Colavita Archives - Proud Italian Cook

I made this recently and it was such a big hit I wanted to share! Succulent tiger shrimp with fresh artichoke hearts, sitting on a bed of creamy risotto.

The flavor was super enhanced by this fabulous roasted garlic olive oil I received from Colavita. I love their olive oils but I never tried their roasted garlic version, all I can say is you need a bottle of this in your kitchen! I had a few fresh artichokes ( you could use frozen, I wouldn’t use canned) that I cut, quartered and steamed, then tossed them into the garlic oil and placed them in a 375 degree oven for 10 minutes, the flavor is addicting!

I did the same thing with the shrimp, tossing them into the roasted garlic oil, sprinkling them with salt, pepper and a little peperoncino. I roasted the shrimp Ina’s way on a baking sheet for 5 or 6 minutes at 400 until the shrimp are cooked through. This method is full proof, cooks perfect every time!

The risotto itself was made with 1 box of chicken stock that was warmed in a pot on my stove and
1 1/2 cups of arborio rice.
In a heavy bottomed pan heat 1 tablespoon of butter and 1 tablespoon of olive oil, sweat 1/2 diced onion. Add the rice, stirring and coating it with the butter and oil. Saute for a couple of minutes but don’t brown it, then add 1/2 cup of white wine and let it absorb. Add a ladle of hot chicken stock to the rice and let all the liquid absorb, then add another ladle and repeat the process stirring constantly.
I tossed in a handful of frozen peas along the way, added fresh snipped basil and parsley and a touch more butter in the end.
Pour your creamy warm risotto on a nice big platter and lay your roasted artichokes and shrimp all around.
The roasted garlic flavor took the risotto to another level, there wasn’t one grain of rice left!

Barese sausage is quite different from your typical Italian sausage which is normally made with fennel. Barese sausages are finger thin, sort of like the shape and size of a breakfast sausage. These sausages are similar to an area in southern Italy around Bari on the Adriatic coast.

Lucky for me I only have to drive about 35 minutes to get to a wonderful Italian market that makes them fresh on a daily basis!

The ingredients in Barese sausage vary but usually they consist of the meat being either pork or lamb or a mixture of both. Herbs, such as parsley or basil, some garlic, parmesan or romano cheese and some type of tomato product either paste, plum or sun-dried.

I have a friend who was born in Bari and years ago he taught me his simple method for cooking them up on top of the stove.

Place the sausage in a skillet with white wine, enough to almost cover them. With your burner on medium high keep turning them often until they reach an ugly gray color and the wine cooks out. I like to poke some holes on each sausage with a tooth pick so the wine really gets in and flavors them even more.

After the wine pretty much dissipates, remove the sausage, drizzle in some olive oil and place them back into the pan and brown them up to a nice deep golden color, that’s it! A very simple method, but oh so flavorful!

If you can locate some Barese sausage in your area, I highly recommend you give it a try!

They’re perfect as part of an antipasto platter because of their size, in fact I served them on Super Bowl Sunday along with my Balsamic Glazed Peppers with Eggplant, Olives, Marinated Asparagus, Salami, aged Asiago and Provolone cheese, and this addicting Cauliflower Pesto,( Thanks Stacey!) and of course let’s not forget the stack of crispy Crostini!

For Stacey’s addicting Cauliflower Pesto here’s the recipe. My family loves roasted cauliflower with romano cheese so I eliminated the raisins and capers and added 1/2 cup of grated romano to mine. Slather this on a crostini and you will be forever hooked!

Another addicting little treat are these Balsamic Glazed Peppers with Eggplant! Equally as good slathered on a crispy crostini or placed into your favorite sandwich. Wait until you find out how easy they are to make, providing you have a bottle of good quality balsamic glaze sitting in your fridge. Two brands I personally like are Colavita and Blaze if you don’t have any please seek some out, it’s so nice to have a go to bottle to quickly flavor things up, it’s also great drizzled over cheese. Of course you can always make your own in a pan by reducing balsamic vinegar down until it becomes a thick rich syrup consistency.

Here’s what you do;

Slice thin strips of yellow, green and red peppers, also peel and slice your eggplant into strips. Toss them all with olive oil, salt and pepper and roast them in a hot 425F oven turning them often until they become tender with a nice deep color. Half way through the roasting process start pouring on the glaze and keep checking and tossing. Start out small but add as much glaze as you like according to your own taste. When they cool down place in a bowl and add chopped parsley and 1 crushed garlic clove, be sure to drizzle in more olive oil! Toss and enjoy!

Buon Appetito Everyone!