Campanelle alla Mozzarella {Campanelle Pasta with Mozzarella}

Posted by Paula in All Recipes, Pasta, Vegetarian | 24 comments

This pasta is just summertime in a bowl to me! I actually nicknamed it Caprese Salad Pasta ; ) Because well it pretty much is LOL. It’s perfect when the weather is hot and you don’t want to be in the kitchen heating up the house with the oven. Because I really don’t need my a/c bill to be any higher during our hot southern summers, know what I’m sayin’. And did I mention it takes like 8 mins to cook. Yes, EIGHT little minutes. Just long enough to cook the pasta (to al dente perfection of course) Yes, my kind of meal ; )

Brasato al Barolo {braised beef short ribs in Barolo wine}

Posted by Paula in All Recipes, Beef | 17 comments

I love comfort food & Brasato al Barolo is definitely comfort food! I hadn’t had Brasato in a LONG time but my recent Bertolli trip to New York for the launch of their “Into the heart of Italy” series remedied that. During that whirwind trip there was a lot of eating going on. And one of my favorite things was the Brasato from A Voce restaurant. It was scrumptious. Beyond scrumptious. I had to stop myself from licking the plate {seriously stop myself }.

And the winner is…

Posted by Paula in All Recipes | 1 comment

I know you’ve been waiting patiently…And as always I REALLY wish everyone could have one of these fantabulous Nordic Ware Pans. But nope, that’s not how it works. Insert sad face here. I can’t tell you how much fun I had making the Nutella Truffles with this pan & there were SO MANY fantastic suggestions that I’m sure to try out as well! Oh, the possibilities. But YOU want to know who won don’t you? Alright already, according to my lucky eight ball ehem random.org the winner is….*drumroll please*

Gelato al Limone {Lemon Gelato} & {MEGA GIVEAWAY}

Posted by Paula in All Recipes, Desserts, Vegetarian | 316 comments

Ah, gelato, there’s nothing like it! And with the help of my handy dandy Cuisinart maker I can make it anytime we want. I love all things lemon. The more pucker the better ; ) So of course for the first gelato of the season I wanted to make Limone! It’s sunshine in a cup, or cone however you prefer! You can customize the tartness to your taste, just add more or less zest & lemon juice & voila! Gelato always makes me feel like I’m in Italy! It wasn’t uncommon for me to eat it 2-3 times per day especially in the spring & summertime. Perhaps it was the fact that I could NEVER pass a gelatteria without stopping, & lucky for me they’re not hard to find LOL

Nutella Truffles w/Raspberry Sauce

Posted by Paula in All Recipes, Desserts, Nutella, Vegetarian | 185 comments

You KNOW I have a wicked sweet tooth & you KNOW how much I am madly passionate about Nutella! So hello why not put two of my favorite things together! Sheer bliss! I don’t know why I hadn’t made these sooner. They are little bites of pure happiness. You look at them and think, WOW that has to be complicated. Too much trouble. But NO! They’re really not! You can make these much faster than you can a cake. Not faster than just dipping your spoon into the Nutella jar but fast nonetheless {you can do that while they’re setting up in the fridge tee hee}

Special OFFER ~ Scrumptious Pantry Fine Salt & Tomato Spread!

Posted by Paula in All Recipes | 12 comments

Do you remember a while back I posted a GIVEAWAY from the Scrumptious Pantry? Do you remember how I have RAVED about these products? Saying I love them doesn’t convey how much I LURVE them! I LURVE them so much so I begged ehem petitioned OpenSky to do their best to find a way to get these products into MY OpenSky Shop! & *cartwheels*  I’m THRILLED to announce that NOW some of their amazing artisan products are available to you in my shop!  

Funghi Portobello con Carciofi {Grilled Portobello w/sauteed Artichokes}

Posted by Paula in All Recipes, Vegetarian | 31 comments

I’m not a vegetarian BUT I do enjoy SOME meatless meals. Especially now that the weather is getting warmer and we’re eating lighter. And let’s just hope that eating lighter is going to mean actually BEING lighter ; ) Now that would be a nice added bonus ; ) Just sayin. I picked up these ginormous Portobello’s the other day at the market {bonus they were on sale, happy dance} and knew I wanted to grill them. Something beautiful happens when you grill a Portobello. It becomes meaty and juicy and just mmmh. It’s pretty much the steak of the funghi world.    

Bertolli’s “Into the heart of Italy” EXCLUSIVE + {GIVEAWAY}

Posted by Paula in All Recipes, Pasta | 43 comments

{Photo credit, Lisa Leone}

Have you been following along with Bertolli’s “Into the heart of Italy” Web series? I hope so! So far there have been three webisodes. Each one more exciting than the last! The entire series is beautifully done and everytime I see one, it makes me long for bella Italia! I’m secretly hoping to win Bertolli’s contest for a Ultimate Culinary Vacation to ITALY! Yes, you can enter too, but if you win, you’ll need to take me with you OKAY ; ) tee hee

I’m over the moon excited to share with YOU that Bertolli has graciously given US some EXCLUSIVE behind-the-scenes fotos & VIDEO from the Carnevale celebration, which will be featured in the next episode of “Into the Heart of Italy: The Secret of the Mediterranean”. It’s scheduled to premiere April 26. In this upcoming episode, Rocco, Marisa and Dan attend the Carnevale celebration and make a delicious garlic shrimp, penne and cherry tomatoes dish. That means WE’RE seeing this before anyone else ; )  How cool are we ; )

And the winner is…

Posted by Paula in All Recipes | 1 comment

I am SO excited to see so many people jazzed about Jamie’s FOOD REVOLUTION! And I am VERY thankful to all of you who have signed the petition! {Psst. It’s not too late to sign up & get involved if you haven’t – just sayin} Jamie’s doing some great things but he needs OUR help!

I wish EVERYONE could have a copy but alas I’m not a publishing house & only have ONE copy to give away. Now for that lucky duck winner…Was it you? According to my lucky eight ball ehem random.org *drumroll please* the super star winner is…

Jamie Oliver’s Cheat’s Sponge Cake w/Summer Berries & Cream + {GIVEAWAY}

Posted by Paula in All Recipes, Desserts, Vegetarian | 363 comments

Are you drooling? Isn’t she beauty-full? *swoon* If I told you this took all of about 15 to make would you believe me? I might not have either if I didn’t make it myself. This is a recipe from Jamie Oliver’s “Jamie’s Food Revolution” cookbook. I received a review copy this week and I haven’t been able to put it down. I am in LURVE! Okay so I’ve been following Jamie since his “Naked Chef” days & no it’s no ne-kid like you think ; ) I think he’s brilliant and this book is no exception.     

Linguine ai Frutti di Mare {Seafood Linguine}

Posted by Paula in All Recipes, Main Course, Pasta, Seafood | 31 comments

Frutti di Mare translates to fruits of the sea and boy is this dish full of fruits from the sea. It has almost all of my favorite seafood: Mussels, Clams, Shrimp and Scallops. If it happened to have had some lobster & crab well I would have just been in seafood heaven! If you don’t happen to like some of these *and gasp if you don’t* just leave them out.

Costoletta di Vitello {Veal Chops}

Posted by Paula in All Recipes | 15 comments

I originally had these in Italy & they were succulent scrumptious STUFFED veal chops. They were DIVINE. Nice texture on the outside, oozing cheese with glorious truffles on the inside. What’s not to love? My veal chops were too thin to stuff so I opted to top these with the fabulous fontina cheese & then with the grated truffles *ah glorious truffles* If you opted for the thicker chops you could certainly stuff them instead of topping them. Either way I think you’ll be quite happy.

OpenSky Digital Scale GIVEAWAY

Posted by Paula in All Recipes | 10 comments

You may have noticed that I like to cook with a digital scale…You may have noticed that some of my recipe measurements are in metric conversions (I know much to some people’s dismay)…you may have noticed that I like to mention how much easier your kitchen life would be with a digital scale (which I truly believe)…WELL now it can be thanks to this fantastic giveaway!   

Stufato di Agnello {Lamb Stew}

Posted by Paula in All Recipes, Main Course | 18 comments

Naturally we made LAMB for Easter this past weekend. We celebrated with a feast of foods. Feasts usually mean there will be leftovers no matter how good something  was. I do not like to waste any food. Ever. So as we had some of our Roasted Leg of Lamb leftover I thought LAMB STEW would be a fantastic way to make a second completely different meal from it!