Amiamo I’italiano

Benvenuto

Stiamo Iniziando Un’Altra Pagina Di Cibo Italiano

(Welcome, We Are Starting Yet Another Italian Food Page.)

Olio D’Oliva, Pomodori Secchi, Pasta, Salsa….

(Olive Oil’s, Sundried Tomatoes, Pasta’s, Sauces…)

We Love It ALL!!!

Amiamo I’italiano

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Julie and Gordon’s Spagett

(Recipe Down Below)

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Buona Giornata,

Julie and Gordon

We Also Have:

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Julie’s Pasta Italiano Casserole

(Because I can’t think of what else to call it.) 🙂

With Puff Pastry

This has everything that we love in it!

(Recipe Down Below)

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Julie’s Italiano Dip

(Recipe Down Below)

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Gordon and Mackenzie’s Marinated Artichoke Risotto

(It was a joint collaboration.)

(Recipe Down Below)

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Bread Basket Timbale

Meat, Veggies, Bread, All in ONE Bite!

(Recipe Down Below)

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I LOVE GARLIC!!!!

Roasted Garlic

(And now Fried Garlic.)

If you know me at all, then you know that I LOVE Roasted Garlic! I also have it featured quite a bit throughout this website.

All that I do is to turn on the oven to 400F. I then add as many garlic cloves as I like to a small baking dish. I then add as many pats of butter to that dish, cover with foil, and then place into the oven for about 20 minutes. I do cook this garlic for about 50 minutes to an hour but removing from the oven every 20 minutes to stir together until nice and done. I love it nice and tan/brown and caramelized.

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I can pretty much eat this about 3 meals a week. However, I noticed in one of my cookbooks where they were frying garlic and I decided that I wanted to try that.

Sliced Thin Fried Garlic

I pretty much told Gordon that this is what I want and he went to work creating it for me. I knew that I wanted to try fried garlic, but I wanted it to have some spice and crispness to it. Which was not mentioned in the cookbook I got the idea from.

Gordon sliced the garlic and then added some olive oil to a pan…..

He then added some Italian Pizza Spices to the oil….

Then, some dried oregano…..

Now add the chopped garlic to a medium-low heat in a saucepan to cook.

Cooking Away, You Want It To Cook, Not Burn

Simmer Away on the Stove for About 10 Minutes, While Stirring

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Our Italian Appetizers

This is also a favorite meal for me:

Sun Dried Tomatoes, Feta Cheese, Pesto, Marinated Artichoke Hearts, Cheese Stuffed Peppers, Bruschetta, Roasted Garlic, and now Fried Garlic, along with some Toasted sliced Sour Dough Bread with a drizzling of Olive Oil.

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Gordon’s Italian Appetizer Plate

We do so love all the little tasty apps. 🙂

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Julie’s Pasta Italiano Casserole

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Gathering All of My Ingredients

Fresh Basil, Parsley, Chives and Oregano from my Herb Garden

My Herbs Enhance Everything Italian

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Jars Full of Goodness

I Even Got out a Few Casserole Dishes for This Delicious Experiment

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The ingredients that you see above ended up making 2 large casseroles. I also didn’t use all that I have pictured. At least in amounts, I did use most of it though, but I did not use all of the ingredients that you see pictured. But, I give you the exact ingredients and amounts in the write up. The casseroles were delicious! This is definitely a keeper, it was also an experiment, just like any recipe that you create or expand upon. Even when you base it on something simple, it is still an experiment when you add so many other ingredients. You don’t know that it is going to taste good, you just assume that it will. And this recipe did!

The Ingredients:

2 Boxes of Frozen Puff Pastry, Thawed

Pasta: In one casserole I used my leftover Vegetable Dyed Autumn Pasta, and in another casserole I used Orzo. I eyeballed the amounts as you will see.

4, 8 oz. Packages of Cream Cheese, Room Temperature

1 1/2 Jars of Sundried Tomatoes in Olive Oil, 8.5 oz. Jars, Drained (Save the Oil.)

Grated Cheeses: Parmesan, Parmigliano Reggiano, and Asiago (They are around 8 oz. each, I used half of each block of cheese.)

Kalamata Olives, Pitted, Drained and Chopped (I used half of a 16 oz. jar, so 8 oz.)

Leftover Roasted Garlic: About 20 Cloves Smashed

7-8 Eggs

(And an additional egg to brush over the puff pastry in the oven.)

Half of a 14.8 oz. Jar of Artichoke Bruschetta

Freshly Ground Black Pepper, To Your Tastes

Fresh Herbs: Bunches of Parsley, Chives, Basil, and Oregano

Also, Basil as a Garnish

I Washed and am now Drying my Fresh Herbs from my Garden.

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You need a clean surface for the Puff Pastry. Here I am using a cutting board with a sprinkling of All Purpose Flour to prevent the pastry from sticking. It is also still in the process of thawing out.

In the Meantime….

I ADORE these Sundried Tomatoes packed in this delicious Olive Oil!

I placed them into a small colander with a Tupperware Bowl beneath to catch the oil.

Now I am Chopping the Contents of 1 1/2 Jars

Saving the Oil

This is delicious and will go well with what I have planned. 🙂

Here I’ve Placed All the Chopped Sundried Tomatoes in a Large Bowl.

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Now For The Kalamata Olives

I think this is a 16 oz. jar and I only used half of it.

Drain the olives of the liquid and then chop.

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The Chopped Sundried Tomatoes and the Chopped Kalamata Olives

Next, Add Your Room Temperature Cream Cheese

This is just some leftover Roasted Garlic that we always seem to have on hand in the refrigerator.

Roasted Garlic

I added about 20 cloves. Because they were roasted I ended up just smashing them and adding them to the bowl.

Everything Mixed Together….

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Time For The Puff Pastry Sheets

Remember the Oil from the Sundried Tomatoes that we saved? I have a Baking Sheet here lined with Aluminum Foil. I did drizzle some of the Oil. I then placed 5 Sections of the Puff Pastry on top of it.

PREHEAT OVEN TO 400F

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Using a Fork Poke Holes into the Pastry

This will prevent it from baking all funky.

Place in the Oven to Bake for 8 Minutes

While that is Baking…..

Time to Grate the Cheeses

I Grated about Half of Each of Them and Added Them to the Mixing Bowl

Puff Pastry Out of the Oven and Looking Golden

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Now It’s Time to Add Our EGGS

I realize that I have about 10 of them pictured but I didn’t use all of them. I used about 7.

Next, I added an excellent Artichoke Bruschetta, about half of the jar.

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Now For The Pasta

I had this beautiful pasta leftover and wanted to use it up. I thought it looked wonderful here! The colors were magnificent. I probably have about 2 cups here. I just boiled it in water until al dente.

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While that is Cooking…..

All of My Ingredients Mixed Together

Time To Add The Herbs

Parsley, Chives, and Oregano

Boiling My Beautiful Autumn Colored Pasta

(They are actually vegetable dyed and healthy.)

When Al Dente, then Drain into a Colander

Adding the Freshly Ground Black Pepper and a few Basil Herbs

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Time to Split the Ingredients In Two

Because I am making two casseroles I wanted to split the ingredients into two different bowls.

In this bowl I am adding the Autumn Colored Pasta to these Ingredients.

Remember my Sundried Tomato Oil from above? Here I am adding it to the bottom of the casserole dish.

Then I add the baked Puff Pastry fitting it in as I can.

Making a few cutting adjustments.

Now it is time to add the mixture with our Autumn Pasta stirred into it.

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Cooking More of the Puff Pastry

Again, place the Sundried Tomato Oil on the Aluminum Foil and just poke holes in the Puff Pastry with a fork and place into a 400F Oven for 8 minutes.

Here I am Placing Some of the Puff Pastry on top of one of my casseroles.

Set Aside….to be baked in a bit.

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My Second Casserole

Orzo is the Pasta I use Here

I just placed it into a pot and boiled it until Al Dente.

Then I drained into a Colander.

I probably used about 1 1/2 – 2 Cups of Orzo.

Now, place the Orzo into the remaining mixing bowl and stir together.

I placed some of our Sundried Tomato Oil into the Casserole Dish here.

I then added some of our Puff Pastry on top of the Oil.

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The Puff Pastry All in the Bottom of the Casserole Dish

Now it is time to place the remaining mixture into this casserole dish on top of the Puff Pastry.

Because I didn’t have enough to fit it exactly, I cut it into squares and rectangles to place on top.

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Now it is time to cover with foil and place into a 350F Oven for about 35 – 40 minutes.

Into the Oven they Go!

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Here I am using a jar to capture the leftover oil that I love so much and can use it in other recipes.

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Creating an Egg Wash

I simply cracked and egg and added a teeny bit of water to it. Then used a fork to whip it into a frenzy, and then spread it onto the top of my Puff Pastry.

I do this right before the casserole are ready. About 5 minutes prior. Just smear the Egg Wash onto the top of the Puff Pastry and then place back into the oven for an additional 5 minutes uncovered from foil.

Back into the Oven They go!

(With the Egg Wash)

Out of the Oven

Cooling on a Rack

Just Look At That! 🙂 YUM!

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This is what I came up with by using all the leftovers from above, plus adding a few more ingredients. It was when I was making the casserole above that Gordon came home and remarked that this would be a great tasting dip. That’s when it dawned on me to just use the leftovers and create something that we can eat as an appetizer before dinner.

Here is that Appetizer:

Julie’s Orzo Italiano Dip

(I did NOT use the Red Onion in the photo above.)

Ingredients:

Orzo Pasta, About a Cup Full, Boiled to Al Dente

2, 8 oz. Cream Cheeses, Room Temperature

1, 8.5 oz. Jar of Sundried Tomatoes in Olive Oil, Chopped (Save the Oil)

4, 6 oz. Cans Tomato Paste

My Leftover Grated Cheeses: Parmesan, Parmigliano Reggiano, and Asiago

Kalamata Olives, the leftover jar, Drained, Pitted, and Chopped

Leftover Roasted Garlic, about 10 Smooshy Cloves, Smashed

4 EGGS

A Few Heaping Spoonfuls of the leftover Artichoke Bruschetta

Freshly Ground Black Pepper, to Taste

Fresh Herbs:

Oregano, Chives, Parsley and Garnish with Basil Leaves

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My Leftover Cheeses, Left

(Again, I did NOT use the Red Onion in the photo above.)

Draining the Sundried Tomatoes into a Colander and Saving the Oil

Chopping the Sundried Tomatoes and Smashing the Roasted Garlic Cloves

Chopping the Remainder of the Kalamata Olives

Place Everything into a Mixing Bowl

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Time to Boil about a Cup of Orzo till Al Dente

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Adding a Few Heaping Spoonfuls of the Artichoke Bruschetta

Tomato Paste

Although I only have 2 cans featured here I did use about 4 of them.

Orzo Boiling Away

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Time to Add the Room Temperature Cream Cheeses

Grating the Remainder of the Cheeses

Draining the Orzo into a Colander

Time to Place all of the Ingredients Together

Mix Well and Add your Eggs and Freshly Ground Black Pepper

Now It’s Time to add the Al Dente Orzo to the Mix

This is also where I added some of my Fresh Herbs that I chopped into small bits.

I have 2 small casserole dishes here that I am adding some of the Sundried Tomato Oil into the bottom of the dishes. This is nice flavor and a good way to prevent the mixture from sticking to the bottom while it cooks.

Save The Oil, This Stuff is GOLD! Or Rather, AMBER!

The Recipe Filled 2 Small Casserole Dishes Nicely

You can see some of the Green Herbs and the White Orzo Pasta Peeking

Place Into a 350F Oven for around 35-45 Minutes

Cover With Foil Until Ready to Brown the Last 10 Minutes or So, then Remove the Foil

Allow to Cool a Bit Before Eating

Garnish With Some Fresh Herbs and Serve with Little Toasts

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Gordon and Mackenzie’s

Marinated Artichoke Risotto

(During lockdown Gordon and our son Brodie’s girlfriend, Mackenzie created this together.)

Ingredients:

1 Qt. Chicken Stock

2-3 Tbsp. Olive Oil

1/2 Yellow Onion – sliced into a small dice

~2 1/2 Cups Arborio Rice

~3/4 Cup Pinot Grigio Wine – or other White Wine of your liking

3 Jars Marinated Artichoke Hearts – roughly chopped

1/2 Cup Parmesan Reggiano – Grated

3 Tbsp. Butter

2 Tbsp. Chives – chopped

Salt and Pepper to taste

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First, this is a recipe of patience. It takes time to make a proper Risotto, so relax and enjoy the process. Start by placing your Chicken Stock into a small pot and turn to medium heat. Now, cut your Onion in half, then into thin small dice sections.

(Gordon’s Lockdown Beard) 🙂

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Add your Olive Oil into a large pan and turn to Medium heat.

Add your Onions to the pan to saute.

Here you see the Broth and Onions heating. Be sure to not let the Broth boil over.

Here, you can saute the onion down to softened to where they are now, or cooked further to browned and caramelized.

When the Onions are cooked to your liking, add the Arborio Rice and mix well with the Olive Oil and Onions.

Continue to saute or “To Flip – in French” the rice during this cooking process. If you can’t saute the rice, use a spatula. You want to slightly brown the rice before the next step.

When browned, add your Wine. We like this Barefoot Pinot Grigio as it give a nice flavor to the rice. If you don’t like or drink wine, you can omit this step, but know that there will be No Alcohol in this dish when it finishes cooking. Only the flavor of the wine will be left as the alcohol will cook out under the heat.

Continue to cook the rice until the wine is cooked down to half the volume.

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Now, add a ladle or two of your heated Chicken Stock to the rice and stir well. You will need to almost constantly stir this now to make the risotto creamy. It needed to be heated, so it doesn’t bring down the temperature of the rice while cooking.

While the rice is absorbing the Chicken Stock, drain your Marinated Artichoke Hearts and chop them into nice sized chunks as shown.

Add more of your stock (about a ladle at a time) to the rice and keep stirring. This will likely take about 30 min. until the rice can’t absorb any more liquid and is a creamy state. Then add your chopped Artichokes. You should have some stock left over, as if this Risotto sits in your serving dish, it will absorb more liquid. Add some more liquid to make the Risotto creamy again.

Here the Risotto has absorbed most of my stock and is at a creamy state. Now is the time to add your grated cheese and chopped chives. Stir in the ingredients then add some freshly ground pepper and taste the rice. Be sure the rice is soft and creamy and check your salt level. If the cheese didn’t add enough to your taste, add more then taste again!

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Julie and Gordon’s Spagett

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I, Julie, had been craving Spaghetti but I didn’t want to do it the same old way that I would always make it. I wanted it packed with green Spinach, along with everything Italian that we had on hand to throw in it. It was delicious! My only regret was when Gordon told me that I had added enough Spinach. I knew that I should have put as much as I thought was necessary, and not what he thought was fine.

In looking at the photos above, do you think there is enough Spinach? I didn’t think so.

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Our Ingredients:

Any Spaghetti Pasta You Desire

You will need some sort of Red Sauce: I am using a Vegetable Sauce with Mushrooms

One Can of Diced Tomatoes

One Small Can of Tomato Paste

An Heirloom Tomato That Was Laying Around

Some Vegetable Dyed Pasta We Had in the Refrigerator

Leftover Roasted Garlic Cloves

Fresh Spinach Leaves

Parmesan Cheese, Grated

Toasted Pine Nuts, however many you so desire,

(Although I have no photo of them, add as many as you like. Just toast in a saucepan for a few minutes until tanned.)

Freshly Ground Black Pepper, to taste

A Few Shakes of Turmeric

Fresh Herbs of Basil, Oregano, Parsley, and Chives

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Don’t Forget The Bread

You will need a large pot. Turn the burner on a medium heat and add the Red Sauce that you will be using. Then add the diced canned Tomatoes, Chop up any tomatoes that you may have laying around that you want add, and then add your Tomato Paste to the pot to simmer away.

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Now add the Freshly Ground Black Pepper to Taste

Add a Few Shakes of Turmeric

(Turmeric kills cancer cells. It is also a bland spice. So, add it to as many foods as you like.)

I am actually getting rid of some stray Italian that we had in the fridge.

This was some of my Sundried Tomato and Feta Cheese leftovers.

Also, add a few of the Roasted Garlic Cloves. As many as you want.

Simmering Away

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Fresh Herbs From Our Garden

With our Red Sauce simmering away, I am adding our fresh Oregano and Chives to the pot.

In an additional pot, Gordon is adding our Spaghetti Pasta to the already boiling water. I like to add a teaspoon or so of Olive Oil to the water just to make sure the pasta doesn’t stick together.

My Beautiful Herbs

Fresh Spinach and Leftover Pasta

Red Sauce and Pasta Cooking

When the Pasta is at Al Dente, drain into a Colander and set aside.

Now place the old leftover pasta in a pot of simmering water for just a few minutes to revive it.

Then drain into a colander.

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With your sauce simmering away, add as much Fresh Spinach as you want.

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When the sauce is ready, add the Spaghetti Pasta.

We needed a large bowl so we placed everything in here.

The Red Sauce, and all the Pastas.

Turn out onto a Platter and Grate as much Parmesan as you like.

Garnish with some Fresh Basil and some Parsley

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As for the Italian bread…

Just slice, butter, sprinkle with some Garlic Salt or Paprika, then broil in the oven until browned and then serve.

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Enjoy Al Fresco!

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Bread Basket Timbale

Meat, Veggies, and Bread, All in ONE Bite!

Slice as you Would a Pie

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Ingredients:

3 Tbsp. Olive Oil

1 1/2 Medium Onions – diced

4 Garlic Cloves – chopped thinly

Sea Salt and Freshly Ground Pepper to taste – for the main dish

1.3 Lbs. Ground Turkey – 99% Fat Free

1 Lbs Sweet Italian Ground Sausage

3/4 Cup Marsala Cooking Wine – Holland House Brand

1 Tbsp. Sea Salt – for the pasta water

1, 6 oz. Can Tomato Paste

1 Jar Tomato Sauce – Classico Brand

8 oz. Pkg. Rigatoni Chickpea Pasta – Banza Brand

1 Cup Frozen Peas

Merlot BellaVitano Cheese – entire block

Don Wine – Goat Cheese soaked in Red Wine – entire block

3/4 Cup Shredded Parmesan Cheese

3/4 Cup Mozzarella Cheese – Creamy Melt

1/2 small block Parmesan Cheese – cut into 1 inch section

1/2 small block Shredded Parmesan Cheese

8-10 Basil Leaves

1 Large Eggplant – sliced into 1/2 to 3/4 inch slices

1 Medium Round Loaf of Bread – around 6 inches wide and 6 inches high

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All of our Ingredients

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Peel and slice your Onions in half then slice and dice them as shown.

Place your Olive Oil into a large saute pan and heat to medium heat.

Add your diced Onions and saute them until softened, about 6-8 min.

Peel and slice your Garlic thinly…

then chop the Garlic into small pieces.

When the Onions are cooked to your desired doneness, add your Garlic and continue to cook for another 5 min.

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Add Sea Salt and Freshly Ground Black Pepper to taste.

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Now add your Ground Sausage to the Onion and Garlic mixture.

Using your spatula, chop the Sausage into small pieces and continue to cook into browned.

This will take about 10 minutes.

When browned, drain off any fat then add your Marsala Wine to the pan and mix all the ingredients well. To drain the fat, we use a large spatter screen to cover the mixture and turn the pan of its side over your sink or trash can. We didn’t have really any fat to drain as we used very lean Ground Turnkey.

Cook the mixture until the Wine is almost gone.

The alcohol within the wine will not be in the dish and will evaporate as it cooks.

Place about 8 Cups of water into a large pot and add ~ 1 Tbsp of Sea Salt.

Turn the heat to High to boil the water.

Here you can see the Marsala Wine in the mixture beginning to cook away.

Add your Tomato Paste to the mixture when the Wine has mostly cooked away.

Mix the Tomato Paste into the meat as shown using your spatula.

Now, add your Tomato Sauce to the pan and mix well.

When the water is boiling add your pasta.

Boil the pasta as per the boxes directions.

Here is what the meat mixture looks like when done.

Trust me, this is delicious now, and we still have more ingredients to add!

When your pasta is cooked, drain it well in a colander as shown.

Add your meat mixture into a large bowl.

Add your Frozen Peas to the bowl.

Then add your cooked Pasta.

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Here I am slicing our Merlot Cheese into 1 inch blocks.

Do the same with your Wine Goat Cheese.

Carefully fold in the ingredients being careful not to break them up.

Here I am adding the Pre-grated Parmesan and Mozzarella Cheeses. You can grate your own if you like.

Again, fold in the cheese.

Here I am slicing a small block of Parmesan Cheese into small 1 inch pieces which I then added to the mixture.

Add some Fresh Basil Leaves to the bowl.

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Slice your Eggplant lengthwise into 1/2 to 3/4 inch sections as shown.

Spray your Eggplant slices with a little Olive Oil then grill them on medium high heat until browned and softened. This will take about 5 minutes on each side. Turn the slices half way through the grilling process to achieve the cross grill marks.