Easy and delicious Italian recipes
This is a recipe for delicious homemade lasagna. It takes a while to put together, especially if you don’t have tomato sauce that’s already made, but it’s worth it! I sometimes use oven-ready lasagne when I’m in a hurry. I know it’s a sacrilege(!) to Italians but sometimes I just don’t have the time to boil regular lasagne sheets.
This is an easy recipe for baked ham using a canned, boneless, fully cooked ham. Unlike with other baked ham recipes, I don’t cover it with aluminum foil; this way the outside of the ham develops a burnt crust, which we usually all try to grab when I put it on the table! To make the gravy, I use a jar or can of pork gravy, usually Heinz Homestyle Pork Gravy, along with beer or wine, but you can also use chicken gravy or make your own from scratch.
It is believed that cheesemaking came about accidentally around 6,000 BC when milk was transported in the stomachs of cows or sheep which contained an enzyme, rennet, that caused the milk to curdle. By the time of the Roman Empire, it had become widespread throughout Europe and the Middle East.
This is an easy recipe for making typical homemade cheese known as marzellina, or also marzolina, that is eaten in the area of Ciociaria, Italy. It is delicious with day old Italian bread, preferably the large round loaf, sliced up tomatoes, and a bit of extra virgin olive oil drizzled over it. My father has been known to use hard, stale bread moistened with a little bit of water, and a tomato smashed on top to moisten even more. You can even grate it over pasta instead of using parmesan or pecorino cheese.
This cheese is made with a lot of salt, which was originally used to preserve the cheese, and the more it ages, the saltier and harder it gets. I like to eat it when it’s freshly made and still soft enough to spread on bread.
This recipe calls for cow’s milk, although farmers in Italy who have sheep or goats tend to use their milk instead. It uses rennet tablets, a type of coagulant, that causes the milk to curdle, separating the curd from the whey (which in reality causes the milk to spoil), but you can also use rennet in liquid form. For 1 quart of whole milk, use 2 tablets; for 1/2 gallon, use 3 tablets; and for 1 gallon of milk, use about 3 1/2 tablets. Do not throw away the whey – you can either drink it or use to make polenta, or any recipe that calls for a liquid, to make it richer.
I usually use metal molds for making cheese which were purchased in Italy (see picture below) but you can also use plastic molds which can be purchased online or at an Italian gourmet shop.
Metal Molds For Making Homemade Cheese
Ingredients
1 gallon whole milk
3 1/2 tablets of rennet
salt
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An Easter tradition in Italy is to make a dove-shaped sweet bread, or Colomba di Pasqua, which symbolizes peace and the Holy Spirit. It is to Easter what panettone is to Christmas. It is usually made in a dove-shaped pan, but if you don’t have one you can shape the dough by hand.
This recipe uses fiori di Sicilia, which is a citrus and vanilla flavored extract with essence of flowers. It can be hard to find so you can substitute vanilla and orange extracts for it.
It also uses pearl sugar, a type of sugar which looks like Brioschi (remember those? We used to eat them like candy when we were little!) but is actually a hardened piece of sugar which does not melt easily during baking.
Naples and Amalfi Coast Tours
Ingredients
1/4 c warm water
1 T active dry yeast
1/2 c warm milk
2/3 c granulated sugar
1 stick butter, melted
1 T grated lemon zest
1 tsp fiori di Sicilia
3 large eggs
3 large egg yolks
4 1/2 to 5 cups all purpose unbleached flour
3/4 tsp salt
1 large egg white, slightly beaten
2 T almonds
1 T pearl sugar or coarse brown sugar
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Top Photo credit – Giulia Robert @Flickr.com
One of the many traditions in Italy during Easter is serving roasted leg of lamb. This tradition goes back many centuries, even before the first Easter celebration, to the first Passover of the Jewish people. The sacrificial lamb was eaten, together with unleavened bread and bitter herbs, in hopes that the angel of God would pass over their homes and not harm them. As Hebrews converted to Christianity, they brought along their traditions with them. In Christianity, the lamb is the symbol representing birth and the Shepherd, and Jesus is referred to as the Lamb of God.
This is a delicious yet simple recipe using rosemary and garlic. You can either use a bone-in or boneless leg of lamb. While boneless is easier to carve, the bone-in is more flavorful. Either way the meat is very tender. When you remove the lamb from the oven, let it rest for about 15 minutes so that all the juices don’t come running out while you are cutting because that will dry out the meat.
Ingredients Serves 8
1 6 to 7 lbs leg of lamb, trimmed of excess fat
2 T olive oil
2 T chopped fresh rosemary
lemon juice
1 garlic clove, minced
1/4 c white wine
salt, to taste
fresh rosemary sprigs
fresh parsley
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Photo credit above: JeffreyW @Flickr.com
Sfinci, or sfingi as they are sometimes called in southern Italy, are delicious little cream puffs filled with sweet ricotta cheese. They are usually served on the feast day of St. Joseph, which is March 19th.
The feast of St. Joseph is very important to Italians. It was set up to honor St. Joseph, husband of the Virgin Mary and caring foster father of Jesus Christ, after the people of Sicily were saved from a severe drought by praying to him and asking for his help.
Ingredients
Sfinci:
1 c water
1/3 c unsalted butter
1 T granulated sugar
Grated rind of 1 lemon
Pinch of salt
1 c sifted all-purpose flour
2 T baking powder
4 large eggs
1 T vanilla extract
maraschino cherries
Filling:
2 c ricotta cheese
1/2 c confectioner sugar (powdered sugar)
1/2 tsp. vanilla extract
1/4 tsp. ground cinnamon
1/3 c grated dark chocolate (or chocolate chips)
2 T finely chopped pistachios
Preheat the oven to 400º F.
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Although my father was not Irish, he made the best corned beef and cabbage that I ever tasted every St. Patrick’s Day. This is a recipe I adapted for use with a slow cooker so that you can prepare it in the morning and let it slowly cook all day without having to worry about it. You can either put it on high and let it cook for about 5 – 6 hours, or on low for about 10 hours.
I always boil the cabbage separately before adding it to the slow cooker because the liquid from the cabbage has a very strong taste and not everyone in my family likes it.
Ingredients Serves 4-6 people
3 1/2 – 4 lbs flat cut corned beef brisket
3 potatoes, peeled and cut into chunks
1 large carrot, cut up
2 stalks of celery, cut up
2 cloves of garlic, sliced
1 large onion, sliced
1 T olive oil
1 bottle of beer
1 head of cabbage, quartered (or smaller pieces if desired)
pickling spices (or use the spice packet that comes with the brisket)
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Ever cook so much food because you thought everyone was going to eat Sunday dinner with you since you hardly ever see them anymore, but you end up having all these leftovers? Here is a good recipe for leftover spaghetti that is easy to make.
Ingredients
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 lb. ground beef
1/2 c. chopped onion
2 c. tomato sauce
12 oz. cooked spaghetti
1/3 c. Parmesan cheese
3 eggs, beaten
1 c. ricotta or cottage cheese
1/2 c. shredded mozzarella cheese
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Top photo credit: John @Flickr.com
Baccalà is codfish that has been cured and dried using a large amount of salt. This method of curing fish was and still is used for preserving it for several months. Before using the baccalà, it needs to be soaked for 3 days, changing the water every day, to remove the salt and reconstitute it. My mother used to boil the baccalà before baking or frying to remove even more of the salt, but I only do this when using the baccalà in a salad.
Serves 4
Ingredients
1 1/4 lb of dried, salted cod (baccalà)
1 small onion, sliced
2 small potatoes, sliced thinly
1 small green bell pepper, sliced
2 cloves of garlic, chopped
2-3 sprigs of fresh parsley, chopped
1/4 tsp dried thyme
olive oil
salt
lemon juice
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I love eggplant rollatini. Unfortunately no one else in my family does so whenever we order out food, I usually end up getting it because I never get to make it at home. Never mind that I sometimes get a skin reaction to the eggplant (I have a slight allergy to it), but I could eat this dish as a main course any day instead of chicken or some other meat dish.
I’ve seen recipes for eggplant rollatini using either grilled or fried eggplant (like eggplant parmigiana), but I’ve decided to use the grilled version here because it is not as oily as the fried one. It is time consuming to make this dish but it’s worth it. It is usually served as an appetizer, although it can fill you up quickly because of the cheese filling, but, as I said previously, you can also serve it as a main dish.
Serves 6 to 8 people
Ingredients
2 eggplants (about 1 pound)
1 cup grated Mozzarella cheese
1 cup Ricotta cheese
1/3 cup Parmesan cheese
1/4 cup flat Italian parsley, finely chopped
1 egg
1 Tbsp. lemon juice
1 clove garlic, minced
1 tsp. oregano
1/4 tsp. black pepper
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