Italian Food Recipes for the Real Thing - and FAST!

Does everyone love Italian food? Well, have you ever been in even the smallest town anywhere and not seen, at least, one Italian restaurant? I don't mean just in the U.S. (or Italy), but anywhere.

Sure, you'll usually find, at least, one offering Chinese food, but, I'm pretty sure you'll always find even more Italian restaurants - except in China, of course.

And I'm not even counting pizzerias. By the way, you can find a whole bunch of pizza recipes on my - yeah, you guessed it - Quick & Easy Pizza page !

"Thanks, but, what about some nourishing Italian goodies," you might ask, "to eat with my pizza or my pasta, I don't see any of those guys here. Sure, I know pizza is sorta healthy, but what about some real, honest-to-goodness veggies?"

I'm glad you asked, since you can click here and find all sorts of vegetables with an Italian accent.

"Okay, now how about some of those quick, easy and impressive Italian desserts I've heard so much about?"

So, you want desserts? You'll find a bunch of great ones just by clicking Italian Dessert Recipes

"All Right! I think it's time for me to get clickin'."
Asparagus Wrapped in "Shirts" (Asparagi in Camicia)
Serves 6

This is a very fancy side vegetable with a very goofy name, but it goes together easily and quickly, and you can call it what you like. And here's a tip to accelerate your prep: use "bought" pesto.

For asparagus:
30 asparagus spears, tough ends trimmed
30 thin slices mozzarella cheese
30 thin slices prosciutto

For pesto sauce:
3 cloves garlic
5 oz spinach (about 1/2 bag)
1/4 cup each parsley & basil
1 cup grated Pecorino Romano cheese;
3 Tbsp toasted pine nuts
3 to 5 Tbsp extra virgin olive oil
3/4 cup heavy cream
Salt & freshly ground black pepper
6 Tbsp Gorgonzola cheese, crumbled
1 pint cherry tomatoes, halved

Preheat oven to 350F

Bring a large pot of water to a boil. Dump asparagus into water for 1 minute ("blanching"), then remove and set aside.

Lay each asparagus spear in 1 slice of prosciutto, sprinklewith salt and pepper, and then wrap in 1 slice of mozzarella,leaving tip and end of spear exposed. Place seam-side downon a baking sheet and continue with remaining spears.

Place garlic, spinach, parsley, basil, Romano cheese andpine nuts in bowl of your food processor. Turn on machineand drizzle in 3 Tbsp olive oil-add more orless for a thinner or thicker pesto.

Put the asparagus spears into the oven for 3 minutes, or until cheese has melted.

Meanwhile combine heavy cream and 1/3 cup pesto in smallskillet. Heat this over medium just to warm (do not simmer or boil). Season sauce with salt and pepper.

Place some of the sauce in the center of 6 plates, top each with about 5 spears of asparagus and sprinkle with 1 Tbsp of Gorgonzola. Now that's fancy, eh?

RECIPE SEARCH
To search QuickEats Plus for other types of quick and easy recipes use the buttons to the left, or, for specific recipes, key your request into the box below

Custom Search

CONTENTS
CLICK TITLE TO GO THERE
(Click "Back" to Return)
TO PREVIEW OR PRINT A RECIPE: Click to it, highlight it, then click "File" -> "Print" -> "Selection" -> "Print".
(If that doesn't work give your computer a whack with something - like I do. It won't help you print but you might feel better.)

Asparagus Wrapped in "Shirts" Asparagi in Camicia)
Caramelized Pork Slices
Shrimp Calabrese
Chicken Scarpariello
Sweet Sausage & Peppers
World's Easiest Calzone
Spaghetti Carbonara
Spaghetti with Prosciutto and Bread crumbs (Spaghetti con Prosciutto e Pangrattato)
Baked Cod a la Sorrento
Cannellini Bean Soup with Sausage
Meatballs Marinara (Polpeine alla Marinara)
Stuffed Pork Chops (Costolette di Maiale con Prosciutto)
Crispy Little Meat Patties (Polpettine Casalinghe)