Lamb Burgers

Although legumes and pasta are a dietary staple in Sicily most Sicilians are familiar with lamb meat, it is one of the primary source of animal protein next to chicken and rabbit..or if you live on the coast it would be fish. My parents were from a small valley town where lamb meat was more available. After moving to the U.S. Lamb wasn't as costly as beef and being familiar with preparation of it my mama cooked it weekly for us. She mostly prepared lamb shoulder chops or on a holiday leg of lamb. I too cook this type of lamb for my family but also have ventured out and discovered ground lamb and enjoy making lamb burgers on the grill. I serve it on traditional pita (the kind you can fold) with tzatsiki sauce!! (A yogurt sauce)Which is a Greek condiment compliments this burger so well! No ketchup needed here!!

1 lb ground lamb meat

1/4 cup plain Bread crumbs( gluten free can be used )

1 egg

1/4 Red onion minced

1/4 cup crumbled Feta cheese

1 Garlic clove minced or grated

1/2 tsp dried Oregano or 1 tsp of fresh

1/2 tsp crushed Rosemary leaves or 1 tsp fresh chopped

1/2 tsp each of garlic and onion powder

Sprinkle of sea salt (feta is salty)

1/2 tsp Black pepper

Directions 

Place all ingredients in a bowl, mix well with your hands and separate into four patties. Place patty on hot grill and cook for approx 10-12 minutes depending on how thick you make your burger you will have to adjust cooking times.

Unfortunately I didn't take pics of them cooked!!

Buon Appetito!

Lucia

Sausage, Potato, Peppers and Onions

*pictures and recipe are property of "imnotachefimitalian" and are copyrighted!!

On some days I am a big fan of one pot or in this case one roasting pan dishes! This is just a different spin on a classic Italian-American dish of Sausage and Peppers. It's a quick and easy way to put together a nutritious homemade meal. Add a salad as a side. Growing up sausage and peppers was usually reserved for large party like gatherings where my mom had a lot of people to feed. Today I sporadically make it this way for my family and they love it!

Ingredients 

5-6 links of Italian spiced chicken, turkey or pork sausage

5-6 Yukon, red or any roasting potatoes  peeled and quartered 

1 large red bell pepper sliced

1 large green bell pepper sliced

1 med onion sliced

1/4 cup Olive oil

1 tsp Oregano

1 tsp Onion powder

1 tsp Garlic powder

Sea or kosher salt to taste

Black pepper to taste

Directions

Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Cut sausage links in halves or thirds, place all ingredients except spices in roasting pan or casserole dish. Drizzle olive oil over ingredients. Measure out each spice in a small bowl mix together and sprinkle over the sausage and vegetables evenly, now toss with your hands so that the oil and spices are distributed evenly. Cover with aluminum foil bake covered for 30 minutes now remove foil, toss with a spatula and bake for another 30 minutes. You want the sausage and potatoes to brown up. Depending on the heat in your oven you might need to turn on broil for the last 10 minutes to roast a bit.

*please keep in mind these spices are a base you can add more or less to taste I sprinkle by eye. I don't measure. You can too!!

Enjoy!

Lucia

Thyme Mushrooms

Mushrooms are a simple, nutritious side loaded with vitamins complimenting any protein meal. 

I package of white, baby Bella, or Cremini  mushrooms (whole) 

1 tbsp Olive oil

1 tsp Butter

Sea Salt to taste

Pepper to taste

1/4 tsp dry Thyme or 1/2 fresh Thyme

Rinse or wipe your mushrooms. Quarter them. Heat a sauté pan over medium heat add oil. Place mushrooms in sauté pan, add salt, pepper and thyme. Cook for approx 10 minutes until the mushrooms start browning up. Now add your butter and toss.

Torrone (Sicilian Almond Nougat)

The coveted almond. Everywhere you turn today you hear how nutritious and healthy the almond is. If you're gluten free almond flour is the replacement for most of the recipes that use white flour.  

For the Sicilians, we already knew this information long ago. The island of Sicily is covered in almond, olive and lemon trees. Many of our recipes include one of these items. You ate what grew in your region and that's how the recipes developed.

For me the American born Sicilian my memories of visiting Sicily every summer with my parents included daily visits to my Zio's campagna ( my uncles country house).  At his campagna we picked the almond from the tree, cracked it open with a rock on the cement and ate those beautiful milky almonds right from the center....we ate until either we got tired of  cracking them open or until we were going to bust. You can never appreciate the beauty and the taste of that almond until you have had it in that raw state. (Below is a picturewhat the almond fruit looks like growing on the tree)

This is why many Sicilian dessert recipes whether it be cookies, candies or cakes are made with almonds.  In my childhood home the nut bowl (in their respective shells, with the nutcracker of course) always made an appearance at the end of the Sunday or holiday meal, right along side of the fruit.. 

Here I share the recipe for Torrone..a special occasion treat.. You'll need good strong biceps for stirring the last step of this dish!!

2 cups of unsalted roasted almonds

1 cup of white sugar

4 tbsp of water

2 tbsp of white vinegar

About 1 tbsp of orange or lemon zest

• Put all the ingredients together in a pot on the stove at medium flame
• 
  
  
• Use a wooden spoon and slowly mix all the ingredients 
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• Continue stirring the sugar will start to melt. Mix continuously.
• 
  
  
• The sugar will then crystallize again...  Continue to stir.  Do not stop stirring. This is where you need strong biceps.
• 
  
  
• I promise the sugar will melt again and once it is completely melted and the color is Amber remove the pot from the flame and pour the content on a sheet of aluminum foil. The entire cooking process is about 20 minutes.
  
• 
  

  
  
  
  
• With a spatula quickly flatten the hot almonds to form a sheet about 3/4" thick.
• 
  
  
• Let it cool for about 5 minutes and with a chefs knife cut the entire sheet in squares of about 2"  on each side.
• 
  
  
• Be careful to remove the aluminum foil from all the pieces and let them completely cool off.

Variation: you can use half honey, half sugar to make it a little more nutritious.

Enjoy

Buon Appetito!👌

Lucia

Butternut Squash Soup

I truly love the fall season the weather, the leaves and the seasons available produce. Especially the different varieties of squash. Some of my favorite soups are fall soups. As you can tell by my recipe list I love making soups probably one of the reasons I love this season just so that I can make soups! We did eat a lot of soups growing up there were a lot of mouths to feed on a struggling immigrants budget.  My mom could take anything and make a delicious healthy meal. Here I show you a very easy and fulfilling tasty Butternut Squash soup.

Ingredients

I medium sized butternut squash or

4 pkgs frozen cubed butternut squash

1/4 cup olive or coconut oil (melted)

Sea salt sprinkled

Black pepper sprinkled

Granulated garlic sprinkled 

Onion powder sprinkled

Rosemary lightly sprinkled

4 cups stock chicken or vegetable 

1/4 cup half and half

Place squash on baking sheet sprinkle your spices and drizzle with oil. Roast in oven set at 375 for 20 minutes if using frozen, if using fresh 40 min or until it is soft and pierce able with a fork.

Remove and place in a pot add 4 cups of  stock, bring to a boil, next with an immersion blender, or place in a blender and blend until smooth. If you are using a blender place back in pot.

Season to taste (salt/pepper). Now mix in half and half.  

My garnish was caramelized onions (optional)

Enjoy!

Buon Appetito 

Lucia 

Clean out your fridge Vegetable Soup (Minestra)

Periodically I have an over abundance of produce in my refrigerator, some weeks I cook less often than others because of birthday dinners, family get togethers or eating out too often...I remember my mom doing this with leftovers just throwing stuff in a pot with some small pasta and creating a delicious meal...


Nothing I mean nothing got wasted in our house growing up for two reasons: one being there were always at least 10-15 people at the table several times a week and food went fast.  The other reason was I grew up with a dad that lived and served in WWII and food was rationed in Sicily so we were not ever allowed to throw away food, waste food or leave food on our plates (my waist and hips thank him profusely for that..Sarcasm


This soup is loaded with nutrients health in a bowl, low in calories and very filling. The key to making any really good soup is two things: the sautéing the aromatics (your base garlic, onions, celery, carrots) and using bay leaves (I prefer fresh ones) but the dried will work as well.  This produces a soup that you say WOW this is really good!!




Ingredients




2-TBSP Refined coconut oil, or 1/4 cup olive oil
4-Celery Stalks chopped
1-Medium Yellow Onion peeled and chopped
2-Large Carrots peeled and cubed
4-Garlic cloves minced
4-5 Yukon gold potatoes or what ever you have peeled and cubed if you use bigger potatoes then only 2
1 Head of Bok Choy washed and chopped or what ever you have in fridge!!
2 Bay Leaves
Sea Salt and Pepper (to taste)
2-32 oz Containers of Vegetable broth or water.



Directions




In a large soup pot heat oil over medium heat add your celery, onion, carrots, bay leaves and garlic.  Saute for approx. 10 minutes until they have softened a bit and the bottom of the pot gets a little brown (creates flavor) then add your potato, bok choy, salt and pepper.  Any vegetable that you pick you want to add in the beginning if it has a hard stem, and add any leaves towards the end so they don't completely break down in the cooking process (this is what I did when I added the bok choy).
Now add your broth or water. If you are using water be sure to add enough salt, the vegetable broth will have sodium(salt) in it, so you will use less if you use the broth. Bring the soup to a boil and reduce heat to simmer and cook for 45 minutes to one hour, it depends on the veggies used taste for doneness, and adjust seasonings.

Now at this point you could add some small pasta orzo, ditalini or just a huge hunk of Italian bread.  I would cook the pasta separately if you wanted to add it, the starch of the pasta thickens the soup if you cook it in there. 


Ladle into your bowl and drizzle with olive oil and a sprinkle of grated cheese....

Greek Cucumber Salad

This is definitely not an Italian dish but I love Greek food. Italians and Greeks share the love of lamb meat. Which pairs well with this and is refreshing accompaniment to any main dish of meat or fish, this cucumber-yogurt salad also makes a yummy filling for pita bread. If the cucumbers are grated instead of chopped, this mixture can be served as a dip.

Ingredients

1. 1 large cucumber peeled
2. Salt
3. 1/4 c plain GREEK style yogurt
4. 1 tsp lemon juice
5. 1-2 cloves garlic, minced and mashed
6. Freshly ground pepper, to taste
7. 1/4 tsp dried dill or 1 tsp fresh chopped
8. 1 tsp olive oil

9. Preparation

1. Cut cucumber in half and seed. Cut cucumber boat in half lengthwise and then halve each quarter. Cut crosswise into 1/4-inch pieces. Place in bowl, over a sieve, sprinkle salt on top, toss and set aside for at least 20 minutes.
2. Combine yogurt, lemon juice, garlic, pepper, and dill in a medium bowl. Stir in the oil briskly.
3. Drain the cucumbers, return them to the bowl, pour the yogurt mixture over and toss well.

Adapted from Eating Well Magazine,1990

Sicilian Style Eggplant alla Parmigiana

Ingredients

2 Large eggplants peeled and sliced 1/4 inch rounds 

1 cup of Olive oil

Salt, pepper

2 cups Tomato Sauce warmed

1 cup Mozzarella cheese (shredded)

1/4 cup Fresh Basil cut in chiffonades

1/4 cup Grated Pecorino Romano

9x12 baking dish

Directions:

Take sliced eggplant and layer in a colander over a bowl (the bowl will catch the water released by the eggplant)each layer will be sprinkled with salt. Let sit for 1-2 hours. This process removes the bitterness of the eggplant.

Take olive oil and heat over medium heat in a fry pan. You need to have about one inch of oil to fry. You will probably need to add oil as you go, make sure it's nice and hot before you add more eggplant!!

Remove eggplant from colander and blot each piece with a paper towel. 

Then place eggplant into fry pan and cook until golden brown on each side. 

While you are doing this set out a platter layered with papertowel. You will place each piece of eggplant as you remove from fry pan. Keep layering papertowel as you remove eggplant from pan. 

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Take your baking dish and place a thin layer of sauce on the bottom layer eggplant on bottom sprinkle with salt and pepper, spread a thin layer of sauce on each piece of eggplant, over the whole layer sprinkle with grated cheese, mozzarella cheese and basil, repeat until you have no more eggplant. The last layer should have mozzarella cheese at the top. Cover with foil and bake for 45 minutes. Let cool and slice in squares as you would lasagna.

Verdure alla Griglia (Grilled Vegetables)

Aahh summer...I enjoy cooking in the summer months because I can just about grill anything!! I especially miss grilled veggies in the winter so I go overboard in the summer and grill them a lot. I do that anyway anyhow, plain, spiced, dressed etc...this recipe was for a party I simply spiced them up.

All you need is a grill and a pretty platter.

            

Ingredients

2 medium Zucchini

2 medium yellow squash

3 ears of corn

Container of small peppers

3 portobello mushrooms

Asparagus

Olive oil

Grated Romano cheese

Salt

Pepper

Granulated garlic

Onion powder

Oregano

Toss your veggies in a little olive oil and place on a hot grill, cook until you get those beautiful grill marks and the veggies are somewhat soft.

Arrange on your platter

Drizzle some olive oil on everything, sprinkle with all the spices (to taste) and grated cheese and garnish with some fresh basil chiffonades!! Viola and this is served at room temperature.

Keep in mind you can grill just about anything your heart desires.

Enjoy!

😘

Roasted Peppers

We love roasted peppers on salads, sandwiches or in an antipasto. I have been getting extra peppers in my organic box lately so I decided to roast these beautiful yellow peppers. I didn't photograph every step but hope you get the idea. It is very simple to do and so much better than the canned or jarred variety you buy. 

What you need:

4 yellow, red, or orange peppers

Grill

Bowl and a sheet of aluminum foil/or a paper bag

Put the whole pepper on the grill, turn occasionally as the pepper browns/blackens.

Remove when all sides have been roasted, place in bowl and cover set aside for 30-45 minutes.

Uncover and start pulling the skin off the pepper, the seeds and stem.

Then place in storage container in fridge or you can freeze them to defrost and use as needed.

When you are ready to use season with salt, pepper, fresh chopped garlic and olive oil. Then pair with a salad or on a sandwich.

Enjoy,

Lucia

Potato stacks

Never have met potatoes I did not like but these were sooo good, some of the more thinly sliced ones became crunchy on the outside and soft on the inside.

4-5 Yukon gold or Russett potatoes

Olive oil

Rosemary

Sea salt

Black pepper

Preheat oven convection on 400. Peel potatoes, slice. Drizzle baking sheet with olive oil. Arrange in single layer the potatoes sprinkle your spices and place in oven. Half way through cooking when they start to brown flip each slice and continue to bake until golden brown!

Grilled Pork Ribs with homemade sauce

I never had ribs growing up, we ate mostly Italian food so I had to teach myself how to cook ribs.  Ribs are one of my husbands favorite things I make for him.  We buy locally pasture raised pork ribs from Mills farms. I don't care for any bottled style sauce, mostly because of the hickory smoke flavor. I have honed in on my own rib sauce recipe which lends to a sweeter rib.




Ingredients


1 cup Ketchup (my shortcut buy the one without High fructose corn syrup)
1/4 cup honey
1 tbsp. brown sugar
1/4 cup finely chopped onions
1/4 cup apple cider vinegar
2 Tbsp. Worcestershire  sauce
1/4 tsp. black pepper
1 tsp. garlic powder
1/2 cup of water
Rack of Pork Ribs




Instructions


I start with boiling the ribs. Place ribs in a large pot cover the ribs with water, sometimes I throw bottle of beer in the water too. Bring ribs to a boil and boil covered for 15 minutes.  While the ribs are cooking I assemble and cook my sauce.  In a sauce pan combine ketchup, honey, brown sugar, vinegar, Worcestershire sauce, pepper, garlic powder, and water. Chop your onions and add those as well.  Stir to combine.  Bring sauce to a boil reduce heat and simmer for 15-20 minutes. Stir often.


Remove ribs from water place on grill and slather with sauce on both sides and cook ribs on each side about 10 minutes.

Cut ribs, serve and enjoy!

🇮🇹Lucia 

Veal Milanese

This is a simple recipe for veal cutlet, there's not much to say about this Italian staple.  In Italy we eat a lot of veal. Prepared in many different styles, this just happens to be my favorite.  I don't fry many things anymore but I will not compromise Veal Milanese it should only be fried any other preparation method will yield a chewy dry cutlet!! This recipe can be used for chicken cutlet as well.

1 lb of Veal Cutlet (scallopini)

2 Eggs beaten

Salt

Pepper

1/4 cup Grated Romano Cheese

Parsley (fresh or dried) if fresh chop up

1 cup Seasoned breadcrumbs (Italian style) for Gluten free use GF breadcrumbs (panko is best)

Olive oil for frying

Place your olive oil in a fry pan, you want the pan filled about 1/2 inch with oil, preheat your oil while you prepare veal, medium heat. Pound out each cutlet, beat your eggs and season with salt, pepper and parsley.  Mix your breadcrumbs with the grated cheese in a bowl where you will be able to coat veal. 

Now dip veal in egg,

 

Then into breadcrumbs, coat both sides

Then place in hot oil, make sure your oil is hot enough, fry and do not flip until you see the red juice puddle on top of veal piece when this happens its ready to flip, cook for another few minutes. Then remove from the oil and place on a plate lined with paper towel to absorb excess oil. 

See my recipe post for breadcrumbs, I never purchase pre seasoned I like to make my own.

These can be topped with tomato sauce and mozzarella cheese to make veal parmigiana.

Enjoy

Lucia🍅