Cooking Night 8: Be Italian

Location: Mission Valley

Recipe: Cioppino

Ingredients:

1/2 cube of butter

thyme

garlic powder

Italian parsley (chopped)

rosemary

capers

1 cans of chicken broth

Basil

oregano

1 can tomato sauce

1 can Roma tomatoes

onion (chopped)

celery (chopped)

extra virgin olive oil

capers

Costco Seafood medley

Directions:

chop onion and celery in pot with olive oil on high heat

season with salt, pepper, garlic powder

defrost Seafood medley

add Roma tomatoes and tomato sauce

add chicken broth

add thyme, oregano, basil and stir in parsley

add sugar for sweetness

add Seafood medley and capers

add more chicken both if needed

keep stirring then let simmer

Recipe: Linguini Clam Sauce

Ingredients:

2 clam cans

4 garlic heads

linguini

onion

olive oil

3/4 cube butter

chile pepper

1 lemon 

Italian parsely

Directions:

chop garlic

put garlic in pan on high heat

saute with salt and pepper

turn down heat to med and add onions

add butter and capers

for heat, add chili pepper

squeeze juice from the lemon

add parsley

add can of clams

add white wine for flavor

let simmer

make linguini then pour sauce over.

Recipe: Basil Martini

Ingredients:

2 tbs raw cane sugar

lime

basil leaves

vodka

Directions:

crush basil leaves

lime juice

add sugar

mix together

add vodka

stir together

drink up!

the experience:

 I love my godfather Bod and his girlfriend Belinda. They some of the most fun loving people I know. And they know how to make some of the best Italian food. One Sunday afternoon in March, Dan and I headed down to Mission Valley to their house for a cooking lesson. We snacked on cold cuts, olives and assortment of cheese and since it was Sunday Funday some wine and beer too. First I made Cippino, a classic Italian soup as Bob calls it the “working man’s soup.” I’m not a huge seafood fan but fell in love with this soup. He taught me how to blend different herb flavors together with the seafood medley that we mixed in. We let it simmer for a few hours and it turned out amazing. Next dish we made was a Linguini Clam sauce. This recipe was divine over linguini. To top things off, Belinda showed me how to make her signature Basil martinis (maybe had one to many...;) ) It was a lovely afternoon and evening and I can’t wait to go back down and learn more Italian recipes.