My Lime Green Kitchen

Posts Tagged ‘Italian’

6 – 3 oz. boneless, skinless chicken breasts, pounded flat
salt and freshly ground pepper
6 thinly sliced pieces of prosciutto
1 – 10 oz. package frozen chopped spinach, thawed and drained as much as possible
4 T. olive oil
1/2 c. Parmesan cheese, grated
2 T. fresh lemon juice

Place the cutlets on a flat surface.  Salt and pepper.  Place on piece of prosciutto on top of each breast.

Mash spinach between paper towels to drain as much as possible.  Salt and pepper, toss with 2 T. olive oil.

Arrange a thin layer of spinach on top of the prosciutto.  Sprinkle parmesan cheese on top of the spinach. Beginning at the short end of the chicken, roll up, jelly roll fashion.  Secure with toothpick.

Heat the remaining 2 T. oil in a heavy skillet.  Add the chicken and cook til golden brown, about 2 minutes per side.  Add the chicken broth and lemon juice.  Scrape the bottom of the pan to loosen any drippings.  Cover and simmer about 10 minutes, until chicken is done.  Remove chicken.  Continue simmering liquid in pan until it’s reduced to about 2/3 cup.

Remove toothpicks from chicken.  Pour juice over chicken.  Serve over hot, buttered pasta.

Caponata
1/4 c. olive oil (or more)
1/2 cup black olives, pitted and chopped
2 – 3 medium eggplants
4 ribs celery, finely chopped
1 onion, chopped
1/4 cup parsley
2 cloves garlic, minced
1/4 cup red wine vinegar or balsamic vinegar
2 large tomatoes, diced
Salt
Pepper
Peel and slice eggplant into 1/2″ slices.  OK . . I used 4 eggplants but we also ate some of it on sandwiches for lunch.

Salt heavily on both sides. Place in colander and allow salt to drain some of the liquid from the eggplant.

Rinse and pat very dry with paper towels.

Heat oil in large non-stick skillet over medium high heat. Add more olive oil as needed.  The eggplant really drinks it up.  Add eggplant and cook until golden brown.

Almost burnt is the best way for us.  It’s so good . . another reason I cooked 4 eggplant!   See that piece on the fork . . it never made it to the salad!  Yum!

See the olive oil that’s draining out of the eggplant?  Olive oil is good for you so don’t worry too much about it but I scoop that out and use it to saute the onions, celery and garlic.

Cook for 10 minutes or until soft, as soft as you want — we like ours a bit crunchy.

Stir onions, celery, garlic into eggplant.  Add chopped tomatoes, parsley, olive oil and as much vinegar as you like.  Salt and pepper to taste.

Refrigerate til ready to serve.

We serve this as a salad but we also make sandwiches with it.

Very flavorful!  Easy to make ahead, have in the fridge and bake right before serving.

ITALIAN SPAGHETTI SQUASH

1 spaghetti squash, about 1 1/2 lbs.
1 med. green pepper, chopped
1 med. onion, chopped
1 tsp. basil leaves, crushed
1 tsp. oregano leaves, crushed
1 tsp. garlic powder
1/4 tsp. each of marjoram, thyme, and sage
2 tbsp. Italian olive oil
3 to 4 med. tomatoes, chopped
2 tbsp. butter
1/4 c. Parmesan cheese

Wash squash, prick with fork. Cook in 400 degree oven until tender, about 40 minutes.

Cook and stir green pepper and onion with seasoning in oil over medium heat until vegetables are tender. Stir in tomatoes. Simmer uncovered 5 minutes. Cut squash into halves, remove seeds and fibrous strings. Remove spaghetti-like squash strands with two forks. Toss with butter and cheese. Spoon tomato mixture over squash.

A big hit with our family.  Serve with a salad and crusty bread.  We almost always have scalloped potatoes or macaroni and cheese with meatloaf.  Make extra . . makes fantastic meatloaf sandwiches!

Make an extra meatloaf, partially cook, let cool to room temp, and freeze.

For the sauce, I used Spaghetti Sauce with Veggies which I had canned.

Italian Meat Loaf

2 T. extra virgin olive oil
1 red bell pepper, chopped
1 medium onion, chopped
4 cloves garlic, chopped
1-1/2 pounds ground beef
1 cup bread crumbs
1 c. grated Parmesan cheese
1 T. Worcestershire sauce
1 T. Balsamic Vinegar
2 T. chopped fresh basil
2 T. chopped parsley
1 tsp. salt
1/2 tsp. black pepper
1-1/2 c. marinara sauce
1/2 c. mozzarella cheese

Preheat oven to 350.

Saute onion, pepper and garlic in olive oil.  Remove from pan and allow to cool.  Once they’re cool, mix all ingredients except marinara.  Pat into a greased loaf pan.  Top with marinara sauce.  Bake uncovered for one hour.

Allow to cool for 5 minutes before serving.  Sprinkle with mozzarella cheese.

Basil, Mozzarella & Tomato Salad

2 – 3 large tomatoes, peeled and chopped into bite size pieces
8 oz. fresh mozzarella, cut or torn into bite size pieces
black olives, pitted and drained (as many as you like)
red pepper flakes, as many as desired
sea salt
black pepper
1/4 c. fresh basil leaves, torn into large pieces (mainly to break the leaves so they release more flavor)
1/2 tsp. fresh oregano, chopped (or 1/4 tsp. dried)
1/2 c. olive oil
4 T. balsamic vinegar
2 – 3 cloves garlic, chopped

Mix the balsamic, olive oil and garlic. Set aside.

Place the tomatoes, black olives, mozzarella, basil leaves, red pepper flakes, oregano, salt and pepper in a bowl with a tight fitting lid.

Pour the vinaigrette mixture the salad. Stir well. Refrigerate several hours before serving. While it’s sitting in the fridge, stir every now and then. If the bowl doesn’t leak, just turn it upside down and then after a while, turn it right side up again.

This will keep for several days in the fridge but it is better the first or second day.

Spaghetti Sauce

Garden Fresh Spaghetti Sauce

1 lb. Italian sausage
1 onion, chopped
1/2 green pepper, chopped
4 cloves garlic, chopped (I use the already chopped garlic in the big plastic jars from Sam’s)
12 fresh tomatoes or canned tomatoes (I used 3 quart jars of home canned tomatoes)
3 zucchini, sliced (I chopped mine pretty fine so Chad wouldn’t see them in there)
1 lb. mushrooms, sliced (chopped fine to disguise also)
4 carrots, shredded
2 T. sugar
1 tsp. salt
1/4 c. parsley, chopped
1/3 c. fresh basil, chopped
1 c. dry red wine (I used Shiraz because it was handy)

Remove casings from the Italian sausage (if yours has casings). Chop into chunks and brown. Drain any excess grease but leave a couple of teaspoons. Add the onions, green pepper, garlic and saute til the onions are clear.

Add the tomatoes, wine, sugar, salt, parsley, basil. Simmer for about an hour.

Add the shredded carrots, zucchini and mushrooms. At this point, I added meatballs that were already browned. Continue to simmer for another 20 minutes.

Serve over spaghetti noodles with salad and crusty bread.