The perfect Pasta Sunday meal for 5-6, the size of my usual gang. What do I know about Calabria? Not a whole lot! Lucia gave me unsolicited cautionary advice about the men but too late. Ha. I must say being friends with my guy is much easier than the romance. Oops! His love for Italian food and cooking is hard to resist. Yep, his family is from this region. So, what makes this pasta dish Calabrian … The Calabrian peppers and the long macaroni … all of it!
Right from my garden! When thinking of a juicy tomato this one is probably not brought to mind. These are my favorite tomato just for that reason. I love the low moisture sweet meatiness of a Roma. Great for bruschetta but when your plants are this prolific you can only eat so much bruschetta. The sweetness of this tomato is great for sauces, no added sugar needed. It’s been awhile since I’ve had a pasta Sunday. It’s time! Be on the look out for my Calabrian Macaroni. Most ingredients are already in my garden. See you Sunday!
Goodness! We’ve eaten them all up and I have yet to post the recipe. I have to honest. I’m particular about my biscotti. Freshly baked gets thumbs up while store bought … can’t go there. The reason is obvious to me … dry toasted vs stale! Try this little recipe … gives you just enough for a day or two treat … simple … delicious & healthy fresh.
Some mornings I wake and am craving what I had for dinner. This is one of those mornings! Some prefer fruit for breakfast but give me a vegetable even if it’s V8! Yep! I had this for breakfast! Leftovers that is. Worried about the garlic breath? Well, only the pesto is garlic laden. And the garlic toast. Ha!
Mini-meatballs are ready to drop into the broth. Next on Kitchen Getaway! Using my meatball recipe. But if you need a 20 minute meal use store-bought meatballs instead. Trader’s is great at convenience, including turkey meatballs.
If you’re like me and your soup recipes grow as you go you may want to start with a seven quart slow cooker instead of a four. I was definitely my grandmother’s sous chef … learning very quickly that measuring soup ingredients was overrated. Today’s soup recipe is no exception. Yep, it started overflowing. Just had to put in those extra veggies! No excuse … I need a new slow cooker! Mine is a bit dated (still calling it a crock pot), not pretty like the new ones … And has only two functions, low & high heat.
If this looks like Minestrone it is! It’s the first of my month long slow cooker soup recipes. I love the homey feel of a soup simmering all day … And a fireplace with a crackling fire to scoot up by. I’ll be adding a few bread recipes along the way too. My Portuguese Rolls are perfect for tonight’s soup!
Pasta and Beans (Pasta Fagioli) is an economical dish with few ingredients. Eaten often by the Rizzo Family on meatless Friday’s and during Lent. When I assisted in putting this together I wasn’t sure just how flavorful the result would be. It is now on my list of favorite comfort foods. Vegan or vegetarian, or add a little Italian sausage if you must. It’s all perfectly good.
There is nothing more delicious in the world of pasta sauces than a good bolognese. This sauce is often a long cook and if you have a “want it now” mentality like I do now and again, a four hour recipe is just not going to get it. You may even prefer this to a slow cook … maybe because the ingredients have not broken down in the cooking process. I love serving this sauce over tagliatelle pasta. I think you’ll like it!
Enjoy these recipes too, Spaghetti Sauces & Slow Cook Meat Sauce. Delicious Meat Sauces and More!
Tasty best describes this dish. A little twist on meatballs and spaghetti. Pesto meatballs with ricotta stuffing top this baked spaghetti. The inspiration for the pesto comes from America’s Test Kitchen, here. The next time I give this a try, my favorite meatball recipe will top it off. Adding ricotta stuffing was my idea but not an original one apparently. These meatballs are made with lean beef and the texture is more firm than my favs. The ricotta stuffing might be tastier in a more tender meatball. This recipe just may become your family favorite.
Pretty popular these days and you may have seen a recipe or two for BBQ pizza already. But I can tell you what ‘not’ to do! Because I did it all with my first try. This is going to be my fallback this weekend because my air is out. Sounds horrible, no air conditioning, with 105 temps. But these old houses (built 1927) are perfectly insulated with walls feet thick. If I avoid creating heat indoors the house remains a comfortable 80. Of course, I must follow my Mother’s wise words to my children when they complained about her house being too hot, be very still. That was impossible for my children and actually for me too today. It’s time to get out the short shorts. Ha! I’ll leave that to my daughter.
Get your favorite toppings and here we go!