Blog - Proud Italian Cook

Summer Stacked Vegetable Caprese

August 17, 2018 by Marie 2 Comments

Healthy summer vegetables roasted then layered and stacked together along with all the makings for a caprese salad, that best describes this Summer Stacked Vegetable Caprese. The flavors of summer all stacked into one lovely bundle.

This can be served as an appetizer, a light lunch or even a side dish, it’s colorful and it tastes amazing, like a caprese on steroids!

I was lucky enough to find these beautiful Aloha peppers when I made my veggie/caprese stacks but you can certainly use a mix of yellow and red bell peppers to get the same color effect.

I roasted all my vegetables but you can certainly grill them as well. I used eggplant that had the skin peeled off in a zebra effect, some left on and some peeled off.

The peppers were cut around 3/4 of an inch thick to keep them sturdy enough to hold the other veggies. You’ll also want to reserve and cook the tops for use in the presentation, slices of zucchini were also roasted.

All vegetables were roasted at 400F. on a baking sheet drizzled with olive oil, salt and pepper, cooked until lightly golden until tender but not overcooked.

Slice up some ripe summer tomatoes and have your mozzarella sliced and ready to go.

Fresh basil is a must, along with basil pesto for added yummy flavor.

Then it’s all about the stacking, so find a pretty plate and first add the pepper ring, inside the ring stick a eggplant slice and swipe a little pesto on it.

Next, add your sliced mozzarella with a basil leaf on top.

Top the mozzarella with a ripe tomato slice swiped with pesto and a drizzle of olive oil.

Repeat with another pepper ring and this time add the zucchini and swipe the top with pesto.

Then another mozzarella slice with a fresh basil leaf.

Repeat with another tomato slice swiped with pesto and a drizzle of olive oil.

Place the pepper top that you reserved to cap it off, place a skewer right down the center to keep it nice and secure then add some pesto on the top.

You can decorate the plate with swirls of pesto and balsamic glaze, serve this with a knife and fork and enjoy!

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2 Comments Filed Under: Appetizers, Salads, Side Dishes, Summer Tagged: aloha peppers, caprese, colored peppers, roasted veggies, stacked veggies

Spaghetti with Blistered Tomatoes, Burrata and Corn

August 10, 2018 by Marie 8 Comments

This recipe is summer freshness at it’s best, and the great thing about it is that the preparation is nice and simple but yields the most amazing results!

What you’re looking at are strands of spaghetti intertwined with juicy, cherry tomatoes that have burst and blistered in the oven to create the most luxurious tomato and garlic flavored sauce with the special addition of sweet, fresh corn kernels and burrata cheese.

Fresh summer flavors are what makes this dish such a hit, there’s no special skills you need in making it because the ingredients speak for themselves.

Do a search and you’ll see roasted tomatoes and pasta all over the place, but I make this every summer and this is my way of doing it and what works for me. So rather than a recipe at the bottom of the post I’ll just walk you through the steps now.

I use a quarter sheet pan that has a rim on it. Heat the oven to 425F and line the pan with foil. Lining it with foil helps to gather and hold on to those precious, silky juices, plus it helps prevents the juices from burning off.

I really don’t measure the amount of tomatoes I use, I just load the pan from rim to rim, single layer with cherry or grape tomatoes, you could use all red or colored.

I leave the tomatoes whole so they can burst on their own when ready.

Add in four cloves of crushed garlic, torn basil, salt, pepper and dowse it generously all over with extra virgin olive oil.

When you start to see the tomatoes split pull the pan out of the oven and with the tip of a small paring knife pierce each tomato to let the hot juices release, word of caution, lean back because sometimes the juice will squirt out at you, then before it goes back into the oven add the fresh kernels of two ears of sweet corn, continue cooking until you see the tomatoes wrinkle and all the juices mingling together with the olive oil, garlic and corn.

It should look like this. Now all you have to do is cook up your spaghetti or pasta of your choice and then toss everything together, make sure you get every bit of that juice incorporated, use a rubber spatula to make sure you scrape off all that glorious juice. For this amount of saucey goodness I used twelve ounces of pasta.

When all the silky sauce is mixed in break open your burrata cheese, (as much as you want) and spread it on top, it will start to melt slightly, then adorn it with more basil, grated Parmigiano Reggiano and a quick drizzle of olive oil to finish it off.

That’s it, dig in and enjoy summer tasting at it’s best!

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8 Comments Filed Under: Pasta, Summer, Uncategorized Tagged: blistered tomatoes, burrata, corn, spaghetti

Sorbetto di Limone Dressed Up in a Frozen Lemon Shell

August 1, 2018 by Marie 13 Comments

Sorbetto di Limone, or lemon sorbet is one of the most refreshing desserts to serve on a hot summer day.

This version is so easy to prepare because no ice cream maker is required, just purchase a quality, store bought lemon sorbet and whirl it up in a food processor together with dreamy mascarpone cheese.

The mascarpone gives the sorbet a wonderful creamy texture that goes so well with the sweet and tart lemon flavor of the sorbet.

What makes this version a little extra special is that it’s presented and served in a frozen lemon shell, yes, it’s a little more prep but so worth it for it’s impressive presentation.

I’ve posted before about this lovely marriage of the lemon sorbetto and the mascarpone cheese before but it’s my first time presenting it in a frozen lemon shell.

Let me first say that all this prep, every step for this recipe can be done days ahead and I recommend you doing that. You’ll want to give yourself at least three days ahead of time, but with that being said it’s prepared and ready to go on the day you’ll be serving it, just grab it right out of the freezer.

To prep the lemon shell look for larger sized lemons, if they’re too small you’re not going to have enough room to stuff it and believe me you’ll want all that goodness inside. Cut the tip off the top of the lemon where the point is and set that aside.

Make a tiny slice off the bottom of the lemon because you want them to sit flat, being careful not to cut the bottom completely off. Next take a small pairing knife and cut around the flesh and scoop it out as best you can with a spoon or a grapefruit spoon, ( you can strain the juice and pulp and save it for later use) then take a lemon reamer and ream it out so the insides are nice and smooth.

Now you want to freeze the lemon shells along with all the tops that you cut off. Place them into a container single layer, cover and freeze hard.

Let the sorbet and the mascarpone sit out on the counter for a while before you start the blending together, then the mix will go into a food processor.

After the mascarpone and the lemon sorbetto have been blended together nicely without any lumps, feel free to add some lemon zest for more flavor, the mixture will be on the melted side so it has to go back into the freezer to get nice and frozen again, at least overnight.

An elegant dessert that’s simple, light and so refreshing!

Present this either on individual pretty plates or fancy martini glasses for an extra “WOW” from your guests.

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5.0 from 2 reviews

Sorbetto di Limone Dressed Up in a Frozen Lemon Shell

Can be, and should be made days before serving it.

Author: Marie

Ingredients

1 pint lemon sorbetto/sorbet
6oz. mascarpone cheese
lemon zest
large lemons, cleaned and scrubbed
mint leaves for garnish
NOTE;
This recipe can be doubled, tripled or what ever according to how many lemons you have and how deep your shells are. I always make extra because its nice to have it in the freezer.

Instructions

PREPARING THE LEMON SHELLS
Cut a third off the top of each lemon where the point is, save the tops.
Slice a shallow cut on the bottom so it can sit up straight and flat being careful not to cut through to the inside.
Hollow out each lemon with a pairing knife then scoop out with a spoon then use a lemon reamer to smooth it out inside, reserve pulp and juice for something else.
Put them single layer into an airtight container and into the freezer they go until nice and hard along with the tops. ( Remember, this can be done days ahead)
PREPARING THE SORBET MIX;
Take your sorbet out of the freezer and set it on the counter so it can defrost and soften a little.
The mascarpone can be close to room temp for easy no lump blending.
In a food processor place the sorbet and the mascarpone, give it a whirl until it's nice and smooth.
Place back into a container, add the zest and freeze it until hard again, overnight or longer is good.
FILLING THE SHELLS
When both things are nice and frozen just fill the shells with the sorbet mix and place the tops back on, at this point you can put them back into the freezer in a covered container until ready to serve.
Serve them on pretty individual plates or martini glasses, garnish with one mint leaf on top.