Perfect Recipe

Bruschetta

Ingredients:

10 italian bread slices
2 tbsp butter
2 tbsp olive oil
1 garlic clove, chopped
3 tomatoes, cut into cubes
Salt and pepper
1/4 cup, black olives, chopped
80g mozzarella, grated
50g Parmesan cheese, grated
Basil leaves

Directions:

In a baking dish, place the slices of bread coated with butter. Bake in preheated oven at 400° F until golden brown.
Meanwhile in a frying pan, heat the olive oil and brown the garlic, add the tomatoes, the salt, pepper and olives. Mix everything together and remove from heat. Distribute the tomatoes on each slice of bread, top with mozzarella and parmesan and sprinkle the basil leaves. Return to oven and bake the slices until the cheese has melted.

Grilled and Stuffed Polenta

Ingredients:

Polenta:
1 and 1/2 cups cornmeal
5 cups water
salt and black pepper

Filling:
300g mozzarella, grated
100g fried bacon

Sauce:
1 tbsp onion, chopped
1 clove garlic, chopped
2 cans of peeled tomatoes (blended on the mix)
200g ground beef
Basil, salt and black pepper

Directions:

Polenta:
Bring water to a boil in a large heavy pot. Add salt and reduce heat until water is simmering. Take cornmeal by the handful and add to water very slowly, controlling the flow to a thin stream through your fingers. To avoid lumps, stir quickly with a long handled wooden spoon while adding cornmeal. If necessary, stop adding cornmeal from time to time and beat mixture vigorously. Cook, stirring constantly, 20 to 30 minutes. Polenta will become very thick while cooking. It is done when it comes away cleanly from the sides of the pot.

Spread half the polenta in an dish. Smooth out polenta evenly. Cover the polenta with the mozzarella and bacon. Add the rest of the polenta on top, smooshing it out as best you can. Let cool until polenta solidifies.

Sauce:
In the same pan that you fried the bacon, fry the onion and garlic. Add the ground beef and the tomatoes and let it boil for 30 minutes. Season with basil, salt and pepper.

Grill:
Cut polenta into squares. Brush both sides with olive oil. Place on grill; cover grill. Grill until polenta is golden brown, about 3 minutes per side. Serve hot and with tomato sauce.

Ham and Cheese Tart

Ingredients:

Crust:
2 cups all-purpose flour
6 tbsp butter, cold and in pieces
1 egg yolk
1/3 tsp salt
4 tbsp cold water

Filling:
200g cup natural yogurt
300g heavy cream
4 eggs
3 tbsp parmesan cheede, grated
200g ham, chopped
200g mozzarella cheese, chopped
1/2 tsp salt
1/3 tsp oregano
1/4 cup olives, pitted

Directions:

Crust:
Preheat oven 350°F. Blend flour and salt in processor. Add butter; using on/off turns, cut in until mixture resembles coarse meal. Add the water and egg yolk. Process just until moist clumps form. Gather dough into ball; flatten into disk. Roll out the dough and cover the bottom and sides a greased 8,7 inch round pan.

Filling:
In a mixing bowl, using a hand-held mixer or a whisk, combine eggs, heavy cream, yogurt, salt and parmesan cheese together until mixed well. With a spoon, add the ham, mozzarella cheese, olives and oregano. Pour the filling over the crust. Bake for 45 minutes, or until is golden brown.

Bacon Muffins
(± 12 muffins)

Ingredients:

2 tsp vegetable oil
6 bacon slices, chopped
1 small onion, chopped
300g self-rising flour
75g all-purpose flour
1 pinch of salt
1 tbsp fresh chopped parsley
2 eggs
250ml milk
125g melted butter

Directions:

Preheat oven to 210ºC. Grease (or spray with cooking spray) a 12-cup muffin tin, or line with paper liners.
Pan fry the chopped bacon with the oil in a small, heavy saucepan until crispy. Remove with a slotted spoon and let cool slightly. In the same saucepan, saute the onion until lightly brown and tender, and let it cold.
In a large bowl, sift and whisk the flours, salt and parsley together until well-combined. Lightly beat the eggs in a medium bowl. Add the milk and stir to combine. Combine the flour mixture with the milk and add the butter, bacon, onion and with a spoon stir until just combined.
Drop batter by spoonfuls into the greased muffin tin, filling each cup 2/3 full. Bake for 20 minutes, or until lightly browned.

Baked Mac and Cheese

Ingredients:

400gr elbow macaroni (al dente)
900g heavy cream
8 tbsp shredded parmesan
300gr shredded mozzarella
100gr shredded cheddar
250 g fried bacon
1/2 tsp ground nutmeg
salt and black pepper
chopped parsley

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. In a large pot of boiling, salted water cook the pasta to al dente.
Mix all the ingredients. Season with salt, parsley and pepper. Fold the macaroni into the mix.
Bake for 30 minutes.