Proud Italian Cook

Winter Salad with Squash and Hardy Greens

January 7, 2016 by Marie 5 Comments

I don’t know about you but I’m in desperate need of some healthy salads now that the holidays are behind us, in fact I couldn’t wait to run out and buy a bunch of greens. I settled on three gorgeous heads of escarole and my favorite, cavolo nero or Tuscan kale.

I never thought of using escarole in a salad because I normally eat it cooked, in a soup or with beans but I thought these two hearty greens would hold up well together when I layered strips of roasted butternut squash on top along with roasted chickpeas, walnuts and a few other things, and I was right!

I’ve always been a kale fan for salads but now I’m a newly converted escarole salad fan. It’s crunchy, it stays crispy (which I love), it’s hardy and it has a very mild, and an ever so slight bitterness that balanced out the buttery sweet squash. Please give it a try, you won’t be disappointed and besides,it’s really nice and refreshing to break away from the norm.

I love making shards of butternut squash and then roasting them, they look so pretty in a salad or tossed into some pasta, in a frittata or on top of a pizza. I try to buy a squash that has a long neck, because basically that’s the part you’ll be using for this. Remove the skin first with your vegetable peeler then continue making strips turning the neck part as you go.

Toss them gently in a little olive oil, salt and pepper and roast in a 400 degree oven, keep watching, they could burn quick. Sometimes I move them to the top rack to get rid of some of the moisture and keep a better eye on them.

Let the squash cool down before you add it to the salad. There’s no real recipe here, just a list of ingredients that I used and that I could honestly say was so delicious and went very well together.

Along with the kale, escarole and butternut squash shards, I added roasted chickpeas, feta cheese, toasted walnuts and pomegranate seeds all tossed together with a vinaigrette made of olive oil and white balsamic.

This salad is hardy, healthy and just perfect to finish out the cold winter months, and don’t forget you can follow along with me on Instagram to see what I’m cooking up during the week!

5 Comments Filed Under: Salads, Vegetables, Winter Tagged: butternut squash, escarole, hardy greens, kale

Shrimp and Lobster Ravioli with a Limoncello Cream Sauce

December 30, 2015 by Marie 31 Comments

I thought I’d make something special to bring in the new year, how about shrimp and lobster ravioli with a luscious limoncello cream sauce? It’s so full of flavor, not too heavy, and the light limoncello sauce just enhances all the chunky seafood tucked inside. It’s elegant and perfect for New Years Eve!

The effort to create this dish is well worth the time, it’s something you would make for a smaller group, maybe two couples or a romantic dinner for two. You may not have the time to make it right now, although it really doesn’t really take that long, please keep it in your memory bank for a future special occasion or upcoming Valentines Day.

If you’re not a fan of limoncello no worries, you can simply make a lemon cream sauce, equally as amazing!

It may sound decadent or a little extravagent but it’s really not that expensive to make at all. I bought two small lobster tails, six dollars each and one pound of shrimp and I was able to make thirty one ravioli that were packed nice and full.

The filling is easy to make, you chop up your pre-cooked lobster and shrimp then quickly saute in a pan with garlic, olive oil and shallots. When that mixture cools down you fold in a little ricotta, mascarpone and chopped parsley.

You can either roll out your dough by hand, which is a little time consuming, or use a crank style pasta machine which works really well, or this handy pasta attachment to your Kitchen Aid, which will speed things up a bit, either way will work. After the pasta sheets are rolled out then cut your pasta into a three inch circle.

Once you get the dough rolling, everything moves really fast, just fill and crimp!

After one bite you’ll know it was worth all the effort, I promise.

I’ve also served this with a tomato cream sauce, easy to make by stirring some cream into your marinara, either way you choose I know you’ll love it!

Wishing you all a very Healthy and Happy 2016! Thank you for all your support this past year, all your comments, emails and friendships mean the world to me, and don’t forget you can always see what I’m cooking up during the week on Instagram!

4.7 from 3 reviews

Shrimp and Lobster Ravioli with a Limoncello Cream Sauce

Author: Marie

Ingredients

RAVIOLI DOUGH
2 cups unbleached flour
2 eggs, beaten
2 teaspoons olive oil
½ teaspoon salt
a little dribble of water until the dough comes together
additional egg for egg wash
FILLING
2 small lobster tails, pre-cooked and chopped in small chunks
1 lb of medium shrimp, pre-cooked and chopped into small chunks, when combined you should have 2 heaping cups of lobster/shrimp meat
2 garlic cloves, diced
1 large shallot, finely chopped
1 teaspoon, limoncello, or lemon juice
¼ cup of ricotta
1 heaping tablespoon, mascarpone cheese
2 teaspoons, chopped parsley
LIMONCELLO CREAM SAUCE
4 Tablespoons of limoncello
2 or 3 tablespoons of lemon juice
1 stick of unsalted butter
heavy cream to thicken it up

Instructions

The dough comes together really fast when made in a food processor, put the dry ingredients in and pulse, then put wet ingredients down the tube and process until the dough forms a ball. You can also make it by hand. Wrap dough in plastic wrap and let it rest for 20 minutes. This one batch will make about 30 ravioli.
Pre-cook both lobster and shrimp, then cut into small chunks.
Add olive oil to saute pan, then add garlic and shallot, cook for a couple of minutes, then add in seafood and parsley, toss til coated, then let it cool down.
Put the cooled down mixture into a bowl and add in the ricotta and mascarpone
Roll out your dough and cut into 3 inch circles, brush top with egg wash and place a heaping teaspoon of filling on top.
Fold dough circle in half, into a half moon, and crimp edge with a fork.Place them onto a sheet pan, ready to boil or to be frozen. Freeze them on sheet pan, individually then place into ziplock bag.
For the sauce, simmer the limoncello and lemon juice together, or just plain lemon juice, then whisk in the butter until well incorporated, then pour in a little cream for thickness. You're just spooning on the sauce, not drenching it in sauce. You can double this and make more if you desire.

31 Comments Filed Under: Fresh Pasta, Seafood Tagged: Limoncello, lobster ravioli, ravioli, seafood, special occasion, Valentines day

Merry Christmas! And the Winner is…

December 22, 2015 by Marie 5 Comments

Just a quick post during this busy week to wish you all a very blessed holiday and a very Merry Christmas! I’ve baked enough cookies, especially those cucidati pictured above and now I’m ready to sit back and enjoy the time with my family and friends.

I’ll be back here after Christmas but if you want to see what I’m cooking up during the week, and especially this week, you can always find me on Instagram.

So without further adieu, the lucky winner of the beautiful Lagostina Risotto Pot is……… CHRIS MARCHESE!!! Congratulations Chris, you’re going to love that gorgeous risotto pot!

I will be contacting you by email to get your address so the company can send it directly out to you.

5 Comments Filed Under: Cookies Tagged: cucidati, italian fig cookies, Lagostina winner