Category: Starters

Baked Italian Meatballs

Italian Meatballs are really simple to make and you really add any flavors you want! I’m Italian and I learned a lot from seeing my grandparents cook when I was very young and also from seeing my parents cook as well. Italian meatballs are really easy to make, there is no need to buy the store bought ones! You can put this recipe together in now time!

This recipe is a pretty basic Italian meatball recipe! I used ground beef as it was all I had but you can use a mixture of ground beef and ground pork that also comes out delicious! My grandmother use to fry the meatballs, but to make these a little healthier I bake them! You can simmer these meatballs in sauce, enjoy with pasta or eat them on their own. I personally eat them with a little drizzle of oil and some delicious shaved Italian cheese with a chunk of bread! Yum!!

Baked Italian Meatballs

Ingredients:
2lb ground meat (beef or a mixture of beef & pork)
2 eggs
1/4 cup milk
1/2 cup Italian breadcrumbs
1/3 cup grated Romano cheese
1 Tbsp Italian Seasoning
1/2 Tbsp Garlic & Herb Seasoning (See below for Amazon Link)
2 tsp salt
2 tsp pepper
4 garlic cloves, grated
1 shallot, grated
2 tsp olive oil

Extras:
Olive oil cooking spray

My Favorite Amazon Items: https://www.amazon.com/shop/garlic_and_oliveoil_veins

Directions: Preheat oven 375°. In a medium bowl add all the ingredients above and gently mix with your hands (Yes, your hands) until everything is fully mixed together. Do not over mix the meat, this is important to keeping a moist meatball.

Next grab a few pinches of meat and form your meatballs. Don’t overly work the meat mixture. You want to just gently roll into balls. Make the meatballs any size you want. Add the meatballs to a greased cookie sheet leaving a little room in between. Bake in the oven for 25-35 minutes until fully cooked through. There is no need to flip the meatballs during the cooking process. Adjust the cook time based on the size of the meatballs. Enjoy the meatballs with pasta, simmered in sauce or just on their own!

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Easy Italian Pasta Salad

It’s so sad Summer is almost coming to a close. I can’t believe we are already halfway through August. WOW! No clue where 2021 has gone. I figured I better share this recipe before the snow hits the ground so here goes! This easy Italian Pasta Salad is quick it make and is always a hit! It’s best to make this in advance so the flavors can marry!! Give this a try and you won’t regret it!

Easy Italian Pasta Salad

Ingredients:
1lb multi-color pasta, cooked
3/4 cup cherry tomatoes cut in half
1 green pepper, diced
1 can black olives, cut in half
8 oz block mozzarella, diced (I usually add extra as cheese is the my favorite)
1-2 cups bottled Italian dressing
1/2 packet dried Italian dressing packet
salt/pepper to taste

Directions: In a large bowl mix cooked pasta with the dressing. dressing packet, olives and green peppers, refrigerate. Add in the tomatoes and cheese about 2 hours before serving. The longer this sits the more flavor it will have. This salad is easily customizable. Switch up the cheese for fresh mozzarella or you’re favorite kind. Add diced or sliced salami or pepperoni for an extra kick. Add onions, or red peppers for other veggies you may like. I made this for a family gathering at my brother’s house and he doesn’t like onions. I love them so this salad would be great with some red onions or green onions!

Note: You may need to adjust the seasoning and dressing once the salad sets and is refrigerated. Add more or less depending on taste.

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Pasta Chips with Ricotta DIp (Viral Recipe)

I had to jump on this band wagon and give these pasta chips a try! I never in my life thought that making pasta into a chip would be a thing but here we are. 2021 making pasta chips in an air fryer! I gave it a try to share my thoughts. They came out delicious and cripsy. I made a whipped up ricotta dip to eat these chips with. These can easily be eaten with any favorite dip! Check it out!

Pasta Chips with Whipped Ricotta Dip

Ingredients:
12 oz uncooked pasta (any pasta will work but if you plan to dip try and use slightly bigger)
1-2 bsp olive oil
1/4 cup grated Romano cheese
1/2 tsp garlic salt
(Note: you can use any seasoning you like)

Whipped Ricotta

Ingredients:
1 cup ricotta cheese
1/2 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
1 tsp garlic powder
1 tsp onion powder
2 tsp Italian Seasoning
2 tsp lemon juice, fresh
salt/pepper to taste
chopped chives, for garnish

Directions: In a medium bowl add in all ingredients for the ricotta dip (minus the chives) and mix well till fully combined. Place in the refrigerator until ready to use.

Cook the pasta in heavily salted water till al dente. Drain the pasta and transfer to a bowl or add back to the pot. Toss pasta with olive, seasoning and grated cheese. Preheat air fryer (note: I have an oven air fryer and mine preheats at 400° for 4 minutes) Add the pasta in a single layer to the rack and place in the air fryer at 400° for 10-13 minutes shaking halfway through. Cook in batches if needed. You are looking for a nice golden color with a perfect crunch. Remove from air fryer and serve with whipped ricotta dip or any dip of choice. (Note: You can also bake these in the oven at 400° for 20-25 minutes.

Note: Cook times may vary based on pasta size and type of air fryer. Keep an eye on the pasta towards the end of the cook time, my 2nd batch I forgot and burnt rather quick! Oops!! 🙂 Use any spices of your choice!

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Delicious French Onion Soup

French onion soup is one of MY favorites. I feel like since the soup itself is not super fattening I can load up with crusty crostini & cheesy goodness! When I make this soup at home, I don’t get that delicious topped cheese like they do in restaurants, but this comes out tasting exactly the same. If you haven’t made French onion soup at home, you should try it. It is a little more time consuming because the onions could take a good 45 minutes to get that nice deep caramelization. Just make in an extra large pot and make 10lbs of onions and you’ll have plenty of left overs, LOL!

You need to have a little time to make this soup, but I promise you it will be worth the wait Give this recipe a try!

Delicious French Onion Soup

Ingredients:
8 large yellow onion, sliced
3 T garlic, minced
4 T butter
2 T olive oil
3 T balsamic vinegar
1/2 cup white wine
6 cups beef broth, low sodium
1 T dried thyme
1 T xanthan gum (Or 4 T flour)
salt/pepper, to taste

Extras:
Crusty bread
Italian cheese, gruyere, swiss or any other white cheese you’d like

Directions: In large soup pot add in olive oil. Let heat 2 minutes. Next add in the onions and mix well. You will want to cook these onions on medium heat for 35 minutes mixing often! Cook until the are close to being fully caramelized, then add in the balsamic vinegar and let cook another 10 minutes.

Next add in the butter and xanthan gum and the white wine and mix well. Cook for 3 minutes mixing often. Next add in the beef broth, thyme and season with salt and pepper. Cover and let cook on medium high heat 20 minutes, stirring a few times. Check the soup and make sure it’s thickened. If not to your preferred thickness, add in more xanthan gum and cook another 7-8 minutes.

Slice baguette into 1/2 inch slices, crisp up bread in the oven or air fryer.

To serve, add to a soup bowl and top with a few pieces of the baguette and top with cheese of your choice. Add to the oven or air fryer for the cheese to completely melt, serve!

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Baked Lump Crab Dip

This lump crab meat dip is a huge hit at gatherings or just making for the family at home for game day. It’s made with real lump crab meat and is full of delicious flavors. It’s one of my favorite go to recipes!

Give this recipe a try!

Baked Lump Crab Meat Dip

Ingredients:
8 oz lump crab meat
2 green onions, chopped
2 garlic cloves, minced
1/2 T fresh lemon juice
1/4 cup mayonnaise
8 oz cream cheese, softened
1/4 cup Romano cheese, finely grated
2 t dried parsley
salt, sprinkle
pepper, sprinkle
1 cup plain panko breadcrumbs
1/2 T olive oil

Directions: In a medium bowl add in the cream cheese and mash completely with a fork. Next add in the mayo, lump crab meat, green onions, Romano cheese, garlic, lemon and seasoning and mix well until everything is blended.

Add dip into an oven safe bowl. Top the dip with the panko breadcrumbs and drizzle with olive oil.

Bake at 375° for 25-35 minutes until dip is hot and bubbly. Remove from oven and let set for 5 minutes. This dip is great to make ahead of time, just bake about another 10 minutes if the dip is refrigerator cold. Serve the dip with crackers, pita chips, pita bread or veggies!

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Air Fryer Stuffed Mushrooms

I love stuffed mushrooms.  For someone who never loved mushrooms until I was older, it’s something I really enjoy making now.  You can really mix up recipes and add anything you want to a make a stuffed mushroom.  Any flavor combo you like. 

These were made in the air fryer and they came out SO delicious.  They were tender but not soggy at all, which unforunately is a common occurence for mushrooms since they have a high water content. 

If you love mushrooms and have an air fryer, give these a try. They are so quick to make.  Just keep in mind each air fryer is different and the cook times are estimated based on my specific air fryer.  I use an oven air fryer vs a basket one.  However, you can make this in either, you may jut have to adjust the temp and time.  If you are interested in my air fryer, check out tool bar above that says “Shop Items I Use.”

Air Fryer Stuffed Mushrooms

Ingredients:
8-10 oz white button mushrooms, cleaned
8 oz cream cheese, soften (whipped or in the tub will work too)
1/2 small onion, diced
3/4 cup Italian bread crumbs
1/2 cup Romano cheese, finely grated
1 garlic clove, grated or finely minced
1 T olive oil
1 t Italian seasoning
1/2 t dried parsley
1 t garlic & herb seasoning, optional (Check it out on top tool bar, “Shop Items I Use”)
1/2 t salt
1/2 t pepper

Directions: Remove mushroom stems and diced up.  In a medium bowl add in the cream cheese, onion, garlic and mushroom stems.  Mix well.  Add in the bread crumbs, Romano cheese, seasoning and oil and mix well until fully incorporated.  Taste mixture and adjust seasoning to taste.

 

Fill each mushroom evenly with the cream cheese mixture.  You want the filling to be slightly heaping.  Preheat air fryer.  Mine preheats at 400° for 4 minutes.   Place mushroom on rack (if using oven air fryer, that’s what I have) or place in basket. 

Cook mushrooms at 360° for 6-8 minutes. Keep an eye on them so they don’t get very dark on top.  I originally started cooking for 8 minutes and ended up taking them our early since they were golden on top and the mushrooms were tender.  I cooked about 6 minutes.  Remove from air fryer and enjoy!

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