Fast and Easy Pasta recipe

Hello Friday!!!

Today I just want to show you a very easy and delicious pasta recipe. Italian people, like me, eat pasta everyday. We are never tired of it!! During Lent (period of time preceding Easter), catholic don't eat any meat on Fridays... that's why what I cooked today is a delicious Pasta with Tuna and Capers. There's different variations you can do with it, but I'll show the basic one.

INGREDIENTS:

• your favorite shape of pasta (I used Angel Hair, 'cause they cook faster, and I was hungry!)
• 1 can of Tuna
• a handful of Capers
• salt
• 1 clove of Garlic
• 3 tbsp. Extra Virgin Olive Oil

Put water in a big pot with 2 handfuls of salt. Wait for the water to boil. Throw the pasta in, stirring once in a while and looking at the time.. please don't over cook it!!! (check the cooking time on the package).

In the meantime, in another small pot, pour the Extra Virgin Olive Oil with the garlic (I mince half clove and put the rest whole, to take it out as soon as it browns), add the tuna (after draining it), the capers and a pinch of salt. Cook for 3-4 minutes.

When the pasta is cooked, drain it and pour it in a serving bowl, add the tuna sauce. You will probably need to add a little extra drizzle of Extra Virgin Olive Oil.

And that's it!!! Mix and eat right away!! Never let pasta sit there... it needs to be eaten as soon as it's cooked, for a better taste... ;)   Enjoy!!!!

 

Have a great week-end!!!

Love to you all!

 

 

Spicy Oil Recipe.

This Sunday I'll share with you a recipe that I just experimented in my kitchen! Spicy-Delicious-Oil!! The only oil I ever use is Extra Virgin Olive Oil {EVOO as Rachael Ray would say...}, because that's the only oil used everyday in Italian cuisine. I use vegetable oil only if I need to deep fry {because olive oil burns too fast and would burn my food as well}. Well, the type of infused oil I made today is used to give a light spicy flavor to your food.. it's delicious even just sprinkled on a piece of bread!

All you need is this:

• 1 bottle of 500ml of EXTRA VIRGIN OLIVE OIL
• 5 small spicy fresh peppers (I got mine from the Mexican store)

Clean well and pat dry the peppers. Remove the stems and cut them in half. Put them in a pot on low heat, pour the oil and let it warm up. Once it starts boiling, let the peppers infuse for 10 minutes. Turn off the heat and let them cool down. Pour the oil by passing it through a small colander into a bottle {I used the same bottle I took the oil from}. Use the oil to cook your food or to just give extra flavor.

Enjoy!!!

xoxo,

Zucchine Ripiene ~ Stuffed Zucchini

There is a lot going on in this little life of mine. But right now, what I want to share with you is a suuuuper delicious recipe! It's time to use Zucchini.. they are so cheap in every store!! And I have to say it's one of my favorite vegetables... I use them in everything: with pasta, as a side dish, in a parmigiana or.. as in this recipe... STUFFED!! You're going to love them!!

ZUCCHINE RIPIENE  {or STUFFED ZUCCHINI}

What you need:

• 4 large zucchini
• 1cup of bread crumbs
• 1 cup of shredded Parmesan Cheese
• 1 handful of minced Parsley
• 1 egg
• salt & pepper
• extra vergin olive oil
• tomato sauce

Cut the zucchinis in half longways. 

Let them boil in hot water and salt for 4-5 minutes, until barely tender (don't over-cook them!). Drain them, let them cool down and take the pulp out with a spoon (don't throw it away, let it drain in a colander or squeeze the water out). 

Prepare the filling in a bowl. Mix together the egg, parmesan cheese, bread crumbs, parsley, the zucchini pulp with a little salt and pepper. 

Grease a pyrex with olive oil, fill the half zucchinis with the filling and set them in the dish. Cover each of them with a little tomato sauce (previously seasoned). Sprinkle with parmesan cheese and olive oil.

Cook in the oven at 400 degrees for 20 minutes, or until golden brownish. :)

Serve hot as a side dish or main dish with a nice piece of bread!

~Buon Appetito!!

Hugs to all,

On an evening in... Florence!

My vacation in Denver is almost over.. soon we will head back to California. Which place do I like the most? I love both for different reasons... :) What I like about Denver is mostly the beautiful memories that I have and all the people that I love. I try to go see and spend time with everybody! Sometimes it's hard and not possible to do. This vacation I had a great time.. and every time I come to Denver I HAVE to go to eat at Parisi's.. the Italian Restaurant (100% Italian!!) located in the beautiful North-Denver, where I lived for a few years. My husband used to work there {I worked there too!} and we are still very good friends with the owner, a very nice Italian guy from Florence 

{where I was born}. 

The food is fantastic, it's like going to any restaurant in Italy.. even the atmosphere, the quality and the beauty of the environment. I really enjoy going there. Last week we had dinner at Parisi's with our friends. I took some pictures thinking I would blog about it.. of course!!!

..love Italian water... ♥

Schiacciata Bread dipped in flavorful oil... mmmmh

Our happy table!! :)

♥

Fresh from the Garden.

~~~~I can't believe it's already August!!!~~~~ 

One of my favorite months.. it reminds me of the summer vacations spent on the beach in Italy. So, today I looked in my friends' garden and I found 3 Zucchini Flowers!! They told me I could pick them, as they don't eat them.. well... that's exactly what I did!! I LOVE zucchini flowers!! It's an ingredient found mostly in the Roman cuisine, they fry them or put them on pizzas as a topping. 

{So delicious!!!}

I like them fried and I decided to take pictures to show all of you this wonderful and easy recipe. It is a great side dish, appetizer or yummi snack!

FRIED ZUCCHINI FLOWERS 

(Fiori di Zucchina fritti)

This is what you need:

• 5 or 6 large zucchini flowers
• 2 eggs
• 1 tbsp flour
• 1 splash of water
• 1 pinch of salt
• vegetable oil 

Wash the flowers very gently, detach the little stem inside the flower (and throw it away). 

Prepare the egg-batter mixing the eggs with a pinch of salt, add the flour and mix well until creamy. Add a splash of cold water and keep stirring until smooth. 

Dip the flower in the batter and fry it in a saucepan with hot oil until golden on both sides.

Let the cooked flowers rest on paper towel to absorb the extra oil. Serve warm.

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