Tag: Italian
Val’s Antipasti Salad
Val’s Antipasti Salad
In Italian cuisine, antipasto is looked as an appetizer to prepare the stomach for a meal; dating back to medieval times. Cured meats, seafood, olives, cheeses, and pickled vegetables are some of the many forms of antipasti. Moving forward to modern times, Italian Americans combined these ingredients in pasta salad form with a vinegar-based Italian dressing as the sauce. This particular recipe is my sweetie Val’s personal recipe, which is quite delicious. Other additions you could add to this salad include cherry tomatoes, artichokes, marinated mushrooms, salami, mozzarella, basil; just to name a few.
Ingredients
- 16 oz tri-color rotini or fusilli pasta cooked al dente
- 8 oz Monterey Jack cheese cut into 1/2” cubes
- 8 oz cheddar cut into 1/2” cubes
- 2 cups broccoli florets
- 2 cups cauliflower florets
- 6 oz pepperoni cut into half moon slices
- 1 cup pepperoncini peppers chopped
- 1 cup black olives sliced
- 1/2 cup red onion thinly sliced
- 2 cups Italian dressing
Instructions
- Cook the pasta al dente according to package instructions. Rinse under cold water.
- Mix all of the ingredients together in a large bowl. Cover and refrigerate for 2 hours before serving.
Penne with Peas and Pancetta
Penne with Peas and Pancetta
This is a great example of how Italian cuisine can be simple using minimal ingredients, yielding massive flavor. Penne pasta was what I had on hand, but orecchiette, shells, bowtie, or just about any other type will work.
Ingredients
- 1 lb dried penne pasta cooked al dente according to package directions
- 1 tbsp olive oil
- 8 oz pancetta diced
- 1 small yellow onion diced
- 6 garlic cloves minced
- 1 1/2 cups frozen peas
- 1 cup chicken stock
- 1 tsp crushed red pepper
- 1 tsp cracked black pepper
- 1/2 cup parmesan cheese grated
- parmesan cheese shredded
Instructions
- Add olive oil to a large pan over medium heat. Brown the pancetta for 8 minutes.
- Stir in the onions and garlic. Cook for 2 minutes.
- Pour in the chicken stock. Stir in the peas and black and crushed red pepper. Bring to a light simmer and cook for 5 minutes.
- Stir in the penne and grated parmesan cheese. Cook for 2 minutes.
Italian Monkfish Kabobs
Italian Monkfish Kabobs
The pour man’s lobster is very underrated. Having a slight flavor of lobster with the firm consistency of a fish, monkfish is quite versatile and great on the grill. I marinated the fillets in olive oil, garlic, basil, and crushed red pepper for 30 minutes; skewered with a grape tomato, and grilled only for 10-12 minutes in total. If you don’t have a grill, you can leave the fillets whole and bake in the oven for 15 minutes at 400°.
Servings: 4
Equipment
- metal skewers
- chimney starter
- charcoal
- charcoal grill
Ingredients
- 4 monkfish fillets each cut into 4 pieces
- 2 tbsp olive oil
- 4 garlic cloves minced
- 1/4 cup basil finely chopped
- 1 tsp salt
- 1 tsp crushed red pepper
- 4 grape tomatoes
Instructions
- Marinate the monkfish with the ingredients for 30 minutes.
- Place 4 pieces of monkfish on metal skewers. Put a grape tomato on top of each skewer.
- Let your charcoal get gray in the chimney starter. Pour the charcoal in the grill and place on the grate. Put the skewers directly over the charcoal.
- Gril for 5-6 minutes a side.
