Italian Cuisine | Cocineira - Food, Family and Friends - eat when you drink and drink when you eat!

Fresh Ricotta Cheese

Delicious, fresh Ricotta Cheese is extremely easy to make and taste much, much better than premade cheese. Fresh Ricotta is a wonderful treat; pile atop pasta with red sauce, stuff canneloni or serve with pistachios and a drizzle of vanilla syrup. Fresh Ricotta is mild and smooth and can be served in many of the same ways cottage cheese can be served. [...]

Fresh Tomato Sauce

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Oh the treasure of vine-ripened tomatoes! I get so excited when tomato season arrives and we get to enjoy these wonderful treasures in salads, sauces, as a side dish, on sandwiches and so much more. Incredibly, in our wonderful Mediterranean climate we are fortunate to enjoy fresh tomatoes from as early as March and sometimes all the way through January.

I love tomatoes nearly anyway I eat them. One of my favorite ways to use tomatoes is to make Fresh Tomato Sauce. Juicy tomatoes, simmered for just a bit with herbs and spooned over tender pasta. [...]

Insalata Caprese

I drove to SLO today and decided to drive the scenic route through the Nipomo Mesa, wind my way along the coast through Arroyo Grande and then through the Edna Valley. The drive is beautiful and peaceful and one always encounters roadside produce vendors.

My tomatoes aren’t quite ripe yet so I purchased a couple of pounds of delicious, vine ripened and sweet tomatoes along Los Berros. I love to visit this little stand in the small, warm valley below the mesa where juicy, ripe, tomatoes are piled in baskets for one to choose and pay on the “honor system”.

Caprese is a remarkably easy to prepare salad and should be made of only the very freshest ingredients! Vine ripened tomatoes, Mozzarella Bufala, fragrant Basil Leaves and copious amounts of the best olive oil are the foundation for one of the tastiest salads available!
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Stuffed Artichokes

When I was a kid, artichokes were a regular part of our diet. One of the wonderful things about living on the Central Coast is the bounty of fresh produce available to us and artichokes grow well in the valley. I just naturally assumed that these wonderful thistles were a part of every diet.

Years later, soon after I met Mia, the very first meal I cooked for her was pork chops and artichokes stuffed with stove top stuffing. Mia admitted that she had never eaten the heart because her mother told her she wouldn’t like them. It was then that I learned artichokes were considered a “special treat” unlike in my home. [...]

Piquillo Rellano Crostoni

Piquillo Relleno Crostoni

The ideal meal, in my opinion, is one that you can pick up with your hands, is full of flavor, satisfies compliment wine and make my guest say “Yum Yum”. Piquillo Rellano Crostoni meet all of my criteria!

Piquillo Peppers “Little Beaks” are grown in Northern Spain and provide a mildly piquant unique taste. These little peppers are roasted over open coals and are both deliciously sweet and savory. Piquillo Peppers have a thin flesh which is perfect for stuffing. I love to make Piquillo Rellano with a variety of different fillings but the little peppers are especially good with Chevre.
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Artichoke Foccacia

Focaccia is a wonderful, Italian bread which is a perfect light meal or a compliment to salad, soup, cheese or a roasted vegetable tray. Great as an appetizer and easy to prepare this savory bread fills the senses from the moment the bread begins to raise until it is doused with garlic and olive oil and baked. I imagine Focaccia as the predecessor to the modern pizza. Deliciously satisfying and delightfully rustic, Focaccia is a peasant food that is gaining notoriety in bistros and trendy restaurants alike.

This basic Focaccia is one of the easier bread doughs to make either using the conventional method or a bread maker using your dough setting. The end result is a bread with a wonderful crumb and lots of flavor. Add buttery artichoke, onions and garlic the the delicate bread and serve with a crisp salad for a like, satisfying lunch. [...]

Pizza Sauce

A favorite in our family is pizza. As a bread lover, I can’t resist a slice of freshly made pizza deliciously topped with some well planned toppings. It seams the American idea of pizza is a cardboard like crust piled with a couple of pounds of meat and cheese but a simple pie with few, fresh [...]

Onion and Garlic Focaccia

Pasta Primavera

Pasta Primavera is a wonderful, quick meal for a light lunch or a part of a larger meal. The important thing is to use the freshest produce available and don’t overcook. The vegetables can vary to your taste or what is available in your garden or the market. I have made primavera with onions, squash, carrots, asparagus, tomatoes, mushrooms, roasted peppers, garlic and probably a few other vegetables I am not thinking about at the time. Just keep it fresh and don’t overcook the vegetables! [...]

Croque Monsieur

Delicious, toasted French Sandwich

This Summer I got a new Panini Grill from Amazon.com and though I am not usually into gadgets, I love this thing! I had been thinking about buying one for a year or so but daunted by the price of most of them. This one was a great price, nice reviews and [...]