Italian Recipes

The Baccala Salad is often served during Christmas Eve in most Italian homes. It is salt cod which is delivered straight from Norway. This special recipe for this salad can feed around 4 persons.

Ingredients:

Salt cod, soaked, drained, 1lb

Garlic cloves, chopped, 2 pcs.

Extra VCO, 4 tbsps

Lemon, juiced, 1 pc

Whole and cured black olives, ½ cup

Celery stalk, diced, 1 pc

Black pepper, freshly ground, ½ tsp

Red pepper flakes, ¼ tsp

Directions:

Place the soaked salt cod fish in a medium sized saucepan. Add just enough amount of water to cover the fish by 1 inch. Bring it to a boil and let it simmer for 3 minutes or until it gets flaky but make sure to not overcook. Remove and drain the cod. In a bowl, mix it with some garlic, celery, olives, black and red pepper, lemon juice and olive oil. Bread the fish apart in medium sized pieced before adding to the bowl. Toss it with the mixture and refrigerate for an hour before serving. Serve it cold or at room temperature.

Photos via yummymeatwhiz.com

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You would not dare to miss this recipe for something else. A good looking and great tasting meal would be yours in no time. What you will need:
• 4 slices rustic artisan bread 1” thick
• 1 raw garlic clove, scraped or crushed
• ½ cup Extra virgin olive oil
• 4 medium sized heirloom tomatoes in various colors, stemmed/cored/sliced to ½ inch thick
• 1 small red onion, thinly sliced
• 3 oz. Mountain Gorgonzola, broken into pieces
• 2 tbsp. white balsamic vinegar
• 1 tsp. coarse ground sea salt
• ½ tsp ground black pepper

Directions
Toast the bread either on a charcoal grill or under a broiler until golden brown. Put the garlic over the toasted slices then drizzle with oil. Mix the rest of the ingredients in a separate bowl until fit to taste. In a serving plate, arrange the toasted slices with the mixture. It is now ready for consumption.

For a great salad with the twist of Italian style, take this quick recipe. The mix of several key ingredients make it burst with luscious aroma. What you will need:
• 1/3 cup of olive oil
• 1/2 cup of drained, oil packed sun dried tomatoes
• 1/4 cup of red wine vinegar
• 1 tablespoon of capers
• 2 cloves of garlic chopped
• 1/2 teaspoon crushed red peppers
• 1 lb of fussili pasta
• 1 1/2- 2 cups chopped, seeded tomatoes
• 8 ounces of braided, marinated mozzarella chopped into 1/2 inch pieces. I use one from Trader Joes that has a good kick to it.
• 1 cup of packed fresh basil leaves
• 1 cup of freshly grated Parmesan cheese (about 3 ounces)
• 1/2 cup of minced, pitted black olives

Directions:
In a food processor, blend the first 6 ingredients until tomatoes are coarsely chopped. On a pot, cook the pasta as directed with salt then drain the water off. Transfer pasta to a large bowl and toss with the dressing until fully coated. Add and toss well with the chopped fresh tomatoes, mozzarella, basil, Parmesan and olives. Chill for an hour and bring to room temperature before serving.

Zucchine Trifolate
Serving salad is the best way to start a meal. It’s easy, healthy and something that everyone enjoys. Go ahead and make it interesting. Make it an encouragement for everyone to try eating healthier food.

Courgettes, sautéed with olive oil, garlic and parsley

700 g (1 2/3 lb) courgettes (zucchini)
1-2 cloves of garlic
Bunch of fresh parsley
8 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
Chilli pepper, if you like
Salt

Trim the ends of courgettes, wash under running water and cut into slices crossways. Put olive oil, chilli pepper and garlic cloves in a non-stick frying pan; fry lightly garlic until it becomes golden and then remove it and add courgettes slices. Keep on cooking, covered, over a fierce heat, stirring now and then.
Meanwhile clean, wash and chop parsley. At the end of cooking, season to taste with salt and add parsley. Switch off the gas.
Serve hot or warm.

Ingredients
2 thin slices pancetta, (1 1/2 ounces), diced (see Tip)
2 medium shallots, thinly sliced
1 pound chard, stems and leaves separated, chopped (see Note)
1 teaspoon chopped fresh thyme
1/4 cup water
1 tablespoon lemon juice
2 tablespoons chopped walnuts, toasted (see Tip)
1/4 teaspoon freshly ground pepper

Preparation
1.Cook pancetta in a Dutch oven over medium heat, stirring, until it begins to brown, 4 to 6 minutes. Using a slotted spoon, transfer to a plate lined with paper towels.
2.Add shallots, chard stems and thyme to the pan drippings and cook, stirring, until the shallots begin to brown, 4 to 5 minutes. Add chard leaves, water and lemon juice and cook, stirring, until wilted, about 2 minutes. Cover and cook until tender, 2 to 4 minutes more. Remove from the heat; stir in the pancetta, walnuts and pepper.

If you prefer eating vegetable meals than rice meals, this quick recipe is a breeze. Try this one out for a delicious and satisfying salad. What you will need:

• 1 large cucumbers, sliced thin
• 1 small red onion, sliced thin
• red wine vinegar
• ground black pepper
• pepperoncini, diced

Directions:
Soak the cucumber and onion in the vinegar. Add pepper and pepperoncini to taste. Refrigerate before serving.

If you are like most of the people that visit the supermarket on a regular basis, you may have encountered Italian dressing on the vinaigrette-type bottle. If not bottled, the dressing should be pre-mixed with the dehydrated package contents before use.

The Italian dressing used for a salad (mostly vegetable ones) is consists of a mixture of water and several kitchen condiments, vegetables and spices. These include vinegar, pepper, sugar, corn syrup, oil, onions, bell peppers, corn syrup, garlic, oregano, fennel, salt and dill.

The American style Italian dressing would hopefully imitate the normal Italian setting for a salad preparation where olive oil, vinegar, salt, and sometimes black pepper are being mixed with the salad on the table and gives the freshest aroma.