02/15/12 Baked Cannelloni
Dolce per la Festa! This gift of great Sicilian taste is sure to please. Our cookie tray is filled with a scrumptious assortment of our best selling Italian and Sicilian cookies arranged on a golden cookie tray (Santo Trio Almond, Sicilian Orange Almond, Pistachio, Amarena, Buccellati and Sesame Seed Cookies). No preservatives, additives, artificial colors, or flavors.
"My mouth is already watering… Last time, I was bringing some to party, but due to weather, it was rescheduled for a month later… I froze the cookies and took them out the day of the party. The cookies never made to dessert time… Everyone kept sneaking into the kitchen to steal them and by the time dinner was over…no more cookies! Thanks for making such a great product." Michele N. (Howell, New Jersey)
"Il denaro è fratello del denaro." (Money is the brother of money. Money comes to money.) Welcome to another recipe edition from Angela's Organic Oregano Farm!
This week's Italian recipes:
-Baked Cannelloni
-Roasted Leg Of Lamb with Garlic and Rosemary
-Hot Zabaglione
"Come stai?" Yes, it's another day of waking up and working hard. We know, it's tough during this cold winter month. But let's look forward to a productive day and the spring season which is just a few weeks away. Enjoy this week's recipes.
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Yours Truly,
Angela Reina
Recipe: Baked Cannelloni
Baked Cannelloni
Cannelloni al Forno
Ingredients:
3 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
1 large onion, finely chopped
4 cloves garlic, smashed
1 and 1/4 pounds combined lean ground beef, veal and pork
24 cannelloni or manicotti shells
1 and 1/2 pounds ricotta cheese
2 large eggs
1/2 cup grated Parmigiano cheese
1/4 cup chopped fresh parsley
Salt and pepper
One 32 ounce can Italian plum tomatoes
1/4 cup chopped fresh basil
3/4 pound mozzarella cheese, thinly sliced
Directions:
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.
In a large, deep skillet, heat 2 tablespoons olive oil over medium heat.
Add the onion and half of the garlic and cook until translucent, about 6 minutes.
Push the onion to the sides of the pan and increase the heat to medium-high.
Add the ground meat and cook, stirring occasionally, until browned, about 15 minutes.
Remove from the heat and let cool.
In a large pot of boiling salted water, cook the pasta for 6 minutes.
Drain the pasta and rinse with cold water to stop the cooking.
Spread the cooked pasta shells on a paper-towel-lined baking sheet and let cool. When cool, split open the pasta tubes lengthwise.
In a large bowl, combine the ricotta, eggs, 1/4 cup Parmigiano cheese, the parsley, 3/4 teaspoon salt and 1/2 teaspoon pepper.
Fold in the meat mixture.
Puree the tomatoes in a blender or food processor until smooth.
In a medium skillet, cook the remaining garlic in the remaining 1 tablespoon olive oil over medium heat until soft, about 2 minutes.
Add the pureed tomatoes, the basil and the remaining 1/4 cup Parmigiano cheese and simmer for 5 minutes.
Spread half the sauce on the bottom of a sturdy rimmed baking sheet.
Stuff the pasta shells with 3 tablespoons of the meat-and-cheese mixture, and slightly overlap the edges to enclose the stuffing.
Place the cannelloni seam side down on the sauce and top with the remaining tomato sauce and the sliced mozzarella.
Bake for 25 minutes. Serves 8.
That's it!
Recipe: Roasted Leg Of Lamb with Garlic and Rosemary
Roasted Leg Of Lamb with Garlic and Rosemary
Arrosto di Agnello con Aglio e Rosmarino
Ingredients:
1 (5 to 6-pound) leg of lamb, trimmed of all extra fat
4 to 5 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
3 garlic cloves, minced
2 to 3 rosemary sprigs, chopped, or 1 tablespoon dried rosemary, crumbled
Salt and freshly ground pepper to taste
1 cup dry white wine
Directions:
Preheat oven to 400°F (205°C).
Rinse lamb under cold running water and pat dry with paper towels.
Heat olive oil in a large heavy Dutch oven or roaster over medium-high heat.
Add the lamb and brown it on all sides.
Turn off the heat. As soon as the lamb can be handled, rub garlic and rosemary on all sides, and season it with salt and pepper.
Return lamb to pan and roast in the oven, uncovered, 1 to 1 and 1/2 hours depending on desired doneness; baste with the pan juices several times during cooking. If the meat sticks to pan during cooking, add a little of the white wine.
Transfer the lamb to a cutting board and let it sit about 5 minutes before carving.
Meanwhile, put the pan over high heat and add the wine.
With a wooden spoon scrape and loosen up the bits and pieces attached to the bottom of pan.
Cook until the wine is reduced by half.
Carve the lamb into thin slices, spoon a bit of pan juices over the lamb and serve at once. Makes 6 to 8 servings.
That's it!
Recipe: Hot Zabaglione
Hot Zabaglione
Zabaglione Caldo
Ingredients:
8 egg yolks
1/2 cup sugar
3/4 cup dry Marsala wine, sherry or port
Directions:
In a large bowl or the top part of a double boiler, beat egg yolks and sugar until pale and thick.
Set bowl or top part of double boiler over simmering water; do not let water boil.
Add Marsala wine, sherry or port slowly, beating constantly. Zabaglione is ready when mixture has tripled in volume and it is soft and fluffy, 4 to 6 minutes.
Spoon into individual glasses.
Serve immediately. Makes 6 to 8 servings.
That's it!
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Bacchus is waiting for you in Tuscany! Come visit Florence, Pisa, Siena, Montalcino, San Gimignano & Montepulciano during our annual Tuscany Wine Tour. You will visit the oldest winery in Italy as well as listen to monks chanting their famous Gregorian Chants, and enjoy the 92°F natural spring water in an outdoor Tuscan spa.
"I just wanted to take the time out to write and personally thank you for being our tour guide last week in Tuscany. The trip exceeded my expectations and your knowledge of the region is exceptional. I truly enjoyed all of the fun stories you provided through out the trip. The olive factory tour with lunch was certainly one of the highlights, as well as the walking tours and history. Words cannot express my thanks, Paul! Grazie!" Suzan F. Oct. 8, 2009 (Houston, TX)
Tuscany Wine Tour is the ultimate experience for anyone who loves wine, culture & fun! The week long tour includes all meals, 9 cellar visits with tastings, museum entrance to see Michelangelo's David and much more. Join us in making lifetime memories in September 2012. Visit tuscantourguide.com for the full itinerary!
Only In Italy!
"Only In Italy" is a daily news column that translates & reports on funny but true news items from legitimate Italian news resources in Italy. Each story is slapped with our wild, often ironic, and sometimes rather opinionated comments. And now, for your reading pleasure, a sample of today's edition:
Marriage Annulled After Wife Thought About Having An Affair
Rome – November 8, 2010 – Italy's highest appeals court on Monday confirmed the annulment of a marriage on the grounds that the wife thought of having an affair but never in fact had one.
"We fully support the lower court's findings even though there was no evidence of the woman frequenting other men," the Cassation Court said in its ruling, which sets a precedent.
The woman, who was not named, was trying to have the ruling overturned to benefit from no-blame financial arrangements including alimony. After the high court's apparently draconian verdict she will be left to look out for herself.
According to judicial sources, both the husband and wife told judges that she had often "theorized" the freethinking idea that a marriage does not necessarily have to be based on sexual fidelity, but "never put the idea into practice".
Wife: "Ignazio, I want to try something different with the chicken for dinner. What do you suggest?"
Husband: "The chicken?! What do you mean something diff…you 'puttana'! Who is he?"Another lesson in Italian life: Italians do not come together primarily for love. Well, not the kind of love that Americans would understand…that romantic kind; the kind that obliges you to pledge your undying love to that one and only, blah-blah-blah. For most this ideal is something to strive and desire, and you feel stupid and guilty when you fall short of the mark.Him/her: "(sob, sniff) what did I do wrong?"
Him/her (respond): Oh, please! "Per favore!"The expectations of Italians tend to be different, especially towards marriage.A marriage to us is a vow, a contract, a commitment. A spouse is chosen because, all things considered, he or she would make a good partner for the 'family', rather than for personal, romantic, sentimental, or sexual reasons.70% of coupled men cheat, an indication of that fact Italian men have never been and continue not to be a faithful flock.
BUT the statistic is almost matched by the Italian women with 64%. Therefore, we feel this marriage should be annulled but on the grounds of imbecility. If a wife "theorizes" the idea of cheating, it can only mean her lover was too repulsive to jump in the sack with, and her taste in men might be questioned by her whoring friends.