Limoncello Bars

I have been thinking of making a dessert with Limoncello for about a week now. I was going to make cookies (which I will make soon!) but I decided to go with Limoncello bars instead, by request of Ryan. I love this because it incorporates a little bit of American and a little bit of Italian flavors.

These dessert bars came out very good, but they are very rich. So if you don't have a big sweet tooth, one piece will do it for you.

Ingredients:

Crust:

• 12 tbs Unsalted Butter (1 1/2 sticks) at room temp
• 2 Cups All-purpose Flour
• 1 Cup Confectioners' Sugar
• 3 tbs Limoncello
• Pinch of Salt

Filling:

• 1 3/4 Cups Granulated Sugar
• 6 tbs All-purpose Flour
• 4 Eggs
• 4 tbs Lemon Juice
• 3 tbs Limoncello

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Grease a 9x13 baking pan.

Crust: Combine the confectioners' sugar, flour, and salt in a large bowl. Fold in the butter and limoncello to make a doughy mixture. Evenly press into the greased baking pan until it is a flat layer.

Bake for 20 minutes. Remove from oven.

Filling: Mix the eggs, sugar, flour, lemon juice and limoncello. You can use a hand mixer or standing mixer. Beat well for about 4-5 minutes.

Pour over the baked crust. 

Bake for an additional 25 minutes.

Let cool completely, and cut into squares. Sift confectioners' sugar before serving for decoration (optional).

Pesto Mac & Cheese

I invented this dish as I was trying to see what I can do with the left over sliced provolone cheese we had. Odly enough, pesto mac and cheese came to mind. I had elbow noodles, pesto sauce from a previous meal, sliced provolone cheese, breadcrumbs and of course, parmigiano at home.

I am really into pesto these days - It is so versatile. These simple ingredients made a tasty Italian version of Macaroni and Cheese.

Ingredients:

• Half box of Elbow Noddles, cooked al dente
• 1 cup Pesto Sauce
• 1/4 lb Sliced Provolone, cut into strips
• Lots of grated Parmigiano Reggiano
• 3 tbs Breadcrumbs
• 1 tbs Olive Oil

Mix the breadcrumbs and olive oil until the whole portion of breadcrumbs are moistened.

Once the macaroni are cooked strain them and put back into the pot. Add in the pesto sauce and mix well so that every noodle is coated. Add 2-3 tbs of grated parm and mix again.

In a banking pan, spread about half the noodles. Layer on half the provolone slices and add more grated parmigiano.

Pour the remaining noodles on top and repeat the cheese layers. Evenly sprinkle the breadcrumbs on top.

Bake at 350 degrees for about 5 minutes, until cheese is melted. Then turn on broil to get a nice golden crunch on top, for about another 3 minutes.

Chewy Nutella Brownies

Nutella is beyond amazing. It's definitely on my top 10 favorites list. Not sure if anyone can relate to me besides my brother - but as a kid, while everyone else was eating peanut butter and jelly or ham and cheese sandwiches at lunch time, I was eating nutella sandwiches. Like most Italian households, I always have a jar on hand in the pantry. It's just one of those necessities.

So, as I'm staring at the Nutella jar this weekend, the idea of making brownies came to mind. I never made homemade brownies, but it was actually very easy to make, especially since I had all the ingredients at home. They were such a hit, everyone at our dinner party was raving.

Ingredients:

• 1 1/4 Sticks of Butter
• 8 oz Semisweet Chocolate Chips
• 2 Eggs
• 2/3 cups Sugar
• 2 tsp vanilla extract
• 1 1/3 cups Self-rising Flour, sifted
• 1 cup Nutella
• Pinch of Cinnamon
• Pinch of Salt
• 1/4 cup Salted Toasted Hazel Nuts (optional)

Preheat oven to 340 degrees. Melt the butter and chocolate chips in the microwave or use a double boiler. Leave to cool slightly.

In a standing mixer or bowl with a hand mixer, beat the eggs, sugar, and vanilla extract until light and fluffy.

Add in the Nutella and continue beating until it is well blended.

Carefully fold in the melted butter and chocolate chips mixture, continue mixing. Add in the flour and pinch of salt and cinnamon, and mix until the flour is dissolved.

Pour the batter into a greased 8-inch square baking pan and press in the hazel nuts, evenly spread around. Bake for about 35-40 minutes.

Poke with a fork to see if it comes up dry. Once fully cooled, cut into equal squares.

Parsley Pesto Crusted Salmon

In a conscious effort to eat more seafood, specifically fish filets, I branched out and got salmon. I've had some mixed salmon experiences at restaurants so it's never been my favorite protein. However, if it is seasoned well and cooked properly, it's very tasty.

My salmon is grilled on a cedar plank, but you can just bake it in the oven at 425 degrees for about 15-17 minutes, until it is fully cooked through. The cedar gives it a smokey, outdoorsy flavor - highly recommend trying this! The sweetness from parsley pesto (compliments of my mom - freshly grown in her garden) combined with the smokiness from the cedar and the acidity from the lemon are a great combination. 

I served this with a salad of organic mixed greens, avocado, and shaved parmigiano, dressed with freshly squeezed lemon, olive oil, salt and cracked black pepper.

Ingredients:

• Salmon Filet - 1 per person
• Extra Virgin Olive Oil
• Cracked Pepper
• Sea Salt
• Squeezed Lemon (use about half a lemon for every 2 filets)
• Sliced  Lemon, one slice per filet
• Olive Oil

Parsley Pesto: Makes one cup

• 2 cups fresh parsley leaves, packed
• 1/2 cup extra virgin olive oil
• 3 garlic cloves, minced

Add the parsley in your food processor and pulse a few times. Add the garlic, pulse a few times more.  Slowly add the olive oil in a constant stream while the food processor is on. Stop to scrape down the sides of the food processor. Extra pesto can be frozen.

Squeeze the lemon on each salmon filet. Season with sea salt and cracked pepper. Evenly spread on a spoon full of the pesto on each filet. Drizzle a little additional olive oil on top. Place the sliced lemon in the center of each filet. Grill / Bake until salmon is fully cooked. Squeeze a little extra lemon on top before eating.

Cotolette

Cutlets (Cotolette in Italian) - one of the most basic ways to prepare a chicken breast (or veal), in my opinion. When learning how to cook yourself dinner, knowing how to prepare a chicken cutlet is like riding a bike with training wheels - you need to know this before moving on to something more advanced. Chicken Cutlets are like the universal meal...so I figured I would share my recipe.

I prefer smaller, thinner cut chicken cutlets, and I try to make them on the lighter side - no flour, and using 1 egg white instead of 2 whole eggs. You can make them with just egg whites to be even healthier! You can bake them or pan fry them... In this recipe I pan fried them in Canola Oil because they taste better!

Ingredients: For 1.5 lbs of Chicken Breast

• Chicken Cutlets - rinsed and patted dry
• 1 cup Italian Bread Crumbs
• 1 tsp Garlic Powder
• 2 tbs Grated Parmigiano Reggiano
• Pinch of Cracked Pepper
• Pinch of Salt
• 1 Whole Egg
• 1 Egg White
• 5+ tbs Canola Oil

Lightly beat the eggs in a bowl with a fork. Set Aside.  On a flat plate, add the bread crumbs, garlic powder, parmigiano, salt, pepper and mix all together.

Dredge each chicken breast in the beaten eggs and transfer to the bread crumbs. Liberally coat the cutlet well in the bread crumbs, pat each side well a few times with the bread crumbs. Place on a separate, clean plate until you are done seasoning all the cutlets.

In a large skillet, heat up the oil until it is very hot. If the oil is not heated well the chicken will just soak up all the oil and become greasier.  Cook on each side for about 4 minutes (depending on how thick your chicken is cut), until golden brown and crispy.

These are served with a side of Broccoli with melted Bacon & Onion Cheddar Cheese from none other than Wisconsin.