by Technocook on October 26, 2009
This is a great skillet sauce that has a tinge of mint. My grandmother would grow mint in the back yard for just such a sauce.
Ingredients:
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4 garlic cloves, minced
3 tbs extra-virgin olive oil
3 lb tomatoes (peeled, seeded and chopped) This can be done with the boiling water method
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp freshly ground pepper
1 tbs chopped fresh mint leaves, or more to taste
Instructions:
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In a large skillet heat 2 tablespoons of oil and add garlic.
Cook over low heat until the garlic is fragrant, about 2 minutes.
Increase the heat to high and cook until the garlic is golden, about 10 seconds
longer.
Add the tomatoes and cook over high heat, stirring occasionally, until the sauce is thick but chunky and some tomato liquid still remains, about 10 minutes.
Turn of the heat and season with the salt, pepper and mint.
Serve over your favorite pasta.
by Technocook on October 24, 2009
A simple pesto sauce that is a different taste than the standard red sauce.
Ingredients:
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1 cup chopped/washed/drained spinach
2 tablespoon olive oil
1/2 cup non fat plain yogurt
2 cloves of Crushed Garlic
1 Teaspoon dried basil
1 handful of fresh chopped parsley
Juice from one lemon
2 tablespoons Parmesan cheese
A little extra Parmesan cheese, shaved or shake, to garnish the served pasta
Instructions:
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In a food processor or blender process all ingredients except the cheese until chunky but smooth.
Add warm water to thin a little if necessary.
Cook your preferred pasta until al dente.
Toss the cooked pasta with a little butter then add the sauce mixture ans mix very well.
Add Parmesan Cheese and toss again.
I like the cheese so I will also put a little more on top of the pasta when served.
by Technocook on October 22, 2009
One of my favorite pastas is Rigatoni. It has been since I was a young boy. I also loved my mother’s sausage onions and peppers. Makes a great sandwich. Well this is a combination of both and it is wonderful together.
It sould serve 4 to 5 but usually only serves 2 to 3
1 pound Rigatoni (whole wheat works great too)
1/4 cup olive oil
3/4 pound hot Italian sausage links (My favorite is toniostastyitalians.com)
1 green/red/yellow bell pepper, julienne cut
1 medium sweet onion sliced thin like the pepper (Vidalia is the best)
3 cloves garlic, minced
1 bunch basil cut in ribbons (roll together in a tube and slice across)
1 tablespoon fresh oregano, chopped
1/8 cup sun-dried tomatoes, finely julienne cut
Put the sausage links in a shallow baking pan and poke each link two or three times with a fork. Bake in
350 oven for 25 minutes. Remove from pan and slice in 1/8-inch thick rounds.
Bring 3 quarts of water to a rolling boil add 1 tablespoon salt.
As the water heats, prepare the sauce by heating olive oil in a saute pan and adding the julienne pepper, onion and saute’ a few minutes over medium-low heat. Add the garlic and sausages and cook for 10 more minutes over moderate heat. Add the basil, oregano and sun-dried tomatoes. Salt and pepper to taste. Turn off the heat and let it rest.
Cook the rigatoni until it is cooked, but firm and pleasantly chewy. When the pasta is cooked to your taste, drain and toss with the sauce.Serve steaming hot.
Great with a side salad and a glass of wine.
by Technocook on August 30, 2009
A great Italian Dish.
Eggplant Parmigianino Ingredients
Tomato Sauce:
- 3 medium carrots, diced
- 2 stalks celery, diced
- 1 red onion
- 2 cloves garlic, peeled, whole
- 2 pounds canned tomatoes with juice
- 6 leaves fresh basil or 2 tablespoons dry
- 2 tablespoons olive oil
- salt and pepper
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by admin on February 23, 2009
First of all, let me just say this. I love both Chinese food and Italian food. I don’t want you to get all excited and start thinking I am bashing on any particular culture. I am not; in fact I am attempting to take a man’s view on cooking Italian. After all, this blog is about Italian recipes and Italian cooking right? Actually it is, but we love to celebrate all different food types.
So here we go in a David Letterman format.
10. Italian wine: Need I say more? Ever hear of a good Chinese wine? I think not. Maybe a Saki, but as far as I am concerned, it’s an acquired taste.
9 Complexity: Husbands who don’t venture into the kitchen much tend to feel more comfortable with something not as complex. Spaghetti and meatballs is really not too tough.
8 Lots of variations: You can start with any kind of pasta, dump anything on top of it, and you have transformed the ordinary into the extraordinary. Anything in your pantry or refrigerator is fair game.
7 Tomatoes: Tomatoes are beautiful. They come in so many varieties, and can be spiced in so many ways. How can you not like them?
6. Simple ingredients: We have very good Chinese friends who invited us to dinner once. She asked me to grab something out of the refrigerator for her while she was creating our culinary delight. Upon opening the refrigerator, I saw items that I have never seen in my refrigerator before. There was funky plant life and animal parts that I did not think you could buy much less eat. This was one well stocked unit but I would have to imagine it would take a while to buy all those ingredients. Italian refrigerators seem a little simpler. Besides, gizzards and chicken feet just don’t work for me.
5. Neater noodles: Italian noodles are just more fun to me. You get all kinds of noodles in all sorts of shapes and sizes. You can buy them in boxes and bags or make them yourself. Chinese noodles, while delicious, seem to have less variety.
4. Easy to make: For some reason I just can’t get my white Anglo Saxon attempt at Chinese food to taste authentic. I never seem to have the one ingredient that creates the magic touch. In Italian cooking, I have everything I need,( which is the fab four: olive oil, onions garlic and basil), and it is usually just comes down to adding more of “this” or “that’
3. Impersonations: I just don’t do a good imitation of an Asian, but I can get you going with my rendition of Vieto ala beanie. Everyone can do a good Italian imitation. This is the part where cooking is becomes fun. (its easier to make fun of your own) I love to entertain my children with my cheesy attempts at cultural impressions. It’s better received to kiss your fingertips in appreciation than to muster up a large belch.
2. Italian food tastes better the next day: My grandmother would make sauce, but we were never allowed to eat it until the next day. That’s because all the flavors came together while it sat overnight in the refrigerator after assembly. What I once thought was a cruel thing to do to a boy, turned out to be a rewarding exercise in patience. (check out our pasta fagioli, most excellent the next day)
And the number one reason….(drum roll please)
1. Garlic: As far as I am concerned, garlic is the center of the universe. I can’t get enough of it. I love the smell of it, I like it on my hands, I like the way it smells in the kitchen, I like it on bread, in sauce, on pizza or in pesto. Heck if I could get away with garlic sheets on the bed….. (you get the idea) Italians love to cook with it and its versatility is certainly bound to make it the signature of any dish. Sauté’ some with some onions and olive oil, it can make a grown man cry.
by Technocook on February 12, 2009
Cannelloni is sometimes confused with manicotti. Both are stuffed, baked pasta. The 
difference is that manicotti are usually pre-formed tubes and cannelloni are rectangular sheets of pasta dough that are filled and rolled into tube shapes. Both are stuffed cheese, spinach and cheese, or meats, seafood. The cannelloni are then covered with a tomato or other sauce. Cannelloni is Italian for “large reeds.”
It is easier to make the cannelloni with home made noodles. It took about an hour from the first flour on the counter to serving the meal.
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by Technocook on February 11, 2009
One of my favorite spinach side dishes was made by mom for years. It was a way to get us 
to eat our spinach. To make it is as easy as mixing pancake batter and to fry it up is about the same. Give it a try,
Ingredients:
- 1 tbs olive oil
- 1/2 tsp garlic powder
- 1 tbs Romano cheese
- 1 tbs Parmesan
- 1/4 tsp ground spicy pepper
- 1 tbs parsley
- 1 tsp basil
- 1/4 tsp pepper
- 1/4 tsp salt
- 4 eggs
- 2 pkgs frozen spinach (or a large bag of fresh – about 20 oz cooked)
- 2 tbs red sauce (spaghetti sauce, ketchup in a pinch)
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