Roasted Tomato Shrimp

This is one dish I make often, I always seem to have shrimp either in my freezer or fresh, sometimes I toss in spaghetti, or if we’re not in a spaghetti mood I might make some couscous on the side to serve with it, but one of our favorite ways to eat this is by putting the whole pan right in the middle of the table surrounded by other little small bites and appetizers.

What you have here is the intensely concentrated flavor of tomatoes that have been roasted with shaved garlic, olive oil and thyme. The tomato’s of choice are either grape or the Campari variety on the vine, or a mixture of both.

Roasting your tomatoes ahead of time can place this dish on your table in less than 15 minutes.

For a pound of shrimp coat your pan with a generous drizzle of olive oil, add to your pan 4 cloves of shaved garlic, saute til golden, add shrimp and a good splash of white wine. When the shrimp turns pink and is almost cooked through add in your roasted tomatoes and toss. Garnish with chopped parsley and fresh basil.

Buon Appetito!

Signature

Easy Entertaining with Brunch

For Easter I decided to do a brunch, something different than the norm, it turned out to be a very relaxed form of entertaining, I can’t wait to do it again! Food was served buffet style and we all ended up eating in my sun room with all the windows open, it was a beautiful spring day.

The menu consisted of mini pasta and cheese frittatas, artichoke frittata, pea and edamame crostini, fig stuffed french toast and Belgium waffles made to order. There was fresh fruit, strawberry and yogurt parfaits, orange juice, coffee and champagne punch.

One of the highlights of our brunch was this Italian Sausage Bread that I got over at
Food Blogga, it’s actually Susan’s mother-in-laws famous recipe. My family makes something very similar to this but we call it bastone, and always used a special cheese called tuma, ( which isn’t always easy to find) and our dough was way more complicated. This appealed to me because she used pizza dough and fresh mozzarella for the cheese.

All the ingredients, which consist of hot Italian sausage, pepperoni, eggs, fresh mozzarella, parmesan cheese and parsley are precooked stove top in one pan and then it all gets folded into the dough. It was so quick and easy to do and such a hit! I will be making this throughout the year.

Don’t be afraid to use hot Italian sausage, the dough and the egg soak up a lot of the heat and what you’re left with is the perfect amount of spicyness. The only thing different I did was that I used thin sliced pepperoni instead of chunks, which I didn’t have. I just snipped mine with a scissor and it was just fine. The flavors blended together are out of this world!

Go on over to Susan’s blog to get the famous recipe and all the step by step instructions.

A word of advice: Cut a slice of this and pop it in the toaster for your morning breakfast!

For “something sweet” I made a glazed lemon pound cake, cinnamon rolls and a fresh strawberry quick bread.
If you haven’t ever hosted a brunch in your home I would highly recommend it, I’m looking forward to doing it again!
Buon Appetito!
Signature

Sweet Ricotta Pie

It isn’t Easter time without a ricotta pie! I know there are hundreds of different ways to make ricotta pie, but if you like the flavor of cannoli then you’re going to love this. A blend of ricotta, orange zest, candied orange peel, mini chocolate chips and a hint of cinnamon flavors this pie.

You still have plenty of time to make this, you can use your own favorite pie dough recipe for the crust, but if you feel rushed and don’t have time or you’re not a fan of making your own, go ahead and use a good quality store bought crust that’s refrigerated or even frozen, I’ve done it many times myself!

Now for an important note: Make sure you drain your ricotta good! You don’t want it to be wet, make sure you get all the excess moisture out or else it will affect the cooking time and texture. You could drain it overnight in the fridge or a couple of hours before you put it together or just look for a drier ricotta, not one that is soaking in water.

Here’s the filling: 1 1/2 lbs of ricotta, 3/4 cup sugar, 5 large eggs, 1 tablespoon vanilla, 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon, zest of one orange, 1/2 cup of mini chocolate chips, semi sweet, and 1/2 cup of diced candied orange peel.
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. In a large bowl with an electric mixer, beat the ricotta with the sugar until very smooth. Add the eggs, 1 at a time, beating well after each addition. Beat in the vanilla and cinnamon. Stir in the candied fruit, zest of one orange and chocolate chips. Pour the filling into the pie shell. Sprinkle the top with cinnamon and swirl it with the tip of a knife.
Bake the pie for 45 minutes, or until ricotta is set and toothpick comes out clean. Let cool and chill.
Make sure you chill it down in the refrigerator before you slice into it to receive the optimum full flavor.

Happy Easter!
Signature