Italian Archives - The FrangloSaxon Cooks

Italian Grilled Cheese Sandwich

August 18, 2022 by Carine Clary Leave a Comment

Italian Grilled Cheese Sandwich. What is this exactly? It’s grilled and it’s got cheese but that’s where the similarity to the old diner style grilled cheese ends. Grilled in olive oil and stuffed with your choice of cotto salami, prosciutto, or both with a meltingly soft slab of fontina and you’re ready to bite in so let’s get started:

What you need

Ciabatta
Fontina (or other soft cheese)
Cotto Salami
Prosciutto
Olive Oil (preferably flavored)

About those ingredients

I like ciabatta but if you don’t have it a nice artisan sourdough will be good (if it has rosemary, even better!). The cheese should be a soft meltable variety and I love Fontina for that. The meat filling can be one or several cured Italian iterations of ham. I was able to get these at Target where they sell an assortment in a plastic shrink wrapped tray. If you’re not near a deli it’s an option.

The olive oil I used here is a flavored version called Gremolata. The flavors are garlic, parsley and lemon and using this oil really makes a difference. I get mine at Bella Nonnas, an olive oil store with locations in Natchitoches and Shreveport, Louisiana. Baton Rouge and New Orleans have similar stores or you can order it.

How to make it

It’s really easy. Heat a pan to medium and pour in a little olive oil. Lay the bread down in it, lay on the cheese and meats and top with the remaining piece of bread. Flip when brown and eat as quickly as possible with a side salad or some olive relish. It can be any kind but my sources in San Francisco give great reports about Wanda’s Olive Pepper Chow Chow so I’m linking it here. And a nice glass of white wine or lemonade.

And enjoy!

Italian Grilled Cheese Sandwich

Author: Carine Clary

Cuisine: Italian

Ingredients

Ciabatta Bread
Fontina Cheese
Cotta
Salami
Prosciutto
Olive oil

Instructions

Heat a pan to medium and brush the bottom with a thin layer of olive oil.
Place one slice of bread in the oiled pan and put the cheese and meats on top.
Place the other slice of bread over it and grill each side until brown.
Serve immediately.

Need a side salad? Try:

Try the Sensation Salad featured here or the Orange Arugula Salad. Both great!

Ragu alla Bolognese

June 15, 2019 by Carine Clary 2 Comments

Everyone needs a good basic ragu meat sauce and this Ragu all Bolognese is a variation on a neighbor’s I had when I was growing up. She was “Miss Nonna” to us and her husband was an Angostura bitters importer which I thought was the ultimate exotic profession (and notable by its absence at my high school career day, but no matter.) She made good everything and the only change to this basic ragu is the optional substitution of port wine for red wine and the addition of fennel.

The Prep

Assemble your ingredients as below and let ‘er rip (but very slowly and at a low temperature).

First, you’ll heat the fat, add the veg and cook for about 5 on medium heat. Then break up the meat and brown it. Add the wine (or wine vinegar), and let cook till the wine is mostly evaporated. Finally, add the tomato sauce, milk, and spices and cook for at least a couple of hours over very low heat.

…and yes, that’s an anchovy over there at five o’clock. Just drop it in the pot and it will puree all on its own after a few hours. You won’t necessarily taste it but the dish will taste better.

To Serve

This can be served over any type of pasta as well as used as a base for lasagna.

Side Dish

Try the ever-popular Louisiana ‘Sensation Salad.’ Its simplicity perfectly compliments the richness of the dish.

Ragu alla Bolognese

Author: Carine Clary

Cuisine: Italian

Serves: 4

Ingredients

¼ cup lard (or the same amount of olive oil and three strips bacon)
1 medium onion, chopped fine
1 medium carrot, grated
1 rib celery, chopped fine
3 cloves garlic, chopped fine
½ tsp. fennel pollen (or fennel seeds, or powdered fennel)
1 lb. ground chuck (or ½ lb. chuck & ½ lb ground pork or loose pork sausage)
¼ cup red wine
a few gratings of fresh nutmeg
1 bay leaf
½ tsp. red pepper flakes (or cayenne)
1 15 oz. can of tomato sauce
½ cup water
¼ cup whole milk or cream
salt and black pepper to taste
Parmesan

Instructions

Heat lard in heavy-bottomed pan over medium heat. Add the vegetables and saute for about 5 minutes. If you’re using olive oil and bacon, mince the bacon and fry it in the oil till all the fat is rendered out. You can leave the bacon in.
Raise heat to medium-high, add beef stirring till it is broken up, about 5 minutes.
Add spices & bay leaf.
Add wine and stir till mostly evaporated.
Add tomato sauce and water and cook over very low heat for at least a couple of hours to three or four.

Notes

Very low heat means low as you can go. Don’t want to end up with sludge. And check for taste and consistency after an hour. Excellent base for lasagna. And don’t be afraid of the fennel. It won’t make the sauce taste like licorice – in this small amount it just enhances the flavor.
If you have it and are feeling adventurous, substitute in whole or part, ruby port for the wine. It’ll make the sauce a bit sweeter and richer.
If you're running a little short of ground meat don't worry. I've made this with about ⅔rds of a pound and it is plenty meaty.

Can add an optional anchovy. I usually do.

Kale Pesto

August 11, 2018 by Carine Clary Leave a Comment

Finally! Lard lady posts an actual vegan recipe which is the above pictured Kale Pesto. And surprisingly it’s good. It all started a few years ago with my friend Tina (sister of Nike who was the originator of Takko Chicken), suggested that I try eating kale as it’s so healthy and all… So I tried it. Once. Ugh. Too much like the turnip greens, I was force-fed as a child.

The History

So I forgot about kale until I had a bite of someone’s kale spaghetti at a restaurant. Eureka! It was delicious, probably also because of all the basil, garlic, and parsley that was in it. However, it occurred to me later that the bitterness that I didn’t like when it was served alone made it the perfect foil for bland pasta. After all, I liked it when it was in my Garbure and that’s a dish where it plays a supporting role.

I also discovered in my odyssey through kale literature that the flavor of kale is greatly mellowed when, as they always put it, massaged. It had never occurred to me to massage vegetables but live and learn. And what better way to massage leaves than to stuff them into a food processor and pulse? Your answer – no better way. And it’s high in vitamin A and C.

The Prep

So the prep – in any order you like – is as follows. Rinse the kale and cut out the ribs, then chop and drop into the Cuisinart, then toss in the basil and parsley. For optimal smoothness you will need to mince the garlic before adding it to the mix, then the lemon juice. Add some of the olive oil and drizzle in the rest gradually through the feed tube until you reach your preferred consistency. It may be more or less than called for in the recipe. Always add the nuts last since if you don’t you’ll end up with nut butter and believe me, you don’t want that.

Here it is all mixed up (like me sometimes). If you have any leftover or are making it ahead of time pour a little olive oil over the top to preserve the green freshness. And note the last time I made this I made way too much and the olive oil trick kept it fresh in the fridge for almost a week.

Oh, and last but not least, check that note on the recipe. A spoonful of Boursin cheese stirred into the pasta while adding the pesto is a wonderful thing.

Kale Pesto

Author: Carine Clary

Cuisine: Italian

Ingredients

2 cups kale (stems removed)
1 cup basil leaves & parsley
⅓ cup olive oil (add gradually, you may need less)
3 cloves garlic, chopped
1 tablespoon lemon juice
¼ cup nuts, chopped
Shredded cheese to taste for topping

Instructions

Put all ingredients except nuts in a food processor or blender and process to your preference. Some people will like it chunkier, some smoother but not too smooth.
Next add the nuts and pulse a few times until they are ground to the fineness you prefer.
This can be used on any kind of pasta, topping for pizza, or topping for bruschetta.

Notes

Optional additions - cilantro and boursin cheese.

If you are making ahead of time, put in a glass jar and pour a little oil over it to cover before refrigerating.

Prima Nachos

January 26, 2018 by Carine Clary Leave a Comment

Named after Louis, as in Prima, these nachos are at the intersection where Tex-Mex meets Trapani, as in Sicily. The Prima family traveled from Trapani, Sicily to the Quarter where their musical son first cut his teeth on the club scene. You can cut yours on these easy Italian-style nachos that are extremely fast to make.

Nacho Geneology

Nachos’ Tex-Mex origin comes from just over the border in Piedras Negras (which technically makes it Mex-Mex but we’ll ignore that for the moment). They were whipped up by Ignacio (Nacho) Anaya for some hungry military wives from Fort Duncan back during World War II and his original creation consisted only of chips, cheese, and jalapenos. It was an instant hit and cooks have been tweaking it with added ingredients ever since.

Prep and Assembly

I like to keep the add-ons to some kind of reasonable number leaving the “super loaded” specials for sports bars with fully staffed kitchens. Shooting here for tasty but simple.

To start you’ll just shake out that bag a’ chips onto a cookie sheet or cast-iron skillet. Next, you’ll cook up the sausage, warm up the refried beans, add the tomato, onion, olives & fontina, broil and attack!

I use refried beans since bean beans tend to fall off the nacho. As you can see in the picture below I added a couple of tablespoons of a chicken broth reduction to make them a little bit easier to put on the chips. If you don’t have broth just thin with some water.

Fontina cheese is used because it’s Italian and melts better than anything except Velveeta (but tastes a lot better than V.) If you don’t have it Pepper Jack or Colby works well. After the sausage is cooked you can move it to the side of the pan and warm the refried beans. Then get all the toppings together and start building the nachos.

Always put the beans and meat on first and add the others as you like not forgetting to add the cheese last.

Ready to go under the broiler:

Ready to eat:

The best part is that if you’ve got the ingredients on hand and aren’t photographing it like I am here it should take about 15 minutes start to finish.

Party Extras

If you’re having a party and need more finger food try:

Game Day Pub Cheese

And to quote Louis, there is no “Basta Basta” to these guys so assemble and enjoy!

Prima Nachos

Author: Carine Clary

Cuisine: Italian

Ingredients

Tortilla Chips
1 lb. hot Italian bulk sausage
1 cup refried beans, slightly thinned
½ cup sliced black olives
½ cup chopped tomatoes
¼ cup sliced green onion tops
Thinly sliced chilies to taste
½ cup grated Fontina cheese

Instructions

Spread chips out on a cookie sheet or cast-iron skillet.
Cook sausage over medium heat until browned. Depending on how fatty the sausage is you may have to add a little olive oil.
Once the sausage is done, cut the heat, move it over to the side of the pan and add the refried beans to warm.
To assemble start with the refried beans, then add the sausage, and finish with the olives, tomatoes, green onion tops, and sliced chilies.
Top with the grated cheese and run under the broiler until the cheese is melted, then serve.

Notes

All the ingredient amounts are approximate. If you go exactly by the recipe you'll have enough for a large cookie sheet's worth of nachos but if you have all the fixings you can just play it by ear.