a bit more milk.

The Filling

1 lb. ground chicken
1 small onion grated fine
 1/2 cup chopped spinach cooked and drained well
 3/4 cup bread crumbs( I used garlic and herb seasoned) I really like them(Progresso)
1/2 cup grated Italian cheese
1 egg slightly beaten
3/4 tsp. salt and a pinch or two of pepper

Place ground chicken in a pot with a slight amount of olive oil. Add grated onion. Season with salt and pepper. Cook on medium until chicken is no longer pink.  Add cooked spinach and cook for a few minutes more.  Remove from heat , add bread crumbs, Italian cheese and beaten egg.  Stir until all is mixed through.

Set aside or refrigerate until ready to use.

Please note:  My box of shells was a regular size box and I had about 8 left so if you want to use the whole box increase the ingredients as in 1 1/2 lb. of chicken or even 2 lb. if you like them really filled. 

Enjoy!

9/27/15