Pesche Alla Nonna Recipes

Steps:

• In a large pitcher, combine the brandy, and orange liqueur. Pour in the sugar, stir or shake the pitcher thoroughly to mix until the sugar dissolves. Add all the fruit at once. Add the cava and serve as is or on ice.

Steps:

• No need for a mixer - just cream butter and sugar with a wooden spoon, add eggs, continue to cream and then add lemon juice. Add almond extract (the amount is negotiable, and I tend to add a little bit more because I like mine very almondy). Combine baking powder with 3 cups of flour and add to slowly to creamed ingredients -- mix only with your hands! Add the rest of the flour until dough is not sticky. It takes some practice to get the texture perfect. You may have to add a little more flour to get it just right. You do not want it to be too greasy as the cookies will not rise well.
• Roll cookies into balls with about 1 tbsp worth of dough. Bake cookies at 325 degrees for 15-20 minutes -- watch until start to turn golden. Let cookies cool fully (sometimes I cook them the night before and let them sit out to dry). When cool, carve insides out to make room for pudding.
• Make two bowls of water and vanilla extract. Add yellow food coloring to one and red and yellow to other. Add just a few drops as you just want a light coloring. Have another small bowl of sugar ready for dipping.
• Fill one cookie with chocolate pudding and one with vanilla pudding and stick together. Dip "peach" half way into one colored water and then walf into the other. Sprinkle or dip in sugar (don't go overboard on sugar, you just need a little sprinkle as a finishing touch). Put in cupcake paper and freeze immediately. Take out and that when needed.

Steps:

• In a large bowl, stir the chickpeas, celery, onion, parsley, chiles, garlic, olive oil, and vinegar. Season, to taste, with salt. Serve immediately or let stand for 1 or 2 hours and re-season just before serving.
• Slice the bread into 1/2-inch thick slices. Toast on a preheated grill or in an oven for 4 to 5 minutes. Brush 1side with olive oil. Season with salt and pepper.
• Spoon some of the chickpea mixture over the bread slices and serve immediately.

Steps:

• Rinse, halve, and stone the peaches. Puree 2 of the peach halves in a food processor. Place the puree in a bowl and add the sugar, crushed macaroons and the egg yolk. Cover each peach half with this filling and place the peach halves in a buttered baking dish. Sprinkle the remaining butter over the peaches and bake at 350 degrees for about 45 minutes. Serve hot or cold, with or without heavy cream.

Steps:

• Put Romaine hearts and radicchio in a bowl of ice water, soak for 20 minutes, and drain. Add more fresh water and soak for an additional 20 minutes (this removes bitterness). Drain, dry and set aside.
• For the dressing:
• Place the fennel seeds in a small saute pan over low heat. Toast, tossing occasionally, about 2 to 3 minutes, or until lightly browned. Crush the toasted seeds in a mortar and pestle or seal in a plastic bag and roll with a rolling pin.
• In a saucepan, place the honey, champagne vinegar and toasted fennel seeds. Bring to a boil, stirring well. Remove from heat. Whisk in olive oil and season with salt and pepper.
• Place the radicchio, cabbage and watercress into a bowl. Add dressing while warm and toss well. Serve immediately.

Steps:

• Combine ingredients and shake well in martini shaker with ice. Strain into a chilled cocktail glass, or pour into larger pitcher. Repeat process if pouring into pitcher and not serving immediately.

Steps:

• Preheat an outdoor grill to medium heat.
• Bring a pot of water to a simmer. Gently poach the sausages for 8 minutes. Remove the sausages from the water and allow to cool.
• Alternately skewer the bread and the sausage onto the rosemary branches.
• Grill skewers until bread is toasted and sausage is browned, about 7 to 10 minutes, brushing with olive oil if necessary. Serve immediately while warm or at room temperature.

Steps:

• Preheat the broiler. Arrange the tomato halves cut side up and close together on a baking sheet. Season with salt and pepper. In a small bowl, combine the 6 tablespoons olive oil, the herbs, and the garlic. Spoon a little over each tomato half, stirring the mixture as you go.
• Broil until the tomatoes are soft and shriveled but still retain some moisture, 15 to 20 minutes. Timing will depend on how large, meaty and juicy the tomatoes are. Let cool completely, then peel and chop tomato halves roughly into a salsa cruda.

Steps:

• Preheat a grill on medium-high heat.
• Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil, cook pasta about half way according to package instructions. Drain the pasta and toss lightly with olive oil. Using a grill grate, grill the pasta over medium-high heat for about 3 to 4 minutes.
• Transfer the grilled pasta to a serving platter and spoon BBQ Gravy over the top. Place meatballs over the top and around the perimeter of the platter and top with more Gravy. Sprinkle with the sliced scallions and grated Parmesan.
• Heat a large soup pot over medium-high heat. Add the olive oil and heat for 1 minute. When the oil is hot, add the bacon and render. When golden brown and beginning to crisp, add minced carrot, celery, onion, and garlic. Add a pinch of salt and saute vegetables to a light brown. Add rosemary and brown sugar and stir. Add Chianti and vinegar to pot, stir and bring to boil. Add the tomato paste, chipotles in adobo, and the chopped tomatoes. Stir and simmer for 1 to 1 1/2 hours, skimming the top occasionally to remove any scum that forms.
• While the BBQ gravy is simmering, make the meatballs.
• In a large bowl, mix together the meat, egg, Worcestershire, cheese, parsley, oregano, basil, onion, bread crumbs, and garlic, and season with salt and pepper. Add 1/2 cup of water. Knead the water into the meat mixture with your hands. Knead and roll meatballs into about 1 1/2-inch balls. Place them in shallow saucepan on stove, add another 1/2 cup of water over them, and cover. Turn heat to medium, and steam for 35 minutes.
• Using a slotted spoon, remove the meatballs from the pan. Drain the juice out of the bottom of the pan, return the meatballs to it and cover them with warm BBQ gravy. Serve on top of Grilled Spaghetti.