The Best Italian Cooking Recipes
Italian cooking is incredibly popular, and it is definitely among the richest and most varied anywhere. The problem is finding an easy Italian recipe to make, which is especially important if you are just a beginner. There are a few really great Italian cooking recipes that are ideal to try out, even for someone who has never cooked Italian food before in their life.
Shrimp Scampi
Shrimp is a very popular Italian food and shrimp scampi is definitely one of the most widely loved Italian cooking recipes. For this recipe you will need 1 ½ pounds large shrimp, 1/3 cup butter, 4 tablespoons minced garlic, 6 green onions, ¼ cup dry white wine, 2 tablespoons lemon juice, 2 tablespoons chopped fresh parsley, and salt and pepper to taste.
To prepare this dish you start off by rinsing the shrimp and setting it aside. Then you want to heat the butter in a large skillet over medium heat, cook the garlic for a couple of minutes until softened and then add the shrimp, green onions, wine, and lemon juice. You want to cook the shrimp until they are pink and firm, which should take about one to two minutes on each side.
Keep in mind that the trick to this recipe is to not overcook the shrimp. You can add a lot of extra garlic but make sure not to overdo it because you do not want to overshadow the taste of the shrimp. The dish is often served over pasta but can also be served on its own with some crusty bread.
Spaghetti with Mussels
Another of the most popular Italian cooking recipes is spaghetti with mussels. Not only is this considered as being one of the most delicious Italian cooking recipes but one of the easiest to prepare as well.
For this recipe you will need 3 pounds fresh mussels, 1 bay leaf, 6 peppercorns, 2 whole cloves, ¼ cup dry white wine, 3 quarts water, ½ teaspoon salt, 1 pound spaghetti, 4 tablespoons olive oil, 1 tablespoon garlic, 1 cup stewed tomatoes, 1 tablespoon fresh basil, ¼ teaspoon salt, and 1/8 teaspoon white pepper.
To prepare, you begin by scrubbing the mussels under cold water, and removing the beards and draining. Then you want to add the mussels, bay leaf, peppercorns, cloves, and wine together in a large saucepan or kettle. Cover this mixture and bring to a boil, and then cook this over high heat until the mussels open. This typically takes about five minutes but times will vary depending on the cooking element.
Finally you add the garlic and cook briefly, stirring often. Add the tomatoes, broth and spaghetti, and then add the mussels to this. Stir and heat for a moment and serve hot.
These Italian cooking recipes are just examples of what authentic Italian cooking is really all about.
Echo Wang is a contributing Editor forcooking-tips – Find out which cooking products, treatments & solutions will continue to be beautiful at any time. Our site is dedicated to providing information about cooking well options so you can continue to do it perfect, if want to more information, please visit Italian Cooking Recipes
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Cooking Kids – How to Pick Good Recipes
When kids want to cook, it’s a good idea to find recipes that are tailor-made for them. Picking a recipe solely by the delicious-looking picture is not the way to do it. They may find out too late that the recipe is really too complicated and they are in over their heads. This leads to cooking frustration and does not encourage budding chefs.
Here are some tips on how to decide if a recipe is a good one for your child to try:
1. Check out the number of ingredients.
Obviously the fewer ingredients there are, the easier the recipe will be. Look for 5 ingredients or less. Your new cook will generally fair better if the ingredients are ones your family is familiar with? If there are many ingredients, look them over and see if any can be eliminated or substituted to make it easier. For example, can they get by without adding the chopped onions? Or can they substitute a small handful of minced onions for the chopped onions?
2. Take a look at the number of items that need to be chopped, blended, or food processed.
If there is a lot of chopping involved, kids tend to lose interest while they wait for you to do it. A small amount of chopping can be done by kids after teaching them how to do so in a safe manner. You can also buy some vegetables already chopped and ready to go.
3. How do the recipe instructions look?
Are there lots of steps? Will the instructions be hard for your child to understand? Read it through and see if it makes sense to you. Next, ask your child to read it or read it to them if they don’t read yet and get a measure of their understanding.
4. Are there pictures?
Some cookbooks will show a picture of the final masterpiece, while others will show pictures of each step. Pictures aren’t necessary but they are so helpful to kids who might not understand some of the written instructions.
5. Does your child still want to try the recipe after reading it through?
Then go for it!
Help them when they need help and stand back when they don’t. How much you hover will depend on their age, abilities, and previous cooking skills. Kids can pick up cooking know-how quickly if they cook fairly regularly. The key is to find recipes that are easy and quick for kids to do.
Peggy is the editor of the popular Cookin’ Kids Newsletter. Interesting themes, fun facts, silly clip art, easy recipes, kid jokes, cooking terms, and safety tips make this newsletter a hit with kids! Learn more about it at http://cookinkids.com
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