Light Summer – Bavette alle Vongole (Linguine with Clams)

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So, alright you all know how much I love to eat healthy and still enjoy life. This is the perfect dish for just that! You get anything better than this, I love this meal it’s one of my favorite dishes; I honestly could eat it every week. It’s light, gourmet and perfect for summer!

So, my Brother came over for a few days and I knew that he was really good at making this dish so we went to the fish market on the canal here in Cervia, Italy (where I live); we bought some live clams and decided that this was our dinner dish. It was a lovely spring day the sun was out but there was still a little breeze and so it was perfect weather for this dish. We accompanied it with a nice glass of Pinot Grigio and an evening walk after the delicious dinner. This is a dish I would suggest anyone to try if you haven’t yet, you’ll love it.

Here I explain how to clean the clams. http://mythineats.com/2012/03/04/low-fat-has-never-tasted-so-delicious-vongole-con-vino-bianco-clams/ In this recipe we actually removed the shells before making the sauce so that you don’t have to get your hands dirty while enjoying this dish but you can skip this step if you wish, I’ll explain in the recipe.

Enjoy!

Ingredients:

500 gr. of Linguine

500 gr. of Clams (cleaned)

2 Garlic Cloves

Handful Parsley, fresh leaves (chopped finely)

4 tbsp. Extra Virgin Olive Oil

1 cup Clam water (How to in recipe)

Chili flakes, optional

Put your cleaned Clams in a small pot, fill with water and boil until the clams all open up; approx 10 minutes. Remove from heat and leave in pot. (Do not drain you will use this water in recipe)

Place a pot a water to boil for your Linguine and pour in about 2 tbsp. of salt.

Now get your clams and remove the meat from the clam shell with either a pairing knife or even a small teaspoon and place in a bowl, throw out the shells and save the juice.

Pour your olive oil in a medium saucepan, mince your garlic and add to oil allow to get golden, add the Clam meat and allow to cook for about 3 minutes, start adding your clam juice gradually. Add your parsley and chili flakes and continue to cook for about 5-8 minutes until sauce starts to thicken.

In the meantime your water should be boiling so throw in your linguine and follow cooking instructions on box. Drain and add your clams mix all ingredients together well and you can begin to serve. Buon Apettito

 

 

 

Yogurt Muffins with Lemon Zest and Almond topping

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Sometimes a Muffin is just what you need. I made these for my brother, he was at the hospital for a few days and although the food they serve at hospitals here in Italy is delicious (strangely), the breakfast was not, it was the typical breakfast cookie or fette biscottate, which is a very common thing here in Italy to eat for breakfast, they are kind of like a mix of a toast and a cracker. However, not such a good breakfast option.
I decided that I would go home and bake him something delicious and mostly healthy so that he wouldn’t have to skip breakfast.

We are not a breakfast family really, besides the coffee, milk or tea; my Mother never really cared for breakfast, and barely any of my siblings care for breakfast either. We do eat something but not as soon as out of bed 1 or 2 hours may pass before we decide to eat something. So, of course with the stuff that they were serving at the hospital he would’ve skipped breakfast so in order for that not to happen I decided to bake muffins, that and also I thought that instead of bringing flowers, muffins would be a better option for a male. HA! I gave 2 to my Husband and the rest to my Brother and they both seemed to really enjoy them, so here I am posting them so that you can enjoy them as well. Enjoy!

Ingredients:

Makes 6 large muffins or 12 small muffins (you pick)

1 1/2 cups of flour

2 tsp. of baking powder

1/2 tsp. salt

1/2 tsp. vanilla

1 cup non-fat Yogurt

1 cup sugar + 1 tbsp sugar

3 eggs

Zest of 1 lemon

1/2 cup vegetable oil

1/4 cup sliced almonds

Preheat your oven at 350°. Grease and flour whatever size muffin pan you decided to use.

Mix together 1 1/2 cups of flour, baking powder and salt into a bowl. In a larger bowl mix together yogurt, 1 cup of sugar, vanilla, lemon zest, eggs and the oil. Slowly add your dry ingredients to your wet ingredients and mix until completely incorporated.

Pour batter into the prepared pan and sprinkle evenly on top of each one your sliced almonds and sugar. Bake for about 40 minutes or until cake tester comes out clean. Cooking times may vary from oven to oven so make sure to check on it.

Cool and Enjoy!

 

 

My Go-To Healthy Dinner – Grilled Chicken and Asparagus

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One of my favorite all time healthy, Low fat and Low Calorie Meals is the classic chicken and vegetables. I personally love asparagus so whenever in season they are always on my dish. The other thing that I love is to use the grill as much as possible it keeps the meal low fat but with amazing flavor.

My Husband is the one that grills he loves it and I love the fact of cooking together. It’s like our little time together and it makes us enjoy each other more. Most of the time it’s me cooking and him just waiting around pouring the wine, trying his best to stay out of the way; but when we do cook together it’s both of us doing the work and we both compliment each other in the part that the other one cooked. It’s nice and I particularly appreciate his help and enjoy the fun moments that come from it.

My husbands favorite meat is Chicken, he could honestly eat chicken about everyday or every other day so as soon as grilling season comes along (or even way before), we are definitely grilling chicken breasts. Accompanied generally by a vegetable and quinoa or cous-cous. The other night we had the delicious grilled chicken breasts with asparagus and it was so good I thought that I should share the simple recipe with you. Enjoy!

Ingredients:

2 Chicken breasts, sliced thin

1 lb Asparagus

2 tbsp. Extra Virgin Olive oil

1 sprig Rosemary, fresh (removed form stem)

Salt and Pepper to taste

Turn on your grill and let heat. Get your chicken and drizzle 1 tbsp. of olive oil on it, along with the rosemary, salt and pepper. Mix together and let sit.

Get your asparagus and wash, put it in a large saucepan over medium heat and drizzle remaining 1 tbsp. olive oil cover and allow to steam stirring occasionally; add salt and pepper to taste after about 5 minutes and cover. Should take about 15 minutes to be completely cooked.

Put your chicken on the grill and cook each side for about 10 minutes. In the meantime check on the asparagus if you can pinch with a fork it means that they are ready,* remove from heat. By now your chicken is ready so plate. Enjoy

*I like my Asparagus with just a little snap to them, not soggy but you cook to your desired doneness

 

                                                

 

 

Meatless Monday Gourmet- Feta and Asparagus

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This gourmet meatless Monday recipe, (which we actually ate on Thursday) was a total and wonderful concoction. I often think of things that I like to eat and imagine them paired up with other ingredients that I like to eat; I think to myself how it is possible that you can only have 1 of the ingredients that you love on a dish paired up with a not so favorite ingredient?! And so I think of what I loved of the dish I just ate and how I would make it at home or how I would’ve liked to eat it or what ingredients I would pair it up with to make that perfect plate.

Feta is one of those cheeses that I think that only paired up with the right ingredients you can actually enjoy. I have had it on several occasions and have to admit that I haven’t always enjoyed, sometimes it tastes fantastic and other times I wish it wouldn’t of been on the plate. My husband and I were thinking that we hadn’t had feta in a very longtime and that we should buy some, I instantly thought of pairing it up with green tomatoes and asparagus; given that he doesn’t like green tomatoes I figured that I would make his with grape tomatoes instead and so this is how this recipe came about, it was simple and delicious and after we finished my husband said that this would have to be made atleast once a week. I hope that you enjoy it. I include both pictures one with the green tomatoes and one with the grape tomatoes I just layered them differently, the one with the green tomatoes I put the green tomatoes at the bottom and the one with the grape tomatoes I put the grape tomatoes on top. Here are the ingredients.

Ingredients:

2 Green Tomatoes (or 5 Grape Tomatoes)

1/2 a pound of Asparagus, steamed

1/5 pound of Feta, thinly sliced

Handful of Parsley, chopped

2 tbsp. Extra Virgin Olive Oil

Sal and pepper to taste

Slice your green tomatoes thinly and lay at the bottom of the plate, layer your asparagus evenly, drizzle on tbsp. of olive oil and sprinkle salt and pepper. Layer the sliced feta and sprinkle chopped parsley finish with remaining olive oil and sprinkle salt and pepper if needed and serve. Enjoy.

NewYork Style Yogurt Cheesecake

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This one is dedicated to my beautiful little sister, which just so happens like many of us to love cheesecake. She has never been to New York or to the USA for that matter but she just loves cheesecake, now of course the Italian style cheesecake is very different from the traditional and delicious New York style cheesecake and although the Italian one is pretty darn good, nothing beats the New York Cheesecake.

My sister being a huge sweet tooth, something that you (mythinreaders) know that I am not, requested a cheesecake for her birthday so I decided anyways that I would go on a huge endeavor and try to replicate this delicious American dessert (which by the way I do love myself). It was her birthday this past week so I made her the Cheesecake, she loves the crust so I made the crust as high as the cake with fresh strawberries as the topping. I made my own strawberry sauce from scratch and it was simple, delicious and fast. I am sure that you will love it. I also found here in Italy Philadelphia cream cheese made of yogurt so I decided to use that but you can use the regular version I am sure it will taste just as good. Just make sure that all ingredients are at room temperature.

This is an always welcome dessert in my household, it is also my husband’s favorite; his Mom always makes sure that during the holidays he finds the mini versions. Those are perfect because they keep you from eating too much of it, it’s fantastic for portion control, also because cheesecake is so good that you could honestly just continue eating it.
I think Cheesecake is most everyone’s favorite however; and a fantastic treat. So why not share it with everyone out there. I hope that you enjoy if and don’t be afraid of making it; it’s not as hard as it seems and really is worth it. Enjoy!

 

Ingredients:

For the Crust:

3 cups of crushed graham crackers

½ cup sugar

6 tablespoons butter, melted

For the Filling:

4-8oz. pkg. Philadelphia cream cheese

8oz. Sour cream

4 eggs

½ tbsp. Lemon zest

1 cup Sugar

1 tbsp. Vanilla

2 tbsp. Flour

For the Sauce:

1 cup Strawberries, Fresh pureed

2 tbsp Sugar

2 tbsp powdered Sugar

2 tbsp. Cointreau, optional

Top off with fresh cut Strawberries

 

Preheat oven at 550° F.  In a bowl mix together all the ingredients for the crust well and pour in a medium spring-form pan, press the cookie crust down evenly on to the bottom and up the sides of the pan. When it is all set put in the oven and allow to bake for about 8 minutes or until lightly golden. Remove and allow to cool completely.

In the meantime in a bowl or mixer bowl add your cream cheese, sugar, zest and vanilla, beat until softened and then add your sour cream and flour and do the same. Now add your eggs in one by one and mix well, don’t overbeat. Once all your ingredients are perfectly incorporated pour in the prepared crust and bake at 550° for 10 minutes, then lower immediately to 200° and bake for 40 minutes or when the center is only slightly wobbly when shaken.

Remove from the over and allow to cool for at least 3 hours outside of fridge and then allowing to chill in the fridge for about 6-8 hours or even overnight.

Put all your ingredients for the sauce in a small sauce pan and bring to a boil set aside and let cool.

Pour over the cake evenly, layer your strawberries sliced in half over the cake and serve. Delicious!!!

2 Ingredient Italian Deliciousness- Prosciutto e Melone

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This is the most simple and easy meal ever. My Husband just loves this dish, he could literally eat this about 2-3 times a week during the summer. I have to say it’s an all Italian favorite.

You can find this during the summer pretty much anywhere you go during the summer, it’s such a simple and refreshing dish.
Melon is fantastic, it’s an excellent source of Vitamin A, Potassium, Niacin, Pantothenic acid, Vitamin C and minerals like manganese. It is also rich in antioxidant flavonoids such as beta-carotene. And 100 grams of Melon has only about 34 calories. During the summer it’s a great way to re-hydrate as it’s full of water and allows you to feel light and full all at the same time.

The combination of the Prosciutto and Melon provides that perfect subtlety between the sweet and salty, the Prosciutto helps to calm down the sweetness of the melon while all the time creating a perfect balance of a perfect meal for anytime of the day! If you haven’t tried this dish ever, well now would be a great time. Only two ingredients and about 2 minutes to put together.

Ingredients:

1 Melon (2 melons if small like in pictures)

1/4 lb. of Prosciutto di Parma

Slice your Melon in half, remove the seeds and slice each half into 4; peel and lay 4 pieces on each plate. Get your prosciutto and lay on top and serve. Enjoy!

 

Finally Here it is: Ragù Bolognese

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A lot of you have been asking me to post the recipe on how to make the real Ragù Bolognese, I had posted about Italian lunch with my family (in the link below) and you all wanted the recipe so here it is…Finally!

http://mythineats.com/2012/01/30/to-eat-or-not-to-eat-a-classic-italian-sunday-lunch/

I love a good Tagliatelle al Ragù and I have to admit, my Husband goes crazy for it anytime my Mom asks him what he would like to eat or for her to make him 8 times out of 10 it’s “Tagliatelle al Ragù”. To me it’s a perfect winter dish, or for those days that it’s cold and rainy outside and you want to make something really delicious and special. Keep in mind that everyone here in Italy has their version of making it some make it with 3 different types of meats, some make it with red wine, some white wine, some use fresh tomatoes, some swear by the naturally canned ones, some do this and some do that…well, no matter what it is always delicious. This is my recipe. Enjoy.

Also one more thing to keep in mind the way the foods are stored here and the way the meats are here is way different than in the USA, when I was there for some reason it never quite turned out the way that it was supposed to turn out (although still delicious) there was always that something missing. Anyhow, I’m sure that it will turn out fantastic and that you will enjoy it.
I recommend using this sauce on top of tagliatelle, for you lasagna and stuffed cannelloni.

 

Serves 4

Ingredients:

300 gr. Ground Beef

150 gr. Pancetta

50 gr. Carrot

50 gr. Celery

50 gr. Onion

5 tbsp. of Tomato sauce or (20 gr. Tomato paste)

1 cup of homemade Beef Stock

1/2 cup White Wine

200 gr. Milk

Salt and Pepper to taste

Clean the vegetables and cut finely
Cut the bacon into cubes of about 20 cm in diameter and let it melt at the bottom of you sauce pan.

When the bacon has that melted see through look, add the vegetables and season with salt and pepper. Let them cook and soften for about 10 minutes to allow them to absorb the full flavor.

Combine the ground beef to the vegetables and let it brown over medium-high heat, for about 7-8 minutes. When the meat starts to “brown and sizzle” pure in the wine and let it evaporate completely.

Next, add the tomato with the broth; mix well cover the saucepan and allow simmer at very low heat, for about 2 to 3 hours.  During cooking, add the milk little by little.

Almost at the end of cooking, adjust salt and pepper, remove the lid and allow to thicken a bit more.

And there you have it. Buon Appetito!