Sort of like a Cordon Bleu, only minus the cheese, and made with Italian ingredients instead of French. Okay, so it’s nothing like a Cordon Bleu but it’s definitely delicious!
Cordon Who?
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Tag Archives: italian
Ensalada Capr’easy
This super easy to prepare salad says Summer to me. The colors are as pleasing to the eye as the flavors are to the pallette.
- 1 ball of fresh mozzerella, sliced about 1/4″ in thickness
- zest of one lemon
- chiffonade of fresh basil
- 1 tbs extra virgin olive oil
- 1 tsp balsalmic vinegar
- kosher salt
- black pepper
- 1/4 tsp dried oregano
Assembly couldn’t be simpler. Lay mozzerella out on serving platter and top each piece with a slice of tomato.
Zest lemon over top and sprinkle with oregano, salt and pepper. Drizzle with olive oil and balsalmic vinegar and finish off by adding basil.
Italian Spinach Salad
This is my take on a traditional spinach salad but with an Italian twist!
Ingredients:
- 1 bag of baby spinach
- 1 pack of sliced baby bellas
- 1 pack of pancetta, chopped
- 1/2 cup pine nuts, toasted
- salt and pepper
- 3 hard boiled eggs, sliced
- 1/2 red onion, sliced
- parmesan curls to top off
- 2 tbs red wine vinegar
- 1 tbs dijon mustard
- 5 tbs olive oil
Directions:
- In a large skillet, add pine nuts over low heat and toast about 5 – 8 mins. Stir often and keep an eye on them – they can go from toasted to burnt rather quickly. Remove and set aside.
- In the same skillet over low-medium heat, add 2 tbs olive oil to the pan and brown off your pancetta, drain and set aside. Reserve any drippings that have rendered off and pour into a small bowl. You will incorporate this back in later.
- In that same skillet, add 1 tbs olive oil, your mushrooms and onions. Cook down about 10 mins, remove and set aside.
- To your pan, add 2 tbs olive oil, the drippings you’ve reserved, your red wine vinegar and dijon mustard. Stir to combine. This makes the warm dressing for the salad.
- To serve, top your baby spinach with your mushroom and onion mixture. Add your pancetta, pine nuts and egg slices. Drizzle with the dressing and top with parmesan curls.
Tips:
- Pancetta, unlike bacon does not have a high fat content, thus the use of olive oil to help it along.
- Parmesan curls can be made by simply using a vegetable peeler to shave cheese into thin curls.
Puttanesca Salad
Puttanesca Ensalada…doesn’t that mean whore salad? Who knows, Italian is so colorful.
Ingredients:
- 1 pack of vine ripe tomatoes, quartered
- 1/2 red onion, chopped
- 1/2 cucumber, chopped
- 1 red bell pepper, chopped
- 5 anchovy fillets, chopped
- 2 cloves garlic, finely chopped
- 1 handful of fresh basil, chopped
- 1 handful of fresh parsley, chopped
- 1 small jar of marinated artichoke hearts
- 1/2 cup pitted kalamata olives, chopped
- 1/2 cup whole pepperoncinis
- 1/4 tsp oregano
- 1/4 crushed red pepper flakes
- 1/2 tsp fennel seed
- 2 tbs red wine vinegar
- 2 tbs extra virgin olive oil
- salt and pepper to taste
Directions:
- Combine all ingredients in a large bowl and toss to coat. Taste and add more salt and pepper if need be.