Meatloaf Brasciole

    O.k..........it's been a long time since I've posted a meat recipe on the blog and I'm just a little excited to share this one.  It's definitely not your typical, boring meatloaf recipe!  "Brasciole" are, basically, thin slices of meat rolled around a filling and cooked with or without tomato sauce/wine. There can be many different variations, and you may sometimes see them referred to as "Involtini".

    As a child, I loved my gramma's version!  She baked hers on skewers and served them along with tomato sauce, but not in the sauce; they were delicious!!  My kids grew up enjoying the same recipe! (Note to self.....share gramma's brasciole recipe on the blog in the future!)  I've  made variations that are also delicious.

    So, what is "Meatloaf Brasciole", you ask?  Well, you mix several yummy ingredients together to make the meatloaf base and, then, you layer on a few more yummy ingredients, roll the whole thing up into this delicious loaf and, there you have it........meatloaf, all dressed up, Italian-style!!

Peas and Prosciutto

    Here's a simple and delicious side dish to add to your recipe box.  AND........you can have it ready in about 15-20 minutes!  The saltiness of the prosciutto adds a nice contrast to the otherwise mellow peas.  This dish is great to add to a mid-week meal, when you might not have a lot of time, but  goes equally well on a holiday table with all of the other "special" foods.

Green Bean Salad with Red Onion and Prosciutto

    Hi there!  Hope everyone had a nice Labor Day weekend.  Ours was very low-key.....just the four of us hanging around, getting a little work done and then just relaxing.  The weather was nice enough to get outside and fire up the grill, so I cooked up some burgers and, to go along-side, I made a nice Caprese Salad (fresh tomatoes, mozzarella, basil, good olive oil, salt and pepper) and this delicious Green Bean Salad with Red Onion and Prosciutto.  I slightly adapted it from a recipe I saw in a newsletter from Cookies From Italy.com.  It's a great salad!  It's bright and fresh-tasting, and I love the addition of the prosciutto!

     The original recipe calls for regular string beans, but the beans at the nearby grocery store looked terrible, so I decided to go with Haricot vert instead.  Haricot is French for bean and vert is the word for green.  So, that's right.....these are a French variety of green bean.  They are longer and thinner than most American varieties.  And, they're nice and tender!

Prosciutto Wrapped Lamb Burgers

    So, right about now everyone's starting to think about firing up that grill, right?  Well, this little twist on a regular burger would be great for a barbecue!  Pop it into a nice, crusty Italian roll....delicious!!  Now, it's still been a little chilly here, so I cooked my burgers in a pan on top of the stove, but you can bet these will be finding their way onto our grill as the weather warms up!  I like to serve these with a salad of fresh tomatoes, cucumber, onion, and basil with some olive oil, salt and pepper.  And, to make them extra yummy, I drizzle them with some balsamic glaze!

Pasta and Peas in Honor of Gramma

    Well, here's another dish to celebrate National Pasta Month.......Pasta and Peas!  While trying to decide which  pasta recipe to share this time, I pretty quickly thought of this one.  It's a dish I remember having many times as a little girl while at my grandparents' house.  I loved being with them and considered it a treat when I could spend the night.  Now, breakfast at gramma's ..... not my favorite. It usually included a soft-boiled egg somewhere and, as a little girl,  I just couldn't deal with that runny yolk.  On the other hand, the pineapple juice was delicious and seemed rather special served in her sweet little juice glasses with the painted oranges around the outside.  After a morning of playing, having a little visit with their beagle,  Queenie, and "helping" grandpa in the garden, gramma would call us in for lunch.  Then the three of us would sit down at their tiny kitchen table to a nice bowl of pasta and peas.  It was so good!