One of my favorite add-on’s to contribute for it the Italian pack. I use almost everything it contains in my daily cooking and have even added some ingredients to my cooking pantry. It was the reason I tried Eggplant Parmesan and my 5 year-old son fell in love with the eggplant. He forgot about the pasta and sauce and ate the eggplant all by itself!
Here are a few recipes I have used when I contribute for the Italian pack. Hopefully, these will inspire you to try a few things on your own.
Ingredients
- 4 1/4 to 1/2" thick pork chops
- 7-8 mushrooms, stems removed and sliced
- 5 yellow potatoes, peeled and sliced 1/2" thick
- 2 large stems rosemary, stems removed and minced
- 4 stems thyme, stems removed and minced
- salt, pepper
- 1/2 large yellow onion sliced
- 1 handful fresh parsley, chopped
- olive oil
Instructions
- Place the pork chops on the bottom of a 9x13 glass baking dish.
- Sprinkle with olive oil, salt and pepper, and 1/2 of minced thyme and rosemary.
- Layer on sliced mushrooms and onion.
- Top with sliced potatoes.
- Sprinkle with olive oil.
- Add remaining thyme and rosemary, and salt and pepper to taste.
- Top with parsley and cover with foil.
- Bake @ 375 for 30-45 minutes until pork chops and potatoes are done.
Ingredients
- 2 small yellow onions, thinly sliced
- 2 gloves minced garlic
- 1 yellow squash (mostly peeled), cut into spears
- 1 zucchini (mostly peeled), cut into spears
- 2 boneless, skinless chicken breasts, halved length-wise
- 1 cup Italian seasoned Panko or regular bread crumbs
- salt, pepper
- 4 Tbsp olive oil
- 2 spears fresh rosemary, stem removed and minced
- 1 medium tomato, chopped
- 1 handful fresh parsley, chopped
- Parmesan cheese for topping
- 2 cups very veggie pasta sauce, or your favorite pasta sauce
Instructions
- Heat oil in large skillet on medium heat.
- Add in garlic, onion.
- Salt and pepper chicken to your preference and coat cutlets in bread crumbs.
- Add chicken to veggies in the skillet.
- Cook until almost done in the center.
- Add squash and zucchini spears and chopped tomato to the skillet on top of the chicken and cover with lid.
- Cook for approximately 5 minutes to let the tomatoes warm up and the spears get to the desired tenderness.
- Serve chicken and veggies topped with veggie pasta sauce or pasta sauce of your choice.
- Parmesan cheese can be added before serving. *We opted not to use cheese this time around.
Our local all night restaurant/greasy spoon has a breakfast dish they make called the Western Mix. It’s basically a western omelette that is scrambled instead of in the regular omelette form. It is by far my favorite item they serve. I used the Italian pack ingredients to make my own version of this dish and it was a BIG success! My kids didn’t even know they were eating mushrooms until they asked what was in it. My husband wished I had left them in bigger pieces. Oh, well. It worked anyway! But, for me this dish was all about the basil!! I used basil two different times for different intensities of flavor. I served it with layered/flaky biscuits that I pulled in half and filled with shredded mozzarella cheese before putting back together. They were amazing!
Ingredients
- 1 small yellow onion, thinly chopped
- 2/3 pkg mushrooms, stems removed and finely chopped, or sliced if you prefer
- 3 cloves garlic, chopped
- 6-8 basil leaves, finely chopped
- 3 Tbsp olive oil
- 1 cup shredded mozzarella cheese
- 1 very ripe tomato
- 1/8 cup milk
- 8 eggs
- 6-8 leaves basil, shredded
- salt, pepper
- I chicken breast, cubed into bite sized pieces and marinated in 1/4 lime juice and a handful of chopped parsley
Instructions
- Prepare chicken breast in lime juice and parsley. I refrigerated overnight.
- Heat oil in a large skillet.
- Add mushrooms, onion, and chopped basil. Saute until onions are almost translucent.
- Add cubed chicken and cook until almost done.
- Beat eggs with salt and pepper, to taste, and 1/8 cup milk. Pour into chicken mixture along with the remaining shredded basil. Stir frequently until almost done, or consistency preferred.
- When eggs are almost done, squeeze tomato over eggs and chop the tomato flesh into the mixture. Sprinkle with shredded mozzarella and stir into the eggs. Serve warm.
