Italy-Part One

The 12th country in our Eating Around the World Adventure is Italy.

Now this post is not about the food I have cooked since starting our adventure. Rather, this is the Italian food I have already cooked and have posted on my blog. I have named it Part one as it is food I had already cooked.

I grew up on Croatian food, however, a lot of the food we cooked had Italian influences. Why, because my dad is from Lastovo and my mum is from Zadar, and both of these places were ruled by Italy around the 1920's to mid 1940's. Words we say even are influenced by Italy, we call a tomato a pomidor for instance and I grew upon pasta suta. 

So the food that the world considers Italian, is also some of the food I grew up on. 

Italian food is fresh, it's light, it's comfort food, it's hearty, it's simple, it's rich, it's flavourful, it's delicious.

Italian food is all about the quality of the ingredients rather than on elaborate preparation. It's simple food, done well. The food varies from region to region and each region has it's own special dishes.

I find Italian food crowd pleasing, I love seeing families crowded around the table sharing food, and Italian's have mastered this. 

So here is what I have cooked so far, some things are Italian, some may be Italian style, but we love them all. Stay tuned as Part two will be all the new things I have learnt.

Eggs in Purgatory
Crumbed Eggplant with Tomato Basil Sauce
​Goats Cheese Stuffed Zucchini Flowers
Italian Chicken Pasta Salad​
​Tagliata for Two
​Veal Saltimbocca
Braised Chicken Marylands with Wine and Tomatoes
Chicken and Eggplant Parmigiana
Chicken Saltimbocca
Woodman's Chicken-Pollo Alla Boscaiola
Slow Cooked Lamb Shank and Bean Ragu
Cannelloni
Chilli Prawn and Tomato Spaghetti
Creamy Bacon and Mushroom Fettuccine
Creamy Bacon Fettuccine
Creamy Mushroom Linguine
Fettuccine Alla Carbonara
Fettuccine with Mud Crab, Garlic, Chilli, Lemon and Parsley
Fresh Tomato Pasta
Italian Omelette
Lasagne
Macaroni Eggplant Cake
Macaroni Milano
Oven Baked Meatballs in Cheesy Tomato Sauce
Pappardelle Carbonara
Short Rib Ragu
Spaghetti Bolognese
Spaghetti Marinara
Spaghetti Pizzaiola
​Spaghetti Puttanesca
Spaghetti with Clams
Spaghetti with Clams
Spinach and Ricotta Cannelloni Crepes
Spinach and Ricotta Shells
​Tagliatelle Alla Bolognese
Tomato Prawn Risotto
Pork Campagnola
Cotoletta
Roast Pork with Garlic and Rosemary
Baked Snapper with Parsley, Chilli and Oregano
Fried Calamari
Potato Gnocchi
Rosemary Garlic Foccacia
Tomato Soup with Pasta and Basil
Bocconcini, Basil and Prosciutto Balls
Eggplant and Olive Bruschetta
Homemade Foccacia Pizza
Marinated Mini Bocconcini with Basil and Prosciutto
Pizza
Roasted Capsicums
Tomato and Basil Bruschetta
Almond Bread
Chocolate Olive Oil Cake
Cannoli Cake
​Blueberry Crostata
Chocolate Salami
Christmas Sandwich Cookies
Mixed Nut Biscotti
Tiramisu Torte
Apple Fritole
Baked Ricotta Cheesecake
Nutella Cheesecake
Blood Orange Granita
Mango and Banana Yoghurt Gelato
Orange Granita
Orange Sorbet
Tequila and Orange Granita
Watermelon Granita
Coffee Creams
Strawberry and Vanilla Pannacotta Fruit Cups
Strawberry Pannacotta
Triple Chocolate Pannacotta Mousse
Vanilla Bean Pannacotta
Vanilla Pannacotta with a Berry Compote
Vanilla Pannacotta with Strawberry Champagne Jelly
Yoghurt and Vanilla Pannacotta with Raspberry and Pomegranate Jelly
​Mocha Tiramisu
Campari Crush
Homemade Limoncello
Limoncello Blush
Moscato Strawberry Lemonade
Sgroppino
​

Eggs in Purgatory: My kids absolutely love this, it is one of their favourite breakfasts of all time. Eggs cooked in a tomato sauce, delicious.

Crumbed Eggplant with Tomato Basil Sauce: This crumbed eggplant is very easy to make, they are great hot or cold, are great with or without the sauce. They are just delicious.
This is lunch, this dinner, this is party food, this can even be breakfast for me.

Goats Cheese Stuffed Zucchini Flowers: I love zucchini flowers, they are one of my favourite things to eat. When they are in season this is one thing we love to indulge in, it truly is a seasonal treat. We love it with a cheese filling, and this one is delicious. Simple, elegant, delicious.

Italian Chicken Pasta Salad: This is probably more Italian inspired, rather than Italian, but I added it as it is my go to clean out the refrigerator pasta after I have had a party. It's packed full of flavour and I really enjoy it.

Tagliata for Two: This is how I like to eat a steak, I have never really liked getting a big steak on a plate and eating it myself, I love thin slices of rare steak on a shared platter with either a delicious rub, or like this with a sort of dressing, served with a salad, absolutely delicious. This is something my family loves for dinner.

Veal Saltimbocca: This has got to be one of my families favourite meals. This is simply put, amazing. It is so quick and easy to make, you will have dinner on the table in less than 30 minutes.

​Braised Chicken Marylands with Wine and Tomatoes: I loved the simplicity of this dish, it is such a great weeknight meal. It smells amazing while it is cooking and it tastes amazing to. This is a favourite of mine.

​Chicken and Eggplant Parmigiana: This is a family favourite, we all love it. Some of us prefer eggplant, some of us prefer chicken. I make both and everybody is happy. Quite often I'll crumbed and cook the chicken and eggplant the day before and I turn the leftovers into parmigiana the following day.

​Chicken Saltimbocca: This is something I cook when I don't feel like cooking. After a little preparation, you pop it in the oven, and all you need to make is a quick burnt butter sauce and your done. Simple and tasty.

​Woodman's Chicken-Pollo Alla Boscaiola: I love cooking in the oven as it means after a little preparation, I can sit back and relax while dinner is baking. This dish was delicious, I mean really delicious. The aromas that waft through the house promise something special and you hope it will taste as good as it smells, and this one certainly does.

​Slow Cooked Lamb Shank and Bean Ragu: This dish is delicious, the meat was soft, falling off the bone, delicious. The sauce was rich and delicious. The polenta a perfect accompaniment. I love oven baked stews, once you do the initial prep work, you place it in the oven and you don't have to do anything else. Well here after one hour you just remove the lid and turn the shanks over, that's it. This is a great lazy weekend dish.

​Cannelloni: Using the words of my friend 'this is sensational'. We really loved this Cannelloni, my kids said they loved it more than lasagne.

​Chilli Prawn and Tomato Spaghetti: This is a great quick mid week meal. This is so easy to make and is cooked in the time the spaghetti is cooked.

​Creamy Bacon and Mushroom Fettuccine: This is so easy to make, when the pasta is cooked, so is your sauce. This is so fast to make, and tastes so good, you really do have dinner on the table in 20 minutes, with very little effort, but a great end result.

​Creamy Bacon Fettuccine: This is by far my favourite creamy pasta dish. This is my kids favourite pasta dish. It is so easy to make, by the time the pasta is cooked the sauce is done. It is a cheap dish to make, just a few ingredients and you get this delicious meal to serve to your family and friends.

​Creamy Mushroom Linguine: Every now and then we have a meat free nights and this is the perfect dish for it. Luckily we all love mushrooms. This is a simple, tasty mid week meal. 

​Fettuccine Alla Carbonara: This is what I cook when I don't feel like cooking, it's that easy that I just have no excuse to cook. Now this version does have cream, and traditional carbonara does not have cream, but it's so good, I can get over this little addition.

​Fettuccine with Mud Crab, Garlic, Chilli, Lemon and Parsley: What do I say about this recipe, how do I describe this dish. This was perfect, this was delicious, it was delicate, it was an experience. Every bite you have is a wow moment bite, it is the perfect balance of flavours. You taste everything that is in it, but nothing overpowers anything.

Fresh Tomato Pasta: This recipe is easy, it is full of flavour, it is like bruschetta that is mixed through pasta. I love it as it is fresh, it is tasty and it perfectly showcases fresh ripe tomatoes. The only thing you cook, is the pasta. You just toss hot pasta through the diced up sauce and you get something really special.

Lasagne: This is one really good lasagne. My kids absolutely love it, I love it. My family and friends love it. Making a lasagne takes a bit of time, but each step is quite simple. This one is very popular at parties and feeds many people. Bonus is, it freezes well.

Macaroni Eggplant Cake: I love eggplant, I love it a lot. This dish for me was delicious, my whole family loved it. The pasta filling on its own was delicious, but adding the eggplant was amazing. 

Macaroni Milano: My kids absolutely love this pasta, it is quite hard for them to stop eating it. There is never enough leftovers for school lunches, as after dinner, they keep picking at the pasta throughout the evening. They love sausages, they love pasta, put it together and I have three very happy children.

​Oven Baked Meatballs in Cheesy Tomato Sauce: So I have tried many a many meatball recipe and I have not been very impressed. But I was given this recipe from a cousin of mine and we love it. This is a fast recipe to make which is great on busy days, and it tastes lovely, my kids absolutely love it.

Pappardelle Carbonara: ​Some nights you just feel like making something quick and easy for your family. This is what I make on those nights. This is the second carbonara recipe on my site, but I had to add it, not because it is better than the other one, in fact I love both of them, but it just deserved to be here, as we loved it so much. This one to adds a bit of cream into the sauce which is not in a usual carbonara.

Short Rib Ragu: This is my new favourite pasta sauce. I never thought that beef spare ribs could taste this good and make a sauce that is so rich, yet so tasty, every mouthful was amazing. This is probably the pasta sauce I repeat the most.

Spaghetti Bolognese: After years of making bolognese and absolutely not liking it, I finally came across this recipe and I have never tried another. This one cooks for two hours and has a deep, rich flavour. I add no 'hidden' vegetables as my kids eat vegetables all the time so I don't need to hide anything. This is just a simple bolognese that I consider the best.

​Spaghetti Marinara: Like with the bolognese, I have had a few just okay marinaras in my day. I played with a few recipes and I came up with this version, and we love it. Since then I have shared this recipe with friends and they love it to. It's easy and delicious.

​Spaghetti Pizzaiola: This is just a variation of a bolognese that I make when I don't have time to make my normal bolognese. It cooks in half the time, so if I'm time poor this one is great. My family loves it.

Spaghetti Puttanesca: My husband's favourite pasta of all time. This is what I cook when I'm too tired to cook. This is one of those dishes that come in handy when you come home from work and you have no idea what to cook. You look in your pantry and refrigerator, and with a few simple ingredients (which you should have in your pantry or refrigerator), you can whip up this quick, flavoursome, satisfying meal.

​Spaghetti with Clams: Sometimes I get asked what I would consider is my signature dish, now with everything I have cooked I always find that a difficult question, but if I had to choose just one dish, it would be this one. This is a dish I can probably make blindfolded as I have made it so many times and it is so easy to make. This is delicious and so easy to make.

Spaghetti with Clams: I love clams and I love pasta, so this dish was always going to be something I love. The version above of Spaghetti with Clams is tomato based. It has a completely different flavour to this one, my husband actually prefers the tomato based one. I love the tomato based one also, very much, but I love this one to. I love the taste of pasta, I love the taste of clams. So in this recipe the simple flavours of pasta and clams shine. My kids love both dishes also.

Spinach and Ricotta Cannelloni Crepes: Most days of the week we have some sort of meat on our plates, but every now and then I like to have a meatless day. I made this as this is what I like to eat, I love cannelloni, I love spinach and ricotta. I made it with crepes which worked perfectly. These look fancy and really do taste great.

Spinach and Ricotta Shells: This is one of my daughters favourite dishes. She absolutely loves it. This is really easy to make and quite fast to make. It makes quite a few so would be good at parties, you can prepare the cheese filled shells earlier and refrigerate them covered until needed.

Tagliatelle Alla Bolognese: Spaghetti Bolognese is something my kids request all the time, however I am not a huge fan of it, neither is my husband. Here is a recipe all five of us enjoyed. The kids loved it, and me and my husband were pleasantly surprised to find we enjoyed it to. Now I have yet to find a quick Bolognese recipe that I have liked, so this one is also a slow cooked one, as I find the flavours are always better when slow cooked. 

Tomato Prawn Risotto: This is a lovely dish to make when the cooler weather starts.This is a great mid week meal, lovely flavours, simple to make.

​Pork Campagnola: Every now and then I get surprised by a dinner I prepare. I had cut this recipe out of a magazine years ago and came across it recently and thought I'd give it a try. I expected it to be good, but I didn't expect it to be as good as it was. The meat was super tender and the flavours all worked so well together, my family loved this.

Cotoletta: The Italian version of the schnitzel. I like to make mine with fresh breadcrumbs, or breadcrumbs I make from stale bread, homemade is best here. The store bought variety I love are panko breadcrumbs. Use whatever meat you like, pork or veal schnitzels, chicken thighs or veal or lamb cutlets.

​Roast Pork with Garlic and Rosemary: Here is an easy recipe for you all. I absolutely love this one. This roast pork is so full of flavour, very moist and is one of the easiest dinners you will ever prepare. This is my daughter's favourite roast pork dish.

​Baked Snapper with Parsley, Chilli and Oregano: I was watching Italian Food Safari one day and I saw a snapper being baked standing upright, immediately I thought how impressive that looked, I had never thought to bake a fish propped up on its belly. This was so easy to make, and once you have the fish all the other ingredients I always will have in my house.

Fried Calamari: This is my kids favourite way to eat calamari. Serve fried calamari up as party finger food or with a salad for lunch or dinner, this is delicious and just needs to be made.

Potato Gnocchi: My family loves gnocchi, just not the packet ones, so after trying a few recipes I found this one was our favourite. They are brilliant, they turn out perfectly every time. 

​Rosemary Garlic Foccacia: Here is a great bread recipe for you all to make. This is so easy to make, anyone can make this. And the flavour, it is seriously OMG good.

​Tomato Soup with Pasta and Basil: This is one of my favourite soups. I am not normally a fan of tomato soup, but this one is different. Actually this is the only tomato soup I enjoy eating. It is quite quick to make for a soup, as it is ready in just over 30 minutes, and what I love is that it is made with fresh ingredients.

​Bocconcini, Basil and Prosciutto Balls: This I like to serve when guests arrive for a party, they go well with drinks, great finger food. The basil with the prosciutto with the bocconcini, it just works so well. 

​Eggplant and Olive Bruschetta: This is a fabulous recipe. It is so full of flavour, it is beautiful. It is great for parties as you can prepare it earlier. I love it for a light lunch, it would be great in sandwiches. It is truly so nice, I love it. I love it with ham, but it is optional.

Homemade Foccacia Pizza: This pizza is delicious. This pizza is easy to make. The dough is so good. It is a no knead dough, which is fabulous. All you have to do is cook a potato, then mix the dough ingredients together, spread it into a baking dish, let it rise for 1 hour, spread on the topping and bake. And you're done. And the flavour is amazing. The dough is the fluffiest, softest dough/bread you will ever eat. It is amazing.

​Marinated Mini Bocconcini with Basil and Prosciutto: This is the marinated version of the bocconcini, basil and prosciutto balls I showed you above. I love these, they are absolutely delicious and so easy to make. The long green chilli adds flavour more than it adds heat.

Pizza: After trying many, many different pizza bases I feel I have found the best pizza dough ever. It is really simple to make, and you get gorgeous pizza with whatever topping you like. The dough works every time, and you get three large rectangular pizza bases out of the dough mix.

​Roasted Capsicums: Roasted capsicums are amazing, they are so full of flavour and need to be served with any antipasto platter. This to me is not only food for entertaining, I am quite happy to top a slice of bruschetta bread and eat them as a snack or as a light lunch.

Tomato and Basil Bruschetta: This is so light, so fresh, I just love it! This is very simple to make. I love to serve this when I have people over for lunch, on arrival I serve this with drinks. It is also a great way to use up leftover basil that I bought for another recipe, I simply make this and have it in the refrigerator as a healthy go to snack.

Almond Bread: These biscuits are the ones where if you try one you just can't stop eating them, you have to have more, they are so addictive, no one can ever stop at one. These are so popular with family and friends whenever I make them.

​Chocolate Olive Oil Cake: This cake is lovely, it is rich, it melts in your mouth, and it doesn't contain dairy or flour.

​Cannoli Cake: I love a good Cannoli, they are amazing, so when I came across a recipe for a cannoli cake, I had to try it. What a great cake. It is made from two sponges, soaked in an orange syrup, sandwiched together with a ricotta 'cannoli' filling. Then it is all covered in a vanilla cream icing. 

Blueberry Crostata: This Blueberry Crostata is delicious. It OMG every bite is amazing and just delicious.

​Chocolate Salami: This was really easy to make. It just takes a few minutes, then you let it set and it's ready to eat. It's also great as you can make it in advance for parties, or if you are getting unexpected guests.

​Christmas Sandwich Cookies: These are delicious and look amazing to. These are really easy to make, use what ever cookie cutter shapes you have, and don't think you can't make these on other occasions, mother's day flower biscuits would be appreciated by any mother, easter egg shaped cookies would be amazing etc. And for the filling, strawberry jam, apricot jam or use whatever is your favourite jam flavour. And Nutella, my daughters favourite is truly delicious, and don't forget lemon curd.

Mixed Nut Biscotti: Previously I showed you how to make almond bread, but here I used an assortment of nuts. I loved the flavour I got by putting in a variety of nuts, absolutely delicious. Quite different from just using almonds. They were crisp, exactly how I thought they should be. You cannot buy them like this, they just taste so much better when you make them yourself. And they are so easy to make.

Tiramisu Torte: For my mother's 70th birthday I thought I'd change one of her favourite desserts into a cake. It was a hit, the flavour combination was delicious. This is something I'm sure to make again and again.

Apple Fritole: This is like a simple cheat's version of fritule. They are made with baking powder instead of yeast. We love these as a quick doughnut fix. They are soft and like a fritula, and something that can be made in minutes.

Baked Ricotta Cheesecake: After years of eating the store bought version I finally decided to give this dessert a go. I love the creaminess of the ricotta filling, and the pastry, it holds it shape perfectly. For me, this is one of my favourite desserts of all time.

​Nutella Cheesecake: This ones for all the nutella lovers out there. This was delicious, creamy, smooth, rich, beautiful. I enjoyed every bite. It is a really easy cheesecake to make, and honestly if you love nutella, you really should make it.

​Blood Orange Granita: This is something my kids ask for every time blood oranges are back in season. This granita is beautiful to look at. And the taste was lovely, both sweet and tart, a lovely balance. It is a very refreshing dessert to have after dinner, just beautiful.

Mango and Banana Yoghurt Gelato: Okay, so this one's not really gelato. It only has three ingredients, banana, mango and yoghurt. Blitzed together and you get this delicious gelato like soft serve. It was delicious. I thought I'd put it here as it was like gelato, only easier.

Orange Granita: My kids love granita, they love the little icy crystals that melt in your mouth, they love the burst of fresh flavour they get with every spoonful. This orange version came about as my uncle had an orange tree and every year I had an abundance of oranges.

Orange Sorbet: Two ingredients, that's it. I know authentically probably not a sorbet, but it's delicious, so it's okay. This had the perfect balance between tart and sweet, my kids loved it. You really should try this sorbet, it is so easy to make and tastes great, very refreshing actually.

Tequila and Orange Granita: This is like a cocktail in a granita form. So refreshing, I love the tequila in it, just don't be tempted to add more, as alcohol won't freeze if too much is added. I know tequila is not Italian, you could easily substitute something Italians like with orange juice.

Watermelon Granita: My family is on a granita frenzy, we love them. And the fact that they are so easy to make, makes me want to keep making them. This was another hit with us. The beautiful pink flakes of ice, that melt in your mouth on contact, brilliant. The addition of lime to contrast the sweetness of the watermelon, brilliant. This dessert is beautiful to see and eat, very refreshing. It is amazing how something so simple can be so pleasing to eat.

​Coffee Creams: This dessert is super easy to make, and I love it. Normally I drink coffee without sugar, so this to me is like eating a coffee with sugar. It is deliciously creamy, looks amazing and I love how it wobbles on the plate, just like a panna cotta should. 

​Strawberry and Vanilla Pannacotta Fruit Cups: Here is a fun dessert that looks so pretty, and the best thing about it is, not only does it look amazing, it is so easy to make, and you know what else, it tastes as good as it looks. So if you are looking to impress someone on Valentine's Day, a birthday, an anniversary, whatever you are celebrating, this dessert is a perfect way to do it. ​

​Strawberry Pannacotta: This pale pink strawberry pannacotta is just beautiful, beautiful to look at, beautiful to eat. It is yoghurt based so it has this lovely flavour that is quite refreshing. This is so easy to make, one of the easiest desserts you could ever make.

​Triple Chocolate Pannacotta Mousse: When you put the three flavours of this dessert in your mouth together it really is an OMG moment. It is rich, it is creamy, it is luscious, it is divine.

Vanilla Bean Pannacotta: My first ever pannacotta that I ever made and it was perfect! It set perfectly, it wobbled like a pannacotta should, it was creamy not rubbery, it came out of the mould with ease. The flavour was beautiful, it was divine. This is what started my adventure into these kinds of desserts.

​Vanilla Pannacotta with a Berry Compote: This is my most repeated pannacotta recipe. I make these all the time. People ask for this recipe all the time. It is absolutely delicious. A perfect little dessert.

​Vanilla Pannacotta with Strawberry Champagne Jelly: For Italians I would just use prosecco. This is a dessert that everyone needs to try. This is so easy to make, looks amazing and tastes amazing. The champagne adds a touch of class to this beautiful pannacotta.

​Yoghurt and Vanilla Pannacotta with Raspberry and Pomegranate Jelly: My family absolutely love panna cotta, this is a dessert that does not last very long in my house. Here the combination of the panna cotta and the jelly works perfectly together. I like to make this for parties as one, it is very easy to make and two, it can be made ahead of time. 

Mocha Tiramisu: Most people have a version of a Tiramisu that they love. I have two. This version is what I call my 'kid friendly' version, as there is not too much alcohol in it. I love the hazelnut chocolate that is in it, I love the bite it gives. I have been making this for years and I know this will be a recipe that I will keep on making.

​Campari Crush: ​This one is perfect on a warm day, it's refreshing and super easy to make.

​Homemade Limoncello: I first got the taste of homemade limoncello from a friend of mines dad. His limoncello was so different from the store bought that I fell in love with the flavour. Now traditionalists will only make it with pure alcohol, this version is with vodka. I know some people will say it isn't the same, but I love it. I have made it with rakija (Croatian spirit) and although it was nice, it was strong for me. With the vodka, I have tried a few brands now, but my two favourites were Smirnoff (red) and Tito's. These two were recommended by GZ who I got the recipe from and I agree, they are the best. 

​Limoncello Blush: My husband made up this one. There was no cold white wine in the house, so he got creative. There was a bottle of Limoncello in the freezer (thanks Joanne) and some Cran-Pomegranate juice in the fridge. Put the two together and you have a lovely refreshing little drink.

​Moscato Strawberry Lemonade: It's that time of year again when parties are being had everywhere. Here is a great drink that would be perfect at your next party, whether it be a birthday, Christmas or New Years party. This drink is light, it is pretty and it tastes lovely. It is also great as you can make large quantities of it, or just keep making it fresh as it runs out, as it is that simple.

Sgroppino: This is truly amazing, I will describe it as the best 'slushy' I've ever had. This I could drink forever.

Next Stop: Part 2 Italy-all the new things I have tried.