Healthy Recipes by Chef Louie DeAngelis

Mini Quiche Ideas

Who says real men don’t eat quiche? I could eat my weight in these little beauties! To make these low cost, high brow appetizers, you will only need:

Muffin Pan

Package of won ton wrapper or pasta sheets

4 eggs

1 pint of whipping cream

Pinch of kosher salt

Whatever you like for the filling, such as spinach, ham, bacon, and cheeses.

Spray some non stick oil into the muffin pan, and jam a wrapper or sheet into each muffin pod. Decide on what filling you may want, and place into the quiche mold, followed by the liquid (the eggs, salt, and pint of cream all whipped together, but not made into meringue). Pop into a 350 preheated oven for 15 minutes or until the edges of the wrappers are browned. Let them rest about 5 minutes, then remove to a rack for cooling, and serve either hot or cold. Again, let your imagination take control of the filling, along with what leftovers you may have. Bacon, ham, chicken – it’s all good, especially if it was good the night before!

Sicilian Elegancethe Tumala

Here is an absolutely amazing thought. My ancestors all came up the way we need to be right now in our economic situation. Money's tight, there's little or no chance to go out and eat, and, we all love good food, good friends, and, great times! The answer then as it is now, and should always be, for that matter, is to take common ingredients and ELEVATE them to beyond the planets where today's celebrity chefs seem to dwell! Here is a dish made with rice, pasta, sauce, cheese and a little imagination. It is called Tumala, or, a Rice Bombe. It's elegance is only surpassed by it's taste!

Needed:

3 1/2 cups of Arborio Rice

5 large eggs

4 1/2 cups of your favorite grated cheese ( I like Locatelli for this)

Black pepper

freshly grated nutmeg

1 pound of pasta penne or like pasta

1 cup of peas, pref. frozen

Butter

Breadcrumbs

some hearty meat sauce

Cook the rice as per the instructions, on the AL dente side, set aside and soak with ice water to stop the cooking process. Let is rest 5 minutes. Now beat 4 of the eggs, and mix this with 2 cups of cheese into the rice, put into a baking dish, cover with a towel, and set it in a cool place in the kitchen for approx 6 hours. Meantime, prepare your sauce and cook the pasta as you normally would. Grain the pasta and add enough sauce to coat the pasta well, then, with a slotted spoon, add most of the meat from the sauce to the pasta and mix well. Now add 1/2 cup of the grated cheese and the peas as well and toss. Now let the pasta cool.

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees. Take a heavy stainless bowl at least 11 inches high, grease with butter then coat with breadcrumbs. Throw an added amount of crumb to the bottom of the bowl as well. Now line the rice mixture around the bowl at least 1/2 inch thick and do not leave any weak spots. Make a nice, thick base at the bottom. When the pasta is at room temperature, spoon that into the riced bowl to about an inch from the top, and cover this with the remaining rice, then take the remaining egg and beat it and coat the top of the rice. This must be strong as the weight of the tumala will be on this top, which will be the base.

Bake for 1 hour, or until a light golden brown, then once out, run a knife around the top edge to release it, then let it rest for about 10 to 15 minutes. At this time you can reheat your sauce that is left. Once rested, put a serving dish over the top of the bowl, flip over, and tapping gently should release the tumala onto the plate. One slice can be cut into two, presenting this beauty on a plate with some extra sauce and more cheese on it, and some fresh ground pepper for the final

serve.

This dish is amazing and elegant, and if the big chefs of the world ever get their hands on this, it will be touted as a gourmet breakthrough and be priced out of this world, but you and I will always know better!

SIMPLE ISN'T GOOD - IT'S GREAT!!

Fresh and Easy "Pizza Flavor" Salad Dressing

This is an amazing take on the flavors of Pizza! It's simple, delicious, and healthy!

Start with two chopped, plump tomatoes and pop them into a blender or processor. Now take two tablespoons of white wine vinegar, a tablespoon of Italian seasonings, 1 clove of garlic (or more if you're amongst close friends), and a tablespoon of water. Set the machine spinnuing, and add salt and pepper to taste, and drizzle about four tablespoons of olive oil into the wash and create an emulsion. When incorporated, take a normal salad, sprinkle some mozzerella cheese on top and spoon the "pizza" dressing on that. Hide the women and children "cause this is a barn burner!!

Olive Garden-style Salad and Dressing

1/2 cup mayonnaise	1 tablespoon Sugar (optional)
1/3 cup white vinegar	1 bag American blend salad
1 teaspoon vegetable oil	4 sliced rings Purple onion (halved)
2 tablespoons corn syrup	8 jumbo Black olives (pitted)
2 tablespoons parmesan cheese	6 Banana peppers (pepperoncini)
2 tablespoons Romano cheese	1/2 cup Croutons
1 clove garlic minced	2 Roma tomatoes (quartered)
1/2 teaspoon Italian seasoning	Parmesan cheese (freshly grated)
1/2 teaspoon parsley flakes	Pepper corns (freshly ground)
1 tablespoon lemon juice

For the dressing:
Mix the first eleven ingredients in a blender until well mixed. If this is a little to tart for your own personal taste, add 1 Tablespoon of sugar.

For the salad:
Pour 1/2 package of the salad blend into a large salad bowl. Top with 1/2 of the onion, olives, banana peppers, croutons and tomatoes. Add dressing to taste and toss well. Add the other 1/2 bag of salad and more dressing to taste. Toss well. Top the salad with the remaining onion, olives, banana peppers, croutons and tomatoes. Pass the grated parmesan cheese and black pepper mill at the table.

15 Minute Tomato Sauce

It's six o'clock, everyone is hungry, and, we're short on cash, time, and patience. So what's new - it's like this at my joint darn near everynight! Here's the quick, inexpensive answer that is elegant, delicious, and sure to WOW even the pickiest eater.

Needed: Six nice plum tomatoes, a yellow onion, some celery, a carrott, some olive oil, a few clove of garlic, a little (or a lot!) red wine, some salt and some black and red pepper, and Italian seasoning.

Take and mince a stalk of celery, and onion, and a carrott (fine mince, please). Pop this into a high sided frying pan over medium high heat with a shot of olive oil and soften (about 8 minutes). While that is cooking, chop the tomatoes, careful not to lose any juice, and once the aromatics (celery, carrot, and onion), are softened, into the deep end with the "maters! While this is cooking, pour yourself a nice glass of wine, and one for the sauce(about a cup and a half each). Cook another five minute, lowered the heat to warm, and pop the minced garlic and the Italian seasoning in the pan along with salt to taste, and a good shake of fresh cracked black pepper, along with some red pepper flakes. At this point, you should have your pasta cooked and drained, so go ahead and throw the pasta right into the pan of sauce, mix and have at it!!

Salute!

Italian Sheppard's Pie
A new twist on an old favorite

Sheppard’s Pie ala the Chubby Italian from Joisey!

Growing up, everything and everybody was Italian. For years I thought there really was a singer named Nat Kingcola, and that appliance in the kitchen that keeps our food cold-that’s an ice-a-box!

Anyway, here goes my take on this traditional Irish dish, which can be made in a multi-servicing roasting pan, or, in individual serving dishes.

Base: For the base of this dish for an individual serving, I take1/3 pound of loose Italian sausage meat, 1 cup of fresh chopped Andy Boy Broccoli Rabe, or another leafy green, ¼ cup of diced provolone cheese, and 2 tablespoons of Italian Duct Tape(tomato past-it’ll bring anything together). Pan sear this till cooked, adding some fennel seed if the sausage you have on hand doesn’t have any.

For the next layer, take 2 cups of Italian flat beans, salt and pepper to taste, ¼ cup of onions, ¼ cup sliced mushrooms, and about 4 chopped cloves of garlic, and into the fry pan they go with some good olive oil, saving the garlic till the cooking is over(about 10 minutes). Now spoon this over the layer of sausage.

The topping is mashed potato, however, I love to put some roasted garlic, and parmesan cheese into the mix. Spoon the mashed potato mix over the top, sprinkle some paprika over it, and into a 375 oven for 45 minutes, or, until the potato topping is golden brown.