These are some of my favorite Italian dishes. A starter bruschetta of Oven Roasted Tomatoes and Capers, a thick, hearty Pesto Potato Pasta Soup, a classic Veal Marsala with Rosemary Fingerling potatoes.
Oven Roasted Tomatoes with Capers
5 plum tomatoes, cut in half, seeded1 TB chopped garlic, jarred Christopher Ranch is best
3 Tb olive oil, plus 1 Tb for later
1 Tb balsamic vinegar
2 TB capers
kosher salt & cracked pepper
One French Baguette loaf
How To :
Slice plum tomatoes in half, take out seeds.
In a bowl, combine half slice of tomatoes, olive oil, garlic, balsamic vinegar, salt and pepper. Toss to coat.
Spread out the tomatoes on a cookie sheet. Bake at 325 for approximately 30-40 minutes. Time will vary depending on your oven. Mine is a convection oven and I'm still not use to it ! You don't want them dried out completely but still a little plump and juicy.
When done, slice the tomatoes into strips and toss in a bowl with olive oil and capers. Let that sit while you prepare the baguette bread or other nice crusty small bread. Cut into 1/2 inch slices.
Heat a pan and brush both sides of bread with olive oil. Fry in pan on both sides until the bread it golden and crisp.
Top each piece of baguette with the tomato mixture and enjoy ! This is a tasty snack.. enjoy with some nice Italian red wine.
Pesto Potato Pasta Soup
Ingredients:
2 - 1/4" pieces of pancetta, or two strips of bacon fine dice.
2 can chicken broth
2 large potatoes, peel and dice
1/2 cup dried orecchiette or small shell pasta
1/3 cup prepared store bought pesto
1/3 cup Romano cheese
1/2 cup heavy cream
kosher salt and cracked black pepper
How To :
-In a pot, saute pancetta/bacon until crisp and done. Drain off fat.
-To the pot, add the two cans of chicken broth.
Add the diced potatoes and the pasta.- When the potatoes are done, take a potato mashes and roughly mask the potatoes in the pot. This is thichen the soup.
-Add the cream, the pesto and the cheese.
- Add kosher salt to taste and cracked black pepper.
-Thin out some pesto sauce with some olive oil. Pour some soup into bowl and drizzle with pesto sauce.
Veal MarsalaIngredients
2 Veal cutlets
2 Tb flour2 Tb Butter
2 Tb Olive Oil1 large shallot, fine dice
1 TB garlic, chopped
1 package of mushrooms, sliced
1/2 cup Marsala wine
3/4 cup chicken broth
1/2 tsp Thyme
sprinkle of flour to thicken, I like a thicker sauce
Fingerling Potatoes :
3 Tb Olive Oil
1/2 beef broth
Two Sprigs of fresh rosemary
Kosher salt and Fresh cracked pepper
In a heavy sauce pan, place fingerling potatoes, beef broth, olive oil abd rosemary. Cover and let simmer approximately 30 minutes or until potaoes are tender. * Adding a little more broth if evaproate and pan scorches. It didn't happen for me but you can do this.
Veal Marsala How To :
-Lightly coat the veal in flour.
-In a pan, add butter and olive oil. saute veal on both sides until cooked and brown. About 3 minutes on each side. The veal cutlets are thin, they won't take long to cook. Remove from heat and set aside on plate.
-In the same pan, add the butter. Add the shallots and saute until translucent, add sliced mushrooms, add more olive oil if you need to. Cook over medium high heat and saute until mushrooms are golden. Don't let overcook.
-Add the chicken broth, the Marsala, garlic and Thyme. Stir. -Sprinkle about a tablespoon of flour to the pan of liquid, incorporate until the flour is disolved into the liquid and there are no lumps.
-Return the veal cutlets to the pan and simmer until the sauce thickens a bit. About 10 minutes.
Season with Salt and pepper. I added a little more Marsala, I thought it needed a couple of splashes more.
Buon Appetito & Enjoy Every Bite !
Wine Choice : La Velona , Brunello Di Montalcino
Confession : I didn't eat of all this :)
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