After many battles with my tomato plants, over the past weekend I finally yielded enough tomatoes to make something beyond an individual caprese salad. I decided to flip through one of my favorite cookbooks, the Food of Italy, to find inspiration on how to handle the 3 pounds of roma tomatoes I had on hand.

While many of the tomatoes will be destined for pizza sauce, I decided to take 20 of them and make oven-dried tomatoes, which was really easy. (more…)

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Appetizers, Dairy free, Gluten free, In the Garden, Italian, Vegan, Vegetarian by Courtney

As the weather cools down, I’m starting to crave comfort foods. Chili, beef bourguignon, and especially spaghetti with meatballs. Queue up the Godfather, because this is a recipe I’ll be making again soon.

One of my favorite places to find recipes is Williams-Sonoma, and once I saw Spaghetti with Stuffed Meatballs, I knew I had to make it. I thought about it for months, never getting around to it, then by the time I decided to take the plunge, I was afraid it was so played up in my mind that it would never live up to my expectations. I was wrong! (more…)

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Comfort food, Dinner, Italian by Courtney

This weekend it didn’t take me too long to figure out what to do with all of the zucchini that came in. “Stuffed zucchini!” I declared and went off to the store to procure the ingredients I would need.

I forget how I happened upon this original recipe from Giada de Laurentiis for stuffed zucchini and bell peppers, but I’m glad I did because it introduced me to the world of stuffing vegetables besides peppers.

I’ve made both her version (slightly adapted*) and a vegetarian, mushroom-stuffed version because I had some left over portobello mushrooms. I loved both, so they’re both in my repertoire now. Get the recipe for my mushroom-stuffed version below. (more…)

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Dinner, In the Garden, Italian, Prep for Later Use, Vegetarian by Courtney

Another quick weeknight meal for you, as you continue to recuperate from the marvel that is the 3-day weekend. While this may take just a tad longer than the zucchini and onion stir-fry I featured yesterday, it’s not too much longer, and it’s oh-so-delicious! Plus, it’s another use for that stock you’ve made; this time it’s not a soup!

There are two things you will want to do before you start slicing and dicing. Put your water on to boil, and get the Italian sausages defrosted and ready to go in the pan. Now that we’ve cleared that up, 1-2-3–Let’s cook!! (more…)

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Dinner, Italian, Quick and Easy by Courtney