Italian Piadina Sandwich with Roasted Vegetables

Blogging Marathon# 64: Week 2/ Day 3
Theme: Cook from 1 European Cuisine -- Italian

Dish: Italian Piadina Sandwich

After posting 2 well known Italian dishes (Risotto & Pizza), today's Italian dish is not very popular outside of Italy. It is a thin flatbread called Piada or Piadina and is typically made in the Romagna region. The flatbreads are then filled variety of cheeses, meats, vegetables and also with sweet fillings like bananas and Nutella. These are sold as soon as they are made in specialized kiosks called piadineri.

Traditional piada are made with white flour, lard or olive oil, salt and water. I subbed some of the white flour with wholewheat flour and the lard with vegetable shortening. These piada are very much like our kulchas and are leavened with baking powder. These are rolled out very thin unlike the kulchas that are a bit thicker.

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Easy to make Pizza Dough with Italian Vegetarian toppings

Blogging Marathon# 64: Week 2/ Day 2
Theme: Cook from 1 European Cuisine -- Italian

Dish: Pizza Dough with Italian Vegetarian toppings

Pizza is probably the most popular Italian dish all over the world. Each country conveniently customized the toppings to appeal to the local tastes -- like the spicy toppings in India and the extra cheesy toppings in America. But from what I heard, Italian pizzas are not overloaded with cheese or toppings and are usually made with light and refreshing tomato sauce instead of a slow simmered heavy tomato sauce that the American pizzas tend to use.

I've a few pizza recipes on the blog already, but wanted to try a new pizza crust recipe from King Arthur flour. They say this is the 'easiest pizza you will ever make'. After making it I can assure you that it is in fact very easy to make this pizza.

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Spring Vegetable Risotto

Blogging Marathon# 64: Week 2/ Day 1
Theme: Cook from 1 European Cuisine -- Italian

Dish: Spring Vegetable Risotto

We are on to our second week of blogging marathon today and my theme for this week is to 'Cook from 1 European Country' and I picked Italian cuisine. When I think of Italian food, pizza and pasta are the first to come to mind. But there is so much more to the world of Italian cooking. The many regions in Italy have distinctive cuisines based on the local ingredients available, cooking styles and eating habits.

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For the first day, I have this Spring Vegetable risotto. Risotto is a north Italian rice dish that is cooked in broth to a creamy consistency. Arborio, Carnaroli etc are the principal varieties of rice used to risotto. These are high in starch, round medium or short grained white rice -- they have the ability to absorb liquids and release starch, so they are stickier than the long grain varieties.

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Pizza Mac and Cheese

Blogging Marathon# 60: Week 4/ Day 2

Theme: Bookmarked Recipes

Dish: Pizza Mac and Cheese

It was crazy snowy weekend in our neck of woods. I don't think I've seen that much snowfall in one day in all of my 15 years in the US. Storm stuck around the whole day Saturday and Sunday was spent in cleaning up the mess. Thankfully my husband was around for the shoveling, though I had to do my part too.

Coming to today's recipe for BM, I bookmarked this Pizza Mac and Cheese from Food52. I made this dish 3~4 times in the past couple of months. You can guess why -- who doesn't like pizza and pasta separately, now if you put them together it is absolutely delicious. My son went gaga over this dish.

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Spinach Artichoke Lasagna Rolls and Chocolate Risotto.... and a GIVEAWAY!

Can't believe holiday season is almost upon us and I'm very happy to be a part of Colavita and Perugina 'Join our Italian holiday Table' campaign this year. They sent me a large variety of their products including olive oils, crushed tomatoes, marinara sauce, artichokes hearts, olives, lasagna, arborio rice and some absolutely delicious Perugina chocolates. One of you lucky readers will also receive the same amazing products -- scroll down to the end of the post for more details of the giveaway.

Colavita is a family owned company and they have been importing and distributing Colavita Extra Virgin Olive Oil for over 30 years. Colavita Extra Virgin Olive Oil is recognized as the #1 Italian brand in the US and has earned awards from renowned cooking publications such as Fine Cooking and Cook’s Illustrated and general-interest magazines like Men’s Health. Perugina is Italy’s most renowned chocolate maker and Baci are Perugina’s most famous confection. Baci (which means “kisses” in Italian) are perfect as an ingredient in recipes, as a daily indulgence or as a gift for a loved one.

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Pasta with Poblano Chilies, Corn and Cilantro Cream

October is 'National Pasta Month', so I wanted to post a pasta recipe before the end of the month. Thanks to Usha for her pasta post, without which I wouldn't have known about it.

Last month's Vegetarian Times magazine had a whole spread of pasta dishes that can be made under 30 minutes and are perfect for weeknight dinners. This dish has Mexican flavors with poblanos, corn and cilantro. I used wholewheat penne pasta and the sauce is made with 3Cs -- cilantro, corn and cream. Dish also has ground cumin to emphasize the Mexican flavor.

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Eggplant Parmesan for 1

Blogging Marathon# 57: Week 1/ Day 2

Theme: Eggplant Dishes from here

Dish: Eggplant Parmesan

Today I have one of my most favorite non-Indian eggplant dish, Eggplant Parmesan. Fried breaded eggplant slices layered with cheese and marinara sauce makes this dish rich and calorie dense. I've eaten it a couple of times in restaurants and many times at buffet style parties.

I have already posted a lighter version of eggplant parm with roasted eggplant and creamed spinach. Today's recipe has all the components of the traditional Eggplant parmesan but is lighter on calories and it makes just 1 serving. So now I don't have to make wait for a special occasion or party to make this dish, I can make it whenever I feel like it.

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Creamy Pesto Pasta

Blogging Marathon# 54: Week 1/ Day 3

Theme: Vegetarian Italian dishes

Dish: Creamy Pesto Pasta

Kids sure are very unpredictable. My son is the picky eater in the house and my daughter is an adventurous eater, but they are slowly reversing their likes. The little one is becoming too picky and doesn't want to try anything new.

I made this creamy pesto pasta for dinner one day and since I wasn't sure if the kids would like it, I made them something else too. But my son declared that pesto sauce is his second favorite pasta sauce right after marinara sauce. Then my little one tried a little bit and wanted to eat it for her dinner too. So the kids ate most of the pasta and the adults ended up eating what I made for the kids.

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Asparagus & Spinach Pasta with Checca Sauce

Blogging Marathon# 54: Week 1/ Day 2

Theme: Vegetarian Italian dishes

Dish: Asparagus & Spinach Pasta with Checca Sauce

Today's dish is a simple pasta with sauteed asparagus and spinach that is then mixed with a no-cook checca sauce. We had this dish at California Pizza kitchen couple of months back and I wanted to try it at home ever since.

The first time I made it, I wasn't sure if the kids would like it. But both the kids came back for seconds. This dish will be in my meal rotation now.

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Eggplant Parmesan with Creamed Spinach

Blogging Marathon# 54: Week 1/ Day 1

Theme: Vegetarian Italian dishes

Dish: Eggplant Parmesan with Creamed Spinach

We are starting a new edition of blogging marathon today and my theme for the week is 'Vegetarian Italian Dishes'. With my son thinking that he is half Italian, it is only obvious that I take up this theme to try some new Italian dishes.

I already have a lot of Italian dishes on my blog and I wanted to try something new and different for this week. First up is a spin on classic eggplant parmesan. The traditional way of making this dish involves frying eggplant and then burying it under piles of gooey cheese and tomato sauce. It's very delicious, but it has enough calories for the whole day.

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Cherry Tomato & Kale Pasta

I love cherry tomatoes and usually keep a pack of red or yellow cherry tomatoes in the fridge. They are so juicy and can be eaten just as is. They are great to add in salads, pastas and even on crostini.

This recipe is from 'Meatless' cookbook by Martha Stewart Living. Cherry tomatoes are cooked till they burst and then stirred with pasta and kale. It is a very simple recipe with few ingredients and can be whipped up in less than 30 minutes, perfect for a busy weeknight.

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Indian Flavored Risotto (Vegan Recipe)

Finally spring seems to have found its way into our neck of woods. I can see the tiny buds on trees and hopefully they'll bloom within a week now. Somehow spring makes me very happy -- everything is waking from a long slumber and with the harsh winter that we had even people seem to be coming out of hibernation -- I mean the heavy jackets, boots and so on.

Today, I'm excited to share with you a dish that is colorful and springy (??) and is inspired from a dish off a specialty menu at the Wynn Resort in Las Vegas.

I've never been to Vegas and it is one of the destinations on my bucket list. My ex-manager had a condo in Vegas and she used to take a yearly vacation there. I always thought Vegas was all about the casinos until she told me there are many things to do with kids too like hiking, sight seeing etc.

Vegas is a foodie heaven with plethora of restaurants to dine at and a lot of them fine dining with exquisite menu options. So today I'm trying to put my own spin on one of the dish based on Wynn's specialty menus created by famous vegan chef Tai Ronnen.

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Chocolate Risotto

Chocolate Risotto:
This chocolate risotto is creamy and absolutely divine. Unlike making traditional risotto which involves a lot of stirring, this dessert is mostly hands free. Arborio rice is cooked in milk along with vanilla until tender and then chopped Perugina dark chocolate is stirred into it to make the most luscious chocolate risotto ever.

Recipe is from Giada's cooking show. She flavored her 'Chocolate Rice Pudding' from orange zest, but I used vanilla bean. Orange and chocolate is a lovely combination and I would probably try this pudding with Perugina Orangello dark chocolate next time I make it. I topped the pudding with some chopped Baci and it provides nice nuttiness to the otherwise creamy texture.

Prep Time - 10 minutes

Cook time - 30 minutes
Chill Time - 2 hours

Total Time - 2 hours 40 minutes

Serves - 4

Ingredients:

• ⅔cup Colavita Arborio Rice
• 4½cups Milk (2% or whole milk is best here)
• ⅓cup Sugar
• 1 Vanilla pod, seeds scraped
• 1tbsp Unsweetened Cocoa powder
• 2oz., Perugina 51% Premium Chocolate, grated
• 2 Baci, chopped (for garnish)

Method:

1. In a saucepan, combine arborio rice, milk, scraped vanilla bean and the vanilla pod. Bring the mixture to a boil, lower the heat to medium low and simmer, stirring frequently, until the rice is tender, about 20 minutes.
2. Add the sugar, cook till it melts and the mixture thickens a little bit, about 5 minutes.
3. Remove from heat and stir in the cocoa powder and grated chocolate. Mix well until the chocolate is melted.
4. Cool for 10 minutes, stirring occasionally. Chill for 2~3 hours before serving and garnish with chopped Baci.

Italy - Pasta Alla Norma (Pasta in Spicy Eggplant & Tomato Sauce)

BM# 44: A-Z Cooking Series -- Around the World in 30 days

Country: I for Italy

Dish: Pasta Alla Norma (Pasta in Spicy Eggplant & Tomato Sauce) 
We are going back to Europe, to Italy today. Italy seemed an obvious choice and my son thinks he's half Italian because his favorite foods are pizza and pasta. But come to think of it, I like Italian food too. What's not to like about pasta, cheese and pizza.
Italy also is on my bucket list not just to enjoy the local food but also to tour the beautiful, historic and touristic places. Many hollywood movies are shot in Italy, I especially remember the beautiful locations in George Clooney's 'The American' movie. Lot of Indian movies have shown us Venice, making it a definite stop in Italy while we are there. Oh, how I wish, my dreams can come true.
Italian cuisine is characterized by its simplicity with many dishes having only 4~8 ingredients. Italian cooks rely on fresh, quality ingredients rather than elaborate preparation. Ingredients and dishes vary by region. Cheese and wine are a major part of the cuisine.

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California Veggie Pizza Recipe on Whole wheat Crust

I have missed the last edition of International Food Challenge because of summer vacation and possibly poor planning on my side. Even this post is late, but I didn't want to miss the 1st Anniversary of IFC. Hearty congratulations to Saras and Shobana for coming up with the event idea and completing 1 successful year.
For this month's challenge, Saras picked 2 dishes from each of the previous years challenges. It was quite tough picking just one and I ended up making California Veggie Pizza that Joanne T Ferguson suggested.

My son has been asking for a pizza and I thought I can shoot 2 birds in 1 shot :-) I wanted to try whole wheat pizza crust and voila King Arthur has an amazing recipe for whole wheat pizza crust. One thing to keep in mind while making this crust is that the dough has to be refrigerated overnight, at least 18 hours, so plan accordingly. Don't tell your kids you are making the pizza until you are ready to put it in the oven or you will be in a night long trouble.

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Pasta with Fresh Tomato Sauce

Past weekend we went to Apple picking for the very first time. I'm not a big fan of apples and apple picking never appealed to me that much. But I wanted to do something fun with the kids on the weekend and found a pick your own apple farm very close to my sister's home. We didn't pick too many apples since it started to drizzle and rain and the kids started getting restless. They actually had fun playing in the hay bale maze for a little bit before it started to rain harder.

You must be wondering, why the talk about apples when the dish here is made with tomatoes. As I said we didn't pick too many apples, but the farm also has a fresh produce market and they had colorful cherry tomatoes that I picked up. Since it is almost the end of summer and finding fresh, juicy tomatoes is going to be difficult, I couldn't resist from buying them.

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Roasted Peppers Pistachio Pesto

Blogging Marathon# 34: Week 1/ Day 1

Theme: Cooking with Capsicum/ Peppers

Dish: Roasted Red Pepper & Pistachio Pesto with Cheese Ravioli

Its time to start this month's Blogging Marathon, BM# 34. My theme for this week is 'Cooking with Capsicum/ Pepper'. I use bell peppers a lot in my cooking either to make a curry or sambar or  add them to rice dishes. So when I saw the theme, I thought I should try making some new dishes with peppers.

For the first day, I'm using store-bought roasted red peppers from the jar. You could roast your peppers if you have the time, but store bought ones are just as good to make this dish. Recipe is from America's Test Kitchen. 

Here pesto is made with roasted red peppers, toasted pistachios and the usual pesto ingredients, parmesan, olive oil and garlic. This can be used as a pasta sauce or as a sandwich spread or even a dip for some crudites and bread.

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Tomato & Mozzarella Crostini

For this month's International Food Challenge, Priya Suresh @ Priyas Versatile Recipes is taking us on a culinary journey through Campania region of Italy. There are various regional cuisine in Italy and Campania is one among them. Campania is a highly populated region in the southern Italy, located on the Italian Peninsula, with the Mediterranean sea to the west. Best known around the world for its Pizza.

Campania's exuberant cuisine relies on sun-kissed vegetables and herbs, salty capers, dried pasta, and fresh farmhouse cheeses, chief among them water buffalo's Mozzarella. Campania is home to over 80 percent of Italy's water buffaloes, so the Campani produce a number of delicious water buffalo's milk cheeses. Though none as wide spread or beloved as their Mozzarella di Bufala.

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Zeppole (Eggless Version)

Blogging Marathon# 33: Week 4/ Day 3
Theme: BM# 32 Bookmarked Recipes
Dish: Zeppole by Sandhya Ramakrishnan

As I was looking for a dish to make for the final day of BM# 33, I narrowed down my search by looking for recipes made with X, Y & Z instead of the starting from A. Isn't that smart?? I think so too (patting on my shoulder right now :-) 

I got super excited when I saw Zeppole from Sandhya's blog in the list for Z and made it for our evening snack today. I've seen Zeppole in many street fairs but never tried to make it myself. This recipe sounded simple enough to try. I'm so glad I tried these because they were sooo good, we gobbled them all up in one sitting and wished there were more.. lot more.

Zeppole are also known as Italian donuts. Flour, butter and eggs are mixed into a dough and then deep fried. This particular recipe uses ricotta cheese and mascarpone cheese instead of butter. The resulting fried zeppole are so airy and fluffy that you lose count of how many you ate.

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Pressure Cooker Curried Butternut Squash Risotto

Hope everyone celebrating Thanksgiving had a good time this weekend. 4 day long weekend flew right by. We spent most of the weekend at my cousin's place and returned home in the afternoon today. We were hungry from the long drive and I wanted to make something real quick with minimum effort. So I made this one pot pressure cooker risotto with butternut squash from Nupur's blog.

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