Panzotti is Ravioli’s lighter cousin, stuffed with cheese and spinach and topped with an easy but elegant white walnut sauce. Then, when you soak Italian pastries in cream and eggs, add some spices and top with a mouthwatering Vanilla Sauce, you have the perfect Italian Bread Pudding dessert!
large sweet yellow onion
Italian Sausage, Peppers and Onions on a Hoagie and Stuffed Piadini
There are some secrets to pan grilling the perfect sausage for this classic Italian sandwich. Then, take the same sausage, peppers and onions and nestle them into Italy’s version of a tortilla called Piadini and you have two Italian street food faves!
GREEK STEW (Manéstra)
What a shame that it only gets attention during Greek festivals! This stew called Manéstra should be enjoyed all year long! Manéstra was entirely new to me. There’s only one word to describe this hearty meal–“Opa!” It’s that lovely Greek word meaning to celebrate with exuberance, but the ingredients and flavors in Manéstra are pure soul-food/comfort food in any nationality. It starts with braised and slow-cooked short ribs that create a fantastic red sauce where you’ll eventually let Orzo pasta soak up all the goodness in the pot! It’s absolutely mouthwatering. For this delectable discovery, I thank popular Valley musicians and recording artists Thano and Demitri Sahnas, known in Arizona as The Sahnas Brothers and Turning Point. Their Mom Kathy Sahnas had a hidden treasure that had been passed down from generation to generation that is so simple and welcoming, I couldn’t wait to dish it up and then get it into your hands! Enjoy the great flavor of this Sahnas family favorite.
Watch my How To Video for Greek Stew here!
GREEK STEW (Manéstra)
Spicy Cajun Shrimp
Spicy Cajun Shrimp
Everything I learned about the history of Cajun and Creole food, I learned from Paul Prudhomme, the Louisiana-born celebrity chef who popularized both types of Southern cuisine. I learned that Cajun food is the food of country folk who settled in the bayou lands of Southern Louisiana and kept largely to themselves. Creole food, on the other hand, is city food, specifically from New Orleans, and was greatly influenced by the many different cultures like French, Spanish, Italian, Haitian, French Canadian, Native American and African that helped to shape that city. My very favorite shrimp dish came from Prudhomme, and that made him, in my eyes, the King of Cajun cooking. This Spicy Cajun Shrimp is simply divine. I remember making it for my father, and his reaction was always the same. He would bow his head, clasp his hands in front of the bowl and just say, “Honey, this is liquid gold!” Don’t be put off by the amount of ingredients. I can only tell you that this dish is worth every bite. Perhaps the phrase that best describes Paul Prudhomme’s Spicy Cajun Shrimp has to be Ça c’est bon — That’s good! Enjoy a big bowl of Cajun comfort food this week!
