08/05/09 Chicken with Prosciutto, Rosemary, and White Wine
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"Il bue che dice cornuto all'asino." (The ox saying 'horned' to the donkey. The pot calling the kettle black.) Welcome to another recipe edition from Angela's Organic Oregano Farm!
This week's Italian recipes:
-Crostini with Sun-Dried-Tomato Tapenade
-Ditalini with Pesto, Beans, and Broccoli Rabe
-Chicken with Prosciutto, Rosemary, and White Wine
Enjoy the recipes and have a happy and healthy summer season!
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Yours Truly,
Angela Reina
Recipe: Crostini with Sun-Dried-Tomato Tapenade
Crostini with Sun-Dried-Tomato Tapenade
Crostini con Pomodori Secchi e Tapenade
Ingredients:
1 cup pitted Kalamata olives or other brine-cured black olives
3/4 cup drained oil-packed sun-dried tomatoes
2/3 cup extra virgin olive oil
1/4 cup drained capers
3/4 teaspoon dried oregano
1 French-bread baguette, cut into 1/2-inch-thick slices
Additional extra virgin olive oil
Directions:
Using on/off turns, finely chop olives and tomatoes in processor.
Add 2/3 cup olive oil, capers, and oregano; blend to coarse puree.
Transfer to bowl. (Tapenade can be made 3 days ahead. Cover; refrigerate. Bring to room temperature before using.)
Preheat oven to 350°F.
Place bread slices on baking sheet.
Brush lightly with additional olive oil.
Bake until golden, about 10 minutes.
Spread tomato tapenade on toasts and serve. Makes about 36.
That's it!
Recipe: Ditalini with Pesto, Beans, and Broccoli Rabe
Ditalini with Pesto, Beans, and Broccoli Rabe
Ditalini con Pesto, Fagioli, e Broccoli Rabe
Ingredients:
8 ounces ditalini or other short tube-shaped pasta (about 2 cups)
1 lb broccoli rabe, cut into 2-inch pieces
One 14-ounce can vegetable broth
1/2 teaspoon dried crushed red pepper
One 15-ounce can cannellini (white kidney beans), rinsed, drained
One 7-ounce container purchased pesto
1 tablespoon white wine vinegar
Directions:
Blend first 3 ingredients and 3 tablespoons olive oil in small bowl.
Cook pasta in large pot of boiling salted water 3 minutes.
Add broccoli rabe and boil until broccoli rabe is just crisp-tender and pasta is just tender but still firm to bite, stirring occasionally, about 5 minutes longer.
Drain pasta and broccoli rabe, reserving 1/2 cup cooking liquid.
Return pasta and broccoli rabe to pot.
Meanwhile, bring vegetable broth and crushed red pepper to simmer in medium saucepan.
Add beans and simmer until beans are heated through, stirring frequently, about 5 minutes.
Add bean mixture, pesto, and vinegar to pasta and broccoli rabe.
Stir well, adding pasta cooking liquid by tablespoonfuls if necessary.
Season with salt and pepper.
Serve in shallow bowls. Makes 4 servings.
That's it!
Recipe: Chicken with Prosciutto, Rosemary, and White Wine
Chicken with Prosciutto, Rosemary, and White Wine
Pollo con Prosciutto, Rosmarino, Vino Bianco
Ingredients:
2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
3 large chicken breast halves with ribs and skin, cut crosswise in half
3 chicken drumsticks with skin
3 chicken thighs with skin
1 cup 1/4-inch cubes prosciutto (about 5 ounces)
6 garlic cloves, thinly sliced
2 tablespoons chopped fresh rosemary
1 and 1/4 cups dry white wine
1 cup low-salt chicken broth
1 cup canned crushed tomatoes with added puree
Fresh rosemary sprigs
Directions:
Preheat oven to 325°F.
Heat extra-virgin olive oil in heavy large ovenproof pot over medium-high heat.
Sprinkle chicken with salt and pepper.
Working in 2 batches, saute chicken until golden, about 4 minutes per side.
Transfer chicken to platter.
Add prosciutto, sliced garlic, and chopped rosemary to same pot.
Stir 1 minute.
Add dry white wine, chicken broth, and crushed tomatoes with puree.
Bring to boil, scraping up browned bits.
Boil 5 minutes.
Return chicken to pot, arranging in single layer.
Return to boil.
Cover pot and place in oven.
Bake until chicken breasts are cooked through, about 20 minutes.
Remove chicken breasts.
Continue baking until drumsticks and thighs are cooked through, about 10 minutes longer.
Remove pot from oven.
Return chicken breasts to pot. (Can be prepared 1 day ahead. Cool slightly. Refrigerate uncovered until cold, then cover and keep refrigerated.)
Bring chicken mixture to simmer.
Transfer chicken to platter; tent with foil.
Boil until sauce is reduced to 2 cups and coats back of spoon, about 5 minutes.
Season sauce to taste with salt and pepper.
Pour sauce over chicken.
Garnish with rosemary sprigs and serve. Makes 6 servings.
That's it!
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Only In Italy!
"Only In Italy" is a daily news column that translates and 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:
US Ambassador: Italy Is An Economic Mess
Rome – February 5, 2009 – Italy risks losing its status as a world economic power if its economy continues to perform so poorly, the outgoing American ambassador said Thursday.
Ronald Spogli, sent to Rome three years ago by ex-president George W. Bush, explained that "the basic problem of Italy's economy is its long-term slow economic growth, which is much more serious than the current recession".
Italy, he observed, "has over the years repeatedly ranked low in international rankings in regard to conditions for doing business and investing". The main reasons for this, the ambassador said, were "too much bureaucracy, a rigid labor market, organized crime, corruption, a slow judicial system, the lack of advancement by merit and an education system which does not meet the needs of the 21st century.
However, at the root of Italy's slow economic growth was "a lack of unity" among Italians, Spogli said.
"Unfortunately, I have no magic glue to offer which can keep this country together. Nevertheless, I'm not pessimistic. What I have seen in these past three years convinces me that this country can make it," the ambassador added.
Speaking on Inauguration Day, January 20, Spogli said that no matter who takes his place as ambassador "nothing will change in the excellent relations which exist between the United States and Italy".
"Cacchio", we can't get anything right. We need Emperor Constantine to help get us out of this crap. "Italy, he observed, has over the years repeatedly ranked low in international rankings in regard to conditions for doing business and investing". We beg to differ Ronaldo. Our Prime Minister of Meatballs once stated Italy was a great country to invest in because "today we have fewer communists and those and those who are still there deny having been one."PM of Meatballs: "Another reason to invest in Italy is that we have beautiful secretaries…superb girls."So, the companies that make up the SandP 500 should understand it makes perfect business sense to invest in Italy and avoid countries with ugly women and ex-communists living in denial."too much bureaucracy…" Bureaucracy is our own beautiful lyrical opera full of sound and emotional singing. Wander into any post office, police headquarters or government office and you will hear an enchanting chorus of stamping, slamming and banging while long lines of confused Italians pray that they're in the right place and the right line for the document required. God forbid if they're not."Testa di minchiaaaa ha ha haaaa! If this is the wrong document, time, line, office, hemisphere, why don't you have any indication signs…you grandissimo figlio di una mignottaaaa la la laaa!""a slow judicial system…" Again, our Prime Minister of Minestrone has a logical explanation for this: "Eighty-five per cent of the Italian press is left-wing and among the judges it is even worse… There is a cancer in Italy that we have to treat: the politicization of the magistracy."PM of Minestrone: "If they do that job it is because they are anthropologically different from the rest of the human race."So, you see, once we lure these early prehistoric cavemen out of the court rooms with tiger meat and back to the caves where they belong then one will be able have a speedy and civilized court trial.