Best French and Italian Food Recipe

A fun and comforting dish, Em loves Cheesy Farfalle with Turkey and Peas.  Of course at her age some days she only eats the peas, and some days she devours it all.  I am always excited to make this dish.  The recipe goes a long way and it is a real homey dish.

Cheesy Farfalle with Turkey and Peas 
1 pound Farfalle
kosher salt, small handful (to season the pasta water)
1 tablespoon olive oil
1 pound 93% lean ground turkey
2 cloves garlic, minced or grated
1/2 small onion, small chopped or grated
2 tablespoons Italian seasoning
4 tablespoons unsalted butter
1/4 cup flour
2 cups whole milk
1/4 teaspoon nutmeg
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon pepper
8 ounce Italian cheese blend cheese, shredded
12 ounce bag frozen peas
salt and pepper to taste
fresh grated Parmesan cheese, to taste
2 tablespoons fresh parsley, chopped

In a medium frying pan,  over medium-high heat, add olive oil, garlic and onions.  Cook until onions are translucent, add turkey and 1 tablespoon of Italian seasoning.  Sear turkey on one side and break up with wooden spoon.  Add remaining tablespoon of Italian seasoning and cook until done.  Remove from pan and place in a bowl.  Set aside.


Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil over high heat. Add the pasta and cook until tender but still firm to the bite, stirring occasionally, about 6 to 8 minutes.

While the pasta is cooking, in a large sauce pan melt butter.


Add flour and whisk until the raw flour flavor dissolves, about 2 minutes.

Add 2 cups of milk, nutmeg, salt and pepper, whisk until mixture starts thickening.  Add cheese, stir with a spoon until dissolved.  Add parsley.  Mix well until combined.


Place a sieve over a heat safe bowl, filled with frozen peas.  Drain pasta into sieve (slightly cooking the peas).


Return pasta to pot.  Pour cheese over pasta.  Add turkey and peas.   Stir and add reserved pasta water 1/4 cup at a time, until it has a perfect creamy consistency.

Sprinkle with fresh grated Parmesan cheese and salt and pepper to taste, if necessary.  Serve immediately.


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

A classic Italian flavor that you may not often associate with Italian cooking is lemon.  Lemon in cookies, in pastries, lemon cakes, lemon fish, if there is a place to use lemon, we Italians will use it.  Oddly, I do not care for a lemon meringue pie.  Perhaps I have just never had a really good one.  I am picky about my meringues, and my pies.

Trying to keep things light and having a pantry that is full, but nothing defrosted from the freezer I remembered the spaghetti al limone (Spaghetti with Lemon Sauce) I had loved years ago.  Most Italians that make this light and refreshing dish make the sauce in a bowl, using a no cook method.  I personally prefer the stove top to cook the garlic and help thicken the sauce.

I hope you enjoy it!  We did.  Em and I couldn't get enough.  Mr. W doesn't care for olive oil as much as Em and I do.

Spaghetti al Limone
1 pound spaghetti
1/2 cup + 1 tablespoon olive oil, divided
2 garlic cloves, ground on microplane or minced
2/3 cup fresh grated Parmesan
1/2 cup fresh lemon juice (2 large lemons juiced)
Salt
Fresh cracked black pepper
1 lemon zested (about 1 tablespoon)
2 tablespoons fresh parsley leaves, chopped
Drain the pasta, reserving 1 cup of the pasta water. Add 1 cup of the pasta water to the pan with the olive oil and lemon.  Whisk until thickened.  Add the sauce to the pasta and toss well to combine.


Season with salt and pepper.  Add lemon zest and parsley and combine.

Serve immediately. 

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

Happy National Ice Cream Day everyone!!!  Well, belated anyway.  It technically falls on the third Sunday in July, yesterday.

We celebrated the day with a fresh batch of the most delicious ice cream I have ever made.  Em devoured hers, it was her first ice cream cone and I was so proud to have made the ice cream she was loving so very much.  We must have spent 20 minutes watching her and laughing with her.  She truly enjoyed that cone and I have 100 pictures to prove it.  Well, a lot anyway.

Mr. W only had one comment, after he handed me the last 2 inches of his cone that he had devoured without saying a word.  Mind you his comment yesterday was " I am not eating 'cheese' ice cream". He thought that there was a little too much chocolate in the cone.  I am a HUGE chocolate fan (especially Nutella) but I would have to agree, to the average person, it was probably a bit much.  I will cut down the chocolate next time.  Yes, next time.  He loved it and wants it again.  I think watching Em eat it convinced him that it was good.

So, I have to say a REALLY good canoli might just be my favorite dessert.  Not those greasy ones you get in a typical deli, but the hand made ones from 'Nona' at the Italian deli.  Delish!!!  It is virtually perfect, it has a deliciously smooth sweet and creamy mixture in the center of this fabulous crunchy 'carrying case', with a little chocolate drizzled on top and chocolate chips in the mix or on the ends.  Heavenly!

After watching Giada De Laurentiis make a Ricotta and Chocolate Chip Ice Cream Cone, I was inspired!!!  Here is what I did...  You are going to love it!!!

Oh, and just to test the idea I made a second batch and froze it in a metal bowl in the freezer.  I stirred it with a spoon every 15 minutes or so.  It was delicious.  Definitely more dense, as the ice cream maker mixes in air.  So, that seems pretty logical.  But, it was not icy like some ice creams made without the machine.  I also tried it with out the chocolate chips.  Absolutely incredible!!!

Canoli Ice Cream Cone
Ice Cream
1 (15-ounce) container whole milk ricotta cheese
1 cup whole milk
1 cup simple syrup, cooled - recipe follows
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 cup mini semisweet chocolate chips

What is your favorite herb this week?  I have found an unending need for rosemary this week.  Luckily I have a lovely Tuscan Blue Rosemary plant in my faux garden (6 herb plants in pots, sitting on a table on my porch).

Rosemary is in my Rosemary Basil Sun-dried tomatoes, Focaccia Bread,  in my eggs, everywhere!  What herb has been reappearing in your kitchen this week?

The fresh flavors of Greece, mint, lemon, tomato and feta.  Heavenly and always perfect for summer, either as a fabulous side dish or as a great lunch.

I made this as a side dish to go with a great spaghetti that I will share with you tomorrow.  Em devoured it!  She loved every bite of it and she is only 17 months old.  Mr. W on the other hand would never eat anything with salad in the name, so I made enough for the two of us as a side dish.

Greek Caprese Salad
2 Roma tomatoes, sliced thick
1 ounce reduced fat feta, cut into 1/8" cubes
course sea salt, to taste
fresh cracked black pepper, to taste
1 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil
1/2 lemon
6 mint leaves, julienned

Lay sliced tomatoes on a serving dish, sprinkle with sea salt.

Scatter feta over tomatoes.  Grind pepper over top.  Pour olive oil over tomatoes and then squeeze lemon over the top.

Be careful not to get seeds in your dish.  I hold the lemon in my left hand and my right hand under to catch any seeds.

Sprinkle mint over top.  Serve immediately.

Serves 2.

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

I love love love ricotta cheese.  I love it in lasagna, baked ziti, spaghetti, fresh, in savory applications and sweet as well.  I have been craving some ricotta cheese.  As I have mentioned before Mr. W is also Mr Picky, he does not like ricotta at all, so in my efforts to make meals that we can all eat together I came up with this baked ricotta.  I serve it along side spaghetti, baked sausage ziti, vegetables, with focaccia bread and kalamata olives on the side, and straight out of the oven with a fork.  Well, that is how I ate it today.  I could not wait to eat it, so "with a fork", that was the best method.

Baked ricotta has such a rich flavor, the ricotta holds the nutty flavor of the Parmesan cheese and the texture is smooth and creamy like a New York style cheese cake, add the Rosemary Basil Sun-dried Tomatoes and forget it.  Oh good heavens, it is so incredible!

I hope you enjoy as much as I do.  In an effort to reduce fat and calories, I used part skim ricotta.  Whole milk is fabulous and more luscious (if that is even possible).  Both are incredibly delicious.  Keep in mind that if you do not drain the ricotta, there is a possibility that it will not set up.  It will still be divine, but will not look like a lovely cake.

Speaking of cake...  I have plans for a sweet ricotta dish this weekend, not cake...  Better!!!  Enjoy!

Baked Ricotta with Sun-dried Tomatoes
2 cups whole milk or part skim ricotta
3 eggs
1/2 cup Parmesan cheese, fresh grated
fresh cracked black pepper
kosher salt
pinch of nutmeg
6 - 12 Rosemary Basil Sun-dried Tomatoes  or sue store bought sun-dried tomatoes
1 tablespoon fresh parsely, roughly chopped

In a small sieve over a small bowl, drain 2 cups of ricotta cheese, for 1 hour or overnight (covered).


Preheat oven to 350°.

Generously butter 6, 1 cup oven safe bowls or ramekins.  Using a fork, in a small bowl, combine the drained ricotta cheese, salt, pepper, eggs, and Parmesan cheese until you have a smooth consistency. 


Place 1 large or 2 small sun-dried tomatoes in the bottom of each baking bowl or ramekin.  Divide ricotta mixture evenly among the ramekins.


Bake until golden brown and slightly puffy, about 30-35 minutes.


Let cool for 10 minutes. Use a knife to release each baked ricotta from the ramekin onto a serving plate.  Sprinkle with chopped parsley and serve immediately.


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

 I have been in the mood for a really good baked ricotta.  So, when planning this meal I had to come up with the best bread to suit the ricotta cheese.  Focaccia is it!  Focaccia is a flat oven baked Italian style bread.  An olive oil based bread (in most cases) it is tender, with a slightly flaky crust.   It is perfect to be topped with Baked Ricotta.

I warn you though, home made bread of any kind is very hard to abstain from.  Mr. W, Em and I have eaten about a 1/2 loaf a day, as it is so delicious.  Thank goodness for balance the rest of the day.

I am making the Baked Ricotta for lunch today, to go with this fabulous bread and will post the recipe tomorrow.
 
Sun-Dried Tomato and Rosemary Focaccia Bread
2 1/4 teaspoons rapid-rising dry yeast
1 cup warm water
2 tablespoons sugar
3 to 3 1/2 cups flour
1 tablespoon coarse salt dissolved in 2 tablespoons of warm water
1/4 cup olive oil
Cornmeal, for dusting 

Topping:
2 tablespoons olive oil 
sun-dried tomatoes (packed in olive oil)
2 tablespoons fresh rosemary

Turn the dough out onto a lightly floured work surface and fold over itself a few times. Form the dough into a round and place in an oiled bowl, turn to coat the entire ball with oil so it doesn't form a crust. Cover with a damp tea towel and sit in a warm place until doubled in size, about 1 hour.

Coat a 9x13 baking pan with olive oil and corn meal.

Turn out your dough onto the counter, once it is doubled in size.  Roll dough out to a rectangle about 1/2-inch thick. Lay the flattened dough in the pan and press and stretch to the size of the pan.  Cover with plastic wrap.  Preheat oven to 400°. Let dough rest for 15 minutes.

Uncover the dough and dimple with the tip of the handle of a wooden spoon.


Brush the surface with more olive oil.  Press the desired amount of sun-dried tomatoes into the dough and sprinkle with rosemary.


Bake on the bottom rack for 15 to 20 minutes or until golden brown.


Remove from oven and allow to cool for 3 minutes, remove bread from pan and place on a cooling rack
(skipping this step will prevent you from having a crisp crust).


Allow to cool for 10 minutes before slicing.  Serve immediately.


ALTERNATE OPTIONS:  You can add rosemary and chopped sun-dried tomatoes to your dough in the mixer for a very flavorful bread. 

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