Italian – Page 2 – Simply Delicious: The Cookbook Project

17-47: Italian Fruit Bread

Jamie Martin Group 17: Baked Goods, Section 3: Desserts & Baked Goods December 21, 2016September 21, 2020all-purpose flour, apricots, baguette, baked goods, breads, breakfast, cake yeast, chopped, Christmas, dairy-free, dried fruit, dried herbs, egg-free, fairly easy, fairly inexpensive, fruit, fruitcake, gift ideas, herbs and spices, holiday baking, Italian, kneaded, olive oil, party food, pine nuts, proofed, raisins, rosemary, salt, snacks, untested, vegan, vegetarian, walnuts, XMAS 16, yeast

Get ready for another big batch of baked goods–it’s time for this year’s adventure (XMAS 16) into holiday baking (aka everyone’s presents for Christmas this year). Last year I made 6 Simply Delicious recipes as gifts, and this year came out to a total of 7. ? I’m going to attempt to cover them in the order they were made, and the first recipe of the batch was 17-47: Italian Fruit Bread. ??

This recipe seems similar to a panettone, although not as sweet or flaky and shaped differently. Despite the variations, I still thought it made a nice Christmas gift, especially only just including a few slices in each gift bag. ?

12-10: Cheesy Tagliatelle

Jamie Martin Group 12: Pasta & Rice, Section 2: Main Courses October 29, 2016July 27, 2020al dente, all-purpose flour, basil, Béchamel sauce, black pepper, boiled, butter, Cheddar, cheese, cheese sauce, chopped, creamy, dinner, easy, fettuccini, frozen, garlic, grated, half-and-half, herbs and spices, inexpensive, Italian, lunch, melted, milk, minced, nutmeg, Parmesan, pasta/noodles, red bell peppers, roux, salt, sautéed, sesame seeds, side dish, sliced, spinach, sweet peas, tagliatelle, toasted, untested, vegetables, vegetarian

I’ve been meaning to make this one for a while–spinach fettuccine was my favorite as a kid (and is SUPER hard to find these days). I usually had it with Alfredo sauce, and the cheesy sauce in 12-10: Cheesy Tagliatelle is like a thinner, red pepper-ier version of that. ?

I’m not quite sure what the major difference between tagliatelle and fettuccini is–the TL;DR of a quick search indicates it has to do with fettuccini noodles being the same width as tagliatelle, but a bit thicker. The two come from different parts of Italy, but both roughly refer to the same concept.

1-11: Ham Rolls with Italian Salad

Adam Martin Group 01: Hot & Cold Appetizers, Section 1: Appetizers & Starters October 26, 2016October 2, 2020appetizers, apples, black pepper, boiled, breakfast, carrots, chilled, cornichons, creamy, diced, easy, eggs, fairly expensive, frozen, ham, hard-boiled, herbs and spices, hors d'oeuvres, Italian, lemon juice, lettuce, lunch, mayonnaise, party food, pickles, potatoes, salt, smoked ham, snacks, sour cream, sweet peas, tomatoes, untested, vegetables

Artistic appetizers are amazing!? I can’t get enough of them and Simply Delicious has interesting appetizer recipes that are easy to prepare like this one, 1-11: Ham Rolls with Italian Salad. ??

Easy to prepare ahead of time, these rolls are light and delicious appetizers to serve for any occasion. ✅

12-3: Pasta Bolognese

Adam Martin Group 12: Pasta & Rice, Section 2: Main Courses October 16, 2016October 27, 2020black pepper, boiled, carrots, celery, celery root, chicken bouillon, chicken broth, crushed tomatoes, dairy-free, diced, dinner, dried herbs, easy, fairly inexpensive, ground beef, ground meat, herbs and spices, Italian, lunch, meat sauce, minced, mirepoix, olive oil, party food, pasta/noodles, salt, sautéed, smoked ham, spaghetti, tomato paste, tomato sauce, tomatoes, untested, vegetables, white wine, yellow onions

This recipe, 12-3: Pasta Bolognese calls for spaghetti on the back of the card, but the dish on the front clearly shows the meat sauce on Rotini. ?

The blurb on the front of the card is definitely true. “Quick to prepare and not too expensive,” is exactly how I felt about this dish.

5-13: Italian Easter Pie

Adam Martin Group 05: Eggs & Cheese, Section 1: Appetizers & Starters August 26, 2016October 14, 2020all-purpose flour, asparagus, baked goods, boiled, breakfast, broccoli, butter, carrots, cheese, chicken bouillon, chicken broth, chilled, creamy, cut in, diced, dinner, Easter, egg wash, egg yolks, eggs, fairly easy, fairly inexpensive, flute, food processor, grated, half-and-half, Italian, lattice, lunch, milk, Parmesan, pastry wheel, pie crust, pies, quiches, salt, sautéed, smoked ham, snow peas, spring, tart pan, tender-crisp, untested, vegetables

? The Easter Bunny has come early this year and he’s brought 5-13: Italian Easter Pie! I prefer the Cadbury Bunny to the Easter Bunny, but I’ll eat this pie any day.

This dish is certainly elegant and delicious, I’ve never made a Torta Pasqualina before. Now I can check it off the list. ✅

12-23: Tortellini with Broccoli

Adam Martin Group 12: Pasta & Rice, Section 2: Main Courses August 14, 2016October 28, 2020al dente, black pepper, blanched, boiled, broccoli, butter, Cheddar, cheese, creamy, dinner, easy, garlic, grated, green onions, inexpensive, Italian, julienned, leeks, lunch, melted, minced, Parmesan, pasta/noodles, salt, sautéed, side dish, sour cream, tortellini, untested, vegetable bouillon, vegetable broth, vegetables, vegetarian

12-23: Tortellini with Broccoli is yet another Simply Delicious recipe where their idea of a cream sauce is pouring sour cream on top of something warm and stirring it in. When using lactose free sour cream, the sauce comes out too thick. It’s still chunky on top of the pasta. Maybe I need to cook it longer or stir it more, I will keep experimenting to find out. Onto…the recipe!

It had been a while since I ate tortellini and this recipe gives you an idea of how to make a sauce in a pinch. Simply Delicious has other recipes such as 6-2: Fiery Chicken Casserole where the method to make a quick cream sauce is to dump sour cream into the pot.

1-9: Four Seasons Pizza

Adam Martin Group 01: Hot & Cold Appetizers, Section 1: Appetizers & Starters August 9, 2016October 2, 2020all-purpose flour, appetizers, artichoke hearts, autumn, baked goods, black olives, cheese, cooked shrimp, dinner, dough, dried herbs, engagement party, fairly hard, fairly inexpensive, fall, green olives, ham, herbs and spices, hors d'oeuvres, Italian, kneaded, lunch, Mozzarella, mushrooms, mussels, olive oil, oregano, party food, pizza, revisited, salt, seafood, shrimp, sliced, spring, summer, Tarzana apt, tomato sauce, toppings, vegetables, whole wheat flour, winter, yeast

1-9: Four Seasons Pizza is a weird little pizza. This appetizer uses ingredients from the 4 different seasons (from my interpretation): ham for spring, olives for summer, mushroom for autumn, and shrimp for winter. The marinated artichoke heart in the middle reminded me of the sun. ?

As I stated in the 13-11: Vegetarian Pizza post, I do enjoy pizza. I made these 4 small pizzas and was able to freeze 2 of them whole to eat later. ?

13-5: Onion Focaccia

Adam Martin Group 13: Vegetarian Dishes, Section 2: Main Courses June 26, 2016October 28, 2020all-purpose flour, appetizers, baked goods, breads, dairy-free, dough, egg wash, eggs, fairly easy, fairly inexpensive, focaccia, garlic, granulated sugar, green onions, Italian, kneaded, lunch, minced, olive oil, party food, proofed, red onions, revisited, salt, sautéed, side dish, snacks, vegetables, vegetarian, yeast

Jamie made this dish previously, without documenting the process, and I really enjoyed the bread. I took a shot at making this dish to practice using yeast to make a dough.

My final dish was not circular like a pizza, it was easier to flatten the dough into a square like a flatbread.

12-16: Risotto with Pastrami

Adam Martin Group 12: Pasta & Rice, Section 2: Main Courses June 22, 2016October 4, 2020beef, boiled, breakfast, brown rice, cayenne pepper, celery, chopped, cilantro, cubed, dairy-free, diced, dinner, easy, eggs, fairly inexpensive, garlic, green bell peppers, Italian, Italian parsley, julienned, long-grain, minced, olive oil, omelette, paprika, pastrami, red bell peppers, rice, risotto, salt, sautéed, side dish, smoked ham, turkey, untested, vegetables, white wine, wild rice, yellow onions

Simply Delicious can give a dish a title that seems a bit of a stretch at times and this is definitely a prime case of this phenomenon: 12-16 Risotto with Pastrami.

Editor’s note: A big HELLO to those of you coming here from search engines–apparently there’s significant demand for pastrami risotto? This is one of those sites where we (my husband and I) are working our way through an old set of cookbooks–learn more about it here. Don’t expect anything like traditional risotto here (neither of us wrote any of the actual recipes)–but maybe stick around for an interesting read or two? Thanks for stopping by! ?

The card even announces, “(t)his recipe for risotto differs from the traditional one.” I’ve never seen a dish like this, but the flavor profile was the same as a fancy omelette, just deconstructed before that was trendy.

13-11: Vegetarian Pizza

Adam Martin Group 13: Vegetarian Dishes, Section 2: Main Courses June 11, 2016October 28, 2020all-purpose flour, appetizers, canola oil, cheese, cottage cheese, dinner, dough, dried herbs, egg-free, fairly easy, fairly inexpensive, garlic, grated, green onions, herb salt, herbs and spices, Italian, Italian seasoning, kneaded, leeks, lunch, melted, minced, mushrooms, olive oil, Parmesan, party food, pizza, proofed, salt, sautéed, soy sauce, Swiss, tomato sauce, tomatoes, untested, vegetables, vegetarian, yeast

Just like the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, I appreciate a good slice of pizza. ? I wouldn’t normally order a vegetarian pizza. Does the Meat Lovers’ special come with 4 or 5 different meats on it?

I haven’t made pizza dough before. I briefly made bread when we scored a bread machine from a thrift store. After using the bread machine 2 or 3 times, I got to see why all of those bread machines are abandoned at the thrift store. Either my process was not good or the machine stopped working correctly after about 2 loaves of bread.