An Italian Comfort Food Classic

Italian Sausage and Potato Hash

Ingredients:

1/4 cup Olive Oil
4 Large Italian Sausage cut into 2 inch pieces
4 Large Potatoes, peeled and cut to your liking
1 Green Bell Pepper, thickly chopped
1 Red Bell Pepper, thickly chopped
3 sweet onions
pinch of black pepper

Directions:

Heat olive oil in a skillet and cook sausage until brown.  Move sausage to a plate and set aside.  Add potatoes to skillet, stirr occasionally until browned, while potatoes are cooking , add red, green pepper and onions together with potatoes.  Cook the vegetables together until the vegetables are cooked to your liking.

Combine, sausage, potatoes and  vegetables add salt and pepper to your liking and serve.

**Add some hot chili  flakes to this dish if you enjoy it spicy**

The perfect after school snack

These Quick and Easy Prosciutto Wrapped Bread sticks are a great example of something you can make in less than 10 minutes, that really requires no stress.  What’s even better is that both adults and kids love them.   You can also make these with different types of cold cuts like ham or salami, you don't have to use prosciutto.

I bought a box of grissini and   +Prosciutto di Parma sliced fresh from the deli and just wrapped  half of one slice per bread stick. 

Happy last day of school to everyone!!

Frittata cupcakes

I just put frittata cupcakes in the oven.  I can't wait to add to this post later on when they are done!

Stay tuned...

And the end result is :

The idea came from watching Giada De Laurentiis. She was making "Mini Frittata's."  Giada's recipe calls for eggs and milk which is completely different from the recipe that I was taught.  My grandmother taught me to make frittata using ricotta, in fact when I called her to tell her  I was making frittata using milk she scolded me and said I would make "na brutta figura" (disgrace).  I must say, Nonna, you were wrong!!  The frittata cupcakes were light and delicious and in a nutshell, the perfect snack.

Giada made her Mini Frittata's as follows:  

Ingredients

Nonstick vegetable oil cooking spray
8 large eggs
1/2 cup whole milk
1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
1/4 teaspoon salt
4 ounces thinly sliced ham, chopped
1/3 cup freshly grated Parmesan
2 tablespoons chopped fresh Italian parsley leaves

Directions

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F.

Spray 2 mini muffin tins (each with 24 cups) with nonstick spray. Whisk the eggs, milk, pepper, and salt in a large bowl to blend well. Stir in the ham, cheese, and parsley. Fill prepared muffin cups almost to the top with the egg mixture. Bake until the egg mixture puffs and is just set in the center, about 8 to 10 minutes. Using a rubber spatula, loosen the frittatas from the muffin cups and slide the frittatas onto a platter. Serve immediately.

Read more at: http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/giada-de-laurentiis/mini-frittatas-recipe/index.html?oc=linkback

 

I made mine like this: 

Ingredients

8 large eggs
1/2 cup whole milk
1/4 teaspoon salt
thinly sliced sopressata, chopped
chopped asparagus

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F.
Line 2 mini muffin tins (each with 24 cups) with cupcake liners. Whisk the eggs, milk, and salt in a large bowl to blend well. Stir in the sopressata and asparagus. Fill prepared muffin cups almost to the top with the egg mixture. Bake until the egg mixture puffs and is just set in the center, about 8 to 10 minutes.

I hope you all enjoy making this recipe as much as my family and I did.

P.S. don't forget to follow me on twitter.

xoxo

BBQ/Pool Party ideas

I was recently speaking with my aunt who lives in New York with her husband.  She told me that she will be hosting a BBQ Pool party for the 4th this year.  She said that she would BBQ the traditional burgers and dogs, and chicken.  She then asked me for ideas for things she could make for her guests to pick on while the main meal was being prepared.

Here's what I came up with.  I tested it tonight with my family and it was a hit!!

Caprese Salad on a Skewer

What you will need:

Skewers
Cherry tomatoes
Basil leaves
Mini Bocconcini
Balsamic Vinegar


Add the ingredients to the skewer in the order you desire. Be sure to alternate the basil leaves. Drizzle balsamic vinegar over the skewer and serve.

Enjoy!


PS as you can tell im new to blogging and new to twitter too.  If you have any suggestions on how I can make my blog better, I'd love to hear from you.  You can also follow me on Twitter, click on the follow button above.

Thanks for visiting.

Grilled Nutella Sandwich

+Nutella  +Nutella Luv ~(*_*)~


My husband came home with a French Baguette from our bakery. While I had the BBQ going I decided that it was a perfect moment to grill the bread and make grilled Nutella Sandwiches.  I sliced the entire baguette, added Nutella to each slice stuck them together to make a sandwich and then grilled them for 30 seconds on each side. (you can use an indoor grill as well, but grilling time may vary)

This treat goes well with a tall glass of milk.  It's a great treat kids will enjoy!!

Here is the recipe:

French Baguette
Nutella
**if your using an indoor grill I suggest a small amount of butter on the bread to prevent it from sticking to your grill**

Slice French baguette.  Spread Nutella on to bread slices and apply sandwich to grill.

Grilling should not take long you just want to see grill marks and to slightly heat the Nutella.

Enjoy

My Take on Veggies...

We always read about the importance of increasing the amount of veggies you consume.  With this, we learn that veggies are nutritious and an excellent factor to healthy eating.  So why don't people consume more veggies if there are so many health benefits? One argument remains clear: They take too long to prepare.

Let's examine alternatives and ways for us to prepare veggies quickly while keeping them tasty. You can steam them, bake them, boil them, and my personal favorite, you can grill them.  Veggies don't always have to be fresh.  Frozen veggies are just as nutritious as fresh veggies and they are much more convenient.  I find the preparation of fresh veggies a lot quicker since you can cook from frozen (most frozen veggie packages have already pre-washed the veggies much like the cut and washed salad sold in the produce department).  You can also purchase fresh veggies and freeze them yourself if you don't want to purchase the prepackaged veggies at your grocery store. 

Recently, my local grocery store expanded their selection of frozen veggies. You can now purchase asparagus spears!  and the best part about it is that you don't have to trim the tuff ends of the asparagus, its already done for you!

I recently made grilled asparagus wrapped with proscuito.  You can make this dish using frozen or fresh asparagus.

Grilled Asparagus with Prosciutto

Ingredients:

1 bunch of asparagus (fresh or frozen)
Prosciutto Di Parma
Olive oil
Salt and pepper

Heat grill to medium high.  Trim tuff ends of asparagus. Toss the trimmed asparagus with olive oil salt and pepper.

Place asparagus on the grill turning occasionally until asparaus are charred approximately 5-7 minutes.

Remove from grill and let cool.  Once cooled, wrap each spear with Prosciutto Di Parma.

**If you enjoy the salty sweet combination, add some sweetness and drizzle some Crema Di Balsamico over the prosciutto wrapped asparagus**

Grilled Shrimp Skewers

This dish is ready to eat in 30 mins

Ingredients:

1 bag of deveined shrimp of medium size
2 tablespoons of vegetable oil
1 teaspoon of parsley or cilantro
1 tablespoon of paprika
1 tablespoon of black pepper
1 tablespoon of chopped garlic or garlic powder
1 tablespoon of pimento paste (hot or sweet)

Combine oil, parsley, paprika, black pepper, garlic and pimento paste add shrimp.  Toss mixture with shrimp making sure shrimp is coated.

Thread shrimp onto skewers.

Grill on BBQ 2 minutes on each side until shrimp become bright pink and a little charred.

I usually prepare steamed rice and salad to go along with the shrimp.

Enjoy!

Kale and Chickpea Salad

Kale is an excellent vegetable to add to your diet.  There are a number of great benefits to consuming more kale. Here are a few:

Kale is filled with powerful antioxidants which help to protect against cancers.  It is high in iron, vitamin K, A, C and Iron.  It helps to reduce cholesterol levels and its low in calories.  Kale is also high in fiber which is great for detoxing.

This salad is great for lunch or as a side.

Enjoy

**I make this salad with chilli flakes for added heat.  You can eliminate the chilli's**

1 red chilli, finely diced, optional - or a sprinkle of chilli flakes
1 tablespoon white wine vinegar or red wine vinegar
1 can chickpeas (400g / 14oz), drained
1/2 bunch  kale
2 handfuls finely grated parmesan
3 tablespoons of olive oil

1. Combine chilli, if using, with vinegar and olive oil. Season with salt and black pepper.
2. Toss chickpeas in the dressing.
3. Slice cavalo nero or kale super finely into shreds (as shown above), removing the stem if it is too coarse. Toss the shredded greens into the salad with the parmesan.

My First Blog Entry

            After reading numerous food blogs and experimenting with many recipes, I have finally decided to start a food blog of my own! I LOVE cooking, especially for the enjoyment of others, and thought that it would be great to share my hobby with everyone!

            I am 29 years old, a wife and a mother of 2 boys ages 5 and 1.  I currently reside in Toronto Canada in the City of Vaughan.  I have a European background. My parents and I were born in Canada however our roots are Southern Italian.  I am also a student at Seneca College studying to become a Law Clerk. 

            Between taking care of my boys, school, and soccer practice I had to find ways to make dinner quick and easy.  In this blog you will find recipes for healthy quick meal ideas.  I hope this blog will be useful to other individuals who enjoy the art of cooking as much as I do.

Enjoy
xoxox