Proud Italian Cook

Nibbles for your New Year’s Eve Party!

December 30, 2009 by Marie 34 Comments

As 2010 quickly approaches, I want to wish everyone of you a Very Healthy and Happy New Year!

A good friend of mine says “health is wealth” and that is so true and most important, but I can’t help wishing for just a little prosperity to go along with it!

Just a few ideas in case you want to add some other things to your New Year’s Eve table. I know its cold, but pull out your grill pan and grill up some eggplant slices, all your grilling can be done the night before. There’s still time!

Layer each slice with some roasted red pepper, a mixture of feta and herbed cream cheese, you can even use goat cheese if you like, top each slice with spinach or arugula, and then just roll them up and stick a skewer in each one.

A little drizzle of olive oil over the top, and you have a delicious combination!

Keep your grill pan out and make some Spiedini Di Mozzarella. Take 3 slices of a good quality country loaf or sourdough bread, brush each slice with olive oil, stack them on top of each other and place a slice of fresh mozzarella between each layer. Now cut the stack into quarters, and into each quarter stick one rosemary sprig. Grill until the bread is toasted and the cheese melts. Serve with your favorite pesto for dipping.

You can’t go wrong with Portobella Pizzas either! After cleaning and scraping out the gills of each mushroom, place them for 5 minutes on each side under your broiler until they become tender. Then fill them with whatever you like, I used Italian sausage that was already browned, and tomatoes. Top them with some fresh mozzarella and place back under the broiler a couple of minutes until the cheese turns golden brown. Vegetarian options are just as delicious, you can even quarter them and also serve with skewers.

Have a safe holiday and see you all next year!

34 Comments Filed Under: Appetizers, Party Foods Tagged: eggplant appetizer, mozzarella spiedini, new year's 2009, pary food, portobella pizza

I’ll Be Detoxing Until 2010!

December 28, 2009 by Marie 24 Comments

I thought I’d leave you with a little visual of why I’ll be eating nothing but salads all week.

My refrigerator is stocked with all kinds of veggies and various forms of greens.

And these are some of the reasons why!

And it was all repeated the next day with the leftovers!

I won’t even mention the desserts and cookies!

See you all soon.

24 Comments Filed Under: Party Foods, Seasonal Tagged: green bean bundles, holiday detox, meatball lasagna, stuffed artichokes

Ravioli with Artichokes, Sun Dried Tomatoes and Peas in a Champagne Cream Sauce

December 19, 2009 by Marie 44 Comments

Making homemade ravioli each holiday season has always been a tradition in my family. I remember when my kids were young, mixing and rolling the dough by hand, and one by one placing hundreds of meat and cheese filled ravioli on a special white floured sheet that I laid across my bed. I can’t say they looked real uniform, as some were square and some came out rectangled, but they all were a labor of love.

Fast forward to now, and we have the convenience of food processors to help mix up the dough in seconds and ravioli forms to make them look picture perfect, and now I would never think of rolling the dough by hand without a pasta machine!

We still keep our family tradition going, but now we have a lot more hands to help in the process, and it becomes a day we all look forward to, usually we try to get them done before Thanksgiving. I wrote a previous post on our ravioli extravaganza last year here.
Here’s a couple of photos from this year. I love how the pasta machine gets the dough nice and thin.
My oldest Granddaughter is now part of the tradition, and before we know it our new little one will be joining in on the fun.

We even tried making whole wheat dough for the first time, it’s a little tougher to work with and a little harder to crank through the machine, but they tasted great!

Back to the recipe. Normally we eat our ravioli with a basil and garlic flavored marinara sauce, but for a elegant way of serving them you have to try my roasted garlic champagne cream sauce. It’s not something you have everyday, but for a special occasion it’s the perfect dish, and besides you’ll have plenty of leftover champagne to sip while your eating. Don’t worry, you certainly don’t have to make your own homemade ravioli for this, you can use any good store bought kind that you like.

The sauce is simply made by sauteing 1/2 of an onion with 4 cloves of roasted garlic in some olive oil. Pop open your champagne and add in 1 1/2 cups. Cook until it reduces down then whisk in 1 1/2 cups of heavy cream. Simmer until it all thickens together.

While the ravioli are cooking, in a large saute pan add some frozen artichoke hearts, sun dried tomatoes and peas with a little olive oil. Add in your champagne sauce then add in the cooked raviolis, season with black pepper. Garnish with parsley and grated parmesan. The flavors are wonderful together.