Pizzaiola

Ingredients
4 Tbsp 100% Organic Extra Virgin Olive Oil
1 lb-500 g thick steaks
1 lb-500 g Fresh Tomatoes
2 Cloves Garlic
Capers
Black olives
Salt
Black pepper
Oregano

Preparation
Heat extra virgin olive oil over medium heat in a large pan and add garlic.
Cook until tender and remove from the pan
Sear the steaks on both sides and add the tomatoes chopped to the pan, black olives, capers, black pepper, oregano and salt to taste.
Cook the tomatoes 15 minutes, breaking the tomatoes up with a fork as they soften.
Add the steaks to the sauce and cook them on low until they are very tender.
Serve.

Rose Cicchetti

Braciola Napoletana

Braciola Napoletana

Ingredients
4 Tbsp 100% Organic Extra Virgin Olive oil
2 lb-1 kg of beef slices
1 onion
4 oz-100 g pecorino
6 oz-150 g pine nuts
2 lb-1 kg of tomato sauce
½ glass red wine
salt
black pepper
parsley
Preparation
In a pan with extravirgin olive oil fry chopped onion half and then put tomato sauce.
Meanwhile garnish the beef slices with the other half onion cutted, pine nuts, chopped parsley, salt, pecorino, pepper then wrap and tie with a cotton thread.
In the end put the beef slices in the sauce, add red wine and cook 25 min.
Serve.

Rose Cicchetti

Philly Cheesesteak Dip

Philly Cheesesteak Dip

Ingredients

• 1-2 teaspoons olive oil
• 3/4 cup diced green bell pepper
• 1/3 cup minced shallots
• 8 oz cream cheese, softened
• 1/2 cup mayonnaise
• 1/2 cup Sargento® Traditional Cut Shredded Mozzarella Cheese
• 1 Tablespoon Montreal steak seasoning
• 8 oz grilled ribeye steak cut into 1/2" dice pieces
• 1/2 cup Sargento® Chef Blends™ Shredded 6 Cheese Italian
• minced chives for garnish

Directions

• In a small nonstick skillet over medium heat add olive oil and saute green bell pepper until slightly softened, about three minutes. Add shallots and cook for two minutes more, stirring often. Remove from heat and set aside.
• In a large mixing bowl, add cream cheese, mayonnaise, Sargento® Traditional Cut Shredded Mozzarella Cheese and Montreal steak seasoning. With a hand mixer, blend until fully incorporated. Stir in steak and bell pepper-onion mixture. Spoon mixture into a 3-1/2 cup baking dish and top with Sargento® Chef Blends™ Shredded 6 Cheese Italian. Bake for 20-30 minutes, until mixture is bubbling and cheese is slightly golden on top. Sprinkle with chives for garnish. Serve with toasted bread pieces.
• Tips: Serve ribeye steak the night before for dinner. Hold back one 8 oz steak and chop it into pieces. Refrigerate over night and warm up slightly in the pan before sauteing bell pepper and onion. This will save you time on game day. Styling tip: Since we eat with our eyes first, if you want your dip to look like the one pictured here, hold back a few pieces of the steak and some green pepper from the mixture. Once you spoon the dip into the baking dish, press in the steak and bell pepper pieces on the top of the dip allowing them to peek through. When sprinkling the final cheese on top, sprinkle the cheese around the steak so it continues to show through.

Cheesy Pepperoni Strata

Coat a 13 x 9 baking dish with nonstick cooking spray.  Set aside.  In a large bowl, whisk eggs, milk and garlic salt.  Arrange bread slices in bottom of prepared dish.  Scatter half the pepperoni, spinach and cheese over the bread.  Repeat layers.

Pour the egg mixture evenly over the top.  Cover and refrigerate at least 4 hours or overnight.  Heat oven to 375 degrees.  Cover baking dish with foil sprayed with nonstick cooking spray.  This will prevent the cheese from sticking to the top of it.  Bake dish covered for 15 minutes.  Uncover and bake 25 minutes until bubbly and lightly browned.

Cool slightly before serving.

Cut pieces into squares and enjoy.

Have a nice breakfast!

Cheesy Pepperoni Strata

6 eggs
1-3/4 cups whole milk
1/4 teaspoon garlic salt
1 loaf crusty Italian bread (12 ounces) cut into 1/2′” thick slices
6 ounces sliced pepperoni, chopped
1 package (10 ounces) frozen chopped spinach, thawed and squeezed dry
2 cup shredded cheddar cheese (I used extra sharp)

Coat a 13 x 9 baking dish with nonstick cooking spray.  Set aside.  In a large bowl, whisk eggs, milk and garlic salt.  Arrange bread slices in bottom of prepared dish.  Scatter half the pepperoni, spinach and cheese over the bread.  Repeat layers.

Pour the egg mixture evenly over the top.  Cover and refrigerate at least 4 hours or overnight.  Heat oven to 375 degrees.  Cover baking dish with foil sprayed with nonstick cooking spray.  This will prevent the cheese from sticking to the top of it.  Bake dish covered for 15 minutes.  Uncover and bake 25 minutes until bubbly and lightly browned.  Cool slightly before serving.

Chicken Cordon Bleu with Parmesan Cream Sauce

  The other night, for our at home date night, I made a new 'fancier' version of Chicken Cordon Bleu...   This got rave reviews from us both!   And gosh, did it turn out pretty!  We served it with some lemon roasted asparagus  and the extra Parmesan Cream sauce was SO GOOD over some mashed potatoes.    

Chicken Cordon Bleu with Parmesan Cream Sauce

Ingredients

For the Chicken

2 Chicken Breast, halved and pounded thin (So 4 total pieces of meat)

leftover baked ham or your favorite good quality ham deli meat

Swiss Cheese

3/4 cup all purpose flour

1 tsp Lawry's seasoning salt

1/2 tsp black pepper

1 egg

2 TBSP milk

1 cup Bread Crumbs

2 TBSP Vegetable oil

2 TBSP butter

For the Parmesan Cream Sauce

2 TBSP butter

2 TBSP all purpose flour

1 cup milk

1 tsp Garlic Powder

1 chicken flavored Bouillon cube, crushed

1 TBSP Dijon mustard 

1 tsp Worcestershire sauce

1/2 cup grated Parmesan 

Directions

        Slice both chicken breast in half lengthwise, making 4 thinner cutlets. Put each cutlet inside a freezer bag  and flatten with a meat pounder or rolling pin until they are approximately 1/4" thick.
Top each cutlet with a slice of ham and cheese - then roll up tightly, tuck in the ends and secure with toothpicks.  In a shallow bowl, mix the flour, lawry's, and pepper together and set aside.
Whisk the egg and milk together in another small bowl and set aside as well.  Place the bread crumbs in a third bowl.   Dip the rolled cutlets in the flour first, then the egg wash and then roll in the bread crumbs and set on a plate.   Heat the oil and butter in a small skillet over medium heat and brown the chicken on all sides before transferring to a greased baking dish.  Bake in the oven for about 20 - 25 minutes, or until no longer pink. 

       While the chicken is baking, make the cream sauce:
Melt the butter in a medium saucepan over medium heat. Whisk in the flour, and continue to whisk constantly for about 1 - 2 minutes.  Slowly pour in the milk, then stir in the Garlic Powder and Chicken Boullion, whisking constantly over medium heat until it begins to simmer and thicken - about 5 minutes.  Remove from heat and stir in the mustard, worcestershire sauce, and parmesan until well combined and the cheese has melted.
When the chicken is cooked, remove from oven and serve drizzled with the sauce.  Enjoy!!!

Valentine's Day Dessert

Happy Valentine's Day!  I wanted to show you a quick & easy recipe to make for today!  I've seen a lot of recipes for chocolate lasagna, and even though chocolate is scrumptious, I wanted to try it in a different flavor.  I asked the kids and they said strawberry.  So when I went to the store I was so excited to see that they had a strawberry crème and I couldn't wait to give it a try.  This is so simple to make, and yet it tastes so delicious.  This is the perfect recipe to make for your loved ones this Valentine's Day!

Ingredients are as follows:

18 golden vanilla sandwich cookies (Oreo's), crushed

3 Tbsp. butter

1 1/2 C milk 

1 (3.4 ounce) strawberry crème instant pudding

8 ounces cream cheese

1/4 C sugar

1/3 C + 1 Tbsp. heavy whipping cream

1 C heavy whipping cream

2 Tbsp. powdered sugar

red food coloring, optional 

Have an 8 x 8" pan ready.  

In a small bowl, melt the butter and add to the crushed cookies.

Evenly pat into the bottom of the pan; set aside.

In another bowl whisk the pudding and milk together; place in the fridge.

Beat the cream cheese, sugar, and (1/3 + 1 Tbsp.) heavy whipping cream together.

 Spread the pudding onto the crust.

Place little dollops of the cream cheese mixture on top. 

Carefully spread out (I used a butter knife that I dipped in warm water); set aside.

  

  

Whisk the heavy whipping cream and sugar until stiff peaks form.

Remove a big spoonful and place into a separate bowl.  Take the remaining and spread onto the cream cheese layer.

Mix in a dash of red food coloring into the spoonful that you removed previously.

Spread this on top (you don't have to do this step, however it looks pretty!). 

Cool in the fridge for an hour then slice, serve, and enjoy!

Simple and Easy Braciole- Only 6 Ingredients

Simple and Easy Braciole- Only 6 Ingredients

Braciole is a fantastic meat to add to your Sunday Dinner.
Braciole
Ingredients:
1 1/2 lb flank steak (usually labeled braciole meat)
6 tbsp Parsley leaves (roughly chopped)
8 garlic cloves (minced)
4 tbsp of olive oil
salt and pepper to season
4 tbsp grated Pecorino Romano cheese
Tomato Sauce
Pasta

Directions:
1. Lay out the braciole on wax or parchment paper. Pound with a meat mallet.
2. Season both sides generously with sea salt and pepper. Sprinkle with olive oil.
3. Spread garlic on top of the braciole evenly across the entire piece. Scatter grated cheese on top of garlic.
4. Pile on the parsley! Be sure to cover the whole steak!
5. Now the tricky part, roll it up tight enough not flop over and fall apart, but loose enough to let the sauce and flavors mix well.
6. Secure with baker’s twine. My Mom and I had a good time making different designs/knots with the twine!
7. Heat dutch oven on stove top to medium-high heat. Place your bracioles in carefully and continue turning to brown on all sides. The inside does not need to be fully cooked, because it will continue to cook in the sauce. Add water if necessary to keep the meat moist.
8. When fully browned, cover with tomato sauce and reduce to medium-low heat and let cook slowly for 2- 2 1/2 hours. This slow cooking will keep the braciole tender. I used a tomato sauce similar to this one from an earlier post, except I used whole peeled tomatoes and pureed them in a blender and added onions and red wine.
9. Serve bracoile and sauce over pasta!