Chicken Parmesan

This is an oldie but a goodie - an Italian classic!  It has a cheesy goodness, a tang from the sauce and some meat!  Serve with a salad and your entire family will love it!

Here are the ingredients for Chicken Parmesan:

4 chicken breasts, cut or pounded into thin cutlets
2 cups marinara sauce - CLICK HERE FOR RECIPE
2 cups mozzarella or provel cheese
1/4 cup olive oil
1/4 cup butter
1 cup flour
Salt
Pepper

Start by heating up olive oil and butter in a saute pan.  Put the flour in a bowl, along with about a teaspoon of salt and pepper.  Mix that up and dredge the chicken.  When the saute pan is very hot, add the chicken.  Brown on each side.  You do not need to make sure the chicken is completely cooked - it will finish cooking in the oven.

Put the browned chicken on a sheet pan.  Cover with the sauce and cheese.

Cook in a 350 degree oven for 20 minutes.

YUM!

Mangia!

Bracciole

Bracciole is an Italian dish, featuring a stuffed meat.  My Nonna made bracciole and my mother learned to make it.  It was one of my dad's favorite dishes.

Nonna, Dad, Nonnu and Aunt Lily

September 10th, 1944

Dad's two older brothers - Matt and Vince were serving in WWII

Nonna and my dad

The key to making a good bracciole is a good sauce.  Here are the recipes for my meat sauce and marinara sauce.

The ingredients for my bracciole:

Flank steak- pounded thin

Parmesan cheese - 1/2 cup

Bread crumbs- 1/2 cup

Fresh parsley - 3 tablespoons

Boiled egg (I know, just go with it)

My grandmother put spinach in hers. Tonight, I'm going to stuff mine with zucchini and a little crushed pine nuts.  Unusual ingredients, but I am entering this into a Fabio Kitchen Challenge!

Pound the flank steak thin.  When I pound meat, I put the meat in a Ziploc bag so as not to tear the meat up.

Assemble the stuffing.  In my case I used the bread crumbs, Parmesan cheese, parsley, boiled eggs, crushed pine nuts and zucchini.  The beauty of bracciole is that you can stuff it with whatever you like.

Roll the steak and tie it off.

Sear the bracciole in a dutch oven or large pot.

Cover with sauce and let it simmer for 2-3 hours.

When you are ready to serve, remove the string and slice.  Serve over sauce.

Mangia!

Stuffed Shells With Meatballs!

Do you love the taste of lasagna but don't have the time to put all of the layers together?  This recipe will give you the "cheesiness" of lasagna but without all of the time and effort.  It is a simple cheese mixture put into large shells, then covered with marinara sauce and meatballs.

Here are the ingredients:

Meatballs:

1/2 pound ground beef
1/2 pound ground pork
1 cup Parmesan cheese
1 cup Panko bread crumbs
1 egg
3 tablespoons Ricotta cheese
Salt
Pepper
Fresh parsley

Sauce:

http://rediscovermom.blogspot.com/2013/01/marinara-sauce.html

Shells:

1 box Jumbo shells
1 container of Ricotta cheese
1 cup Parmesan cheese
1 egg
Fresh parsley
Salt
Pepper
1 cup shredded cheese

To begin, mix the ingredients for the meatballs.  Roll into balls and sear in a large saute pan.

Add marinara sauce and let that simmer for 30 minutes or so.

In a large stock pot, boil water with salt.  Cook the shells, al dente - still with a little crunch/bite to it.  The pasta will finish cooking in the oven.  When the shells are al dente, drain and set aside.

Assemble the cheese mixture.  Mix the ricotta, cheeses, salt, pepper, parsley, and egg.  Stuff the shells with the cheese mixture and place in an oven proof pan with a little sauce in the bottom of the pan.


Ladle sauce and meatballs on the top of the shells.  Cover with foil and cook at 350 degrees for 30 minutes.


Remove foil and top with 1 cup shredded Italian cheese (Mozzarella, Provel, Provelone, etc).  Put back in the oven until the cheese melts.

Mangia!

This recipe is listed on

Marinara Sauce

Italians have to have a few tomato sauce recipes.  This is a recipe inspired by my Sicilian Nonna (grandmother).

Nonna and Nonnu

Are you craving a meatless sauce?  A basic marinara sauce is super easy to throw together!  Here are the ingredients:

2 cans tomato sauce
1 can crushed tomatoes
1/2 onion, diced
3 cloves garlic, minced
3 tablespoons sugar
1/2 cup red wine
Salt
Pepper
1 teaspoon each:  parsley, basil, oregano
Dash crushed red pepper
1/2 cup Parmesan cheese

In a sauce pan, heat a little olive oil.  Add the onions.  Saute for 5 minutes.  Add the garlic and saute another minute.  Add the crushed tomatoes, red wine, sugar, salt, pepper, Parmesan cheese, and the rest of the spices.  Let that simmer for 10 minutes.

Add the rest of the tomato sauce.  Let that simmer for another 15 minutes.

I like to serve this sauce with meatballs and pasta. 



If you are interested in a meat sauce, see:  http://rediscovermom.blogspot.com/2012/07/meat-sauce.html

Mangia!