Proud Italian Cook

MY 15 MINUTES OF FAME!!

February 26, 2008 by Marie 33 Comments

This past week has been crazy and fun all at the same time. You see, I have a soon to be famous neice, who has already filmed 13 episodes for A&E which owns Bravo and the Biography channels. She will be featured in a documentary/reality show coming out in the summer. (not the wild kind!) I will give you all the details as time goes on. Anyway, to make a long story short, last Friday night they filmed part of an episode right in my house! A get together of my neice’s family and friends, a little wine, a little food. But the exciting part for me was, that I made all of the food that you see on the table for everyone! They definately shot footage of the food, which I was so excited about. There was about 25 people that came, and I served Mini Italian meat balls
Bite size sausage and peppers

Roasted veggie pasta salad

Grilled shrimp with orzo and feta pasta salad

Salami, provolone and Kalamata olives on skewers

Caprese salad

Chick pea salad

Zuccini with pesto and pine nuts

Assorted tapenades, and bruschetta’s

For dessert we purchased assorted mini bar cookies, and a quick stop at our favorite Italian bakery for a few dozen mini cannoli’s!

The film crew and the producers were a lot of fun, and they seem to really enjoy the food.

On a side note, my daughter will be in a lot of the scenes here, as my neice and her are very close. Not only was she wired with a mic, she got interviewed, gave a toast, the whole bit! ( who knows, she might get a spin off! ha ha) Needless to say, we all had a lot of fun, I managed to stay behind the scenes, no way was I getting on camera!!

So hopefully the table of food won’t get edited, LOL ! But just in case it does, I wanted to give you a little glimpse!

Watch out for a new shining star coming your way, her name is Julie!!!

To be continued….

33 Comments Filed Under: Uncategorized Tagged: 15 minutes of fame, family and friends, film crew

"FESTA ITALIANA" – A FOOD EVENT !!

February 25, 2008 by Marie 33 Comments

Maryann of “Finding La Dolce Vita” and myself, are hosting a delicious new food event called “Festa Italiana”.

Picture a long table set under the shade of twisting grape vines on a warm summer’s evening. One by one our friends are arriving, each one carrying their favorite Italian dish or drink. We eat and drink with happy hearts and before long, the guitars and accordions are filling the air with song. Everyone is eating, drinking, laughing, singing and dancing. As the sun sets, we are filled in every way and no one wants this evening to end.

So, come join us in a celebration of the sweet life, it’s a gathering of friends not to be missed! We are accepting your Italian dishes and drinks until March 22nd.

This is what you need to do to participate:

*Create a post featuring your favorite dish or drink. Remember to please link to both Maryann and I so others can participate. You are welcome to use our Festa Italiana graphic.

*Send an email to me (prouditaliancook@hotmail.com) or Maryann at ( msgfarm@gmail.com) by March 22nd. Please put the words “Festa Italiana” in the subject line.

*Tell us your name, your blog’s name, your blog’s url, the name of the dish, and a permalink to the post where your dish appears. Photo’s must be no bigger than 350 pixels wide. Height does not matter.

*All are welcome, but we ask that your email be in English, please.
* Only one entry please*

Maryann and I will be hosting a roundup shortly after March 22nd.

33 Comments Filed Under: Uncategorized Tagged: Festa Italiana food event, gathering of friends, Italian food and drink

BREAK OUT YOUR SPRING FORM PAN!!

February 16, 2008 by Marie 26 Comments

AND MAKE A ROUND LASAGNA!
For some reason, don’t ask me why, I like curved objects! I know it’s a bit weird but my eye always goes to curved things, arches, rounded windows, scrolls, I can go on and on. Give me a choice between a straight line and a curve, and guess what I’m picking? So it’s no wonder that I sometimes like to make a round lasagna, it’s out of the norm, I know, but it’s fun to change it up sometimes. Just make your favorite lasagna, this one was made with ricotta and spinach, and do it exactly how you make any lasagna, just trim up the pasta to fit your spring form pan. This was made in a 10″ pan, and I’ve even made it in the smallest one, for an individual size, you can be very creative!! The only thing I would suggest is to bake it on a cookie sheet in your oven.

AND A ROASTED VEGETABLE CROSTATA!
This is a great way to use up any vegetables you might have laying around. Cut them up and lay them on a cookie sheet with olive oil, and seasonings of your choice, I used a tuscan dried herb mix I have, plus salt and pepper. Roast them till al dente in a 400 degree oven, you do not want to overcook them!For mine I used, eggplant, zuccini, red pepper, onion, and a little fennel I had. Next, roll out one piece of puff pastry so its big enough to line the bottom of a 10″ springform pan, just push down the sides and make a little crust. Place your veggies on top, sprinkle with a generous amount of Romano cheese, about a cup of Provolone cut in chunks,( the real stuff). Beat 2 eggs with a little milk, pour all over, and finally, grated Fontina sprinkled all over the top. Bake at 375 degrees for about 35 mins, or until everything is golden and crisp.

Don’t cut it while its hot, let it cool down to room temp, that’s the best way to eat this! If you wait, it won’t fall apart when you cut into it either. Besides the flavors come out even more at room temp. This is great with a salad for dinner, or fancy enough to serve at a party! Only you will know, you were just using up your leftover veggie’s!!!BUON APPETITO!!