Gourmet Italian

photo credit: ellievanhoutte

I had this Italian Easy 5-layer Dip at a party a few years ago and now I serve it at my own dinner parties.  Everyone loves it.  What’s not to love about cheese and pesto, right?  It doesn’t get much more Italian than that.  Plus it has roasted red bell peppers, so we have all the colors of the Italian flag represented.  You can serve this with crackers, but it is absolute heaven with gourmet Italian rosemary bread, which is extremely easy to make if you have a bread machine.  Just be sure to use a good quality rustic bread.

photo credit: gildas_f

Gourmet bread makers know the secret to a good stromboli is to have a good dough to start with.  The stromboli was actually given its name in a hoagie shop outside of Philadelphia in 1950.  The chef named Nat Romano was selling these lots of these baked sandwiches he thought they should have a name, but he didn’t know what to call them.  At that time, actress Ingrid Bergman – who was married at the time – was rumored to be having an affair with actor Roberto Rossolini.  They were both starring in the movie “Stromboli” – which was being filmed on the Isle of Stromboli.  Someone suggested calling the sandwich Stromboli and the rest is history!

photo credit: HiMalta

I found this gourmet Italian frittata recipe years ago in the now sadly defunct Gourmet magazaine.  People go nuts over this recipe and it is really easy to make.

A frittata is kind of like an open face Italian omelet.  It is bulkier and sturdier than the delicate French omelet, and is therefore easier to make.  You can use any combination of meats, cheeses and herbs that you have handy.  People even include leftover pasta in frittatas with great success!  In Italy, people often take a wedge of leftover frittata with them for lunch!  It is really like a quiche – without the crust.  Hello Low Carbs!

photo credit: stevendepolo

The Italian gourmet salad of Caponata is most associated with Sicily, although it is believed that the Arabs originally brought it to Italy.  The salad is a mixture of eggplant, anchovies, and vegetables that are cooked together in olive oil.  Although Caponata was once served as a main meal, these days we find it served most often as an appetizer.  It is usually served at room temperature with small bread rounds or crackers, although some prefer to serve it chilled.  Either way, the exotic taste and smell of this combination of ingredients makes it very popular.

photo credit: zoyachubby

I serve this simple Italian stew with polenta and it always gets thumbs up around our house.  I think it is named Italian stew because it contains fennel seed and rosemary.  I think the best Italian sausages are the ones that use fennel.  Fennel is native to southern Europe, so it is not surprising that Italians use it in sausage, meatballs, meatloaf, marinara sauce, etc.  Fennel is a member of the parsley family.  It was so popular with the Romans that the men took it to maintain good health and the women took it to control their weight.  Fennel seeds are sweeter and less pungent than anise seeds.

photo credit: haldean

When I ran across a recipe for Chocolate Italian Honey Cheesecake years ago, I knew that I had to try this one!  After all, it has one of those marvelous Toblerone chocolate bars in the recipe.  You know the ones – they come in triangular wrapping and the packaging has a picture of the Matterhorn and a bear in the logo.

photo credit: Maggie Hoffman

Cioppino with Italian rustic bread is a meal fit for a king!  I remember the first time I had it.  We were literally sitting in the Pacific Ocean off of San Luis Obispo, California.  We had to drive our car out onto the pier and park.  The meal was one of the best I’ve ever had – especially with their homemade crusty San Francisco sourdough bread.