Blog - Proud Italian Cook

Zucchini Ribbon Rolls with Tapenade, Spinach and Parmesan Cheese

July 9, 2018 by Marie 2 Comments

Zucchini ribbon rolls are such a wonderful summer appetizer, snack or side dish to make when zucchini is in abundance. Delicate ribbons of zucchini smeared with olive tapenade, shaved parmesan and shredded spinach. It’s a combination that packs a punch in flavor, yet it’s so fresh and light.

I actually saw this recipe in a Sunset magazine that I was reading on a plane coming home from vacation and I couldn’t wait to make it.

It’s super easy to make, no cooking involved just create your ribbons of raw zucchini by using either a mandoline or a veggie peeler as I did. Purchase a good quality jar of olive tapenade, shave up a pile of parmesan cheese and shred some raw baby spinach.

I’ve made these twice already and each time they quickly disappeared off of the platter, they’re just perfect for your next summer party. You can prep everything ahead but I actually like the way they taste after sitting for an hour, the zucchini softens slightly and all the flavors really mingle together.

Drizzle the top with the best olive oil you have so it can seep into these delicious little rolls to enrich the flavor even more.

For another version you might want to smear the zucchini ribbons with your favorite pesto, think basil, arugula, spinach or even sun-dried tomato to name a few, but the possibilities are really endless!

Enjoy these while the bounty of zucchini is upon us!

Follow me on Instagram to see what else I’m cooking up during the week.

Zucchini Ribbon Rolls with Tapenade, Spinach and Parmesan Cheese

Recipe adapted from Sunset Magazine July 2018

Author: Marie

Ingredients

zucchini, ends trimmed and made into ribbons with either a mandoline or veggie peeler
parmesan cheese, shaved
baby spinach leaves, cut into thin ribbons
store -bought tapenade
olive oil
black pepper

Instructions

Lay the ribbons on a flat surface, then smear each ribbon with tapenade.
Place the parmesan shavings on the top.
Put a generous pinch of the shredded spinach at the end of each slice.
Roll up starting from the spinach end and close with toothpicks if you like.
Place them on a platter, drizzle with olive oil, sprinkle with black pepper and scatter more cheese around.
NOTE:
Find zucchini that are wide enough so that when you make the ribbons you'll have some good surface to spread your ingredients on, so small ones wouldn't work. Also when making your ribbons, when you reach the seeds, turn the zucchini and keep peeling, do not use the seeded part for your ribbons.

2 Comments Filed Under: Appetizers, Side Dishes, Summer, Vegetables Tagged: olive tapenade, zucchini ribbons, zucchini rolls

Fresh Berry Slab Pie

June 25, 2018 by Marie 6 Comments

Fresh berry slab pie, I can’t think of a better dessert to serve up for all your upcoming summertime parties, especially with the fourth of July right around the corner.

Fresh berries are at their peak right now so it’s the perfect time to make this, you could use any combination of berries you like or even just one type, here I used mostly blueberries with an added pint of raspberries for a little pop of color.

I have to admit this is the first time I made a slab pie and now I don’t think I’ll ever use a round pie pan again.

A slab pie is made on a rimmed sheet pan, I used a quarter sized sheet pan, and I got twelve good size servings from it, although you can get adventurous and use a large half sized sheet pan for a really big crowd, probably doubling everything, you bakers would know how to do that correctly.

What I like about making a slab pie is that it’s easy to cut and serve, it’s not messy because you get nice square pieces and it travels well.

You can cover the top with a full crust or be a little creative with some cutouts to match the occasion, I used stars to celebrate the fourth of July.

I also used refrigerated pie dough, my favorite being from Trader Joe’s because why not? It tastes excellent and it makes this berry slab pie a breeze to put together, but in saying that I’m sure all you fabulous bakers out there can whip up an excellent pie dough in no time!

Even though I use refrigerated pie dough I still gather up the dough, form it into a ball and roll it out myself, which you’ll need to do anyway for this because a nice rectangle size is required.

Just make sure you roll out enough dough to form a pretty crust all the way around. I bought two boxes just to make sure I would have enough for everything, including my stars because I didn’t know at the time how many I would need to cover the top.

It was fun and easy to do, I just used a cookie cutter which would make the possibilities endless to top it off with, or just go with a classic lattice crust as well, but I do think it looks really nice having the berries show through instead of covering the whole top with a crust.

All brushed with egg so it gets nicely golden and ready for the oven!

This was out of this world good, now I want to make a peach slab pie and of course an apple one in the fall.

Vanilla ice cream is a must!

Follow Proud Italian Cook on Instagram to see what else I’m cooking up during the week.

5.0 from 1 reviews

Fresh Berry Slab Pie

Filling recipe adapted from Martha Stewart

Author: Marie

Ingredients

standard ¼ sized rimmed sheet pan for the slab pie but place it on a larger sheet pan to catch drips in the oven when baking.
2 boxes of refrigerated dough, I used Trader Joe's. ( You might end up with a little extra) If frozen defrost according to package.
8 cups of fresh berries, I used mostly blueberries with a pint of raspberries but you can add blackberries or just use one type, whatever you prefer.
½ cup sugar
3 Tablespoons corn starch
1 Tablespoon of lemon zest
3 tablespoons of lemon juice
1 egg whisked with a bit of water to brush over the top and crust

Instructions

Heat oven to 400F.
In a large bowl add the berries, zest, cornstarch, sugar, and lemon juice, toss gently to make sure everything is coated, set aside to form crust.
Take one box of the dough, ball it together and roll it out into a rectangle making sure you have enough over hang to make a nice edge all the way around. I found I needed to use more dough so I opened the second box and pieced it together giving me more for my over hang which was really easy.
Once the bottom crust is formed and edges nicely crimped, scoop out the berry filling into it, don't pour it because you don't need the excess juice that might be on the bottom of the bowl, so just scoop it out.
Now take more dough and roll it out so you can do cutouts if you like. I did stars on mine.
Place the cutouts over the berries.
Use your egg wash and with a pastry brush cover the edge of the crust and the cutouts, this will ensure a nice golden color when finished.
NOW REDUCE TEMPERATURE TO 375F.
Place the prepared pie into the oven and set your timer for 60 minutes, but check at 55 minutes to see how it looks.
I added 10 more minutes to mine to get the color I wanted, and you should be able to see the blueberries thickening and slightly bubbling, if it looks too runny put it in for a few minutes more.
Let it cool way before eating this, I suggest hours.
I made mine in the morning and served it after dinner, it cut beautiful that way.
It can stay out for 2 days un refrigerated with foil loosely covering it, after 2 days refrigerate, that is if you have leftovers.
Serves 10- 12
Serve with a scoop of ice cream, you won't regret it!

6 Comments Filed Under: Fruit, Pies, Summer Tagged: berry pie, Fourth of July, fresh berries, slab pie

Pesto Pappardelle Pasta with Zucchini Ribbons

June 11, 2018 by Marie 8 Comments

I love this time of year when I can walk outside into my back yard and pick enough fresh basil to make a batch of pesto. Usually the first time that I make pesto I immediately have to cook up some sort of pasta with it, there’s nothing like freshly made basil pesto swirled into warm pasta, perfection at it’s best!

I decided on making pappardelle pasta this time, pappardelle is a large, broad and flat noodle and it goes really well with the addition of some zucchini ribbons tossed into the warm pasta at the end. The long, wide zucchini ribbons mimic the pappardelle and adds a nice touch to the freshly made pesto.

A vegetable peeler is a great tool to use when making zucchini ribbons and it’s easy to do, but just make sure you keep turning the zucchini when you reach the seeds like I did, shown in the above photo.

To make the basil pesto gather up the best leaves you can find, ones that are unblemished.

A tip I learned a long time ago was to blanch the basil in boiling water for just fifteen seconds then immediately plunge it into cold ice water to shock it and stop the cooking process. By doing this the pesto will stay a nice bright green color, it won’t oxidize and have that dark green color on top which is not so visually appealing.

After you scoop the leaves out of the water make sure you give them a really good squeeze, removing as much water as you can. Another tip I learned a while back was to use a potato ricer for squeezing out the water, it works wonders, the handle comes down and it easily pushes all the excess water through the holes beneath, but if you don’t have a ricer just wrap it up in a tea towel and twist it until it’s nice and dry.

Freshly grated Parmigiano Reggiano is a must for a quality tasting pesto as well as a bit of garlic, good olive oil and lightly toasted walnuts. I stopped using pine nuts a while ago it’s hard to find descent ones and the price is outrageous, plus I have really come to love it with the toasted walnuts anyway.

I like using a food processor to make my pesto it’s quick and easy and then I store it in the fridge using glass jars, pesto also freezes really well.

No need to cook the zucchini ribbons at all you just toss them raw right into the warm, strained pasta that has been tossed with the fresh basil pesto.

This is such a fresh and vibrant tasting pasta dish to make when basil is in abundance this time of year, it’s even good cold as a salad with some grilled chicken or shrimp.

Don’t stop at only pasta though fresh pesto can be slathered on just about anything, use your imagination and get creative!

Follow Proud Italian Cook on Instagram to see what else I’m cooking up during the week.

5.0 from 3 reviews

Pesto Pappardelle Pasta with Zucchini Ribbons

Author: Marie

Ingredients

BASIL PESTO
4 cups of solidly packed basil leaves, unblemished and washed
2 large garlic cloves
½ cup toasted walnuts
1 cup grated Parmigiano Reggiano
olive oil
salt and pepper to taste
FOR THE PASTA
½ lb. pappardelle pasta
2 zucchini and 1 yellow squash or 3 zucchini, medium sized made into ribbons with a veggie peeler
basil pesto, no measurement just enough to coat the warm pasta to your liking
a few basil leaves, toasted walnuts and grated cheese for garnish

Instructions

TO MAKE THE PESTO
Blanch the basil in boiling water for just 15 seconds.
Immediately remove, scoop out with a spider and place into an ice bath to stop the cooking.
Squeeze out all the water from the blanched basil.
In a food processor add the nuts, then garlic and basil and grated cheese, combine.
Now while the processor is running stream enough olive oil down the shoot until you get a nice loose consistency.
Place into a glass jar and refrigerate until ready to use, I got a little over 2 pints.
Pesto stays well in the fridge for at least 3 weeks or in the freezer for over a month.
TO MAKE THE PESTO PAPPARDELLE PASTA WITH ZUCCHINI RIBBONS
Cook pasta according to directions al'dente, reserve a little pasta water if need be for incorporating.
Scoop out and place into a large bowl.
Add in enough pesto to your taste and liking, if it seems to thick loosen it up with some of the warm pasta water you reserved.
Toss in the raw zucchini ribbons while the pasta is still hot, tossing and coating with the pasta and pesto.
Arrange everything onto a nice platter.
Add some small basil leaves, some toasted walnuts, extra grated cheese and a drizzle of olive oil all over for garnish.
Enjoy!