Tag Archives: Italian

Portobello Mushroom Tortellini

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Portobello Mushroom tortelliniHave you seen the movie A Knight’s Tale? I love it! I am always drawn towards any kind of media that takes place in Medieval Times, yes I love the restaurant, I also love books both non-fiction and fiction, and movies set in this time. T.V Shows , of course. I love to watch a good joust! Sword fighting, yup it’s pretty much awesome. So last night my best friend and I watched A Knight’s Tale, one of my favorites, its got jousting and sword fighting, plus romance and so many good comedic lines, pretty much everything I want in a movie. So good times were had, and we also ate this super yummy pasta dish, I found the recipe at Allrecipes.

  •                     1 pound cheese tortellini
  •                     2 large Portobello mushrooms
  •                     1/4 cup white wine
  •                     1 tablespoon chopped fresh parsley
  •                     2 cloves garlic, minced
  •                     8 ounces Alfredo-style pasta sauce
  •                     salt and pepper to taste
  •                     1/3 cup grated Parmesan cheese

1. Cook pasta according to package directions and set aside.

2. Heat wine, parsley, garlic in skillet. Add mushrooms and saute for 5 minutes until tender. Remove pan from heat and slowly add alfredo sauce.

3. Serve over pasta with parmesan cheese and salt and pepper.

4. Eat and enjoy!

Spaghetti and Meatballs

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Deliciousness in a bowlMmmm… Spaghetti, a crowd pleaser that is for sure. I love being creative in the kitchen, I love serving my kids a vast variety of food, but sometimes, you just want to serve a dinner where nobody complains. This recipe did take a long time, like 2 hours for the sauce, but it was well worth it and we all decided this is the best Spaghetti/Meatball recipe I have made.

original Recipe found at Allrecipes

MEATBALLS

  •                     1 pound lean ground beef
  •                     1 cup fresh bread crumbs
  •                     1 tablespoon dried parsley
  •                     1 tablespoon grated Parmesan cheese
  •                     1/4 teaspoon ground black pepper
  •                     1/8 teaspoon garlic powder
  •                     1 egg, beaten
  •                     SAUCE
  •                     3/4 cup chopped onion
  •                     5 cloves garlic, minced
  •                     1/4 cup olive oil
  •                     2 (28 ounce) cans whole peeled tomatoes
  •                     2 teaspoons salt
  •                     1 teaspoon white sugar
  •                     1 bay leaf
  •                     1 (6 ounce) can tomato paste
  •                     3/4 teaspoon dried basil
  •                     1/2 teaspoon ground black pepper

1. First of all you need to get that sauce a cooking! Saute your onion and garlic in the olive oil in a large sauce pan. When onion is translucent stir in both cans of tomatoes, salt, sugar, and bay leaf. Bring to a simmer. Simmer, covered, for 90 minutes.

2. When that has been started make your meat balls. Mix all meatball ingredients together and from into about 12 balls. Put in refrigerator to firm up a but until needed.

3. Meanwhile, add remaining ingredients, plus the meatballs to your sauce. Return to  a simmer and cook for an additional 30 minutes, or until meatballs have been cooked through.

4. Serve with pasta of your choice.

5. Eat and Enjoy!

Chocolate Italian Cream Cake

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chocolate cakeI hesitated posting this because although his cake was über yummy….let’s just say it wasn’t the prettiest cake I have ever made. Well, I would rather have a cake that tastes amazing as opposed to a cake that looks good. Both is nice, for a blog however. If however you are looking for a great tasting cake, this is the recipe for you. It has lots of goodies in it, just wait until you see the ingredient list.

Recipe found in The Southern Living Cookbook

  • 1 cup butter, softened
  • 2 cups sugar
  • 5 large eggs, separated
  • 2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
  • 1/4 cup unsweetened cocoa
  • 1 tsp baking soda
  • 1 cup buttermilk
  • 2/3 cup finely chopped pecans
  • 3 1/2 ounces flaked coconut
  • 1 tsp vanilla extract
  • 1/2 tsp cream of tartar
  • 3 Tbsp. light rum
  • Chocolate-Cream cheese frosting (see below)

1. Beat the butter until creamy, add sugar and continue to beat until fully mixed. Beat in eggs yolks one at a time.

2. Meanwhile start your egg whites in your electric stand mixer. Beat egg whites until foamy, then add cream of tartar, beat until stiff peaks form, set aside you will be using them soon.

3. Combine, flour, cocoa and baking soda and gradually beat into butter/sugar mixture alternately with buttermilk. Beat in pecans, coconut and vanilla.

4. fold your egg whites into batter until all white streaks are gone, be careful not to over mix.

5. Pour batter into 3 greased and floured 9 inch cake pans, bake for 24 minutes at 350 degrees.

6. Test with toothpick to make sure they are done, cool for 10 minutes. Remove from pans and place on wire racks. Sprinkle each cake layer with 1 Tbsp. of rum and cool completely.

Cream Cheese Icing

  • 1 (8 ounce) package cream cheesea apiece of cake
  • 1/2 cup butter, softened
  • 2 tsp vanilla extract
  • 1/4 tsp ground cinnamon
  • 5 cups icing sugar
  • 1/4 cup unsweetened cocoa
  • 1/4 cup buttermilk
  • 2/3 cup chopped pecans

1. To make icing, beat together the cream cheese, butter,vanilla and cinnamon until mixed and creamy.

2. Beat in the cocoa and icing sugar one cup at a time, beat in buttermilk then pecans.

3. Frost cake, using frosting in between layers, up the sides and on top of cake.

4. Eat and Enjoy!

Beef Manicotti

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Dinner timeWell after my husband has been in Africa for 2 1/2 weeks he was really wanting to come home to some good cooking! I made him one of his favorite meals, an old family favorite. We haven’t had it in a really long time, sometimes it is so nice to revisit a recipe from long ago!

  • 1 1/2 pounds ground beefStuffed Shells
  • 1 jar red pasta sauce
  • 1 jar alfredo pasta sauce
  • 2 cups mozzarella cheese
  • 1/4 cup parmesan cheese
  • 1 tsp minced garlic
  • 1 tsp dried basil
  • 1 tsp dried oregano
  • 1 egg
  • 1 box manicotti noodles (should have 14 in it)

1. Cook pasta according to package directions. Rinse with cold water and set aside.

2. While pasta is cooking, brown ground beef in fry pan with garlic and basil. Move to bowl and let cool for 5 minutes. Stir in 1/4 cup of the red pasta sauce, parmesan cheese and egg. Yes, raw egg, it helps bind the meat together.

3. Spread 1/2 of remaining red pasta sauce in a 13×9 inch pan.

4. Fill cooked manicotti noodles with meat mixture and place in prepared pan. When all the meat and noodles are used up top with jar of alfredo sauce. Top with remaining red sauce, and mozzarella cheese. Sprinkle with oregano.

5. Cover with Tinfoil and bake at 375 for 20 minutes. Remove tinfoil and bake for an additional 20 minutes.