Kale with beans soup

If you want something healthy, light and easy to make, kale with beans is the dish for you.

Time for preparation: 20 min

1) Wash the kale and add it to a pot with 6 cups of water.

2)Add olive oil, salt, garlic and let it cook for 10 min.

3) Add some white beans and let it cook for other 10 min.  

I wish I had a pics for you to show. Next time I will make it I will take one!

It is kinda of soupy at the end and you can add dried bread to it.

Add fresh olive oil before serving.

Buon appetito

Risotto with spinach

In Italy we don't eat just pasta. We can also make some very good rice dishes, which we call risotto. Now it turns out that spinach is very good for you. It contains high levels of minerals and folic acid, which are reported to decrease DNA damage and diminish your chance to get cancer. So, you can buy a bunch of fresh spinach (please organic) or just some organic frozen ones. I like the frozen ones because to make the same quantity you need to buy at least 2-3 bunches of fresh spinach!

Which variety of rice to use? Traditionally, in Italy we use Arborio rice (medium-short grain), which is perfect for risotto dishes because, once cooked, it is both firm and creamy.

Preparation time: 20 min

1) Boil 6 cups of water in a pot for the rice

2) Add 3 tbsp of rice per person.

3) Add olive oil, salt, chopped onions and a lot of spinach (see above). Stir every few minute. The spinach will melt with the rice into a green cream.

4) Let it cook until the rice is done (about 10-15 min).

5) Add a teaspoon of butter and a lot of parmesan cheese at the end. Pepper if you like. Stir.

Let it rest for 5 minutes before serving...

Buon appetito!

Mardi Gras Pasta with ricotta cheese

Yesterday was Marti Gras. Quite a holiday it used to be in Italy. It represented the last day before the start of the Catholic Lent. Therefore, we used to celebrate it with a big party in mask (our Carnival) and very rich food. One of the richest food in Italy is lasagna, which is a pasta dish full of everything from eggs to meat, mozzarella and ricotta cheese. It takes a little bit of time to prepare a fresh lasagna dish, so I have a quick version of that dish. All you need is curly pasta, fresh ricotta, a can of tomatoes sauce, onions and some basil.

Preparation time: 15-20 min

1) Boil water in a pot for the pasta

2) Cut the onions and put in a separate pot with olive oil.

3) Add a can of red sauce to the onions. Add some basil.

4) After about 10 min, add some of the just cooked red sauce to a bowl of fresh ricotta cheese. Stir it to make a white creamy sauce. Remember to leave some extra red sauce in the pot.

5) Drain the pasta, put it back in the pot and add the creamy sauce to it.

When you make the portions add red sauce on the top. Add parmesan cheese and pepper if you like.

PS you can find the curly bucatini pasta at Trader's Joe.

PSPS I like mine messy in a bowl!

Buon Appetito!

Pasta with Garlic and Oil

Let me tell you: this is a classic. This is the simplest Pasta dish ever. When I was in Italy hanging out with friends at night we used to propose to the gang: shall we have a Spaghettata Aglio and Olio? The term derives from Spaghetti, which is the shape of pasta required for this kind of dish, and it means a big feast of spaghetti with garlic and oil. Please remember to use only olive oil.

Time for preparation: 5-10 minutes (Super-easy)

1) Boil water in a pot for the pasta (spaghetti!)

2) Add 4-5 cloves (per person) of smashed garlic, olive oil (2 tbs per person) and hot red pepper to a pan at medium-low fire

3) Drain the pasta and add it to the pan stirring all together

4) Add chopped parsley (parsley will help to cancel the garlic bad smell form you mouth!)

Add parmesan cheese and pepper if you like.

PS because I needed to eat some fish, I opened a can of tuna and with some olive oil added as side to the pasta...

Buon appetito!

Pasta with Portobello mushrooms

I rarely cook mushrooms at home, because not everybody likes them. But few days ago I had some Portobello mushrooms in the fridge that needed to be cooked. I was undecided between a nice risotto with mushroooms or a pasta with mushrooms. I went for the second option. Yes the real story is that I had also some baby tomatoes in the fridge that I wanted to cook. Therefore I thought mmmhh...mushrooms+baby tomatoes...maybe some parsley and garlic and olive oil and voilla` ...a nice dish...

Preparation time: 10-15min

1) Boil water in a pot for pasta (fettuccine!)

2)Add olive oil, red hot pepper and 2 cloves of chopped garlic in a pan at medium fire

3) Wash and cut the mushrooms

4)Add to the pan for 3-4 minutes

5) Wash and cut in half the baby tomatoes

6) While you start cooking the pasta, add the tomatoes to the pan with mushroom

7)Before draining the pasta, add some chopped fresh parsley to the mushroom sauce

8) Add the pasta to the pan and stir it.

At the end add pepper and parmesan cheese.

Buon appetito

No More Pasta!

Somebody says that Pasta is good for you, somebody says that Pasta makes you fat, somebody even says that all kinds of wheat is bad for you. We believe that no food is 100% good for you. We believe that you need to eat both small portions and a larger variety of food. Therefore we believe that you can have also some Pasta with moderation in your diet. 

When I was a kid growing up in Italy, we rarely didn't have a plate of Pasta every single day of the week. There was a kind of Pasta for every day. For example, usually on Mondays we had left over Pasta from Sundays, on Tuesdays Pasta with legumes, on Wednesdays Pasta with vegetables, on Thursdays we had Pasta with red sauce, on Fridays Pasta with fish, on Saturdays we used to have Pasta in vegetable or meat broth, on Sundays big Pasta with ragu` sauce that cooked for hours. The funny thing is that every shape of pasta is meant for a particular kind of sauce.

As you can imagine Pasta is not a nutritionally complete dish, mainly carbohydrates. Therefore Pasta needs to be accompanied with a second dish such as legumes, meat, vegetables and fish. To avoid making several dishes, you can put the second dish together with Pasta, making all in one nutritionally balanced dish.

Buon appetito!

Peppe's red sauce

Tonight we are having my favorite sauce...the typical italian red sauce that I have named "Peppe's red sauce" although I believe it has an Italian name already dedicated to it.  Here are the ingredients:

1/2 red onion

1/2 carrot

1 can organic tomato sauce

1/2 pound ground beef

a pinch of salt and pepper

2 small hot red peppers

1/4 cup olive oil

First heat the olive oil and add the chopped onions and carrots.  Be sure they are chopped small enough for them to cook quickly.  Let simmer for approximately 5 minutes or until the onions become translucent.  Add the ground 

beef and let brown.  Drain any excess oil.  Add the tomato sauce, salt, pepper and red peppers and let cook for at least a half hour on medium to low heat.  Remember, the longer it cooks the better it tastes.  Add this to your favorite pasta and buon appetite!