A Taste of Italy

Ciao from Italy! Its been too long since we last made a blog post, so after a busy week, we are excited to share a few snapshots and recipes from our culinary adventure last night! Our friend just returned from a ten day vacation to Venice and Florence with some amazing photos, adorable shopping finds and a taste for some fresh Italian food! She wanted to re-create some of her favorite dishes and share them with us, so we embarked upon a trip to Italy with a delicious Italian meal. 

We prepared a three-course Italian menu filled with fresh, authentic ingredients. To start off the meal, we enjoyed one of our friend’s favorite Italian appetizers, Prosciutto e Melone, made with balls of cantaloupe, basil leaves and prosciutto stacked on toothpicks for a fancy presentation. The sweetness of the cantaloupe paired with the salty cured meat and fresh herbs had an incredible flavor. 

Prosciutto e Melone 

Margherita pizza ready for the oven!

For our main course, we prepared Margherita pizza made with lots of Roma tomatoes and a delicious Buffalo Mozzarella, topped with fresh Basil and Oregano from our garden! We tried to make it as authentic as possible by drizzling olive oil on the top and brushing it on the edges, as well as topping the pizza with garden-fresh arugula. We served it alongside a fresh arugula salad (our garden is overflowing with arugula!) topped with sliced parmesan cheese, Roma tomatoes, and a balsamic drizzle. Our friend's family gave the meal excellent reviews and thought we did a great job capturing the true Italian flavor they savored on their trip! 

Finished Margherita pizza with fresh arugula!

Fresh arugula salad with roma tomatoes, parmesan, and balsamic drizzle 

We couldn’t have an authentic Italian meal without ending it with some homemade gelato. Our friend tried many different flavors on her trip, from Watermelon and Almond to Yogurt, Nutella and of course her favorite, Pistachio. We prepared a Pistachio gelato made with pistachios, vanilla bean and a base of heavy cream and whole milk. The creaminess combined with the bits of pistachio pieces combined for an amazing texture. Everyone went back for seconds! 

Homemade gelato, so delicious!

Pizza Margherita

Recipe by Mario Batali

Ingredients

•     1/4 cup tomato paste
•     4 roma tomatoes
•     8 ounces fresh mozzarella, sliced into 12 equal pieces
•     1 teaspoon fresh oregano
•     1 clove fresh garlic, sliced thinly
•     1 ball Trader Joe's Pizza Dough

Cooking Directions    

1. Preheat oven to 450 degrees F.
2. Flour dough and roll out thin on a floured surface, leaving a thicker rim around the edges. 
3. Spread tomato paste over dough, leaving 1/4 inch of dough for the edge of pizza.
4. Thinly slice tomatoes and place on dough.                 
5. Scatter sliced mozzarella over tomatoes and sprinkle with garlic and oregano.                  
6. Slide pizza directly onto pizza stone and bake 15-18 minutes or until crust is golden brown and cheese is bubbling.       

Gelato di Crema

Recipe by Food Network- Aunt Lena's Creamery

Ingredients

•     5 large egg yolks
•     3/4 cup sugar
•     2 1/4 cups whole milk
•     1 cup heavy cream
•     1 vanilla bean
•     6 ounces shelled pistachios

Cooking Directions            

1. In a large bowl, whisk together egg yolks and sugar until mixture is pale yellow and thickens up. 
2. In a blender, combine shelled pistachios with heavy cream until pureed.           
3. Combine the whole milk, pistachio cream mixture and vanilla bean, sliced in half lengthwise in a saucepan. Heat the mixture just until it starts to bubble around the edges, making sure it does not boil. Remove from heat.            
4. Remove vanilla bean and scrape out seeds with tip of a small knife and add seeds to cream mixture. Discard vanilla bean shell.              
5. While whisking egg mixture, add in 1 cup of warm cream mixture and combine together. Then add in rest of egg mixture to milk. Heat mixture slowly to 175-180 degrees F. Custard should be thickened and coat the back of a wooden spoon.             
6. Strain the mixture through a fine mesh sieve, cover and refrigerate until well chilled.          
7. Transfer mixture into ice cream maker and follow manufacturer's instructions.         

Though we wish we could have made an actual trip to Italy (and we are definitely planning to visit sometime!), we had such a great time enjoying a taste of the fresh Italian flavors our friend misses so much. We hope you can dream about floating on a gondola as you are transported to Italy with these recipes, enjoy!