Italian, Mediterranean Recipes
49 recipes found
Mushroom Risotto With Peas
If you are ever at a loss for what to make for an impromptu dinner party, especially if there will be vegetarians at the table, consider this luxurious mushroom risotto. I added peas because I wanted to introduce some color, and also because the sweetness of the peas fits right in with the flavors of this dish. But this satisfying, elegant dish is fine without peas, too. You’ll get a vibrant dash of green from the parsley added at the end of cooking.
Gluten-Free Spaghetti With Baby Broccoli, Mushrooms and Walnuts
This week I was really into adding nuts to many of my pasta dishes. They contribute substantial “meaty” texture and wonderful flavor. Baby broccoli is more elegant than regular broccoli, with long wispy florets and thin stems.
Spaghetti With Broccoli and Walnut-Ricotta Pesto
This spaghetti sauce is a creamy, pungent walnut-thickened pesto that is thinned out with a small amount of cooking water from the pasta. Break up the broccoli florets so the flowers are quite small. They will absorb the sauce in the nicest way when you toss everything together.
Eggs in Purgatory
It’s unclear whether "purgatory" refers to the bubbling red tomato sauce used to poach the eggs in this easy skillet meal or the fire of the red-pepper flakes that the sauce is spiked with. In either case, this speedy Southern Italian dish, whipped up from pantry staples, makes for a heavenly brunch, lunch or light supper. Note that the anchovies are not traditional, but they add a subtle fishy richness to the tomatoes. However, feel free to leave them out.
Roasted Grapes With Caramelized Wine and Yogurt Ice Cream
In this recipe, grapes take on a floral, caramelized flavor from fresh thyme and honey. If your thyme is woody, discard the stems and just use the leaves. If you don’t have an ice cream machine, the ice cream mixture can be placed directly in the freezer without churning. It won’t be quite as creamy and smooth, but quite good enough. You will get more ice cream than you need for serving with the grapes, but eating the leftovers is no hardship.
Pasta e Fagioli
This is a classic Italian bean and pasta soup. If you have already made a pot of beans using a pound of beans, and want to use it for this soup, just use half the beans but all of the broth as directed in Step 1.
Bright Green Pesto and Its Many Uses
I’ve been making pesto forever and have never been able to keep it bright green. It has such promise, such flavor, and I know that the pasta or whatever else I use it in will taste wonderful. But I’ve always been frustrated by how quickly the basil oxidizes and the color goes from bright green to drab. So I decided to try blanching the leaves very briefly to see if that would solve the problem and voilà! It did. You need to blanch the basil for only five seconds, and you don’t want to blanch it for more than 10. Doing this leaches out a wee bit of the basil’s vivid flavor, but not enough to change that of the pesto significantly. The texture and color are wonderful, and the pesto will keep for several days in the refrigerator (but it’s best to wait until you’re ready to use the pesto before adding the garlic and cheese).
Italian Roast Potatoes
These potatoes are beloved by children and adults alike, and they are very easy to make. Just cube the potatoes (don't bother to peel) and tumble them into a pan. Pour on the olive oil, sprinkle the oregano, peel the garlic cloves (you don't even have to do that if you're pushed for time), mix everything together and stick the dish in the oven. Serve alongside some lamb chops and a simple salad, or just the salad.
Lasagna With Roasted Brussels Sprouts and Carrots
A crowd-pleasing dish with endless varieties. If you are ever in doubt about what sort of casserole to make ahead for a crowd, make lasagna. There are so many versions that will please children and grown-ups, lacto-vegetarians and meat eaters. I like to tuck roasted vegetables into the layers of pasta, marinara sauce, Parmesan and ricotta. In this rendition I used brussels sprouts and carrots; the sprouts are slightly bitter and the carrots sweet. I sliced the brussels sprouts about the same width as the carrots and roasted the two together. Before you begin to assemble your lasagna it helps to be organized about the quantities of each element that you will need for the layers. It is very frustrating to get to the last layer of your casserole and not have enough sauce for the top.
Lasagna With Spinach and Wild Mushrooms
Mushrooms enrich this classic spinach lasagna, a family favorite and a great do ahead dish. I like juicy wild mushrooms like maitakes or oyster mushrooms for this. I also prefer bunch spinach to the baby variety, because baby spinach can be a bit stringy when you cook it (however you will be chopping it and blending it into the ricotta here so perhaps that isn’t such an issue). Before you begin to assemble your lasagna it helps to be organized about the quantities of each element that you will need for the layers. It is very frustrating to get to the last layer of your casserole and not have enough sauce for the top.
Polenta With Wild Mushrooms and Marinara Sauce
Years ago, I abandoned the traditional stir-until-you-get-a-blister-on-the-inside-of-your-thumb method for making polenta and became a convert to the easy oven-baked version. But then I began working with polenta freshly milled from heirloom varieties of corn, and went back to the top-of-the-stove method because the results were exceptionally creamy and fragrant. This was at the urging of Kay Rentschler, who is the creative director of the Anson Mills website and writes its recipes. She is very specific about the best way to cook the mill’s products, so I followed her instructions for polenta, which are shared here. The flavor of the corn is heavenly, and once it begins to thicken, you don’t have to stir continuously, so it is not tedious to make. You could serve polenta as a side, but I like to show it off and serve it as a main dish (a boon for those who now eschew pasta). It’s a wonderful vehicle for any number of toppings, but my favorite is a simple tomato sauce embellished with pan-cooked mushrooms, preferably meaty, flavorful varieties like oysters or maitakes. If you want to be extravagant, throw a few chanterelles into the mix.
Risotto with Asparagus and Pesto
The last step in most of my risottos is to stir in a final ladleful of stock and some Parmesan cheese. This time, I also stirred in some pesto, which enriches the risotto deliciously, and also dresses it up with flecks of green. The risotto would also work with green beans or peas, or with no added vegetable at all.
Two-Bean and Tuna Salad
This is the most amazing version of tuna and bean salad I’ve ever tasted. It incorporates crunchy green beans, a red onion made a little milder by soaking in water, tuna and a bean of your choice. I’ve used a lush bean called Good Mother Stallard, which really makes this salad stand out. You can substitute borlotti beans, pinto or white beans. If you’re using canned beans, rinse them first. Whichever bean you choose, you’ll have an amazing light and satisfying meal.
Rice Croquettes With Ragù and Fondue (Arancini)
Black Grape, Blue Cheese and Thyme Flatbread
Black grapes, such as Concords, come into season in the fall. The combination of grapes, sweet spices and blue cheese is an unusual one, yet utterly delicious -- especially for the kind of person who loves ending a meal on a sweet and cheesy note. I serve this for brunch, or before dinner with drinks. For even more flavor and substance, add a scattering of arugula and prosciutto on top.
Pesto-Filled Deviled Eggs
Deviled eggs may be old fashioned, but I will always have a weakness for them. I’m always experimenting with fillings for these perfect little protein packages. Pesto, mixed with half of the hard-cooked yolks, is pungent and rich. I particularly like the basil-mint version. Serve these as an hors d’oeuvre or as part of a light lunch.
Uncooked Tomato and Mint Sauce with Poached Eggs
This dish turns summer tomatoes into a salsa cruda that can also work well with most any kind of fish. My friend and colleague Clifford A. Wright serves this delicious salsa cruda with grilled salmon. It’s also wonderful with most other fish, grilled, oven-roasted or pan-cooked, and it makes a terrific sauce for foods like cooked grains, the vegetarian burgers I published a few weeks ago or simply cooked green vegetables. One of my favorite uses is in a Mediterranean huevos rancheros: poach an egg, set it on a lightly charred corn tortilla, sprinkle the egg with a little salt and pepper if desired and spoon on the sauce.
Antipasto Salad With Marinated Black Walnuts
Fettuccine With Brussels Sprouts, Lemon and Ricotta
Brussels sprouts love a whisper of lemon, which is what the zest provides in this combo. The ricotta becomes creamy when you add a small amount of cooking water from the pasta to it, but you have to serve this right away or the ricotta will stiffen up again. I used gluten free Le Veneziane fettuccine made with cornmeal, and thought the color and texture were very good. It only took 5 to 6 minutes to cook. It works equally well with standard pasta.
Millet Polenta With Mushrooms and Broccoli or Broccoli Rabe
I had envisioned serving this savory mix of mushrooms over a bowl of farro, and farro — or brown rice or barley, for that matter — would certainly work well. But I made the mushrooms on the same day that I made the Millet Polenta With Tomato Sauce, Eggplant and Chickpeas and ended up spooning them over the millet, which was so delicious and comforting that I voted on the millet as the accompanying grain. Cornmeal polenta would also work well.
Tuscan Marinade
This marinade is particularly good with vegetables (see the following recipe) or with chicken paillard or flank steak. For chicken, pound four 6-to-8-ounce chicken breasts until they are 1/4 inch thick. Marinate in the refrigerator for 4 hours. Grill over hot coals until tender, about 2 to 3 minutes per side. For flank steak, marinate a 1 1/2-to-2-pound piece in the refrigerator for 8 hours. Grill over hot coals until medium rare, about 3 to 4 minutes per side.
Peaches In Amaretto Caramel
Seared Tuna, White Bean and Fennel Salad
Rich tuna and creamy white beans are the foundations of a favorite warm-weather Mediterranean salad, often accented with tomatoes and onion. Here, well-seasoned tuna fillet is instead seared rare in a cast-iron skillet, though it could also be grilled over hot coals. But feel free to use best-quality canned tuna, and skip the cooking altogether. The crisp, thinly sliced fennel adds freshness and mirrors the fennel seed in the seasoning.
Winter Citrus and Red Chicories Salad
A crisp colorful salad in the dead of winter can make a meal feel luxurious. Radicchio and its crimson cousins in the chicory family, Chioggia, Treviso and Tardivo, make an eye-popping display with red citrus like blood orange and ruby grapefruit. The combination of slightly bitter leaves and sweet juices is utterly refreshing. Here's our video showing how to peel the citrus.