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Tag: parmesan

Chicken Parmesan

  • 4 to 6 boneless, skinless chicken breasts
  • 1 cup all-purpose flour
  • 1 teaspoon kosher salt
  • 1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
  • 2 extra-large eggs
  • 1 tablespoon water
  • 1 1/4 cups seasoned dry bread crumbs
  • 1/2 cup freshly grated Parmesan, plus extra for serving
  • 2 tablespoon Unsalted butter
  • 2 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil
  • 3 cups homemade marinara sauce
  • 1 lb fresh mozzarella cheese sliced

Pound the chicken breasts until they are 1/4-inch thick. You can use either a meat mallet or a rolling pin.  Combine the flour, salt, and pepper on a dinner plate.  On a second plate, beat the eggs with 1 tablespoon of water and a pinch of salt.  On a third plate, combine the bread crumbs and 1/2 cup grated Parmesan.  Coat the chicken breasts on both sides with the flour mixture, then dip both sides into the egg mixture and dredge both sides in the bread-crumb mixture, pressing lightly.  Heat 1 tablespoon of butter and 1 tablespoon of olive oil in a large saute pan and cook 2 or 3 chicken breasts on medium-low heat for 2 to 3 minutes on each side, until cooked through.   Add more butter and oil and cook the rest of the chicken breasts.

Lay the cooked chicken pieces in an oven proof casserole.  Ladle spoons of marinara sauce over all the chicken pieces.  Add the mozzarella slices on top and bake for 5-10 minutes in a 350 degrees oven until cheese is melted.  Serve with pasta or in a sandwich.

Four-Cheese Frittata with Arugula Salad

Four-Cheese Frittata1

  • 6 eggs
  • 2 teaspoons salt
  • Pepper
  • ¼ cup half and half
  • 1 cup shredded four-cheese mix (asiago, provolone, parmesan, mozzarella) divided

Add the eggs, salt, pepper, half and half and half cup cheese. Beat well and keep aside.

  • 5 to 6 red skinned potatoes, peeled and sliced thin
  • 1 medium yellow onion, sliced
  • 3 garlic cloves, minced
  • 2 tablespoons fresh thyme
  • 1 teaspoon salt
  • Pepper
  • 2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil

Heat a non-stick large pan with the olive oil. Add the onions and sauté on medium high heat for a minute. Add garlic and the potatoes. Add the thyme, salt and pepper. Saute on medium heat for about 10 minutes. Add the eggs and cook on a medium low heat for another 10 minutes. Top the frittata with the remaining half-cup cheese and place under a broiler on low heat. Cook till the top is golden brown- about 5 minutes (depends on the broiler heat, so keep a close eye). Take out and let sit for a few minutes. Slide out on a large platter.

  • 2 cups wild arugula
  • Juice of half a lemon
  • 2 teaspoons extra virgin olive oil
  • Salt
  • Pepper

Mix the arugula, olive oil, lemon juice, salt and pepper in a small bowl. Top the frittata with the salad and serve.

Four-Cheese Frittata

Lemon and Dill Risotto

Lemon and Dill Risotto There is nothing better than a bowl of creamy, cheesy risotto.. well, maybe a bowl of creamy, cheesy risotto topped with dill shrimp scampi. It was a delicious combination of flavors. The shrimp had garlic, dill and lemon juice… so, I decided to mimic the flavors in the risotto as well. I love making risotto.. it is like having a blank canvas.. I can do whatever I want with it.

I started with garlic and shallots. I added the rice, some white wine and broth. Once the rice was almost cooked, I added half and half, cheese, lemon zest and of course the main ingredient of the evening- dill. The green specks looked amazing against the snowy white rice. It tasted even better, especially with a huge helping of the shrimp scampi…
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Basil Sausage and Spinach Baked Pasta

basil-sausage-and-spinach-pastaI started with the basil chicken sausages I bought yesterday. I admit to be obsessed with chicken sausages! I find them to be a healthy protein and come in lots of flavors and meal possibilities. Anyway, I was in the mood to make a baked pasta dish but not necessarily with marinara sauce. I decided to go with a bechamel sauce (white sauce), which is typically used in a homemade macaroni and cheese. I added pecorino instead of parmesan because it has a stronger flavor and it is not used as often, but, you can definitely use parmesan. Not sure why I chose spinach, maybe because I didn’t have any other vegetables in my fridge except baby carrots and cucumbers. Overall it came out quite well. My daughter thought it was delicious. We ate it with some garlic bread I had left over in the freezer.
The other thing I bought with the sausage was a Portuguese white wine. It looked quite fascinating to me- it had little bubbles! While in Madrid this past summer, we had lots of rose wines with tiny bubbles in them. They weren’t bubbles like champagne, far less- made it a lot easier to drink. I have been looking for something similar until now! The wine is called Gazela and it’s quite tasty. I wouldn’t categorize it as a superb wine but definitely an everyday kind of wine you can have at home. It was around five dollars so you can’t really go wrong. Anyway, the bubbles worked quite well with the creamy white sauce in the pasta.

  • 2 basil Chicken Sausages- sliced into 1-inch rounds
  • 2 tablespoons olive oil
  • 1 medium onion, cut into one-inch pieces
  • 2 garlic cloves, minced
  • 10 ounces chopped frozen spinach, thawed with water squeezed out
  • 1 teaspoon salt
  • ½ pound penne pasta
  • 8 ounces part skim mozzarella cheese, grated- divided into 1/3 cup and 2/3 cup

White Sauce

  • 2 tablespoons butter
  • 2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
  • 1 cup milk (1%, 2% or whole milk will do)
  • ¼ teaspoon grated nutmeg
  • 1 teaspoon salt
  • ½ teaspoon black pepper
  • ½ cup pecorino romano, grated

Preheat oven at 400 degrees
In a wide skillet, heat the olive oil and add the sausages on medium-high heat. Brown the sausages for about 4 to 5 minutes. Add the onions and garlic. Saute for a minute or so. Next, add the spinach and the salt. Mix well, making sure all the ingredients are warm and cooked through. Keep aside.
In a medium sized pot, bring water to a boil and cook the pasta until almost done ( the rest will bake in the oven). Add the pasta to sausage and onion mixture.
In the meantime, in a small pan, melt the butter and add the flour. Start to whisk the mixture over medium-high heat for a minute or two. Then add the milk slowly while whisking making sure no lumps form. Bring the liquid to a boil. Once it starts to thicken, take it off the heat. Add the nutmeg, salt, black pepper and the pecorino cheese. Add the sauce to the pasta and sausage mixture. Add 1/3 cup of the mozzarella cheese and mix well. Taste and adjust seasoning. Transfer the mixture into an ovenproof dish and top it with the remaining 2/3cup mozzarella cheese. Bake uncovered for 10 minutes. Cover the dish with aluminum foil and bake for another 20 minutes.