POLLO AI PEPERONI

This is a traditional dish from Rome.
In the real recipe you want to sautée the chicken with a couple of cloves of garlic. This time, as you can see from the photo, I tried substituting the garlic with onions, to give the dish an even sweeter taste. Try both ways and decide which you like best.


INGREDIENTS for 5 people

About 3 lbs of cut up chicken (I used just drumsticks this time)
4 fresh and ripe plum tomatoes
1 medium size onion or 2 cloves of garlic
about 4 sliced fresh peppers - yellow and red.
Salt
Hot pepper flakes
Parsley
Extra-virgin olive oil


Start by washing and cleaning the chicken.  Barely cover the bottom of a high skillet with olive oil and sautée the garlic (if you are making the "garlic version") with the chicken and some hot pepper flakes, until all sides become golden/ brown. Splash with white wine and let evaporate. Add the sliced peppers, onions, parsley, tomatoes and salt.

Cover and let cook on medium heat for about one hour, turning each piece of chicken to prevent sticking to the pan.

Accompany this dish with roasted potatoes and a fresh salad.

RAGÙ CON CARNE MACINATA

Ragù is the general word to indicate tomato sauce  made with meat. The type and cuts of meat may change according to the several recipes (beef, pork, and even lamb). For this recipe, I used ground beef, which could also easily be substituted by half beef and half pork.

INGREDIENTS (for a large pot of sauce that will allow to make pasta for about 15 people -I like to make it and freeze it).

3lbs of ground beef meat

3 peeled and washed carrots

3 washed celery stalks

3 medium size onions

2 cans of crushed San Marzano tomatoes

2 cans of tomato purée

One glass of white wine

Olive oil

Half a stick of butter

Salt


Start by chopping up the onions, celery and carrots in a food processor.

Sautée vegetables in melted butter + a splash of olive oil, for about 15 minutes on medium low heat.

Add the ground meat and tear it apart with a fork. Let it brown. Add salt to taste and the glass of wine. Let the wine evaporate on low heat.

Add the crushed tomatoes and stir well. Add the tomato purèe and stir well. Flavor with more salt.
(If, at this point, your sauce is too thick, you may want to add about half a glass of water to thin it out). Bring sauce to a boil on medium high heat and then reduce to low. Let simmer for about two hours.

Serve this sauce on your favorite short pasta, like penne or rigatoni, or on fettuccine all'uovo (egg fettucine) if you prefer long shaped pasta - but NEVER on spaghetti or linguine!!!

INVOLTINI DI MELANZANE

This summer we had the opportunity to take a cooking class as a family in Amalfi, in an almost magical setting: a lemon grove set right above the town. La famiglia Aceto taught us how to make these light and super easy to prepare eggplant "roll-ups".

This dish is now our new favorite! Hope you will like it too.

TIP: the quality of the eggplants is crucial for a successful outcome. If you live in the US, please avoid buying the standards eggplants you find at the supermarket. They have too many seeds. Look instead for either Chinese eggplants (long and thin) or the Holland or Italian eggplants, which are going to be not as thin but with no seeds.

INGREDIENTS (for five people)

6 long eggplants
2 pints of cherry tomatoes
1/4 lb of diced provola (smoked mozzarella) or regular fresh mozzarella
grated Parmigiano cheese
fresh basil
salt
vegetable frying oil

olive oil


Start by washing the eggplants. Dry and remove the stem. Slice them thin lengthwise, discarding the first and last slices which will be mostly skin.
Fry them in vegetable oil until they become golden and drain on absorbent paper.

Make a sauce with the cherry tomatoes: wash them and cut them in half or fourths, depending on how big they are. Sautée them in a pan with very little olive oil. Add salt to taste. Don't cook them too long or they will become watery. Five minutes should suffice.

Use a plate to assemble the rolls: take one eggplant and garnish with the tomatoes, provola, grated cheese and basil (in this order). Roll it up and place it in a baking dish, side up. Continue until you run out of eggplants.

Bake at 350 F for about 15 minutes or until the cheese melts. Serve warm.

Special Thanks to the Aceto Family!
http://www.amalfilemon.it/

ZUCCHINE ARROSTITE

Another easy side dish to accompany meat or fish. Also great to enrich your lunch sandwiches.

INGREDIENTS:

6 round zucchini (alternatively the traditional long ones will be just as fine - just beware of seeds if you live in the US)
Minced fresh garlic
Fresh mint
Salt
Olive oil
White vine vinegar


Wash the zucchini, remove top and bottom. Slice them thin (a little less than 1/4 of an inch)
and roast them, on both sides, making sure not to overdue it, as they will easily burn.
In a serving dish, make a layer of zucchini. Dress with salt, minced garlic and mint, olive oil and just some sprinkles of vinegar. Make several layers in the same fashion until you run out of zucchini.
You can keep this dish refrigerated for a few days.

INSALATA DI ASPARAGI E BARBABIETOLE

This fresh salad is ideal to cool off during hot summer days. Have it for lunch with a green salad and fresh bread or use it as a side dish for dinner.


INGREDIENTS for 5 people:

One bunch of fresh asparagus
Four small boiled beets (you can now buy them precooked in most supermarkets)
Extra-virgin olive oil
Fresh lemon juice
Two or three scallions
Salt

Wash the asparagus, remove the ends and chop it up in about 1 in. chunks. Steam until tender.
In the meanwhile chop up the beets. When the asparagus is cooked, add it to the beets. Flavor with salt, olive oil, fresh lemon juice and the chopped up scallions. Stir well. Serve cold or at room temperature.

INSALATA DI PATATE

This tasty potato salad hides in its dressings the benefits of green veggies that usually children don't appreciate much.  Instead, the unusual pesto-like dressing makes this salad palatable even to young ones.

INGREDIENTS for about 8 people:

10 New or Yukon Gold potatoes - all about the same size

A handful of fresh arugula salad (about 2 cups)

A handful of fresh parsley

A handful of fresh basil

One clove of garlic

Extra-virgin olive oil (about 1 cup)

Fresh lemon juice (1/2 a lemon or a whole one)

Salt

Start by washing well the potatoes - skin on.
Place them in a tall pot. Fill with cold water and bring to a boil. Let boil on medium heat until you can easily pierce them with a fork (this will take about 30 /40 minutes or even less for new potatoes).
Drain the water and let the potatoes cool.

Prepare the pesto dressing by placing a handful of arugula salad, the parsley and basil in an electric mixer (with large blades), add  the olive oil, lemon juice, garlic and some salt.  Mix until you get your pesto. You will need to add the olive oil in increments until you reach the desired consistency.
(If you like to taste the lemon in your dressing, add the juice of a whole lemon.)

Peal the potatoes and dice them in large cubes. Dress with the pesto and delicately stir. Taste and add more salt if needed.

CAVATELLI AL POMODORO E RICOTTA

Cavatelli  are a type of fresh pasta, typical of certain more rural areas of central and southern Italy, similar to dumplings or shells. They are typically home made ( I have fond memories of making them with my grandmother on Sunday mornings) but have recently become more available, either fresh or dry, also in the US, in Italian specialty shops.

This recipe features them with a simple plum tomato sauce, accompanied by a dab of fresh ricotta cheese.

INGREDIENTS for 5 people:

1 Package of cavatelli (1lb or 500 gr.)
Half a onion
1 12 oz can of whole plum tomatoes (preferably San Marzano type)
Extra -virgin olive oil
Salt
Fresh basil
Grated Parmigiano cheese
Whole milk ricotta cheese 

Start by making the sauce:slice the onionand sautée it in olive oil in a small pot. When it becomes translucent, add the tomatoes, also previously diced. Let cook on medium/ low heat for about 15 minutes. Add salt to taste.
In the meanwhile, cook the pasta according to package directions. Drain and add to the tomato sauce. Stir well, still on low heat. Serve by adding a dab of ricotta, fresh basil and grated Parmigiano cheese to each dish.