Italian Potato Skins

Preheat oven to 350°.

Clean potatoes with a vegetable brush.  Place potatoes on middle rack until fork tender, about 1 hour. Remove from oven and let sit until cool enough to handle.  

Turn oven to 450°.

While they are cooling, combine olive oil and smashed garlic in a small bowl.  Cover with a paper towel and microwave for 30 seconds.  Remove the garlic cloves and add Italian seasoning, salt and pepper.  Stir until combined.  Set aside.


Cut potatoes in half, lengthwise, and spoon out the flesh, leaving about a ¼-½” shell.  Brush olive oil mixture over top and bottoms of potatoes.  Place on an oiled baking sheet in oven for 10-12 minutes until potato skins are firm.


In a medium skillet over medium high heat cook sausage.  Drain.  Place in bowl immediately add sun-dried tomatoes and ½ cup cheese.  Stir well to combine.


Remove potatoes from oven when done and scoop sausage mixture into potatoes evenly.  Add remaining cheese over top of potatoes.


Return to oven to cook for 5 minutes until cheese is melted.  Remove from oven and sprinkle with basil.
Plate and serve with a bowl of sour cream and a bowl of marinara sauce. 

Chili Spiced Mango Ice Cream

Hello and happy Tuesday.  Welcome to "Simply Delicious".  This weeks spotlight is Chili Spiced Mango Ice Cream.  I was playing with some ideas for an easy to make ice cream and decided to go with mango, as it creams up as lovely as banana's do.  However while in the process, I added cream and some spices that made this such an incredible treat I can't even describe how delicious.  I am not even a big mango fan, I like the flavor but at the end of the taste there is this flavor that disagrees with my palate.  In this ice cream, there is no after taste, just pure divine mango, the spice of the chili (without heat) and the warmth of the cinnamon.

This is such a comforting fantastic ice cream it is definitely going in my ice cream file!!!  My daughter Em went crazy over this ice cream.  I am telling you there was lots of "more, more, more" and yummmmm sounds coming from her.  I don't usually see her this excited about food, even sweets.  I can't wait to make it again for her.  5 ingredients, no ice cream maker Simply Delicious!!!  Enjoy!

Chili Spiced Mango Ice Cream
1/2 cup sugar

Strawberry Mozzarella Salad with Strawberry Balsamic Vinaigrette

This is such an amazing salad to get your week off to a great start!   On The Lighter Side this week we have a Strawberry Mozzarella Salad with Strawberry Balsamic Vinaigrette.  The textures and flavors in this salad are surprising.  The soft creaminess of the mozzarella, the crunchy nutty flavor of the roasted almonds and the sweet flavor of the fresh strawberries all come together to make an incredible treat for your senses.

Served on a bed of mixed lettuce this is an satisfying light dish.    I love this salad.  I have that bottle of salad dressing in my fridge to use for more salads!

Strawberry Mozzarella Salad with Strawberry Balsamic Vinaigrette

Grilled Eggplant Rollatini with Sun-dried Tomatoes

What a fantastic day.  Sunday, perhaps my favorite day if I had to pick one.  We love to get most of our chores done the rest of the week so we can spend Sunday embracing the things that are important to us.  It is a day centered around faith, family, friends and food.  What a wonderful way to spend a day.  Lazy and relaxing, enjoying a fantastic meal together.  It makes me think of old television shows and movies.  So, I think it is fitting to Christen today "Family Time".

Today I bring you a perfect family dish.  This eggplant rollatini is destined to sit atop a beautifully set table and passed around in the midst of fabulous conversation, perfect for "Family Time" celebration.

Enjoy the flavors with melted mozzarella, baked ricotta, sun-dried tomatoes giving a deep tomato flavor.  Serve it on top of angel hair pasta for a fabulous meal.

Buon Appetito!

Eggplant Rollatini with Sun-dried Tomatoes
1 cup whole milk ricotta

Baked Cavatappi with Roasted Peppers and Capocollo

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Double Chocolate Almond Cookies

In a medium bowl, combine the flour, cocoa powders, baking soda, and salt.   Whisk until combined.  Sift ingredients if necessary.


In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment cream the butter and sugars. Add the egg, coffee and vanilla and mix together.  Add the flour mixture and continue mixing until just combined. 


Add the chocolates and almonds and mix until combined.

 
Using a two tablespoons scoop, drop the dough two inches apart on sheet pans lined with parchment. Bake for 15 minutes.


Cool the cookies on the cookie sheets. The cookies should be very soft when they are removed from the oven. They will firm up as they cool.


Click here for a printable version of this recipe - The Slow Roasted Italian.com 

Legends Lemon Drop Martini

Ladies and gentlemen, it is Thursday and you know what that means!  It's Ladies Night and all the ladies receive the special VIP treatment.  When I was years younger Thursday night would find me out with the girls at a club with no cover charge and half price drinks.

Ladies night then evolved into a girls VIP treatment hosted at my house.  No matter how or where you celebrate, come check out our ladies special every Thursday at The Slow Roasted Italian where we will be featuring one special drink for all you ladies out there.  So, kick off your heels, pamper yourself and fix yourself a drink (virgin or not).

Guys, of course you are welcome too!

Click here for Recipe»

Just North of the Border Salsa

Happy Wednesday!  Today at The Slow Roasted Italian we are celebrating with "The Happy Hour" and spotlighting a little pick me up to get you through mid-week.  Here at TSRI every Wednesday we will be bringing you fantastic dishes to celebrate The Happy Hour.

Today, we start with a Happy Hour staple here in the Southwest.  We bring you a fabulous salsa Mr. W and I created.  We call it "Just North of the Border Salsa".  Living in Arizona we truly are just 'North of the Border', so it was fitting.  I personally like a more fresh tasting salsa, one that I can eat without constantly dabbing my eyes and nose. Oh and I prefer not to have to take in a gallon of liquids to try to put out the fire (which doesn't work anyway, try a milk based remedy.  I like to use a spoon of vanilla ice cream to sooth my taste bud fires).

I have to say that my idea of salsa before I moved here was a couple tomatoes with green peppers and onions.  Anything hotter than that and I would run.  I think I mentioned before that my family is not really fond of spicy food.  My mom never cooked with hot peppers, not even in dried spice form.  When my parents came out to visit last year I had made a fantastic Mexican lasagna.  I toned it down a little, I really couldn't feel any heat at all.  My Dad was not happy with it, he looked as if he had just swallowed fire!  He about spit out his first bite.   So, I kept meals to no hotter than a light sprinkle of finely ground black pepper for the rest of his visit.  But, that gives you an idea of where I started.  The fact that I enjoy spice and heat now is pretty remarkable.  But, I love it.  I do not like things that are just hot for the sake of being hot.  I want a flavor profile to back that heat up.

This salsa is amazing, with an incredible flavor profile.  I would mark it "Medium" if I had to choose a heat index.  You may see it popping up from time to time on this blog.  I am thinking of incorporating it into a few dishes.  It really is THAT good!  Enjoy!

Looking for more happy hour dishes?  Check out "The Happy Hour" in the category section in the right  side bar. 

Just North of the Border Salsa
2 medium Roma tomatoes, rough chopped

Click here for a printable version of this recipe - The Slow Roasted Italian.com