Sicilian Eggplant & Ricotta Pasta by John Spottiswood

This is yet another wonderful Italian recipe that I've adapted from Marcella Hazan's classic "Essentials of Italian Cooking". This one is good enough that my wife put a little smily face in the upper corner of the recipe and wrote "It's a keeper!". I think you'll feel the same way. We served this for friends with a wonderful citrus…

Easy Cinnamon Apple Strudel by Nancy Miyasaki

This is super simple and truly delicious. I made it for John's birthday dinner, since he loves cinnamon apple desserts with vanilla ice cream. It's light and flavorful without being too rich. We finished it all in one night between the six of us. Mmm!

Spanish Rice by Wendi Taylor

Ever wondered how to get that perfect consistency of spanish rice that's served in restaurants? Here's the secret...

Oven roasted asparagus and cherry tomatoes by Easy Cook - Laka kuharica

A quick and easy vegetarian dish. Easy suggestion: instead of fresh cherry tomatoes you can use whole tomatoes from a can, but before roasting, drain the liquid, split the tomatoes and remove seeds. Also, you can sprinkle herbs of your choice over tomatoes.

Roasted Broccoli by John Spottiswood

This roasted broccoli recipe, adapted from the Barefoot Contessa, is really wonderful. It has a lot of flavor. We served it with a mild pasta, and it was just a wonderful combination. Don't be worried by the lemon juice and zest. They impart a subtle flavor that adds a nice dimension to this dish.

Easy fennel soup by Easy Cook - Laka kuharica

Light, refreshing and delicious soup that is exceptionally easy to make.

Eggplant Parmesan by Jennifer Bass

Roasted Bell Peppers Salad - Salada de pimentos assados by Sofia Reino

This is a traditional Portuguese salad you will find in most restaurants, especially during the summer. It is very fresh and goes very well with all types of grilled fish. Another idea is to add canned tuna and some hard boiled egg and you have a beautiful summer meal!

Vegetarian Shepherd's Pie by Jennifer Jevons

We are all a wee bit Irish on St. Patrick's Day and a great money-saving dish to make is shepherd's pie. Shepherd's pie is a classic Irish meal that includes simple ingredients like potatoes, carrots and peas, most of which you already have in your pantry or refrigerator. It's a savory, filling meal that will feed your whole family,…

Frittata ai carciofi (Artichoke Frittata) by Frank Fariello

The frittata is one of those categories of dishes, like risotto, where the main ingredient, in this case egg, can act as a foil to an almost infinite variety of flavors, be it meat, fish or vegetable. So by learning a single technique, you open up a whole new culinary galaxy. One of my favorite frittate, especially this time of year,…

Shaved Brussels Sprout and Farro Salad by John Spottiswood

This recipe is adapted from one by Susan Spungen. I thought it was phenomenal. If you can't find Farro, you coud substitute brown rice or pearl barley, but get Farro if you can. It's wonderful. You might consider serving this as a side for Thanksgiving. It would make a great addition.

White Asparagus with Hollandaise Sauce by Frank Fariello

This dish brings me back to my Vienna days: white asparagus and potatoes with hollandaise sauce. The appearance of asparagus in the markets of Vienna--as elsewhere--is a harbinger of Spring. Austrians (and Germans) have a thing for white asparagus. They prefer it to the green kind that is more familiar in most other places. In fact,…

Pizza Sauces by I Sicilian

Stop the pizza delivery man, for ever! Unless… it’s being delivered directly from Sicily. I am sure that if you try this homemade pizza you will never buy into any impersonator again. Although most of us think of pizza as a round pie colored in red and white, pizza like pasta comes in different shapes, different thicknesses, with…

Ricotta and Greens or Spinach Pasta by John Spottiswood

This is another excellent dish that takes advantage of delicious and healthy greens. This is a Sicilian dish that I absolutely love. Our kids all went back for seconds. It's also quite beautiful...the lousy picture I took does not do it justice. A healthy and yummy treat! This is also adapted from Red White and Greens by Faith…

Italian Penne Pasta Salad by daphne sy

I thought I’d try a new type of posts – since I read so many food blogs myself, I always end up bookmarking tons of recipes I want to try. You can find all of them on my Delicious account. Well I actually tried an Italian pasta recipe yesterday. I got this recipe from All Recipes and was very happy with the results. I’ve really…