Tortellini Con Peppe Arrostitto--Tortellini with Roasted Red Pepper

1 lb Cheese Tortellini
2 Red Peppers--Roasted (If you don't want to roast the peppers, you can buy a small jar of roasted red peppers)
Fresh Chopped Parsley
16 Ounces Heavy Cream
2 Table Spoons Butter
1/4 Cup Plain Red Tomato Sauce
Salt & Black Pepper
1/3 Cup Freshly Grated Parmigiano Reggiano Cheese

Roast the red peppers until the skin looks burnt. Place peppers in a small paper bag, and close the bag. (I use my BBQ to roast the peppers, but you can also use your stove top if it is a gas stove)

Keep Peppers in the bag for 10 minutes.

Peel the skin off the peppers

Take a small bowl, and pull the middle of the pepper out and discard the middle. Strip the rest of the peppers into strips, and set aside.

Boil a pot of water and cook the tortellini

The Sauce:
In a medium pot over low-medium heat combine;
1. Butter
2. Heavy Cream

Once the butter melts, add;
1. Tomato Sauce
2. Red Peppers with the juice from the bowl
3. Parsley
4. Salt & Pepper to taste

Simmer for about 10 minutes.

Mix the Tortellini with the sauce, and add the grated cheese. Mix well and serve

Vitello Spezzatino--Veal Stew

One of my favorite dishes!

You can use either Veal Cutlets, or Veal Stew meat. If you use the veal stew meat, you'll need to boil the stew meat in a pot of water for about an hour, and set it aside until you need to add it later. I am using veal cutlets in this recipe........

1 medium onion chopped
2 celery sticks chopped
2 carrots chopped
4 Veal Cutlets cut lengthwise, and then cut again width wise--You should end up with 1/4 inch thick pieces
4 Potatoes peeled and cubed
1 1/2-2 cups of plain tomato sauce--Chunky Style of Kitchen Ready
4 cups of water
Salt and pepper to taste
5 table spoons of Extra Virgin Olive Oil

Saute` for about 3-5 minutes;
1. Oil
2. Onion
3. Celery
4. Carrots

Season with Salt and Pepper and keep stirring with a wooden spoon.

Add your sauce, and mix well.

Add the water, stir and bring to a boil.

Add the potatoes, Veal (either the cutlets or the boiled stew meat) and season with Salt and Pepper.

Let cook, stirring often, until potatoes are done.

Gamberetti Scampi--Shrimp Scampi

Appetizer

6-8 Shrimp
1/4-1/2 stick of Butter
3 Garlic Cloves Minced
1/4 Cup of White Wine--Something you would drink
Fresh Chopped Parsley
Salt and Black Pepper
1/2 lemon

• In a pan melt butter over medium heat and add the Garlic
• Saute` the Garlic and add the shrimp
• Take the wine, and give it a swirl around the shrimp.
• Flip the shrimp, season with Salt and Pepper, and add the parsley
• When the shrimp is cooked, squeeze half a lemon over the shrimp, and serve.
• Total cooking time is less than 10 minutes

*** The recipe above is for an appetizer. A good friend of mine,

Mary Lou made the dish and

said, "I'm sitting here wishing there was more sauce in the meal last night, and realizing it probably wasn't supposed to be mixed with Pasta!" I take full responsibility for this, because I didn't label it as an app. If you would like to make it as a pasta Dish, follow below. The image is Mary Lou's dish that she made last night. Looks delicious! ***

1. Boil water in a pot for the linguine. Once you drop your pasta, you can start cooking the shrimp.
2. In a pan melt butter over medium heat and add the Garlic
3. Saute` the Garlic and add the shrimp
4. Take the wine, and give it a swirl around the shrimp.
5. Flip the shrimp, season with Salt and Pepper, and add the parsley
6. Add some of the pasta water to give you more juice.
7. When the shrimp is cooked, squeeze half a lemon over the shrimp, and serve.
8. Total cooking time is less than 10 minutes

Pasta Patate--Pasta Potatoes

1 small onion chopped
couple sticks of celery chopped
1/2 cup of plain tomato (Kitchen ready)
3 Cups of Water
Salt and Black Pepper to Taste
3 table spoons Extra Virgin Olive Oil
3 Potatoes--peeled and cut into cubes
Elbow Pasta--Or any other small type of pasta

Boil water to make the pasta.

Saute olive oil, onions and celery until onion starts to brown. Stir with a wooden spoon, so it doesn't stick

Add the tomato sauce and mix together

Add the water and bring to a boil.

Once it boils, add the potatoes and season with Salt and Pepper.

When the potatoes are soft, you can smash a few of them up, add your pasta and serve.

Crab Stuffed Lobsters Tails

½ pound Fresh Crab Meat
1 tbsp Extra Virgin Olive Oil
1 Whole Fresh Garlic (Minced)
¼ stick of butter
Fresh Chopped Parsley
2 ½ table spoons grated Parmigiano Reggiano Cheese
3 table spoons Plain Bread Crumb
½ pack Ritz Crackers Crushed
Salt and Black pepper to taste
White Wine (Something you would drink)
8 Lobster Tails

Preheat Oven to 400

In a small pan heat;
Butter
As the butter melts add 1 ½ or more tbsp Garlic

As the Garlic starts to sizzle take the bottle of wine with your thumb covering some of the top and swirl it around the pan once. Add salt and pepper and cook for about 3 minutes and set aside.

In a bowl mix:
1. Crab Meat
2. Garlic
3. Parsley
4. Grated Cheese
5. Bread Crumb
6. Ritz Crackers
7. Blk Pepper
8. Saute Mixture

Split the tails on the soft side, lengthwise and remove the vein if present. Fill each tail with stuffing mix and bake for 20-25 minutes.

Polpette con Ragu--Meatball with Ragu

Meatballs:
1 1/4 cup bread crumbs
2 garlic clove, thinly sliced and chopped
1 pound extra lean ground beef
1/3 cup freshly grated Parmigiano Reggiano Cheese
2 eggs
Salt and freshly ground black pepper
3 table spoons extra virgin olive oil-- for frying
Fresh Chopped Parsley

In a bowl mix all the ingredients with your hands except for the olive oil. Continue to mix it together until it all sticks together. It should look like one giant meatball.

Break off pieces of meat mixture, and roll it in your hands making meatballs and set aside. (You can determine how big or small you want them)

In a large pan, add the 3 tbls of Olive Oil and heat over medium heat.
Add the meatballs frying them until they are browned on all sides.
Place some paper towels on a plate to transfer the fried meatballs onto.

For the sauce:
2 table spoons Olive Oil (Up to 1/8 of a cup)
2 Fresh Garlic Cloves smashed
1 medium onion chopped
2-3 Bay Leaves
6 or more Fresh Basil Leaves
2 28 ounce Cans of Plain Tomatoes (Whole or Chunky Style)
1 Can of Water (Use one of the empty tomato cans)
¼ Espresso Spoon of Baking Soda (Takes out the acidity in the tomatoes)


In a large pot saute
1. 2 table spoons Olive Oil or more if you like
2. Fresh Garlic Smashed
3. Onion
4. Salt and Pepper to taste

Keep stirring with a wooden spoon, so it doesn’t stick.

When the Garlic and Onion brown, add the 2 cans of Tomatoes and one can of water, and bring it to a boil. Turn heat down to low, and add:
1. Bay Leaves
2. Basil
3. Salt and Pepper to taste
4. Baking Soda

Stir it all mixing well then add the fried meatballs
Stir occasionally and Cook for 3 hours.

Agnello Con Aglio e` Pomodoro--Lamb Chops With Tomato and Garlic

Lamb Shoulder Chops
6 Garlic Cloves smashed and skinned. (If you smash them first, it’s easier to skin them)
8 Fresh Tomatoes: Cut in quarters removing stem
Water if needed
Salt And Pepper
Extra Virgin Olive Oil

1. Boil Lamb for about an hour in a pot of water, and add some salt
2. Wash the lamb after boiling set aside
3. Cut up Tomatoes in a bowl and squish them
4. In a pan, put olive oil and Garlic. Season with Salt and Pepper. Sauté Garlic until it starts to brown
5. Add Tomatoes and let cook for about 5 minutes, stirring occasionally
6. Add the Chops, Season with salt and Pepper to taste
7. Add some water if needed, and cook until tomatoes soften.