Caprese Calzone

Calzones are like these little pockets of love that some awesome Italian invented. Every culture has some version of a pocket of goodness. Samosas, meat hand pies, crepes(kind of?.) Whatever. Either way, I love calzones. This one came on a whim when I had leftover pizza dough and some veggies. I thought I had spinach so I was going to make a greek-zone after our friend Harold's favorite calzone at Mew's Tavern ( a favorite local watering hole.) Cute to my panic when I had no spinach. No worries. I had basil, mozzarella and tomatoes. Done. Caprese calzone.

Pasta with Shaved Brussels Sprouts & My New Obsession

First off, I was awarded another Liebster award from a fellow blogger! Please check out her blog, Go Bake Yourself. It is amazing and I want to make her desserts every day!! She is a young blogger who blogs far beyond her years. Not to mention....she calls Australia home.  Hooray and thank you Choc Chip Uru!

Secondly, I am not afraid to admit it. I love brussels sprouts. And call me crazy, but I always thought they were called brussel sprouts? Clearly I have been mistaken. Toby and I eat "brussels" as we refer to them at least twice a week. We usually saute them as a side dish with pancetta, lemon, and Parmesan cheese. Can you see why we are obsessed? I am not entirely sure how I never Incorporated them into a main dish before, but one night I was really craving pasta so I went with it. Spaghetti is on of my favorite pastas so I chose to shred the "brussels" so they were easier to eat with the pasta. I used whole wheat spaghetti, but feel free to choose whatever pasta you like best. And if you like things spicy, douse this dish with red pepper flakes like me. I LOVE IT.

Baked Eggplant Napoleans

Before I start this post, I would like to dedicate this post to Robert M Valentine Jr Esq. Bob, ( or Bob Loblaw as I refer to him as- Arrested Development.. anyone?) has recently become a vegetarian to make a healthy lifestyle change and I wanted to give him a recipe that was easy and not lacking in flavor. Also.. if you need a lawyer and are in Florida call him up. He just started his own firm. Yey!

My Own Personal Food Mecca:Eataly

I decided to focus my WIAW post this week on my recent trip to what could be one of my new most favorite places on the planet- Eataly. Sadly, I probably ate as much in this one three hour trip as I would in an entire day so trust me when I tell you, I have plenty to talk about.

"Meaty" Eggplant Bolognese

Might I add.. This may be my best picture to date!

So day #2 of healthy recipes. I was pretty exciting to make and eat this dish because I love eggplant and it is super healthy! Eggplant has a ton of fiber, which keeps you fuller longer. When paired with whole wheat pasta you get even more fiber. Not to mention this is delicious. Eggplant has a meaty texture so trust me when I tell you, you will not miss the meat! I'm not sure which is better, the fact that it is healthy or that there is red wine in it. Adding a touch of red wine to tomato sauce makes it super decadent so I say 1 Point red wine.  I found this recipe from my Whole Foods iPhone app, which is awesome for finding tons of healthy recipes. You can also make grocery lists from it to send to your phone. Pretty awesome!

Chicken Alfredo Stuffed Shells

How have I not made these before? I love chicken alfredo. What a fun new twist! My husband Toby told me at 3pm on Monday that he had a pot luck at work the next day. Right....Ok.  It didn't help that the amazing people in his department were already bringing pulled,pork,enchilladas,chilli, desserts. I had zero ideas. So I took to the internet to see what I could bring. Then I hit the mother load. Chicken Alfredo Stufed Shells. The original recipe did not have broccolli or bacon in them, but I figured it couldn't hurt. These would even be great with artichokes and spinach too. 

In A Professional Kitchen: Gnocchi Making Class

Chef Sousa in action

I was super excited to go to the gnocchi making cooking class at Trio Restaurant (http://www.trio-ri.com/)  in Narragansett, RI this week. Darci and I have been to a few of the cooking classes there and they are so much fun! For $20 you get a glass of wine and a great class (with samples of course.) Past classes have included: pie making, pizza making, ravioli making, and what I think was the best so far, gnocchi.

One of THE BEST Lasagnas I have Ever Made

Cheesy.Molten.Goodness

So I racked my brain all day Sunday trying to figure out meals Toby and I can eat together. To some of you this may sound crazy. To others that know my husband ... well.. you get it. The problem isn't eating together necessarily.... We eat together almost every night if we are at home together. The problem is eating the same thing at dinner time. Toby could eat the same thing every day, three times a day for a year and he probably wouldn't care. He likes what he likes ( pizza, cheese steaks, steak, salmon etc) and I am ok with that. I am always wanting to try new recipes, but he isn't really into my likes ( HOLY MEXICAN!)We are both used to making dinners for one from living on our own and we know what we like. Being newlyweds, I really want to make an effort to cook more dinners Toby likes so we can eat the same thing.

My Mom’s Equally as Famous Gravy (no not Brown Gravy)



I find this picture HILARIOUS

 So when I say gravy I mean tomato sauce…... like served on top of pasta.  People always fight over whether you call tomato sauce gravy or sauce etc. Most Italians I know call that red, velvety goodness served with pasta gravy. I grew up calling it gravy so gravy it is. Yes I call the brown gravy served with turkey in just a few more days gravy also (incase you were wondering.)

On Sunday when my Mom and I made our meatballs we also made a gravy. This sauce was enough to for about 16 meatballs in it and two pounds of pasta- Just enough to serve a small army probably. My Mom said it is just as much work to make a small sauce as it is a large one so it is easier to make one large sauce and freeze the rest for another time. It makes sense. I will use that advice. Also- I prefer a lot of sauce with my pasta because I love it, but traditionally in Italy pasta is not drenched with sauce. Go with what you like.

The World's Best Meatball Recipe ( From my Mom!)

My Awesome Mom!

So my mom's meatballs are my favorite in the world. I know many other people feel the same way. I have never had a meatball that was better either in a restaurant or at someone's house.Growing up ( like many other Italian kids) my mom made meatballs every Saturday. I would wake up to the smell of meatballs that were being fried up with love. That would be my breakfast - and I loved it.  I thought this would be a great time to do some cooking with my mom and share her recipe with everyone that way you are able to make great meatballs like her. 

Crispy Chicken Parmesan for Jon's Birthday Celebration

 I have had a long standing promise to Jon Pereira since June that I would make him Chicken Parmesan and have yet to fulfill my promise. Jon reminded me that it was his birthday yesterday and that it was the perfect time to make him this amazing Chicken Parmesan. I’ve been dragging my feet to long on this so Jon will have Chicken Parmesan on his birthday. What a great birthday present!