Slow Cooker Italian Meatballs recipe

When it comes to meatballs I tend to gravitate towards the Italian flavor profile. This recipe is so easy! Read on and you'll see.

Serve this hot and don't forget to dot more mozzarella cubes, let it melt and get all gooey. Cheese pulls can be sexy to look at ;)

Printable Recipe

Slow Cooker Italian Meatballs

ingredients:
• 24 oz jar Rao's Homemade Marinara Sauce
• 1 lb ground beef 80/20
• 1 egg
• ¼ cup Italian bread crumbs
• ¼ whole milk
• ¼ tsp dried oregano
• ½ tsp dried basil
• ½ tsp garlic powder
• ½ tsp kosher salt
• freshly ground black pepper
• 1 tbsp Italian flat-leaf parsley, chopped
• fresh mozzarella, cubed
• freshly grated Parmigiano-Reggiano for serving

instructions:
1)  Add half of the marinara sauce in a slow cooker then set aside.
2)  In a bowl, add the rest of the ingredients except for the cheeses. Gently combine the mixture using your hands, being careful not to overmix.
3)  Using a small cookie scoop (2 tsp), scoop out 2 scoops of the meat mixture and put it in your hand. Place a mozzarella in the middle of the mixture then encase it with the meat mixture and gently shape it into a ball. Place finished meatball in the slow cooker. Repeat this process until all the meat mixture is formed into a meatball.
4)  Pour the rest of the marinara sauce over the top of the meatballs. Cover and cook on "High" for 1 hour. Then, switch to "Low" and cook for 3 hours.
5)  Serve hot with more mozzarella cubes and sprinkle with Parmigiano-Reggiano.  Serve as an appetizer, over pasta, with garlic bread or in a sub sandwich.

Soy Togarashi Wings recipe

This recipe is actually a spin on my usual Karaage, and I almost named it Baked Karaage Wings, but didn't. I don't make Karaage very often because I hate deep frying, but man, when I do make it, it seems like I can't fry it fast enough! Grubby paws everywhere! Husband and kid just really like my Karaage :D

I know I usually include measurements but for this recipe you don't really need to measure the spices. Just sprinkle away. Well, don't get too carried away. Sprinkle lightly and it'll be just fine.

Printable Recipe

Soy Togarashi Wings

ingredients:
• 20 chicken wingettes/drumettes
• 3 tbsp low sodium soy sauce
• 1 tbsp sake
• 1 tsp sesame oil
• 1 tsp mirin
• sea salt
• ground white pepper
• ground ginger
• garlic powder
• onion powder
• lemon pepper
• togarashi
• sesame seeds

instructions:
1)  Mix soy sauce, sake, sesame oil, and mirin in a bowl; set aside. Put chicken in a zip top bag, pour in the soy mixture, squeeze as much air as you can out of the bag then seal it. Massage marinade all over the chicken, then place the bag over a plate and refrigerate to marinate overnight, turning occasionally.
2)  Remove the bag from the fridge 1 hour prior to cooking. Preheat oven to 400° F. Line a sheet pan with foil then spray with nonstick spray. Arrange the chicken on the pan making sure they are not touching each other. Discard marinade.
3) Sprinkle both sides of the chicken with sea salt, white pepper, ground ginger, garlic powder, onion powder, lemon pepper, and togarashi.
4)  Place sheet pan in the oven and bake for 30 minutes.
5)  Flip the chicken then sprinkle with sesame seeds. Bake for another 10 minutes.
◘ tip: If chicken is on the larger side, bake for 15 minutes instead of 10.
6)  Remove chicken to a platter and serve as an appetizer or main entree with rice.

Garlic French Bread recipe

We used to go to different SM malls when I was a child and I remember my older sister buying garlic french bread whenever she spotted someone selling it. My sister visited me back in March and I made her my version of her beloved garlic bread. When I heard her say "masarap toh" (this is delicious in Tagalog), my heart melted just a bit. Serve this with my Italian Shrimp recipe and use the bread to mop up the sauce, which is how my husband likes it.

Printable Recipe

Garlic French Bread

ingredients:
• 1 loaf French bread
• 1 stick unsalted butter, softened
• 3 garlic cloves, grated
• 1 tbsp Italian flat-leaf parsley, chopped
• 1 tbsp Parmigiano-Reggiano, freshly grated + more for sprinkling

instructions:
1)  Line a broiler-safe pan with foil. In a bowl, mix to combine butter, garlic, parsley, and 1 tbsp Parmigiano-Reggiano; set aside. Preheat oven to 350° F.
2)  Slice the bread in half lengthwise, then cut to about 2-inch slices. Spread the butter mixture on all cut sides, leaving the crusty part of the bread clean.
3)  Arrange bread on the broiler pan making sure they are not touching each other. Bake for 10 minutes.
4)  Remove the pan from the oven and switch the setting to 'Broil'.
5)  While broiler is getting up to temperature, sprinkle the bread with more Parmigiano-Reggiano. Broil for 45 seconds to 2 minutes or until golden and a little toasted.
◘ note: Watch the bread carefully as it can go from golden to burnt quite quickly.
6)  Serve and enjoy!

Italian Shrimp recipe

I have been absent for awhile but I have a good excuse. Check out this handsome little guy!
I never mentioned it anywhere but I was pregnant and just recently had a baby, not even a month ago :)

I have been concocting recipes and just saving them up for when I have time to sit down and post them. Today I'll share with you a very easy and quick shrimp recipe. Why another shrimp recipe? Honestly, because it's the quickest one I can work on before my newborn wakes up. Ha!

Printable Recipe

Italian Shrimp

ingredients:
• 1 lb shrimp, peeled & deveined, tail-on
• 2 tbsp olive oil
• 2 tbsp unsalted butter
• 3 garlic cloves, sliced
• ½ tsp Italian seasoning
• ½ tsp kosher salt
• freshly ground black pepper
• ¼ cup Parmigiano-Reggiano, freshly grated
• 1 tbsp lemon juice, freshly squeezed
• lemon wedges for garnish (optional)

instructions:
1)  Add oil, butter, and garlic to a cold pan. Turn the heat on to medium. When the garlic starts to get some color and becomes fragrant, add the Italian seasoning.
2)  When the Italian seasoning becomes fragrant, add shrimp, salt and pepper; toss around.
3)  When shrimp starts to pink, sprinkle in Parmigiano-Reggiano and toss to combine.
4)  Turn the heat down to low and add lemon juice. Simmer for 1 minute, then off the heat.
5)  Serve family-style or in individual dishes with crusty bread for mopping up the sauce. Garnish with lemon wedges, if desired.

Single-serve Garlic Fried Rice recipe

I kept reading through my notes but I really can't find the original recipe I wrote for this, though I'm positive I wrote it down somewhere. So now I had to recreate it 3 times (hence the different color of garlic chips, and FYI, I prefer light golden) to get as close to the original as possible. But I honestly think there is something else missing or something needs to be changed, like instead of low sodium soy sauce maybe in the original I used Filipino soy sauce. Or maybe I added garlic powder in addition to garlic-pepper. Really can't remember. But no worries, this one is good, too. I just really wanted to find and share the original because I made it after we came back from our second vacation in the Philippines where my older sister cooked garlic fried rice for breakfast every morning and my husband said it was better than my sister's. And my sister is a very good cook!

It is almost a must to serve garlic fried rice with fried eggs, but even better if you serve it with some kind of a salty meat like spam, and garlic-vinegar dipping sauce. Now when I say fried eggs, I mean sunny side up, over easy, or over medium. That runny yolk is tasty mixed in with the rice!

I know it says single-serve but I actually shared this with my kid. So I guess it just depends on your appetite.

Printable Recipe

Single-serve Garlic Fried Rice

ingredients:
• 1 cup cooked day-old rice
• 1 tbsp grapeseed oil (or any neutral oil such as canola)
• 1 tbsp unsalted butter
• 4 garlic cloves, chopped
• ¼ tsp kosher salt
• ¼ tsp garlic-pepper seasoning (McCormick Salt Free)
• 1 tsp low sodium soy sauce
• 1 scallion, sliced for garnish

instructions:
1)  Mix rice with salt and garlic-pepper; set aside.
◘ tip: Use a silicone spatula.
2)  Add oil, butter, and garlic in an 8-inch cold skillet. Turn the heat on to low and fry garlic until golden, about 7 minutes, stirring often especially in the last 2 minutes of toasting. When golden, turn the heat off and let garlic cool for 1-2 minutes. This cooling period will also help rid most of the bubbles. Scoop garlic out into a small dish, leaving all the grease in the skillet; set garlic aside.
3)  Pour off 1 tbsp of grease into another small dish and set aside. This reserved grease is for frying eggs.
4)  Return skillet to stove and turn the heat on to medium-low. When skillet is hot, add rice, quickly toss it around to coat with the grease, and spread it in a single layer. Cook for 1 minute, undisturbed.
5)  Add most of the fried garlic, toss around and spread rice in a single layer again. Cook for 1 minute. Add soy sauce and toss around 30 seconds. Off the heat.
6)  Transfer fried rice to a plate, top with the remaining fried garlic and sprinkle with sliced scallions.
◘ tip: Serve with fried eggs with a runny yolk.

No-Bake Mini Nutella Cheesecake Pie recipe

First post of 2017! Why not start the new year off with something sweet? And it's an easy one, too!
Last year's first post: Crab and Shrimp Bucatini.

I first had a taste of chocolate cheesecake when I was working as a medical receptionist. The drug ladies aka pharmaceutical sales reps would bring us treats and goodies in hopes that our facility would buy whatever they were selling. I never really liked cheesecake but this one time they brought in the chocolate version! Chocolate is one of my weaknesses and I had to get a bite. A bite turned into two, then a slice.

We had a pack of mini graham cracker crusts in the pantry and a jar of Nutella. Oddly enough, we also had cream cheese in the fridge. Odd because we don't usually buy cream cheese and I don't even remember why we had it in the first place. Well, I had to do something with that cream cheese and the mini crusts (which I remember we bought around Christmastime), and chocolate cheesecake came to mind. This recipe won't have a strong Nutella taste, just a hint. My husband isn't a big fan of Nutella even though he's Italian. Now let's get started.

FYI, I know the picture shows 5 mini pies but the filling actually makes 6. My kid and I may or may not have had one too many filling taste-test ;)

Printable Recipe

No-Bake Mini Nutella Cheesecake Pie

ingredients:

• 1 6-pack mini Keebler Ready Crust Graham
• 1 8-oz package cream cheese, softened
• ¼ cup unsalted butter, softened
• ¹⁄3 cup Nutella
• 1 tsp vanilla extract
• ¹⁄₈ tsp fine sea salt
• ¾ cup powdered sugar
• 2 tbsp unsweetened cocoa powder
• whipped cream for garnish, optional

instructions:
1)  Add cream cheese, butter, Nutella, vanilla extract, and salt in a medium bowl. Beat with a hand mixer until well combined and the color becomes lighter.
2)  Gradually add powdered sugar, in three batches, making sure the mixture is well blended after each batch. Add cocoa powder and mix until smooth.
3)  Spoon ample amount of filling into each mini crusts. Using a small offset spatula or butter knife, press the filling down and either smooth out the top or make a dome-shaped top. Transfer the mini pies to a sheet pan and into the freezer for 3 hours.
◘ tip: Line the sheet pan with foil or wax/parchment paper for easy clean up.
4)  Transfer the sheet pan to the fridge until ready to serve.
5)  Top with whipped cream for garnish, if desired.
◘ tip: Topping the mini pies with berries such as raspberries and strawberries is always a nice complement. A drizzle of dulce de leche is also a nice touch.