Proud Italian Cook

Grilled Vegetable Tart with Phyllo

April 11, 2012 by Marie 44 Comments

Have I told you how much I love using phyllo? It’s so forgiving and you don’t have to be so precise! It makes the most perfect, light and flaky, crunchy base for my grilled vegetable tart.

Grilled vegetables are a thing of beauty, I love all the colors, and the flavors are so enhanced by a simple brushing of olive oil and a sprinkling of salt and pepper. I try to grill them on a weekly basis then tuck them away in my fridge so I can incorporate them into my meals.

Once your vegetables are grilled this recipe is super simple. Grab a tart pan with removable bottom and brush with olive oil. Open a box of phyllo dough and take a phyllo sheet and place it into the tart pan, no worries if it rips, you can patch it up and no one will ever know! Brush each layer with olive oil then sprinkle with grated romano cheese and fresh ground pepper. Do six or seven layers like that.

When you get to the last layer add slices of cheese, I used an aged Asiago. Arrange your grilled veggies on top and place in a 400 degree oven until phyllo is dark golden and cheese is melted. Mine took around 20 minutes or so.

Garnish with fresh basil and shaved Parmigiano Reggiano!

I served my tart with a spicy arugula salad on the side, simply dressed with fresh lemon and olive oil.

Buon Appetito!

44 Comments Filed Under: Savory Tarts, Summer, Vegetables Tagged: Grilled Veggies, phyllo tarts, vegetable tart

Italian Easter Bread

April 2, 2012 by Marie 47 Comments

There are many forms of “Easter Breads” and every family has their own special recipe and tradition, some might be sweet and others might be savory.

In my family, Easter wouldn’t be the same without my mother and aunt making their traditional “bostone” as they called it, Other names for this savory meat, cheese, and egg filled “pie’ would be pizza chena, Easter pizza, pizza rustica. I have no clue why they called it bostone but it’s probably because all the filling is encased within an eggy bread like dough.

This recipe is not for the faint of heart, there’s eggs galore, lots of meat and wonderful cheese, it’s meant to be made and eaten once a year, each slice is a meal in itself!

I was always told that the key ingredient in our Easter bread was the Tuma cheese, it binds everything together so well when melted, yet it still stays nice and chunky. In my area you can only find Tuma cheese at Easter time.

Many recipes you see on the web show a variety of meats used like salami or capicola and ham, but my mother and aunt always used straight up Italian sausage, preferably hot. Don’t be afraid to use hot sausage here because the filling is so dense you’ll hardly notice, it will just have a nice spiciness to it.
Where I purchase my sausage, the medium is hot and the hot is super hot, so I mixed them together and the heat was just right.

I would suggest prepping ahead of time, boiling your eggs, browning your sausage, chunking up your cheese and preparing the dough.

This recipe makes two very deep loaf pans filled to the brim, or one 9×13 deeper than normal pan, and believe me they are heavy!

I love to slice it right from the fridge and eat it cold, other family members like to warm it slightly, either way it’s amazing and the smell just brings me back to my childhood!

Here’s the recipe.

Julie and Eileen’s Bostone

DOUGH

8 cups flour*** 9 eggs beaten***1T salt** 1 t. black pepper*** 1/2 cup of vegetable shortening*** water to get it to the right consistency. Use a giant bowl and add flour, salt, pepper. Work the shortening in next, then add the 9 beaten eggs and mix until well incorporated, use water if necessary to make dough nice and smooth.

FILLING

4lbs of browned hot Italian sausage, casings removed***2lbs of Tuma cheese diced, if you can’t find it use mozzarella***1 doz hard boiled eggs, chopped***2 cups of Pecorino romano***3 raw eggs*** salt and cracked black pepper. Just mix everything together in one big bowl.

Roll dough out to fit in pan and let it overlap slightly, then add your filling pressing down and adding more. Save enough dough to place on top, then roll the sides up to meet the top. Brush with egg yolk for a beautiful shiny gloss.

Bake at 325 for around 1 1/2 hours or until very golden and hollow sounding when you tap on top. Place the pan or pans on a baking sheet to cook.

47 Comments Filed Under: Pizza, Seasonal, Spring Tagged: bostone, Easter bread, Easter pizza, pizza rustica, tuma cheese

Standard Market, Westmont

March 28, 2012 by Marie 12 Comments

Over the weekend I had the opportunity to tour the new Standard Market that opened up in
Westmont, IL, a suburb of Chicago. The minute you walk in you’re greeted by colorful, fresh produce everywhere, you just know you’re going to have a good shopping adventure here.

I have to admit I’d been to Standard Market five times already before the tour and was very happy with all the goodies that I purchased, so much so that I went back for more! The building is huge, a contemporary farmhouse feel with various departments throughout. They pride themselves on providing many local products to their customers.

They recently opened up a coffee bar within the store that features Intelligentsia Coffee. I sampled it brewed from a Chemex, a very pure method of brewing.

If you don’t feel like cooking, take home some Chicken Vesuvio from the hot foods station, complete with potatoes and peas all for under ten dollars!

The wine, beer and cheese department contains over 500 wines, including 150 selections under $15. More than 150 cheeses and 150 beers from around the world, with a strong focus on American artisanal offerings.

I love the bakery, over thirty five varieties of artisan breads, everything made in house from scratch, the perfect place to pick up something for a special occasion or just to satisfy your sweet tooth.
Don’t leave without grabbing the coconut cake, either a slice or the whole thing, with passion fruit on the side. To die for!

The deli offers chef inspired prepared foods as well as the classics, olives and high quality deli meats.

Samples from the butcher shop!

Their meat department is phenomenal, everything I tried so far I loved, this is where I got my tomahawk pork chops I featured in this post.

The fish market offers fresh whole fish and seafood that is flown in daily from around the world, already tried several things, I just love their salmon. Fish is available whole or in fillets, all cut down on site, there’s even a sushi station.

This is some good coffee!

I’m so grateful to be able to buy good quality fresh pasta, all made in house. Check out the price! I’ve bought the lasagna sheets twice already and used them in my post on Little Lasangas.
Also there’s a wide variety of homemade soups and sauces available, you won’t be finding
Campbell Soup here anywhere!

Standard Grill offers lunch and dinner daily.

If your in the chicagoland area I highly recommend a visit to Standard Market, a welcomed fresh approach to food shopping. Credit only, no cash!
Standard Market and Grill
333 East Ogden Avenue
Westmont