CAPRESE POLENTA BAKE

With cold weather approaching (rather quickly if you ask me) comfort food starts making a comeback into our family meals.  Comfort food usually means calorie laden and rather heavy.  Over the week-end I tried to play around with a little bit comfort and a little bit healthy and created this flavorful Caprese Polenta Bake.  We grilled some steaks and served this bake with an Arugula & White Bean Salad w/ Fresh Lemon Vinaigrette (recipe to be posted soon).  You get the comfort from the creamy, cheesy polenta and the healthy from the fresh grape tomatoes and basil. This was my last ditch effort to create a little something "fall" with the last flavors of summer. It turned out perfect, made my kitchen smell wonderful and got a lot of "OH's and AH's" when it was taken out of the oven!!!

INGREDIENTS: 

-  4 cups Chicken Broth (32 oz.)

-  3 cups water (can add extra to thin out polenta if needed)

-  1 tsp. Pasta Sprinkle Seasoning (can use a mixture of dried basil & oregano)

-  2 cups Dell'Alpe Instant Polenta

-  2 tsp. tomato paste

-  1/2 cup grated parmesan cheese

-  1/8 tsp. salt

-  fresh ground black pepper and crushed red pepper to taste

-  2 cups shredded mozzarella (divided)

-  1/2 cup halved grape or cherry tomatoes

-  2 TB. fresh basil

-  1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil

-  sprinkle of kosher salt and fresh ground pepper

DIRECTIONS:

1.  Pre-heat oven to 350 degrees.

2.  In large saucepan bring chicken broth, water and spices to a boil   Once boiling add polenta.  Turn

     heat down to medium and continuously stir with a wooden spoon.

3.   Add tomato paste and parmesan cheese. Stir until smooth.

4.   Spray 8x8 baking dish with Pam.

5.   Scoop half of the polenta mixture into dish and spread evenly.

6.  Add 1 cup shredded mozzarella to the top of polenta.

7.   Top with remaining polenta mixture.

8.   Sprinkle top with remaining cup of shredded mozzarella.

9.   Place halved tomatoes, cut side up, to the top of the cheese.

10. Add chopped basil to top of
tomatoes.

11. Drizzle top with olive oil and sprinkle with kosher salt and fresh ground pepper.

12. Bake at 375 degrees for 20-25 minutes until heated through and cheese is melted.

CIAMBELLONE - TUSCAN RING CAKE

I'm back!!  Well, I am back for at least the night.  Let's take the blog posts one post at a time!  For those of you who are not aware...I am pregnant with my fourth!  Yes, we will now have twin four year olds, a 15 month old and a new born....ahhhhh!!!!  I have not been able to post because I was so ill during my whole first trimester.  Now I am well into my second trimester, but to find any time to myself with a house full of little bambinos is close to impossible!  I have in fact found the time tonight and am very excited to tell you about a new cook-book I have fallen in love with.  The cook book is called  " Cucina Povera - Tuscan Peasant Cooking".  I have always labeled my cooking as "rustic gourmet".  I do not cook fruffy food with funny, unknown ingredients.  I cook using simple and fresh ingredients that are not complicated.  This cook book is simple italian food that reminds me of my grandma big time.

  Within the last week I made three recipes , the first of which is called "Ciambellone" a tuscan ring cake.  Italian deserts are my most favorite, because they are high in flavor, but low in sugar. This cake uses 8 ingredients that most of us have in our kitchen at all times with some added lemon zest and  fresh squeezed lemon juice.  It also calls for a cup of extra virgin olive oil which makes this tremendous crispy crust on the outside of the cake while leaving the interior of the cake moist and delicious.  These recipes are very old fashioned and do not use any high tech kitchen gadgets.  When mixing the ingredients to this recipe I used just a regular wooden spoon as not to overmix anything.  I sprinkled some powdered sugar atop the cake and served a dollop of fresh whipped cream on the side.  Super simple and super yummy!

FARMERS MARKET PASTA

This Farmers Market Pasta was the second pasta I served at my parents 40th anniversary party.  Like usual I found a recipe that seemed like a good one BUT I tweaked it here and there to make it my own.  The original recipe I found was a Tyler Florence recipe.  His recipe included ground pork sausage, but I switched that out for grilled and sliced italian sausage.  I also added sliced mushrooms and quartered artichoke hearts.  I roasted some grape tomatoes with sliced garlic and olive oil with some kosher salt and fresh ground pepper and that created the "sauce" when mixed with a little of the salted pasta water.  This dish was a hit!  The key to making the dish a success was to cook/saute each fresh ingredient one by one.  In this way they are cooked the way each ingredient should be cooked.  The zuchinni is not overcooked and mushy and the mushrooms stay in tact and keep their shape.  Once everything is grilled, cooked, roasted and sauted you can add them quickly to the pasta so not to overcook anything.  Toss it all in in a big bowl with a ton of fresh grated parmesan cheese and you will have a pasta dish that everyone comes back for seconds for!!!!

SEASHELL PASTA W/ FRESH TOMATO BUTTER SAUCE & CREAMY BURRATO

This was #1 pasta out of two that were passed around the 30 person seated dinner party at my parents 40th anniversary party.  I have posted this pasta recipe before, but it is my families all time favorite; therefore it deserves a second posting!  You start by making a super simple tomato butter sauce.  Make the pasta al'dente and place in a large pasta bowl.  In the center of the pasta place diced up burrato  mozerella cheese.  Ladle some piping hot sauce over the top which slightly melts the cheese and the cream just pours out of the cheese.  I have an embarassing confession to make.  The first time I bought burrato cheese was by accident at Costco.  I was having a large family party and I meant to buy fresh mozerella that was to be used for eggplant parmesan.  When the day of the party came and I was making the eggplant parmesan, I cut into the mozerella cheese and all this white, creamy liquid came pouring out.  I tried another mozerella ball and the same thing happened.  I opened a whole secocond package and the same thing happened to all the mozerella balls.  Well, I just thought Costco had put out a really bad batch of mozerella cheese.  I returned both large packages the following day and told customer service that it was a bad batch of mozerella.  What is embarassing is that the cheese was actually Burrato, a form of mozerella that has a yummy fresh cream and creamy strips of soft mozerella in the center.  When you cut into the ball the cream and cheese come pouring out.  Long story short....when the tomato sauce hits the creamy cheese you have heaven in a bowl!!!!!

HEARTS OF PALM & ORANGE SALAD W/ CITRUS VINEGRETTE

This salad is the second salad I served at my parents surprise 40th anniversary party.
 I wish just going to serve one salad to start...that was the plan...but I had found some hearts of palm at Costco recently and I decided I just HAD to make something with hearts of palm.  I found this recipe on a fun blog called The Wednesday Chef.  Let me tell you....even though this was just an "extra" salad, to me this was one of the stars of the show. I have to admit that I was once one of those people who could not stand fruit in my salads.  Savory recipes that included fruit I would completely bypass. My taste buds have changed for the better because I absolutely loved this salad! I changed it up a bit is by adding a small bit of thinly sliced red onion.  The oranges in the salad are supposed to be blood oranges, but since blood oranges have a very short season, I used navel oranges instead.  Also, it calls for the salad to lay on a bed of "frize" salad.  I could not find just frize anywhere...not even Caputos, so I used a spring mix that included some frize in it.  It turned out great.  This recipe is for sure a keeper!

ARUGULA SALAD W/ SHAVED FENNEL

Arugula is awesome!  If you have never tried arugula you have to go out to the store grab some and make this salad!  It is spicy and crisp and just the  best greens around.  I found this recipe on a blog that I follow (www.prouditaliancook.blogspot.com).  She always posts fresh, easy and true italian recipes.  This was the first salad I served family style at my parents 40th anniversary party.  It is super simple with just a few ingredients: arugula, shaved fennel, toasted walnuts, shaved parmesan all tossed with a simple balsamic vinegrette.  Although the recipe is super simple...the flavors are tremendous!

TOMATO & BASIL BRUCHETTA W/ FRESH RICOTTA

I have to say I am a bruchetta junky!  I also have to say that it is rare that I find a bruchetta that I absolutely love .  If the bruchetta is already pre-made for you the bread gets really soggy.  If you have to place the tomatoes atop the grilled bread youself some people get lazy and choose to eat something else where they don't have to "work" for their food.  I have played around with different recipes over the years and have come up with what I believe to be the very best bruchetta of all time!  My secret.....I mix up some home made ricotta ( I find home-made ricotta cheese at Caputos) with some olive oil, salt, pepper and crushed red pepper.  I spread this atop my grilled bread before I place my bruchetta topping on top of the bread.  This helps seal the bread in a way where the juices from the tomato topping do not seep into the grilled bread.  Thus, the bread does not get soggy.  You can pre-make the bruchetta right before your guests arrive and place them all on a pretty platter.  When your guests arrive they have fresh (not soggy) bruchetta that is all pre-made and therefore do not have to "work" for their appetizer.  The other secret to this recipe is plain and simple: fresh ingredients.  There are only five main ingredients to this recipe; bread, tomatoes, basil, garlic and olive oil.  Use fresh ingredients and you cannot go wrong!!

FROZEN TIRAMISU

I have pretty much always stayed away from making any kind of "ice-cream" cake or pie.  Most of the recipe just seem a little too simple...meaning why don't I just serve my guests a bowl of ice-cream.  I have changed my mind after making a great, great dessert:
Frozen Tiramisu.  For father's day I was looking for a dessert that I had never made before and my family had never tried before.  I found this recipe in a Better Home & Gardens special interest magazine called " Just Grill It!".  Not only did I find the recipe for the Frozen Tiramisu, but I also marked the pages for some more frozen desserts and a ton of grilled recipes...look for it on the magazine rack!  So this Frozen Tiramisu turned out awesome!!!!!  It may have started out a bit slow.  My husband kids and I got home from a party last saturday at about 9:30 at night.  We put the kids to bed and I decided to look over the recipe so I would know what to do the next day to make it.  While reading the recipe over I realized that I needed to make this dessert in layers and needed to freeze it for 3  hours between layers and when done freeze the entire dessert for 8-12 hours...AHHHHH.  So at 10:00 at night I am making this darn dessert and then I realize I am out of butter.  My dear husband (pretty awesome) ran out to get me some butter. While he was gone I looked behind the milk carton in the fridge and realized I did in fact have butter.  Long story short...once I finally got started  the dessert was pretty easy to make.  It was well worth it as well....as the dessert was awesome, awesome, awesome!!!!  Plus you can freeze the leftovers and snack on it later in the week!

GRILLED MEDITERRANEAN VEGETABLE PLATTER

About a month ago I posted a recipe on my La Mia Tabella facebook page for a Grilled Mediterranean Vegetable Platter....BUT...I just posted the fact that I made it and it was wonderful and I posted a wonderful picture.  I did not however post the actual recipe.  I guess we can blame this forgetfulness and lack of sleep due to a newborn.  So...that being said I am not finally going to post the recipe for this wonderful salad.  It is just in time too, as the weather is getting warmer, farmers markets are getting ready to open and our bodies are ready for some healthier and lighter food.  I actually do not have a complete recipe...I am just going to give you ingredients for the salad and steps as to put it together.  I will let you be the judge as to how much of each vegetable you would like to make.  I am usually making this salad for parties of 25 or more people so my ingredient numbers are usually way high.  There is no right or wrong way to make this salad.  You can take away ingredients add ingredients.  Sometimes I like to add sliced tomatoes and fresh mozerella cheese and make a section in the salad for a caprese like salad.  Just take your ingredients and make sections on a large platter, drizzle with the dressing and tadah...you have a wonderful summer salad.

MEDITERRANEAN CAPRESE SALAD

I have to tell you I am pretty excited!  Why?  I believe I have just come up with the recipe for my new favorite salad.  Salads are what I believe I do best.  I just love to use all the different combinations of fresh vegies, fruit, pastas, cheeses, meats, etc...to come up a a never ending list of recipes for new salads.  I wish there was a show on the Food Network called " Who Can Come Up With the Best Salad"....and we could just have at all the food in the pantry and fridge.  I am confident I would win (ha,ha,ha). Anyway...back to the new recipe I came up with...it is for a Mediterranean Caprese Salad.  A Caprese Salad is so simple.  You must use the best ingredients to make the salad the best; tomatoes, mozerella cheese, basil and olive oil.  Honestly, it is the most simple salad to make, but it also ranks up there as the most delicious.  I have "one upped" the basic Caprese Salad by adding a bunch of yummy Mediterranean ingredients and placing it all atop some fresh baby greens.  Honestly, I could eat this salad every day.  I served it for my son's baptism dinner along with Roasted Honey/Butter Rubbed Turkey Breast, Grilled Beef Tenderloin, Penne Pasta w/ Vodka Sauce, Prociutto and Shallots (I will post this recipe soon) and a really tasty Chickpea Salad (I will post this recipe soon as well).  You could do this salad with a really simple grilled piece of chicken, steak or porkchop and the dinner could not be beat.  I am actually going to be making it for my nieces highschool graduation party.  The main course at the graduation party is a hog roast.  Basically this salad is so good you could serve it along side of anything...it is not only tasty, but versatile as well.  Please try this recipe....I think you will find it will rank right up there as one of your favorites!

DIVITO FAMILY LASAGNA

Every year right around Thanksgiving time I start to crave my Grandma's lasagna.  Every Thanksgiving my Grandma used to make her lasagna as a first course to our Thanksgiving meal.  Yes, that is right....we each ate a huge piece of lasagna before we moved on to the turkey, stuffing, mashed potatoes and gravy and pumpkin pie!   What can we say...we are Italian!  Since my Grandmas passing my family has kept the tradition alive.  This year we will be celebrating Thanksgiving with my husbands family so I know I will be missing out on my large hunk of lasagna.  It was for this reason that I made a huge batch of lasagna a few weeks ago.  To make it a bit easier on me I always  make a huge batch of marinara sauce and freeze it in smaller batches.  When I make the lasagna I take a batch of my marinara sauce out and just add a  1/2  pound of ground meat to the sauce....tadah....I then I have my lasagna sauce.  This lasagna is great!  It has been a family tradition for years and will be for years to come!

TAGLIATELLE & SHRIMP W/ A ROASTED TOMATO SAUCE

So I have actually found time to make a few really awesome recipes lately.  Because I am pregnant they have mostly turned out to be really homey & stick to your ribs meals.  This is ok, because fall is coming and these are the foods I believe we all turn to when the weather starts to get a bit cooler.  I came up with a great pasta dish using one of my favorite pastas; Tagliatelle.  This pasta is almost like a ribbon and wider than fettucinni.  I took some grape tomatoes and tossed them with some garlic, olive oil, salt, pepper and crushed red pepper and roasted them in the oven until they "popped".  I tossed the al'dente pasta along with the roasted tomato sauce and some shrimp and it turned out to be one of the best meals I have cooked in a long time (does that say too much since I have been cooking buttered noodles for 3 months?)!!  Anyway, this pasta dish is sure to be a hit for your family and friends.  It is very quick and easy to make and tastes amazing!

FETTUCINNI WITH ROASTED PEPPERS AND GRILLED CHICKEN

I make a killer roasted red pepper appetizer.  After I roast and peel the peppers I slice them and then slow cook them with some olive oil, garlic, celery leaves, italian parsley, water and some salt & pepper.  I cook them on low for about 20 minutes until all the flavors meld together.  This produces the most wonderful olive oil/ juice that you can imagine.  I serve these with some toasted baguettes which sops up the olive oil/juice until you can get the last drop.  This juice is so good that I started to think of a pasta dish that I could make that incorporated this wonderful roasted peppers with their juice, but add some more ingredients to make it a meal.  What I came up with was awesome!  It was a creamy pasta dish, without the cream.  I grilled up and sliced some chicken breasts and tossed those along with the roasted peppers with some fettucinni.  This dish really is decadent without all the heavy cream.

PASTA WITH FRESH ASPARAGUS PESTO

I love asparagus, but you can only make and eat asparagus spears every so often.  I am always trying to come up with new and fun ways to incorporate asparagus into my recipes.  A few nights ago I came up with a WINNER!  Dinner consisted of a fabulous Pasta with Fresh Asparagus Pesto.  I used a whole wheat angel hair pasta, but you could use any kind of pasta.  I pureed some par-boiled asparagus spears with some fresh basil from my garden, olive oil, parmesan cheese, halved grape tomates and salt & pepper.  It was the easiest thing to make and the taste was super fresh....great summer flavor.  It was a light pasta dish that I served on the side of a lemon chicken.  I tossed in a side salad of fresh greens, artichoke hearts and black olives and we had an awesome summer meal!

SUMMER SPAGHETTI

Here at our house we absolutely love pasta.  We do however try to only make a pasta dish once a week.  When summertime comes it is always too hot to slave over a stove making a slow cooked pasta sauce.  It is also too hot to usually even think about a steaming plate of spaghetti and meatballs with sauce.  I few years back we were having my friend Kerry and her husband, Justin, over for a mid summer dinner.  I decided to make some really simple appetizers along with a grilled pork tenderloin, chopped italian salad and I knew I wanted a starch.  I came up with something I call, Summer Spaghetti.  This recipe is the perfect summer time pasta.  It is made with angel hair pasta along with some wonderful summer grape tomatoes and fresh grown basil!  You mix these ingredients along with some fresh chopped mozerella cheese and other yummy ingredients and you have got a perfect pasta dish that you can serve on a hot night!  I also make and toast my own breadcrumbs which I toss into the pasta dish ....this really adds a ton of flavor.  You serve the pasta dish room temperature.  This is perfect because you can make this dish ahead of time, cover it, set it to the side and then you can enjoy your guests and serve dinner leisurely instead of slaving over a hot stove while your guests sip their cocktails.  I cannot emphasize enough about how awesome this pasta is.  The flavors are outstanding and are even better the next day!

CHICKEN DIABLO WITH PARMESAN POLENTA

This past Easter while my husband & I were visiting his parents in Pittsburgh, we went to an Italian restaraunt.  My husband ordered "Chicken Diablo", which means very hot chicken in a tomato sauce served over pasta.  I tasted his meal when it arrived and it was good, but I immediately had ideas of how to make it excellent!  I sliced some chicken breasts and added some onions and assorted bell peppers.  I turned up the heat with a little seeded and minced serrano pepper and crushed red pepper flakes.  The good news about this recipe is that you can omit all the spicy ingredients and still have a great tasting chicken dish.  I guess you could not call it Chicken "Diablo" anymore....maybe you would have to call it "Chicken de Angles' " instead.  Either way this dish is great. You can make it extremely spicy or extremely mild OR you can make it somewhere in the middle like I did.

EGGPLANT & GOAT CHEESE WITH TOMATO SAUCE

A couple months back I posted an appetizer where I layered eggplant, goat cheese and sliced campari tomatoes.  They were awsome and they were a hit!  I decided to come up with a recipe where instead of serving them as an appetizer I could serve them as a side dish and just make more of it.  I came up with a version that is way simpler than eggplant parm, but according to my husband this dish is right up there in taste with eggplant parm.  That is a compliment.  Eggplant parm takes forever to make, but it is worth it.  This dish takes less time to make and it is also less calorie laden since goat cheese has less fat content than mozerella and parmasan.  The eggplant is first dredeged in a bit of flour and then pan fried in a bit of vegie and olive oil mixture.  I layer the eggplant with a quick tomato sauce and then creamy goat cheese.  You could serve this Eggplant & Goat Cheese in Tomato Sauce as the main course with a side salad or as a side dish as I did along side my Honey Roasted Pork Roast.

LINGUINE WITH CLAMS AND TOMATOES

It was so nice for someone to give me a recipe for a change.  Even though I love finding new recipes and coming up with new menus to plan, sometimes it is really nice if someone offers me a family recipe to try out.  Loria Harman of Sew Simple Design , recently e-mailed me her family recipe for Linguine with Clams & Tomatoes.  I have to tell you a little bit about her first.  She does amazing window treatments & upholstery.  Her website http://www.sewsimpledesign.com/ has beautiful pictures of  her work.  We are finally, after almost three years in our new home, ready to do some window treatments.  I was searching on-line for just some pics of what I wanted and I came to her website.  I loved her work.  I had no idea that she actually lived in the Chicagoland area and when I saw her phone number and that she had a (630) area code I called her immediately!  She came out to my house, we came up with a few ideas, now all I have to do is pick some fabrics!  She is great!  Please check out her website should you need window treatments or pillow made or anything re-upholstered.

Anyway, long story short, Loria was nice enough to pass along her families recipe for Linguine with Clams & Tomatoes.  I jumped at the chance to make this dish because I have only made Linguine & Clams in white sauce or chicken broth based sauce, but I have not attempted it with tomatoes.  A little tidbit that you do not know about me....I love, love, love tomatoes.

SEASHELL PASTA & FRESH MOZERELLA WITH TOMATO BASIL BUTTER SAUCE

Ok...if there was just one pasta I cook eat for the rest of my life...this pasta could possibly be it!  The key to this pasta dish is fresh ingredients.  Make sure you get a good medium sized seashell pasta and cook it al'dente.  I went to Caputo's where they have all the great imported pasta to choose from.  Fresh basil is a must.  Again, Caputo's sells big bundles of fresh basil...it is awesome!  Last but certainly not least, you have to get the best kind of mozerella...this ingredient is key.  The kind that I used is called Burrata.  It is a fresh and creamy mozerella ball on the outside, but the inside is really creamy in texture, not solid like most mozerella cheese.  If you cannot find Burrata, then make sure you go to the deli (again, Caputo's is great for this) and ask for their freshest mozerella.  Believe me, this will really  make a difference since their are basically only four ingredients to this dish: pasta, mozerella cheese, basil and the tomato sauce.  When the fresh creamy mozerella meets the heat of the pasta and the sauce it starts to melt into this mouthwatering goodness! If you need a little pasta pick me up my Seashell Pasta & Fresh Mozerella with Tomato Basil Butter Sauce is just what you need!

Tilapia with Spinach, Tomatoes & Northern Beans

My husband was out of town all week so I decided to make one of his favorite seafood recipes for him when he came home.  He loves my Tilapia with Spinach, Tomatoes & Northern Beans.  This recipe is really light, but full of flavor.  You can use another firm white fish as well such as bass if you would like.  The lightly breaded and fried fish is served over a bed of fresh cooked spinach and then a northern bean, tomato amd chicken broth sauce is ladled over the top.  Sprinkle the top with some fresh chopped basil, grated parmesan cheese and a wedge of lemon and it is ready to be served!  I also like to serve a hunk of fresh baked bread on the side because my husband loves to soak up all the extra juice!