Sharing a recipe is more than just giving a friend a “cool, new dish to try.” A recipe says who you are: Are you spicy like a peperoncino? Are you laid back and comfortable like a simply toasted panino or are you hearty and stoic like a big slice of lasagna?
Here are some recipes that I’d like to share with you ~ some are from my book, Beyond the Pasta, which are the recipes Nonna shared with me, and others are from my kitchen. Hmmm, I wonder what these dishes say about me?
*Also, take a moment to watch one of my “cooking lesson videos” – Watch Now
Here are some recipes:
Coconut Yogurt Cake with Nutella Frosting
Biscotti Natale ~ Italian Christmas Cookies
Yogurt Cake ~ “Cuppa, Cuppa, Cuppa”
Onion, Thyme, and Goat Cheese Crostini
Roasted Cauliflower with Spinach Penne
Heirloom Tomato, Onion, Basil and Mint Tart
Ciao Melina!
Sorry for being so late in responding to you … life for us all at the holidays is busy, busy, busy!
Okay this is what I would do: I would make the meatballs and the sauce the same day or two before. Make the meatballs without frying them all the way, make the sauce and about 10 minutes after you have added the hand crushed tomatoes in the sauce directions, add the meatballs to the sauce and finishing cooking the two together. You can store them together in the fridge for the day or two before. I would make the pasta Christmas morning, placing in piles on a lightly floured tray(s) covered with a towel. Toss the noodles a couple of times to keep them from sticking together. Depending on when you are going to cook and serve them, as they start to dry and feel like they could break, stop tossing them and cover the tray with plastic wrap. I would not place the drying pasta in the fridge. Keep it in a cool, dry place. Reheat the meatballs with the sauce, remove the meatballs to a separate pot, and add the cooked pasta to the sauce. Serve the sauced pasta as a first course and the meatballs as a second course … that would be the Italian way!
Okay, this is what I would do if doing it how you described: I would do the meatballs and sauce on the same day so the meatballs finish cooking in the sauce – this will keep them from overcooking, so do them Christmas morning or on the 23rd. Or make the sauce the day or two before and the meatballs Christmas morning, adding them to the reheated sauce. For the pasta. I wouldn’t make it more than a day in advance. I would make it as late as possible on Christmas Eve. I am not a big fan of making fresh pasta and storing it in the fridge – I think it changes the consistency of the dough, but that is me. Make the pasta Christmas Eve and, after you cut the noodles, place them on a floured sheet pan(s). Remember, place each cut section into its own pile, that will keep them from being compressed by the weight of too much pasta stacked on top of itself. Cover the tray with a towel and toss the piles of pasta every now and then, to keep the noodles from sticking together. Once the pasta feels like it is getting too dry to toss without breaking, cover the sheet pan(s) with plastic wrap and keep in a cool, dry place (not the fridge, though). Then cook as usual in plenty of salted water. The dried pasta will cook just fine. Add the cooked pasta to the reheated sauce (removing the meatballs after reheating but before you add the pasta). You can then add the meatballs to the sauced pasta and serve together, which is very Italian-American.
Hope this helps. Buon Appetito e Buon Natale ~
Oh and when is dinner??!! 🙂