Classic, homemade pesto can't be beat, so ditch the store-bought stuff and whip up a batch right in your kitchen. All you need is a few simple ingredients and you'll be making this flavorful, basil-packed summer staple in no time. (And by "no time", I mean 5 minutes or less!) If there was ever a...
Antipasto Tortellini Pasta Salad
Everyone goes crazy over this Antipasto Tortellini Pasta Salad! It's a flavor-packed potluck favorite, and leagues better than anything you can get from the grocery store. This loaded pasta salad recipe features multiple cheeses, meats, olives, peppers, and more to create a hearty summer side dish. It'll definitely become your go-to pasta salad!  I've spent...
Fiery Italian Chicken Skewers
This post is sponsored by Sutter Home, who made James and I very happy by supplying the wine to go with these Fiery Italian Chicken Skewers as part of the #SweetOnSpice campaign. Whew. My nerves are all jumbled right now because, from out of nowhere, an apocalyptic amount of bouncing hailstones just decimated the top...
Hatfield Easy Easter Pie
This shop has been compensated by Collective Bias, Inc. and its advertiser. All opinions are mine alone. #HatfieldEaster #CollectiveBias Some people call it Easter Pie or Italian Easter Pie. Others say Pizza Rustica. Then there are those who call it Pizza Pieno, Pizza Gaina, Pizza Chiena, or Pizza Chena. Would a pie by any other...
Grilled Chicken & Peach Saltimbocca Skewers
This recipe has also been featured on Serious Eats. I made the mistake of telling James that peach season will be ending soon. It started with the simple suggestion that he might like to buy a couple while they're still juicy and ripe. He's got a weak spot for peach-habanero salsa and brown butter peach...
Garlic Knot Chicken Parmesan Sandwiches
Did I ever tell you about the time that I wound up with 13 pounds of garlic knots tossed in bowls that were strewn across my kitchen, with flour and oil and garlic skins littering any potential open counter space? Oh, well that's probably because it just happened. It was an interesting way to spend Valentine's...
Seafood Fra Diavolo
This shop has been compensated by Collective Bias, Inc. and its advertiser. All opinions are mine alone. #HuntsHasHeart #CollectiveBias In the typical sigh-inducing retail fashion, there's been Valentine's Day decorations out at the drugstore since right after Christmas. Heart-shaped candy boxes, heart plush toys, and heart-covered wrapping paper abound. There are obnoxious pink and red glittery hearts...
Saucy Skillet Chicken Sausage and Spinach Stuffed Peppers
There's something about stuffed peppers that always feels like the cozy, tuck-you-in type of comfort food to me. They're also the kind of comfort food that I tend to avoid in the warmer months because most recipes require turning on the oven. When it feels like an oven outside, I try not to use the oven inside, you know?...
One Pot Pasta Bolognese
Patience is not a virtue of mine. In a traffic jam, I'm a short breath away from abandoning my car and walking off into the wilderness. I pick up hobbies and swear them off forever if I find that I'm not a master knitter/painter/pianist within a month.  I track my UPS packages every 20 minutes from the...
Italian Style Stuffing
Here in New Jersey, Italian-Americans make up almost 18% of the state's population-- surpassed in overall number only by our neighbor to the north, New York. This means that, despite the fact that I have not a drop of Italian blood in me, I'm surrounded by plenty of sources for a peek into Italian-American culture. Or...
One Pot Penne Alla Vodka with Sausage
All logical reasons considered, I should NOT like Penne Alla Vodka. I've only recently come around to tomato-based sauces (and still approach them with caution), and the vodka-- well, for all of the reasons I've ever imbibed, "Vodka is delicious" has never been one of them. Yet here I am, eating a bowl full of...
Crispy Salami Chips with Warm Muffuletta Dip
You know how, on the best pizza slices, the pepperoni forms little cups that get super crunchy along the edges and it's the most delicious thing to ever happen to cured meat? Or when you get the entire strip of bacon (including the fatty streaks) to get crispy without burning it, and it's like a...
Chicken Cacciatore
When I used to think "date night", I didn't think "chicken".  Medium-rare steaks, juicy pork tenderloin, butter-drenched lobster; sure.  But chicken?  Nah.  It's just too boring.  Too bland.  Not sexy enough. However, after 3 years of James begging me to make Chicken Cacciatore, I finally caved.  I had eaten it before-- a simple meal of tomatoes, peppers,...
Fried Green Tomatoes with Goat Cheese and Roasted Red Pepper Vinaigrette
I have been waiting for a whole year to make and share this recipe with you. Last summer, James and I went down to North Carolina to visit my cousin, Ashley, and her fiance (now husband), Evan. Â We planned on jetskiing and picnicking and walking downtown, but we didn't get to experience much beautiful Carolinian...
Eggplant, Prosciutto, & Pesto Pressed Picnic Sandwiches
"These sandwiches were so delectable that the enzymes in my palate shivered with excitement" - James, when asked how begin this blog post. And that is why he is not a food blogger. But he is a big fan of these sandwiches, because.... well, who wouldn't be?  Homemade pesto, grilled eggplant, fresh mozzarella, roasted red peppers,...
Spinach and Ricotta Stuffed "Chicken Piccata"
I'm not ashamed to say that I'm typically a homebody on weekends. Â Some of my favorite activities include laying around in pajamas, marathon watching Netflix, and playing online poker from the comfort of my laptop (bonus points if I play while laying in bed/watching TV). Â I'm, like, incredibly good at powering through multiple seasons of...
