Italian Recipes

Ingredients:

• 1 tsp dried Thyme
• 1 tsp dried Oregano
• ½ cup grated Parmesan cheese
• 1 cup of mozzarella cheese that is shredded
• ¼ cup milk
• 10 eggs
• Salt and pepper
• 2 minced garlic cloves
• 2 tbsp olive oil
• 2 onions
• 2 potatoes

Directions:

Peel and slice the potatoes and peel and mince the onions along with the garlic cloves. Heat up a large skillet with some olive oil under medium heat. Add up some spices to the heated oil for richer flavor. Add up the potatoes, salt and pepper and cover to let cook for 3 minutes. After which, turn up the potatoes and add up the onions and sauté together until everything looks golden brown.

In the meantime, beat the eggs in a huge bowl until they are well mixed before you combine the cheese and milk. Season it up with some pepper and salt as well before stirring in some spices and garlic.

Pour this mix to the potatoes and use a spoon to mix. Turn the heat to low and cook for 10 to 15 minutes more. Place your pan inside the oven and broil it for 3 minutes until you get to see it in golden brown color. Just remember not to overcook it and serve warm.

Photo via efoodi.com

Kids always love pasta dishes and cheese. It seems that anything that has pasta, macaroni or cheese is simply divine for them. Thus, it has become a delight and an interest to look for recipes to serve my little angels. Today, I found a baked macaroni and cheese recipe that my kids enjoyed. I am sharing this with you.

BAKED MACARONI WITH CHEESE by Alton Brown
Ingredients
• 1/2 pound elbow macaroni
• 3 tablespoons butter
• 3 tablespoons flour
• 1 tablespoon powdered mustard
• 3 cups milk
• 1/2 cup yellow onion, finely diced
• 1 bay leaf
• 1/2 teaspoon paprika
• 1 large egg
• 12 ounces sharp cheddar, shredded
• 1 teaspoon kosher salt
• Fresh black pepper
Topping:
• 3 tablespoons butter
• 1 cup panko bread crumbs

Directions
Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Cook the pasta to al dente in a pot of salted boiling water. Melt the butter in a separate pot. Whisk in the flour and mustard and keep it moving for about five minutes until it is free of lumps. Add the milk, onion, bay leaf, and paprika and simmer for ten minutes. Remove the bay leaf. Add the tempered egg and ¾ of the cheese while stirring. Put salt and pepper then fold macaroni into the mix before pouring into a 2-quart casserole dish. Top with remaining cheese.

Melt the butter in a saute pan and toss the bread crumbs to coat. Top the macaroni with the bread crumbs. Bake for 30 minutes. Remove from oven and rest for five minutes before serving.

Being an Italian food aficionado, I have always appreciated anything Italian. Even my sons share this fascination with Italian food. So, I am really pleased to read about January 17th being celebrated as the International Day of Italian Cuisine. This is hosted by the chefs of the Virtual Group of Italian Cooks or GVCI.

To showcase the importance of maintaining standards of traditional and authentic Italian dishes, Italian chefs around the world will prepare a traditional dish of Tagliatelle al Ragù alla Bolognese. This dish is a popular contribution of the City of Bologna in Emilia Romagna.

Cesare Casella, Dean of the Italian Culinary Academy, will host the two day event in New York City participated by Chicco Cerea, Mario Batali and many other Italian chefs from around the world. Anyone can join the celebration and be part of the festivity.

Food lovers who believe in the authentic way of preparing Italian recipe can register and participate in the celebration or can try preparing Ragù alla Bolognese at home. There are many variants of traditional recipes of this dish but one can look up Tagliatelle al Ragu alla Bolognese recipe of Chef Mario Caramella, GVCI president.