Tongiht's antipasto featured homemade pesto, roasted garlic, fresh mozzarella, boursin, grilled bread, roasted artichokes, and a pasta salad of orzo puttanesca.Orzo Puttanesca
Ingredients:
1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil
2 large garlic cloves, finely chopped
28.2 oz can of peeled tomatoes
1/2 cup kalamata olives halved & pitted
3 anchovy fillets, chopped
1 1/2 Tbsp capers
1tsp dried oregano
1/2 tsp crushed red pepper flakes
1 cup orzo
2 Tbsp fresh copped flat leaf parsley
greated parmesan
Heat oil in large pot over medium heat, add garlic and saute' until fragrant. Add tomatoes, olives, anchovies, capers, oregano, and red pepper flakes. Simmer sauce over medum low heat until thickened, breaking up tomatoes with spoon, about 8 mins. Season with salt and pepper. Add Parsley at the end.
Meanwhile, cook orzo in pot of 2qt boiling water, 1 tsp salt, and 2 Tbsp olive oil. Let boil about 8 mins, drain, and add sauce. Toss to coat, serve with cheese : )
I skipped the olives and anchovy, feel free to add or subtract from this recipe to fit your personal taste. Also this sauce can be used on any kind of pasta, the first time I made it was with homemade fettuccini noodels which was very tasty. I chose orzo this time because I think it lends itself well to the idea of pasta salad. This is a sauce that will stick with me for life because it is so easy and so delicious.
...All else are recipes from my repitoire that I just wing the measurments on according to taste.
Roasted Artichokes started with a recipe from my anut Nancy. In my opinion this is really the best way to eat artichokes. 1 can artichoke hearts, seasoned with butter, lemon juice, salt & pepper, and thyme. Sometimes I use olive oil, a splash of white wine, or a sprinkle of parsley.
The pesto was made from fresh hydroponic basil, toasted pine nuts, salt & pepper, and peccorino romano. This turned out DELICIOUS! I'll be using in on toast, sandwiches, ect. all week until it sadly runs out.
For the roasted garlic I cut off the top, drizzled with olive oil, and roasted for about 45 mins. at 300F.
The Bagette was sliced, seasoned with olive oil, salt & pepper, and parsley, and tossed on the grill until toasty
Scott made homemade lemonade tonight. A great paring for italian food, and very refreshing.
-Jackie
