Taste of Raleigh: Bella Monica Flatbread Company

Italian food. Comfort food.

There is a small, local Italian place within a 1/2 mile of home and I finally had a chance to go tonight. Definitely had to make reservations and had great company.

I tried to be a little on the healthy side - so I didn't have any ooey gooey cheese - will have to go back and try something that has cheese!

Good:

1. The hospitality. Like an Italian family dinner table. They were excited we were there, people in white chef's coats brought out our food, and they were very welcoming even when we were leaving. They weren't shoving us out of there and couldn't care less about how long we stayed and talked.

2. The meatballs. Perfectly seasoned and not dry at all - that's what I like. Maybe I need to go back and get a huge meatball sub!

3. Option for whole wheat pasta. I went for the whole wheat penne - I could be a little healthy.

4. The tomato sauce. Not too spicy, not too chunky. Perfect for a pasta sauce. Right on!

5. My friends enjoyed their meal: chicken parm and stuffed shells. They both said they were great.

The Wish Was Better:

1, The bread. Definitely dig any other Italian place's bread better than here. Dry and not too flavorful.

2. The bruschetta. They were cheap (which was good for an appetizer) but neither were really that good: blue crab on one and chicken liver pate on the other. I could have passed on both.

3. The non-descript salad. Yes it was good. But there was nothing special about it.

Would I go again - yes, definitely trying something cheesy this next time.

Would I make it my go to Italian place? Not yet - and definitely the chains are better so far.

Have heard amazing things about their pizza - so may hit that up soon!

Taste of Raleigh: Wildflour Boston Pizza

For 6 months I lived within walking distance of this place and never went. Today was the first day I ventured out with a co-worker to check out a little corner restaurant in Stonehenge (N. Raleigh) for lunch: Wildflour Boston Pizza.

Ok - I don't thnk I had even heard of Boston Pizza. Yeah, of course - Chicago, New York, CPK, homemade, Dominos, Pizza Hut, Papa Johns, Little Caesar...we have our favorites...but Boston?

I wasn't even planning on getting pizza...

But, I saw the price (7 for a small - 6 slices - and 1.45 for each topping) and the fact that I could get it with whole wheat crust - that sold me on it!

Tall-sided crust, medium bottom crust, crunchy, not your typical mozzerella cheese, and fresh roma tomatoes! I even had a little avocado put on top from my friend's fiesta salad.

It was...good. The pizza and conversation was much better than the service. It wasn't that crowded, but it seemed to take a while for us to get our order and we had to wait for straws, etc. Our server wasn't overly friendly - just soft-spoken and matter of fact.

So...do I have to go again tomorrow because everything was fantabulous - no. But, would I go again - yes.

Taste of Raleigh: Assaggio's

The ladies at Providence took me out to lunch - had fun getting to know them better. Right across the street was this little Italian place, cafe, good place for lunch. By the time we left it was pretty full.

I got the special which was under $6 and included a refillable drink, a HUGE slice of pizza with one topping, and a salad. Since we also had a large group, they brought us baskets of garlic knots.

The unsweet tea and garlic knots rocked. Little pieces of garlic were in the bottom of the basket - yummy. I had half of one - very good.

The salad was generic but good - refreshing before I put pizza in my mouth.

The pizza was good: not very cheesy, liked the thickness, liked the mushrooms, was almost cold by the time I got it (I blame it on the large group).

The company was wonderful. Refills and price were great. And the service was good and friendly.

The pizza and salad - not much to write home about. Maybe I'll go back for another meal and try something else.

Taste of Louisville: The Old Spaghetti Factory

This was the highlight of the evening. Sarah and I were downtown Louisville for the Taste of Home night at the Convention Center. Well, we walked in and knew we needed to go get dinner. I'd never been there - so I was excited to go.
They are set up like old street cars inside (pictures will be coming soon). Elegant chandeliers, etc. Very nice.
Let's start with the best of the evening:
I got a big ole piece of their Lasagna Vegetariano. Artichokes and many other things in a red sauce that wasn't drowning the piece of lasagna - with sauteed shrooms on top. The best thing was the marinara sauce - best I've tasted at an Italian restaurant. The lasagna was pretty good too - better than I thought it be - not heavy on the cheese. I ate half of it - gave the rest to Sarah to take home.
The house salad was nothing to write home about and the bread was a white loaf, soft, good, served like Outback's but not near as good.
We had a nice waitress, though not very effecient. We waited 12 minutes to get our water order taken - and it wasn't full at 7pm. She got Sarah's salad order wrong - but then she got better after that.
So, I've been, do I need to go again, no probably not, but I wouldn't rule it out. The marinara and the ambience definitely make it.

Simple Potato Gnocchi

And I do mean simple! This would be a huge meal for one or a great meal for 2 with salad and a simple dessert. Just kinda through it together and it tastes great! Will be a light lunch tomorrow.
I love going to Whole Foods and getting their fresh pasta. They have tons of it - including this Potato Gnocchi. I love it. The first time I had it was in NYC - yum, actually probably at a restaurant on Staten Island. Anyway, I digress! If you like pasta and you like mashed potatoes - you can't go wrong with gnocchi!

1 9 0z package of fresh potato gnocchi
1 can diced tomatoes
1 T tomato paste
1/2 tsp oregano
1/2 tsp garlic powder
1/2 tsp pepper
pinch of sugar (to cut tartness of the tomatoes)
1/2 cup peas
fresh grated parm cheese

Boil water (with kosher salt) for gnocchi. While that is heating up, heat up sauce in small saucepan. Once water starts to boil, add in peas and gnocchi. The gnocchi will float when done (about 3 minutes, wow, how quick)! Drain off some of the juice from the tomatoes till desired liquid amount. Toss together with some parm cheese. It was very yummy and simple. Just a slight change from regular pasta
Get out there - try new food! Maybe I'll try making it one of these days!

SImple Italian Salmon for 2

My Dad is a huge salmon fan - probably gets too many of those wonderful omega-3 fats that we all need. A new friend, Lauren, gave me this recipe - it is one of Giada's. I just cut it in half...

Simple Italian Salmon
2 5-oz salmon fillets
olive oil
1 shallot, chopped fine
1/2 can petite diced tomatoes
juice of half a lemon
salt/pepper
1/2 tsp oregano and thyme

Drizzle olive oil on one side of salmon and place it oil side down on a sheet of aluminum foil. Fold up sides (to make little packet). Mix of the rest of the ingredients in a small bowl - split between two salmon packets. Bake in a 400 degree oven for 20-25 minutes. Delicious! I served this with roasted asparagus and roasted red potatoes (all cook at the same temperature). Potatoes take a little longer. I zapped mine in the microwave for 2 minutes, or you can just put it in there before the asparagus and salmon.

Fast, Healthy Italian Chicken

I brought out the Cooking Light Cookbook to try to make something healthy and good. Found this recipe. It actually tastes really good! I put mine over some leftover quinoa but you could use brown rice or whole wheat pasta, or even risotto or polenta - any would be great.

Italian Chicken with Chickpeas

1 lb chicken tenderloins

3 turns of olive oil

garlic powder, oregano, s/p for chicken

1 green pepper, chopped

1 onion, chopped

1 can diced italian tomatoes

1 can chickpeas (garbanzos), drained

Cook the chicken until half way done. Then add the rest, turn on low to simmer until chicken is done and tomato mixture is heated through.

How easy, fast, and yummy is this!

Papalenos - Berea, KY

This weekend I went to Berea, KY to enjoy a weekend with my friend, Felicity, and her new husband, Kevin. Since Kevin was gone all day on Saturday, Felicity and I enjoyed an early dinner at Papalenos. A quaint inexpensive Italian place in the heart of Berea - this place had most everything you would want:
a fountain drink dispenser (although it was Pepsi)
fun wait staff
a rustic interior
great breadsticks - ok - it was more like a bread brick. It was huge. And they serve it in a butter dish because they have poured melted butter (probably 1/4 cup) over the top and then you have the butter in the bottom to sop up with your bread. Fantastic - although not too healthy.
great food - I got the baked spaghetti with meatballs. The sauce was perfect - not too spicy, not too acidic, not too chunky - a good marinara sauce. The meatballs on top with the melted cheese (melted in the dish it was served in, very rustic style). Felicity got the ravioli florentine which was amazing. Spinich inside of ravioli with alfredo sauce - the sauce was great! Best alfredo sauce I would say I've had. Man - it was good.
So, here's a perfect weekend in Berea...go early on a Saturday morning (about a 2 hour drive from Louisville). Eat Papalenos for lunch, go hike the pinnacles, then grab sonny's on your way home (in Richmond).

Elizabeth's meatballs

Another great recipe from the kitchen of Elizabeth! She adapted these meatballs from a Giada recipe - they are great.

1/2 cup breadcrumbs
2 T milk
2 eggs
1/2 cup grated Romano cheese (we used grated parmesan cheese)
1/2 lb ground turkey sausauge (mild or hot, take your pick)
1/2 lb lean ground beef
1/2 tsp salt - or lower, our's were a little salty
1/4 tsp pepper

Mix all together to form golfball size meatballs, roll in more breadcrumbs, saute in oil till browned, then put in sauce and saute for about 30 minutes. Serve over whole wheat spaghetti!

enjoy - who needs Olive Garden...ok, they have good breadsticks!