International Cuisine

Exploring the world through food.

Italian Beef Carpaccio

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Italian beef carpaccio has to be one of my all-time favorite dishes. This dish would be served as an Antipasto or the first course of an Italian meal.  This dish is easy to make, you just need to make sure to get premium quality beef.  Ideally you want a tenderloin or filet, grass fed with no antibiotics.  If you use grass fed beef this recipe is plant paradox compliant. Many people are afraid of raw beef or fish but they have no idea what they are missing.  The combination of flavors is amazing.

The beef is topped with a little peppery arugula, some shaved parmigiano-regiano, plus some pomegranate seeds. Drizzle some lemon and the best EVOO you can find, heaven!  I hope you give this dish a try, you will love it!

Italian Beef Carpaccio

 

Italian Beef Carpaccio
 
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Recipe type: Appetizer
Cuisine: Italian
Serves: 4
Ingredients
  • 1 1lb. beef tenderloin (premium quality)
  • Juice of 1 lemon
  • 1 small handful Arugula leaves
  • 3 Tablespoons shaved parmigiano-regiano
  • 2 Tablespoons fresh pomegranate seeds
  • 2 Tablespoons Extra Virgin Olive Oil
  • Sea Salt and Fresh ground pepper to taste
Instructions
  1. Slice the beef thinly about ⅛", Put down a sheet of plastic wrap and put the pieces as you cut them in a circle, leaving some space between each piece. Put a piece of plastic wrap over the circle of beef and pound with the flat side of a meat mallet until very thin (almost transparent).
  2. Remove the top layer of plastic wrap and flip the beef onto a plate and then remove the other sheet of plastic wrap.
  3. Squeeze the juice of a lemon over the beef along with a little sea salt.
  4. Sprinkle on the cheese, arugula and pomegranate seeds.
  5. Drizzle over some extra virgin olive oil
  6. Add some fresh ground pepper to taste.
  7. Serve immediately

 

Italian Caprese Salad

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Italian Caprese salad  is another one of my all time favorite recipes and one of my most requested.  This salad evidently originated on the beautiful Island of Capri.  Made in the colors of the Italian flag it usually just consists of three main ingredients.  Fresh mozzarella cheese, fresh tomato slices and basil.  These three simple ingredients drizzled with some great extra virgin olive oil and a little salt and pepper makes a crowd pleasing salad every time.  I like to add a few more ingredients along with a balsamic glaze to the mix.  I think it takes this dish to the next level and you will want to lick the plate.

Italian Caprese salad

 

Italian Caprese Salad
 
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Recipe type: Salad
Cuisine: Italian
Serves: 4
Ingredients
  • 1 lb. Fresh mozzarella cheese (Buffalo is the best if you can find it)
  • 2 ripe tomatoes, sliced
  • 1 Avocado, peeled and sliced
  • ½ red onion cut into rings
  • ½ cup fresh basil leaves cut into strips
  • olive oil to drizzle
  • balsamic glaze to drizzle (you can make your own by reducing balsamic vinegar until you get a thick paste like consistency)
  • salt and pepper to taste
Instructions
  1. Slice the fresh mozzarella cheese into thin slices and arrange on a platter
  2. Add the fresh slices of tomato, avocado and red onion onto each piece of mozzarella cheese.
  3. Sprinkle over the basil and then drizzle the olive oil and balsamic glaze
  4. Add salt and pepper taste
  5. Serve

 

Italian Veal Estensi (Scallopine with porcini Mushrooms)

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Italian veal Estensi  is a veal scallopine with porcini mushrooms.  The dish is scrumptious, the veal served in a light cream sauce with a hint of orange.  The name Estensi refers to royalty who played a great part in the history of the Renaissance period in Italy.  Bottom line this recipe is fit for royalty, it is easy to make and delicious.

Italian Veal Estensi

 

Italian Veal Estensi (Scallopine with porcini Mushrooms)
 
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Recipe type: Main Dish
Cuisine: Italian
Serves: 4
Ingredients
  • 2 lbs veal scallopine, pounded flat
  • ¾ ounce dried porcinis
  • 1 cup chicken stock
  • flour seasoned with salt and pepper to dredge the veal in
  • 2 tablespoons vegetable oil
  • 4 tablespoons butter
  • 2 shallots, minced
  • 2 cloves garlic, minced
  • ½ cup madeira wine
  • ¾ cup heavy cream
  • juice of ½ fresh orange plus zest
Instructions
  1. In a saucepan, combine the dried porcinis with the chicken stock and bring to a boil. Reduce the heat to low and cook 2 minutes. Remove the pan from the heat and let steep for 30 minutes.
  2. Remove the porcinis from the liquid, chop finely and set aside ( strain the liquid through a fine sieve and reserve)
  3. Season veal with salt and pepper on both sides and dredge in the seasoned flour.
  4. In a skillet over medium high heat, add 1 tablespoon of oil and 2 tablespoons of butter.
  5. Add in the veal and cook quickly like only a minute or two per side until golden brown and crispy.
  6. Set veal aside on a warm plate and repeat until the veal is cooked, wiping the pan in between batches if necessary.
  7. After the last batch don't wipe the skillet and add the porcini mushrooms, shallots, garlic and Madeira. Deglaze the pan scraping up any little bits with a wooden spoon. When the madeira wine has reduced by about half, add in the reserved porcini broth and cook a few minutes. Add in the heavy cream, and the juice of the orange, Season with salt and pepper to taste and add the veal back into the cream sauce to heat through just a minute or two. Serve Immediately with a little zest of orange on top.
  8. Enjoy!

 

Italian Fettuccine Alfredo

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Italian Fettuccine Alfredo is a much loved pasta dish all over the world.  It is served often in the USA with a cream sauce which is not authentic.  To be true, it should be made with simply butter and cheese.  Originally this dish was made by Alfredo Di Lelio who ran a successful restaurant in Rome.  His wife was suffering terrible nausea when she was pregnant with their second child.  Alfredo made his wife this very simple dish of pasta which did the trick.  Ines, his wife ate the dish regularly and he added it to the menu.  Simple and delicious!

Italian fettuccine alfredo

Italian Fettuccine Alfredo
 
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Recipe type: Side Dish
Cuisine: Italian
Serves: 4
Ingredients
  • ¾ pound fettuccine egg noodles
  • ½ cup butter, cut into small chunks
  • ¼ cup freshly grated Parmigiano-Reggiano
  • salt and pepper to taste
Instructions
  1. Bring a large pot of water to a boil and add salt to the water.
  2. Cook the pasta until al dente. (tender but still has a bite)
  3. Drain the pasta (reserving some of the pasta water)
  4. Place the pasta in a large, heated bowl
  5. Add in the diced butter and grated cheese and start tossing the pasta until the butter and cheese have melted, add a little of the pasta water as necessary to keep the mixture loose.
  6. Season with salt and pepper to taste
  7. Serve immediately

 

Italian Tiramisu

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Italian Tiramisu is a magical dessert.  It literally means “pick me up.” It is light, yet rich and simply heaven. It is surprisingly easy to make using store bought lady fingers.  The coffee flavored dessert is extremely popular in Italy and is a staple on most Italian dessert menus all over the world.   If you are going to splurge on a dessert, this one is truly worth it.  It is layered with coffee and rum dipped lady fingers ,whipped cream, and then a mascarpone custard and then repeated.  It is then topped with some cocoa powder.  Deliciouso!

Italian Tiramisu

 

Italian Tiramisu
 
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Recipe type: Dessert
Cuisine: Italian
Serves: 12
Ingredients
  • 6 egg yolks
  • ¾ cup white sugar
  • ⅔ cup milk
  • 1¼ cups heavy cream
  • ½ teaspoon vanilla extract
  • 1 pound mascarpone cheese
  • ¼ cup strong brewed coffee, room temperature
  • 2 tablespoons rum
  • 2 (3 ounce) packages ladyfinger cookies
  • 1 tablespoon unsweetened cocoa powder
Instructions
  1. In a saucepan, whisk together egg yolks and sugar until well blended. Whisk in milk and cook over medium heat, stirring constantly, until mixture boils. Boil gently for 1 minute, remove from heat and allow to cool slightly. Cover and chill in refrigerator 1 hour.
  2. In a medium bowl, beat cream with vanilla until stiff peaks form. Whisk mascarpone into yolk mixture until smooth.
  3. In a small bowl, combine coffee and rum. Split ladyfingers in half lengthwise and drizzle with coffee mixture.
  4. Arrange half of soaked ladyfingers in bottom of a 7x11 inch dish. Spread half of mascarpone mixture over ladyfingers, then half of whipped cream over that. Repeat layers and sprinkle with cocoa. Cover and refrigerate 4 to 6 hours, until set.

 

Italian Pizza Margherita

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Italian Pizza Margherita was named after the Queen of Italy.  In 1889 a pizza maker in Naples made this pizza to represent the colors of the Italian flag red, white and green,  in honor of the Queen.  She loved it and the rest is history.  It is made with simple ingredients, tomato sauce, mozzarella cheese and basil.  Now Pizza is supposed to made in a wood burning oven, this recipe can be made in your regular oven but technically it is not  a real pizza but as close as you can get without a wood burning  one.  A funny story when I first made this.  The dough recipe suggests you mound up the flour like a Mountain and make a crater to accept the yeast and liquid.  Well my crater was not big enough and Mt. Vesuvius erupted, yeast water breaking through the mountain like a molten lava.   I used everything at my disposal to contain the lava spewing from the mountain.  It ended up just fine, perhaps it was the cross I made in the dough when left to rise.  An old Italian trick!   The lesson, make sure you make a large enough crater in your mountain to escape the drama of the eruption! Of course you can top it with whatever you like, but Pizza Margherita is simple and delicious!Italian Pizza

Italian Pizza Margherita
 
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Recipe type: Main dish
Cuisine: Italian
Serves: 4 pizzas
Ingredients
  • 600 mL of warm water
  • 7 cups (1kg) flour, type “00 or sifted all purpose flour
  • 2.5 – 3 tablespoons (25 grams) of fresh yeast or 2 teaspoons (7-8 grams) of dried yeast.
  • 6 tablespoons of extra virgin olive oil
  • 1.5 teaspoons salt
  • 2 teaspoons sugar
  • For the sauce:
  • 2 Tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
  • ¼ medium onion, diced
  • 3 cloves garlic, minced
  • 1 can Peeled whole tomatoes in puree (san marzano if you can find them), roughly chopped
  • sprig of fresh thyme
  • sprig of fresh basil
  • 2 teaspoons salt
  • freshly ground black pepper to taste
  • for the pizza:
  • 1 1lb fresh mozzarella cheese
  • handful of fresh torn basil
Instructions
  1. Sprinkle the yeast into a medium bowl with the warm water. Not too hot or cold, warm is what the yeast likes best. Stir until the yeast dissolves.
  2. Place almost all of the flour on the table in the shape of a volcano. (Think Mt. Vesuvius)
  3. Make a giant crater big enough to hold the liquid. Pour the yeast-and-warm-water mix, along with the other ingredients, into the “crater” of the volcano.
  4. Knead everything together for 10 to 15 minutes until the dough is smooth and elastic, keeping your surface floured.
  5. Grease up a bowl with some olive oil and put the dough inside. Turn the dough around so the top is slightly oiled.
  6. Cover the bowl and put the dough aside to let it rest for at least four or five hours.This is a good time to make your sauce see directions below
  7. Make a cross on top of the dough with a knife. An old Italian tradition, this is a way of “blessing the bread.”
  8. Preheat the oven to 400°F
  9. Dump the dough out of the bowl and back onto the floured surface. Punch it down, getting rid of any bubbles.
  10. Divide the dough in half and let it rest for a few minutes.
  11. Roll each section into a 12-inch disc. You can make it as thin as you like but it will rise in the oven a bit.
  12. Transfer the dough onto an oiled pizza pan or baking sheet.
  13. Add tomato sauce, Brush the edges of the crust with a little bit of olive oil.
  14. Bake each pizza for about 10 minutes, then add slices of mozzarella cheese on top.
  15. Let the pizzas bake until the crust is browned and the cheese is melted. By lifting up the pizza to peek underneath, you can make sure the bottom has browned, too.
  16. Remove your pizzas from the oven and garnish with a few basil leaves. And enjoy!
  17. For the sauce:
  18. Heat the oil in a saucepan over medium heat.
  19. Saute the onion and garlic until just lightly browned
  20. Add the tomatoes and herb sprigs and bring to a boil
  21. Lower the heat and simmer covered for 10 minutes
  22. Remove the herb sprigs and stir in the salt and add pepper to taste

 

 

 

 

Italian Tuna and Cannellini Salad

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Italian tuna and cannellini salad is a super easy dish to make, it has just a few ingredients with wonderful texture and flavor.  It is so Italian!  As with any Italian food make sure to get the freshest of ingredients.  You can use tuna in water or oil for this recipe.  It makes a lovely light lunch or side dish for any occasion.

Italian tuna cannellini salad

Italian Tuna and Cannellini Salad
 
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Recipe type: Salad
Cuisine: Italian
Serves: 4
Ingredients
  • 1 can tuna in water or oil, drained and flaked
  • 2 stalks celery, chopped
  • 1 can cannellini beans (white beans) drained and rinsed
  • 3 spring of fresh parsley chopped
  • Extra virgin olive oil to drizzle
  • salt and pepper to taste
Instructions
  1. Mix the first four ingredients together in a bowl
  2. Drizzle over some extra virgin olive oil to coat
  3. add salt and pepper to taste
  4. Serve