Gourmet Italian

photo credit: jessicafm

You won’t find a more authentic Italian food than the Italian pasta and bean soup called Pasta e Fagioli or Pasta Fagioli.  This is an ancient peasant dish and some say you will find the best ever made in Tuscany.  It always includes lot of vegetables, beans  and herbs and some smallish pasta like little tubes or shells.  If you are old enough, you may remember Dean Martin singing about this soup in his wonderful song “That’s Amore”.  This Italian Pasta and Beans soup is now served all over the world – and not only in Italian restaurants.

photo credit: thebittenword.com

Simple Italian soups are so welcome this time of year, and none are more comforting that Split Pea and Potato soup!    A nice warm bowl of soup, a crusty chunk of bread and a fireplace and I’m in heaven.  The addition of potatoes to the pea soup just make it that much more hearty.

I used to make this soup with beef broth.  However, I recently had some good homemade chicken broth, so I used it to make this simple Italian soup and I liked it better than ever.  I also used Yukon Gold potatoes and they added a nice dimension to the soup.

photo credit: VirtualErn

Beef braised with Italian red wine – Stracotto al Barolo – is one of my favorite comfort foods!  This Piemontese Pot Roast is cooked in Barolo red wine.  Barolo is sometimes referred to as the king of wines, for its rich flavor and wonderful aroma.  Barolo had admirers throughout Europe as early as the 1700’s.  If you can’t find Barolo, Chianti makes a fine substitute.

Although this is “only pot roast”, with Italian bread and a crisp, green salad, this is most certainly company fare.  I prefer to use chuck for this recipe for the best flavor, but you could also use eye of round or rump roast.  You want about four pounds for this recipe.

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.