Spaghetti alla Puttanesca perhaps has a naughty origin in Italy, but this recipe is a guaranteed hit. Each time I have made it, it is basically lick the plate worthy. Perhaps you have had this experience ... you go out to an Italian restaurant and the spaghetti sauce leaves you dying for more. How is it that they make that sauce so darned good? Tomato sauce recipes are truly a dime a dozen on the ...
Entrees
Penne with Ragu alla Bolognese
Ragu alla Bolognese is a delicious chunky meat tomato sauce originating from Bologna Italy. Recently my wife and I went to Da Vinci's Ristorante in Greenville, SC for our eleventh anniversary dinner. I had the bolognese sauce on taglietelle pasta, which was absolutely delicious. A few days later I was looking in the old pantry for some dinner ideas and of course found some penne and crushed ...
Baked Cheesy Pasta with Pancetta and Spinach
This is another baked pasta dish that is sure to be a crowd-pleaser at your dinner table. Very rich and creamy, it's not an everyday dish. But you can pull it out every once in a while for a Sunday dinner. Everybody will be stuffed and happy. And the shape and texture of the orecchiette pasta surprisingly lends itself well to being baked in this dish. Ordinarily you want to serve pasta more on ...
Italian Style Meatballs
This is a classic recipe for Italian-Style Meatballs. Following the process here will give you meatballs that are crunchy on the outside and moist and delicious on the inside, just as you want them to be. This is a recipe that will be loved by everybody, of course you must serve them bathed in your favorite Italian sauce. This is an adaptation of a recipe from my mom and dad, no doubt passed down ...
Stuffed Shells With Spinach and Pancetta
Here it is, the ultimate Italian comfort food! Pasta shells stuffed with melted seasoned mozzarella and ricotta, salty gobs of pancetta, and ample fresh spinach. That's everything you get with this delicious Stuffed Shells with Spinach and Pancetta recipe. In my family, all holiday celebration meals called for the traditional main course meal and a standard Italian dish as a side meal. The Italian ...
Seared Pork Loin Cacciatore
I like to think that this Seared Pork Loin Cacciatore recipe is a bit of an original. Cacciatore dishes can be a bit of a dime a dozen, with every Italian household seemingly having their own way of making them. There is nothing too exotic or difficult about a cacciatore dish, all the recipes tend to have some of the same things so it's a 'you know it when you taste it' kind of deal. Rather than ...
Chicken Florentine Mac and Cheese with Bacon
Okay, this recipe for Chicken Florentine Mac and Cheese with Bacon was an improvisation. I just went through the fridge and pantry and threw a little something together with the ingredients I found. So what did I find? Well, of course, I had some pasta in the pantry. I also had some shredded cheddar cheese in the fridge left over from the Super Bowl. And I had some frozen chicken breast florentine ...
Fettuccine al Pomodoro
Fettuccine al Pomodoro is intended to be a lighter and more quickly made pasta dish than pasta with the long cooked meat sauce. I developed this recipe after first making my Italian Orecchiette Soup, and realizing that the broth in that soup was just as delicious on the second day, when it had thickened up considerably after being in contact with the pasta overnight. So I started figuring out how ...