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Recently in the Italian Category

Quick'n'Easy Caprese Salad ++

This is what I had for dinner the other night. I was eating late, so I didn't actually want to cook anything. I had gotten the fixings for some Caprese salad a couple of days prior, so it was the perfect time to toss it all up and eat something lovely. Here is a generic Caprese salad: fresh mozzarella, tomatoes (oh the tomatoes at Costco! So lovely!), fresh basil, S&P, olive oil, and vinegar.

Caprese salad


I, however, wanted to spice it up a bit. I had some oregano leftover from a main dish made for the first seder, so I threw some of that in, too. Then I looked at all of my leftover fuji apples (originally for charoses), chopped one up, and tossed that in. Now, normally Caprese salad is made with balsamic vinegar, but I accidentally locked mine up in the chametz cupboard, not to open until tonight, so I used some red wine vinegar. All the rest was the same. And I cannot describe to you how bloody good this was. The sweetness of the apple balanced the tartness of the vinegar perfectly. The addition of fresh oregano was genius, adding a more earthy flavor to the rest of the standards. I will definitely be bringing this at whatever BBQs/Parties to which I am invited this summer.

Caprese salad with apples and oregano

The Lasagna: Part II

The mom's birthday occurred on the 7th of April. Since I'm an awesome daughter, I invited her and her boyfriend over for a celebratory dinner that night - all of which was centered around the fact that she wanted cheesecake for dessert. Since I don't make all too many dairy meals, I thought that this would be the perfect opportunity to try out the lasagna again. The dinner would be happening during shabbat, so I prepped everything the night before, including making the cheesecake, while I was also making Italian Wedding soup for Thursday night's dinner. The stove and oven were full, and I was harried, up until midnight, when everything was done enough for me to sleep. Enjoy the fruits of my labors: No-meat lasagna (based again off of the Barefoot Contessa Family Style cookbook) - the cheesecake will be in a separate post:

Lasagna fin

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Here come the excuses... Italian Wedding Soup

With the incredible business of cleaning for Passover, along with all of the friend-type activities going on, I haven't had a second to start thinking about what I'm going to put up here. Thankfully, I documented a 3-course night: my version of an Italian Wedding soup, Lasagna, and Cheesecake. I made all of these in one night to make sure I had time to prep a salad for my mom's dinner meal, which included the lasagna and the cheesecake. The Italian Wedding soup we ate that night. So, I'll beg forgiveness and wow you with 3 different recipes today. First up: the Italian Wedding soup:

Italian Wedding soup

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