Homemade Meat Lasagna from Scratch

Homemade Lasagna

Every now and then, I liked to make a double batch of Lasagna from scratch – one pan to bake for dinner, and one pan to freeze for a busy time in the month ahead.  I buy ground beef at the market when it goes on sale, then freeze the packages and defrost when needed. [...]

Chicken Cacciatore

Chicken Cacciatore

Chicken Cacciatore, or “hunter’s style chicken,” is an Italian meal of meat (such as chicken) braised in a stew of tomatoes, onions, garlic, and red wine.  It often contains other ingredients, such as bell peppers, mushrooms, or black olives.  In my version, I prefer to use mushrooms – but if you don’t like mushrooms, you [...]

Pizza Bread Rolls

Pizza Rolls

Earlier this month, I posted a recipe for Carrot Ginger Walnut Sweet Rolls.  I love making sweet/filled rolls… they make a great breakfast, dessert, or afternoon snack.  Filled rolls also are great for a crowd – one recipe usually makes 16 servings – so it’s a great dish to make and bring to a potluck. [...]

The secret to making perfect risotto (Basic Risotto Recipe): Artichoke Risotto

Artichoke Risotto

Last month, I posted a recipe for Butternut Squash Risotto that you can make with pretty much any vegetable puree.  However, I also wanted to share a  Basic Risotto Recipe that you can easily sub ingredients for whatever you have on hand.  This version calls for Artichoke – but you can use mushrooms, sun dried [...]

Minestrone Soup

Minestrone Soup

Every time I buy a pre-cooked rotisserie chicken from the market, I save the bones, scraps, and skins to make chicken stock.  (I dump it all into a pot, cover with water, and simmer for an hour or so.  Then I cool it, strain it, and store it in the refrigerator to make soup the [...]

How to make homemade Cannoli shells and filling

Make your own Cannoli at home!

Fresh cannolis are one of my favorite Italian (Sicilian) pastries… crisp flaky pastry on the outside, sweet creamy filling on the inside… yum!  Good cannoli are hard to find, though… not very many places around here sell them fresh, and nothing is worse than taking home a soggy cannoli!  My solution, of course, was to [...]

Country Fried Steak with Milk Gravy (a.k.a. Chicken Fried Steak)

Country Fried Steak

I was browsing the meat department at the supermarket the other day, and came across a package of thin cut sirloin steaks marked “buy one get one free”.  Well ok then!  Each package contained about 4 thin-cut steaks, so that worked out to about $1.25 a steak!  Score. For REAL steaks (for the grill), I [...]

Italian Cheesecake made with Mascarpone and Ricotta cheese

Italian Cheesecake - made with mascarpone and ricotta cheese

In the town we grew up, there was this old Italian deli/bakery.  My parents used to buy this little cheesecake from there every once in awhile – it was very small (no more than 6″ in diameter) and came in an aluminum foil pan.  That little cheesecake was soooooo good – so rich, so creamy [...]

Zabaglione (Italian Custard made with Marsala Wine)

Zabaglione (Italian Marsala Wine Custard)

Zabaglione is a really simple dessert to make – but looks very complicated and impressive!  It requires few ingredients:  egg yolks, sugar, vanilla, cream, and Marsala Wine.  I like to punch up the flavor with a pinch of salt, and the addition of vanilla bean pods… but that part is optional. To make this simple [...]

Pesto & Cheese Stuffed Braided Bread

Pesto & Mozzarella Cheese Stuffed Braided Bread

This bread is so good!  Serve small slices on the side of an Italian meal instead of garlic bread… or serve large slices with a side salad as a meal by itself. If you don’t want to make the bread dough from scratch, feel free to substitute with store-bought pizza dough.  You can also use [...]