Basic Crepe Recipe
4 eggs
1 cup flour
1/2 cup milk
1/2 cup water
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 tablespoons melted butter
Measure all ingredients in to blender jar; blend for 30 seconds. Scrape down sides. Blend for 15 seconds more. Cover and let sit for 1 hour. (This helps the flour absorb more of the liquids.) Makes 12-14 crepes.
Recipe Variations:
For a Sweeter crepe:
Add 2 teaspoons sugar and 1 teaspoon vanilla.
For a Chocolate crepe:
Add 2 tablespoons chocolate sauce to sweet crepe recipe.
Biscotti
Preheat oven to 350
Ingredients
1 cup of butter
1 cup of sugar
3 eggs
1 tbs of vanilla extract
3 cups of flour
1 tbs of baking powder
½ tbs of salt
***Optional mix-ins
1 cup of nuts (optional)
1 cup of dried cranberries or cherries
1 cup of chocolate chips
Directions
Cream butter and sugar until soft. Add eggs one at a time. Mixture will be fluffy. Add vanilla. In a separate bowl mix four, baking powder and salt. Add flour mixture gradually to butter mixture. At this point you can add nuts, dried cranberries, chocolate chips etc to your mixture. Form two long loaves on baking sheet. Bake until golden brown. Carefully remove cookie loaves from pan onto cutting board and slice. Put sliced cookies back onto baking sheet and bake an additional 15 minutes. Enjoy!!!!!
Bruschetta
1/2 baguette or crusty long loaf bread, sliced (12 pieces)
2 large cloves garlic, cracked away from skin
Extra-virgin olive oil, for drizzling
3 small plum tomatoes, halved and seeded
20 fresh basil leaves
Coarse salt
Preheat broiler to high, (if you prefer you can also grill the bread). Place bread slices on a broiler pan. Char bread on each side under hot broiler, keep an eye on it! Rub toasts with cracked garlic and drizzle with oil. Chop seeded tomatoes and place in a small bowl. Pile basil leaves on top of one another and roll into a log. Thinly slice basil into green confetti and loosely combine with tomatoes. Add a drizzle of oil and a little coarse salt to the bowl and gently toss tomatoes and basil to coat. Pile toasts around the bowl of topping. Place a spoon to scoop topping in bowl and serve.
Bucatini all'Amatriciana Recipe
1 pound bucatini (tube pasta that looks like spaghetti with a hole down the center of it)
Salt
2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil, 2 turns of the pan in a slow stream
1/4 pound, 4 or 5 slices, pancetta*, chopped
1 medium onion, chopped
4 to 6 cloves garlic, chopped
1 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes
1 (28 ounce) can crushed tomatoes
2 tablespoons chopped flat-leaf parsley
Freshly ground black pepper
Grated Parmigiano-Reggiano, Grana Padano or Romano, to pass at the table
Bring a large pot of water to a boil and salt the water.
Heat a large deep skillet over medium high heat. Add oil and pancetta. Cook pancetta 2 or 3 minutes then add onions and garlic and crushed red pepper flakes. Cook 7 or 8 minutes more, until onions are translucent. Add tomatoes and parsley. Season the sauce with salt and pepper. Simmer sauce over low heat until ready to serve.
Cook bucatini pasta to al dente or, with a bite to it. Drain pasta well. Do not rinse. Starchy pasta holds more sauce. Toss hot pasta with sauce and serve. Pass grated cheese at the table to top pasta.
* Pancetta is Italian rolled, cured pork, similar to bacon, but not smoked. Look for it at your deli counter. Bacon may be substituted resulting in a smoky tomato sauce.
Simple Bolognese Recipe courtesy Giada De Laurentiis
1/4 cup extra-virgin olive oil
1 medium onion, coarsely chopped
2 garlic cloves, peeled and coarsely chopped
1 celery stalk, coarsely chopped
1 carrot, coarsely chopped
1 pound ground chuck beef
1 (28-ounce) can crushed tomatoes
1/4 cup flat-leaf Italian parsley, chiffonade
8 fresh basil leaves, chiffonade
Salt and freshly ground black pepper
1/4 cup freshly grated Pecorino Romano
In a 6 quart pot, add extra-virgin olive oil. When almost smoking, add the onion and garlic and saute over medium heat until the onions become very soft, about 8 minutes. Add the celery and carrot and saute for 5 minutes. Raise heat to high and add the ground beef. Saute, stirring frequently and breaking up any large lumps and cook until meat is no longer pink, about 8 minutes. Add the tomatoes, parsley and basil and cook over medium low heat until the sauce thickens, about 1/2 hour. Finish bolognese with Pecorino Romano. Check for seasoning.
Serve hot.
Straciatella (Italian Egg Drop Soup) Recipe courtesy Georgia Downard
5 cups chicken stock or canned chicken broth
2 large eggs
3 tablespoons freshly grated Parmesan, or to taste
1/4 cup minced fresh Italian parsley
Salt and freshly ground pepper, to taste
In a large saucepan bring stock to a boil over moderate heat. In a bowl beat together the eggs, Parmesan and parsley. Reduce the heat to low and drizzle eggs into stock, gently stirring. Simmer, stirring, just until eggs are set. Season with salt and pepper.
Cornetti con la Nutella
Ingredients
1 package of Pilsbury crescent rolls
1 jar of Nutella
Preheat oven according to package. Unroll crescent dough on flat surface and on each triangle place a teaspoon of Nutella. Roll dough into crescent shapes according to directions. Bake for 11-13 minutes or until golden.
Panettone French Toast
1 pound; 500 gram) loaf panettone bread
, baking paper removed
- 6 large eggs
- 3/4 cup whipping cream
- 3/4 cup whole milk
- 1/4 cup sugar
- 2 tablespoons unsalted butter
- 1/2 cup mascarpone cheese
- Powdered sugar, for dusting
Directions
Prepare the French toast: Preheat the oven to 200 degrees F. Trim the bottom crust of the panettone. Starting at the bottom end of the panettone, cut it crosswise into 6 (3/4-inch thick) round slices (reserve the top piece for toast!). In a large bowl, whisk the eggs until well blended. Add the cream, milk, and sugar and whisk until well mixed. Melt 1 tablespoon of butter on a large nonstick griddle over medium heat. Dip 3 slices of panettone into the custard, turning to allow both sides to absorb the custard. Grill the soaked panettone slices until they are golden brown and firm to the touch, about 4 minutes per side. Transfer the French toast to a baking sheet and keep them warm in the oven. Repeat with the remaining butter, panettone slices, and custard.
Transfer the French toast to plates. Dollop the mascarpone atop each. Lightly dust with the powdered sugar. Drizzle the syrup over and around the French toast and serve immediately.
Tortellini con Piselli, Panna e Pancetta (Tortellini with bacon, peas and cream)
4 packages of tortellini
1 pint of cream
1/2 of an onion diced
1/4 lb of pancetta or diced bacon
8 oz of peas
2 TBS of Olive oil
Salt and pepper to taste
Parmesan cheese
In large frying pan cook onions in oil until translucent, add pancetta and peas. Continue to cook for another 5-10 minutes. In a large pot boil water (add some salt) and cook tortellini according to instructions. When tortellini are almost done (last 2 minutes), add cream to pea and onion mixture. Cook cream sauce on LOW for 2 minutes. Drain pasta and add to cream sauce. Add cheese and salt and pepper to taste. Enjoy!
Spaghetti al tonno piccanti (Spaghetti in spicy tuna sauce) Recipe
INGREDIENTS
- 200 grams of spaghetti (de cecco, if you have it on hand is good)
- A small can of tuna (packed in olive oil is best)
- 1 clove of garlic (not sliced, just squished with the back of the knife)
- 1/2 of a small/med sized onion (chopped)
- Cayenne pepper
- 1 can of diced plum tomatoes, without basil and other herbs if you can find it
- 1 tbs Olive Oil (less if you use tuna packed in oil)
- Chopped Parsley (optional)
- Drain the tuna of water or oil. If it is packed it water, mash it up in a bowl with a teaspoon of olive oil, if you don’t have olive oil just mash it up with some regular oil.
- Fill up a big pot with water and a 1/2-1 teaspoon of salt. I use coarse see salt and normally add about a teaspoon, but with fine salt the ratio tends to be different. Add the salt, it makes a big difference and don’t let anyone tell you otherwise. Saltless pasta is like a cake with no sugar—-there is no point in eating it. Bring it to a boil.
- In a sauce pan, sautee the garlic in olive oil on low heat until it is golden, but not burnt. Never burn the garlic.
- Add the chopped onion and sautee until transparent.
- Add the mashed up tuna and sautee for a couple of minutes.
- Add the can of tomatoes and mix it all up and cook on medium heat until it boils and then on low heat until the tomatoes are cooked. They are cooked when they are sweet. If it starts to get dry, add some water. Mix in the cayenne pepper to taste.
- About 2 or 3 minutes after the tomatoes have started cooking and the water is already boiling, add the pasta. Give it a stir after a couple of minutes to make sure it isn’t sticking to the pan. About the time on the package: about 3 minutes before the stated time, try the pasta and do this about every minute for then on.
When the pasta is al dente, even a bit too al dente, take a little cupful of water out of the pot and set aside. Drain the pasta. DO NOT RINSE. Dump the pasta back in the pot and add the sauce. If your pasta is still too al dente, like it should be, and the sauce is fairly liquidy, turn up the heat and let it cook in the sauce so that the pasta absorbs some of the sauce. If the sauce is a bit dry, add some of the cooking water. This gives it a nice “restaurant” flavor. If you don’t have time, cook the pasta until it is al dente or however you like it and add the sauce, mix it up and it’s ready to eat! - Serve with chopped parsley served on top.
Rigatoni with Bacon and Ricotta
Ingredients
1 package of bacon diced
16 oz of ricotta
1 box of rigatoni (or penne)
crushed black pepper
parmesean cheese
(pasta water)
Dice and cook the bacon till crispy. Save the bacon grease.
Boil water and cook pasta.
In a large bowl combine ricotta, bacon and bacon grease. Add A LOT of crushed black pepper to the mixture. Add pasta. You may want to add a few tables spoons of the pasta water to the ricotta mixture to loosen it. Sprinkle some paremsean cheese on top and enjoy!
Farfalle con Broccoli, Pancetta e Aglio-Butterfly Pasta with Broccoli, Bacon and Garlic
Ingredients
1 Box of bowtie pasta
½ lb of bacon diced
2 cloves of garlic minced
1 lb of diced frozen broccoli
Boil water for pasta. In a large frying pan saute’ diced bacon. Once crispy remove bacon and place on a pate for later use. Using the bacon fat in pan add the garlic. Saute for a few seconds and add the broccoli. Once broccoli is soft and almost browned add bacon and cooked pasta. Toss with parm cheese.
Cannoli Dip Recipe
15 ounce container ricotta cheese
1/2 cup powdered sugar
2 teaspoons vanilla
3-4 TBS of milk or heavy cream
½ tsp of cinnamon (or more depending on personal taste)
1/2 cup miniature chocolate chips
Mix the ricotta, sugar and milk in a bowl with an electric mixer until smooth. Add the vanilla. Fold in the chocolate chips. Serve with graham crackers or cannoli shells.
Optional add-ins:
1 teaspoon orange zest
1/3 cup shelled pistachios
Pasta Recipes
http://www.barillaus.com/Pages/recipesearch.aspx?drop1=Quick
Everyday Italian Recipes by Giada De Laurentiis
http://www.foodnetwork.com/everyday-italian/recipes/index.html
Recipes from Lidia Bastianich
http://www.lidiasitaly.com/appetizers
Recipes from Mario Batali
http://www.mariobatali.com/food_wine_recipes.cfm