Mexican chorizo Pizzas

These little pizzas make a great easy meal, or terrific appetizers!
This recipe serves 3 as a meal (everyone gets their own pizza), or 6 as an appetizer.

Red and Green Salsa (recipe below)
8 oz Chorizo sausage
1 cup (4 oz) shredded Cheddar cheese
1 cup (4 oz) shredded Monterey Jack cheese (you may alternatively use 8 oz of 'mexican blend', which is a combination of Cheddar and Monterey Jack)
3 (10 inch) flour tortillas

Prepare Red and Green Salsa.

Remove and discard casing from chorizo. Heat a medium skillet over high heat until hot. Reduce heat to medium, and crumble chorizo into skillet. Brown 6 - 8 minutes, stirring to separate. Remove with slotted spoon, and drain on paper towels.

Preheat oven to 450F. Mix cheese in bowl.

Place tortillas on baking sheet (use more than one if necessary). Divide chorizo evenly between tortillas, leaving 1/2 inch from edge of tortilla uncovered. Sprinkle cheeses over top.

Bake 8 to 10 minutes until edges are crisp and golden brown, and cheese is melted.

Transfer to serving plates, and cut each tortilla into 6 wedges. Sprinkle with Red and Green Salsa.

Red and Green Salsa

1 small red bell pepper
1/4 cup coarsely chopped cilantro
3 green onions, sliced thin
2 fresh jalapeno peppers, seeded and minced
2 Tbl fresh lime juice
1 clove garlic, minced
1/4 tsp salt

Cut bell pepper lengthwise in half, remove seeds and veins. Cut halves lengthwise into thin strips, cut strips in half. Mix all ingredients in bowl. Let stand, covered, at room temperature for 1-2 hours before serving, to blend flavors.

It's A Wrap!

With the onset of warmer weather, I'm all about 'lighter' meals, especially one I can munch on while doing almost any other task, be it reading, writing, driving,(oops, not so safe, say the 'driving police', lol) or taking a walk.
Wraps are my new favorite, and I'm finding some delicious recipes!
For those who may not know, 'wraps' are almost any combination of ingredients, hot or cold, conveniently wrapped in a (flavored or plain) flour tortilla.
Below, I'd like to share one of the tastiest wraps I've made to date:

Shrimp Caesar Salad Wrap
(makes 2 wraps)

Ingredients:
1 Tbl plus 2 tsp Dijon mustard
1 Tbl lime juice
1 Tbl lemon juice
1 Tbl concentrated orange juice
1 tsp Worcestershire sauce
1/2 tsp minced garlic
Kosher salt
3 Tbl olive oil, plus 1 tsp for brushing shrimp
1/4 cup grated Parmesan cheese (I prefer Parmigiano-Reggiano)
1/2 lb large shrimp, peeled and deveined
Fresh ground black pepper
2 and 1/2 cups chopped Romaine lettuce, firmly packed
1/4 cup croutons
Two 10 or 11 inch flour tortillas (plain, whole wheat, or sun-dried tomato are good choices)

Preheat broiler.
Combine mustard, citrus juices, Worcestershire, garlic, and 1/2 tsp kosher salt in a medium bowl. Gradually whisk in 3 Tbl olive oil. Stir in cheese, set aside.
Brush shrimp with remaining olive oil, and season with 1/4 tsp kosher salt and 1/4 tsp pepper. Place under broiler, and cook until firm and orange colored, about 2 minutes, turning once. Remove from heat and cut into quarters.
Toss together the shrimp, romaine lettuce, and croutons in large bowl. Add the mustard mixture and toss to coat evenly. Season to taste with salt and pepper. Divide mixture evenly between the 2 tortillas and wrap.

To wrap:
Place filling vertically along center of tortilla, to within 1 inch of bottom edge of tortilla. Fold bottom upwards to beginning on filling line, then roll tortilla from the sides, working from left to right. Leave top open, to showcase filling.

Substitutions: You may substitute chopped grilled chicken for the shrimp in this recipe.

All those Easter Eggs - Now What?

I hope everyone enjoyed the Easter holiday. Now, it's time to find interesting ways to use all those lovely hard boiled eggs that you had such a great time decorating with the wee ones. Here are two easy and delicious ways to get the family to eat them up!

Quick and Easy Deviled Eggs

6 peeled hard boiled eggs
1/4 cup bottled Thousand Island Dressing
sliced black olives
julienned pimento strips

Cut each egg in half vertically, and remove yolk, using a teaspoon. Place yolks in medium bowl and mash, arrange whites on platter. Add Thousand Island Dressing to yolks, and mix well. Spoon egg yolk mixture into center of whites, mounding well. Place one pimento strip and one sliced olive on top. Makes 12.
**You may increase or decrease the amount of Thousand Island dressing, for a drier, or moister filling.


Egg and Olive Salad

6 peeled hard boiled eggs, coarsely chopped
1 cup pitted Kalamata olives, coarsely chopped
1/4 cup roasted red peepers (drain all juices if using canned or bottled peppers)
1 tsp sea salt
1/2 tsp coasely ground fresh black pepper
1 cup mayonnaise
1/2 tsp celery seed

Combine all ingredients in bowl, and refrigerate for at least one hour to allow flavors to meld. Spread on bread of your choice as a sandwich, or serve with herbed crackers.

Cooking By The Seat Of My Pants

As many of you already know, there are many great recipe blogs on the web. Unfortunately, it can be very time consuming to find 'the best of the best'. Let me help you out - check out Jerry's blog,Cooking By The Seat Of My Pants. There's always something interesting there!

Green Olive Cheese Bites

I've doing a lot of work with appetizers lately, and I'd like to share some of our most popular ones with you.

Green Olive Cheese Bites

2 cups sharp, or extra sharp Cheddar cheese
4 Tbl butter, softened
1 cup flour
1 tsp paprika
dash of cayenne pepper (optional, but really adds to the flavor!)
1 (8.5 oz) jar of pimento-stuffed green olives
1 egg
1 Tbl cream
1/4 cup sesame seeds

Preheat oven to 350F. Combine cheese and butter in food processor, blend well. Add flour, paprika, and cayenne, and process until smooth.
Drain olives well. Wrap about 1 tsp of the dough around each olive, pinching edges to seal. Form into balls, and place on foil lined baking sheet.
In a small bowl, beat egg and cream well, and brush over the top of the bites. Sprinkle with sesame seeds.
**If you'd like to make these appetizers ahead of time, cover the baking sheet with plastic wrap, place in freezer until bites are frozen, then place them in a freezer bag in freezer for up to several hours. Thaw in refrigerator before baking.
To bake and serve immediately, place baking sheet in prepared oven, and bake for about 15 minutues, to until just golden brown. May be served hot, warm, or at room temp.
Makes about 48 bites

I'll be posting more appetizer recipes soon!

Buffalo Chicken Sandwiches

As promised, changes are coming to the blog!

Although Italian cuisine will always be my passion, we do frequently enjoy other (non-Italian) foods! (I can hear gasps of disbelief, lol)

I've decided to begin including 'other' recipes here at Flavors Of Italy, to prove that I actually have quite broad foodie tastes, and to share more of the recipes we love with my readers.

Last weekend, the weather here in Memphis resembled late spring much more than late winter, with highs of nearly 80F on Saturday and Sunday. (of course, we had snow flurries on Monday, and are now back to the 60s today.) Such is the constant weather roller coaster we learn to live with here. But, I digress...

With the lovely weather, I refused to spend Saturday in the kitchen, so we had a quick and easy, but very tasty dinner of Buffalo Chicken Sandwiches.
Allow me to share the recipe with you-

Buffalo Chicken Sandwiches

1/4 to 1/3 cup of hot pepper sauce (use your favorite 'red' pepper sauce, and adjust the amount to your liking!)

6 TBL butter

1 envelope of dry Italian dressing mix

4 Kaiser or other good bakery buns

4 Romaine lettuce leaves

4 skinless, boneless, chicken breast halves

all-purpose flour, for dusting

2 TBL olive oil

Bleu cheese dressing, for topping

Stir hot sauce, butter, and dressing mix into a heavy saucepan, and place over low heat, stirring constantly until well blended.

Slice rolls crosswise, and spread 2 TBL sauce on bottom of each roll.

Season breasts with salt and pepper if desired, and dust lightly with flour. coat chicken thoroughly with remaining sauce, and dust lightly with flour again.

Heat olive oil over medium heat in large skillet. Add chicken, and saute until lightly browned and cooked through, about 5 minutes on each side.

Place on breast half on each prepared bun bottom, top with 1 romaine lettuce leaf, and a nice dollop of Bleu cheese dressing, replace bun top.

Serve with crispy fresh veggies (we like carrot and celery sticks), and plenty of napkins!! ;-)

A new twist on Pesto!

Recently, while visiting one of my most favorite blogs, Kopiaste, I saw that Ivy had posted a very creative Pesto recipe. We love pesto, and I make it on a regular basis, but I really don't care for pine nuts (a staple of most pesto recipes) at all.
Not only does Ivy use fresh Spinach (!!) in her pesto, she substitutes walnuts for those pesky pine nuts. :-)
We tested her recipe this weekend, and all I can say is 'Pure Culinary Delight!' The spinach gave us a wonderful fresh change from our usual basil, and the walnuts added a fantastic, 'creamy' finish, which, in our opinion, complemented the entire taste experience much better than pine nuts.
I have now decided that all my pesto recipes will be adjusted, using walnuts!

With Ivy's permission, I am reposting her recipe here, followed by my suggestion of using basil, in place of the spinach, just for a change of taste.
This recipe has already taken its place beside my basil pesto, as one of our favorites!

Spinach Pesto
2 cups rough chopped fresh baby leaf spinach
3 spoonfuls of fresh parsley
1/2 cup grated Parmesan cheese
1/2 cup walnuts
1 tablespoon minced garlic
1 teaspoon coarse salt
1/2 cup olive oil
1/5 cup of wine vinegar


Put parsley, parmesan, walnuts, garlic, salt to food vinegar. Mix until smooth. Add olive oil, and half spinach to mixture. Blend until smooth. Add remaining half of spinach and blend until smooth.

This recipe makes 2 cups of pesto. Refrigerate remaining pesto in a glass jar. Pour a thin layer of olive oil over the top. Pesto will keep in the refrigerator for up to four weeks. Additionally, you can freeze pesto in small freezer bags by filling 3/4 full, laying flat, squeezing out the air and sealing. Thaw in the refrigerator overnight, not in the microwave.

Variation: 1 cup (or more to taste) of coarsely chopped fresh basil, substituted for the spinach.


For more wonderful recipes, and great everyday stories from the heart of Greece, please visit Ivy's blog, Kopiaste to Greek Hospitality

-Chef