Capriccio Ristorante Italiano – Roxboro Road, Durham

Since becoming a Northern Durhamite a couple of weeks ago, I've become painfully aware of our limited takeout options within a 4-5 mile radius. Don't get me wrong, we like living further out, but I do miss the plethora of options I had being closer to city center. Where we are now, we have several options for fast food, sandwiches, mexican and take-out chinese, but that's it.

Driving home this weekend I noticed a sign for a new retaurant next to Chik-fil-a in the old Bull City Deli building (prior to that I think it was a Schlotzsky's). I was intrigued and not two days later read the restaurant opening report at Carpe Durham. Last night, I dropped in to grab some take out. I noticed the signs advertising a take out window, but didn't see it set up just yet.

The decor is nice; a peachy stucco interior, filled with booths, soft Italian music playing. The lighting is soft, but bright enough to see your food. It felt very much like a family Italian restaurant to me. It's run by an Italian family and all the staff that I encountered was extremely friendly (especially Karen the bartender). While sitting at the bar, waiting for my food, I could hear only Italian being spoken in the kitchen – a good sign.

There are many vegetarian options and a lot of eggplant dishes, if that's your thing. For dinner, it's mostly pasta, brick oven pizza, panini, seafood and chicken. They also have a nice selection of salads. If you're a beefeater, this isn't the place for you. I found the pasta options to be priced kind of high for it not being freshly made pasta, but they do have a "make your own" section where you can customize pasta and sauce and add on homemade sausage or meatballs (not available last night).

I selected "Pasta Della Nonna" which was fettucine with ham and mushrooms in a tomato cream sauce. For the hubby, I ordered spaghetti with pesto and sausage. I tacked on two side salads with the house Basil-Chianti vinaigrette (for an extra $3.50$3.25).

The food was great. Everything was well seasoned. The pasta was cooked perfectly. The only complaint I have was portion size. The pasta dishes were definitely entree size, but not enough to have leftovers for lunch (which is what I'm used to from the nearby Pomodoro). The salads were honestly really pitiful for $3.50$3.25. 5-6 pieces of cut up romaine, 4 slices of olive and cherry tomato, some red onion, a few pieces of roasted red pepper, a couple of baked pizza dough squares and a slice of cucumber. This isn't local organic produce or anything so I really expected more lettuce for the price. The ingredients were great, as was the dressing.

We'll definitely go back, but probably for lunch or perhaps a special occasion. I'm curious about the pizza. The little breadsticks that came with the entrees were nice and crispy on the outside and chewy on the inside. I can't see dropping $40 for take-out (entrees and salads only) on a regular basis. I think Pop's definitely has them beat for dinner (food and selection).

*Click for larger images of menu*

Orecchiette with escarole and sundried tomatoes - a promise kept

I cooked two meals last night and will be blogging them both. This first one was an experiment. I'd never had escarole before and I bought a beautiful head of it at the farmer's market this weekend. If you're never had it, it's a bitter green that mellows nicely after being cooked for awhile. We both really liked how the sweetness of the sundried tomatoes balanced out the remaining bitterness of the escarole. If I had some ricotta on hand, I would have tossed a little of that in too, but alas, I was out! You could use any pasta with this really, but I like to use ones with fancy names cause they make me feel fancy. Make sure to rinse that escarole really well. You don't want to bite into grittyness like we did. Poor hubby, I kept insisting it was the sundried tomatoes because I didn't want to gross him out ;)Orecchiette with Escarole and Sundried Tomatoes
Makes 6 servings
Ingredients:
1 head escarole, washed and cut in half inch ribbons
2 large shallots, minced
1/4 tsp crushed red pepper flakes
3 tb olive oil
1/4 cup sundried tomatoes, chopped
1 lb orecchiete (little ears)
2 tb grated parmesan
salt and pepper to taste

Directions:
Cook pasta per package instructions and reserve 1/4 cup pasta water. Heat olive oil in large saute pan over medium heat. Add shallots, red pepper and sundried tomatoes to the pan. Fill pan with however much escarole will fit and wait to cook down a little so that you can add the rest. Salt and pepper to taste. Saute for 8 minutes. It will cook down A LOT.Remove from heat and toss with pasta, pasta water and parmesan cheese.
Serve warm alongside some other yummy italian creations. We had ours with chicken parmesan and a fresh tomato salad.

Asparagus pesto lasagna

I've had this recipe clipped from Vegetarian Times for a couple of years in a binder of things I've been meaning to make. Rather then republish the recipe, I'll link to it.The modifications I made were to add 2 sliced green onions (which I sauteed with the asparagus). I used 1 tsp of crushed garlic instead of the 1 clove of chopped garlic. I used mozzarella instead of fontina because it's what I had on hand. Oh and I used whole wheat lasagna noodles. The noodles on the very bottom didn't cook all the way. I'd suggest putting a thin layer of sauce under them. Other then that, I stuck to the recipe!
I liked the different take on the lasagna. I'm sure I'll make it again. It was pretty easy, but I have to say that getting 10 servings out of a 13x9 dish is a bit of a joke. For a main dish, it's more like 6 or 8 ;)

Crispy polenta with mushrooms, sausage and creamed spinach

I still cook, I promise. I know it's been awhile since a post. Life is hectic. Here's what I made last night. It was by no means a gourmet, painstaking meal. Speed is the name of the game these days. I love the combination of textures and flavors in this. It's comfort food without being artery-clogging.
Crispy polenta with mushrooms, sausage and creamed spinach
Makes 3-4 servings
Ingredients:
1 tube cooked polenta
3 spicy italian sausages
1/2 lb mushrooms, sliced
canola oil
1 tb butter
1 tb flour
1 cup skim milk
1 tsp crushed garlic
salt and pepper to taste

For the spinach:
1 pkg frozen spinach, thawed and drained well
1/4 cup whipped cream cheese
1/4 cup milk
1 tsp garlic powder
salt and pepper to taste

Directions:
Cook sausage in non-stick pan or iron skillet over medium heat until just barely pink. Remove from pan and allow to cool. Unwrap polenta and slice into 1/4 inch rounds. Add 1 tb oil to hot pan and slowly add in half of your polenta. Cook without disturbing 5 minutes. Meanwhile, slice cooled sausage into 1/2 inch slices.

Flip and cook 5 minutes more, adding a little more oil if necessary. Remove from heat and repeat with remaining polenta. Drain polenta on paper towels. Add another tb of oil to hot pan. Add mushrooms and sausage to pan and continue cooking until mushrooms are just softened and sausage is no longer pink. Remove to bowl, leaving behind little sausage and mushroom bits.

Add butter and flour to pan and cook 1 minutes. Slowly add milk and crushed garlic, stirring constantly. Allow to thicken some and reduce heat to low. Cook for 5 minutes until a thick sauce is achieved. Salt and pepper to taste.

Lay slices of polenta on plate, top with sausage and mushrooms and pile on the creamy sauce.

For the creamed spinach, combine the last 5 ingredients well, cover and nuke for 2 minutes. Easy as can be.

Spicy rigatoni with spinach and mushrooms

I wasn't in the mood for marinara or pesto last night so I opted for a simple treatment of ricotta, red pepper, garlic and salt and pepper. This was actually much better then it looks.
Spicy Rigatoni with Spinach and Mushrooms
Makes 4 entree servings
Ingredients:
1/2 lb rigatoni
2 spicy Italian sausage links, sliced
1 cup sliced mushrooms
1/2 lb frozen chopped spinach
2 tbsp crushed garlic
1/4 cup part skim ricotta
1/2 tsp crushed red pepper
salt and pepper to taste

Directions:
Cook rigatoni al dente in salted water per package instructions. Drain, reserving 1/2–1 cup of the pasta water. In a large saute pan, cook sausage until no longer pink over medium heat. Deglaze pan with a little water and add mushrooms. Cook another 3–4 minutes. Reduce heat to medium-low and gently stir in pasta, spinach, ricotta, garlic and crushed red pepper. Add reserved water until desired consistency and continue cooking until spinach is heated through. Salt and pepper to taste.

White bean and kale soup - future cooking

Last night I made a white bean and kale soup to freeze. I've had good experiences with freezing and reheating soups so I figured I would try a new one. I think soup is underrated in its potential to be a perfectly rounded meal alone.

I actually had enough of this for both of us to bring for lunch today too. I modified it quite a bit from the Better Homes and Gardens Big Book of Italian Recipes, but their recipe was a good base for mine. This is easily made vegetarian by substituting veggie bouillion for the chicken.White Bean and Kale Soup
Makes 6 entree servings
Ingredients:
1 tbsp oil
1 medium onion, chopped
2 cloves minced garlic
1/2 tsp dried basil
1/2 tsp dried oregano
pinch of crushed red pepper
6 cubes chicken bouillion
4 cups water
2 cans cannellini beans (aka great northern beans), rinsed and drained
1 can diced tomatoes, with liquid
4 cups raw kale, chopped

Directions:
In a 4 qt or larger pot, heat oil over medium heat. Saute onion until translucent. Add garlic, dried herbs and pepper, and saute one minute more. Add bouillion, water, and tomatoes and bring to a boil over high heat. Add beans and reduce to low. Simmer 5 minutes. Add kale and simmer 5 minutes more. You can salt to taste, but honestly, I didn't add any. The bouillion provided plenty.
I had a burst of energy last night so I also made enchilada style burritos for dinner and to freeze. That recipe follows tomorrow!

Weekend eats and cooking for the future

I'm feeling a lot less like cooking these days, despite all my cooking last week. By the end of the day, I just want to get off my feet. So we ate out a good amount this weekend. For date night on Friday, we ate dinner at Pop's. I ordered the housemade gnocchi. This was a slightly crispy on the outside, delightfully light potato inside gnocchi served with venison meatballs, spinach, mushrooms, pomodoro and romano cheese. This was a great dish. I wasn't completely into the sauce, but I think my palate has been a little off lately due to pregnancy so you should definitely judge it for yourself.

My hubby ordered the angel hair with smoked chicken, pickled banana peppers and a bacon cream sauce. This dish was creative and very tasty. If you like pickled banana peppers, I urge you to try it. They shone in this dish. Speaking of banana peppers, have you ever tried the deep fried ones at Bull McCabes? Or the Wooden Nickel in Hillsborough? Soooooo good. I'm off topic here, sorry.

Saturday night we ate at Shiki Sushi. As always the sushi was fantastic, the service was okay and the place was loud as hell. I don't know why they blast the music in there so loudly. All it does is force everyone to shout over it. I ordered the bagel roll and the shrimp tempura roll. The bagel roll is such a treat. It's salmon, cream cheese and avocado, battered and deep fried and garnished with eel sauce. Battered and deep friend sushi, it just doesn't get more delicious then this...

We also ate again at the Silver Spoon on Saturday morning. Having gotten enormous dishes the first time, we both ordered what we felt would be smaller portions and still were unable to consume it all. I had the egg croissant sandwich with home fries. Hubby had an omelet with homefries. We both loved our dishes. The only thing I felt could be improved upon are the homefries. I like mine a little crispy and these are monster potato slices, amply seasoned, but I think they're most likely baked and not crispy. Still the service was phenomenal, the portions huge and the food was served hot and exactly as I ordered it.

I did manage to prepare a good Italian Sunday dinner. I made egg parpadelle tossed with spinach, mushrooms, shallots, chicken and pesto. I served it with a big side salad. I was just too tired to photograph and write down the process, so I can't really share much beyond the description. I am going to work on making a lot of casseroles and food that freezes and reheats well over the next couple of weeks so stay tuned! I plan on stocking up the freezer prior to baby arrival :) Any suggestions for dishes are welcome!

Makeshift minestrone

Monday night I wanted to make and Italian-esque veggie soup but didn't have the traditional ingredients for minestrone. What I ended up with was tasty and went well with the pesto bread, but not your traditional minestrone. Next time I might add some tomato sauce or paste to thicken up the broth a little though.Makeshift Minestrone
Makes 6 servings
Ingredients:
1 tbsp oil
1 leek, cleaned and chopped
1 carrot, peeled and chopped
3 cloves of minced garlic
1 tsp dried basil
1 sprig fresh rosemary, chopped (about 1 tbsp)
3 tsp salt
1/2 tsp crushed red pepper
1 tsp sugar
32 oz chicken broth (you could use veggie)
2 cups water
1 can chickpeas/garbanzo beans
1 can diced tomatoes
1 cup dried pasta (I used gemelli, but macaroni or penne would be really good)
4 cups kale, washed and chopped
grated parmesan for topping

Directions:
Heat oil over medium heat in 4 qt or larger pot. Add leeks and carrots. Saute until leeks are just tender. Add garlic, basil and rosemary and saute one minute more. Add salt, sugar, pepper, broth, water and tomatoes and bring to a boil over high heat. Add pasta, kale and chick peas and reduce to medium-low. Simmer until pasta is tender. Salt and pepper to taste. Serve topped with grated parmesan.

Rosemary lemon chicken

I bought a big family pack of boneless thighs and separated them into 4 separate meal portions (8 servings). A pretty good deal for 10 bucks. While looking through my pantry and fridge for inspiration on how to prepare Sunday dinner, I decided on a bit of an Italian (go figure) theme. I served these on top of garlic and chive smashed yukon potatoes, with a side of steamed broccoli. Can't wait to eat the leftovers!
Rosemary lemon chicken thighs
Makes 4 servings
Ingredients:
4 boneless skinless chicken thighs
1/2 tsp chopped fresh rosemary
1 tb lemon juice
1 tb olive oil
1 tsp crushed garlic
1/2 tsp kosher salt
cracked pepper to taste

Directions:
Combine all ingredients in a medium dish. Toss well with tongs to coat chicken evenly. Refrigerate at least 30 minutes. Heat skillet (in my case a grill pan) over medium heat. Cook 5 minutes. Flip and cook 3-5 minutes more.

Chicken Florentine Rollatini

Using what I had on hand at home last night, this was the concoction I came up with. It's a little messy to make, but then again, dealing with stuffed/rolled raw chicken always is. Packed with flavor, it was a nice change from the same old chicken breasts!
Chicken Florentine Rollatini
Makes 4 servings
Ingredients:
For the filling:
10 oz frozen chopped spinach, thawed and drained well
1/2 medium onion, chopped
3 large cloves of minced garlic
1/3 cup sundried tomatoes, chopped (you could sub artichoke hearts)
1/4 cup ricotta cheese
2 tb oil, divided
salt and pepper to taste
For the chicken:
1 1/2 lbs chicken breasts
1 tb dried basil
1 tsp garlic powder
1 tsp salt
1/2 tsp dried oregano

Directions:
Heat 1 tb oil in large skillet over medium heat. Add onions and saute for 3 minutes. Add minced garlic and saute 1 minute more. Add spinach and sundried tomato and stir to combine. Remove to a medium bowl and stir in ricotta cheese. Salt and pepper to taste.
Cut a long piece of plastic wrap. Place 1 chicken breast on one side and fold the other side over. Press edges to seal.
Pound chicken breast to 1/2 inch thickness. Repeat with remaining breasts. Spoon equal amounts of filling about an inch from one edge of each breast. Roll each breast like a burrito and secure shut with toothpicks.

Preheat oven to 350. Toss dried herbs and salt together on a small plate. Coat chicken breasts evenly with herb mixture. Heat 1 tb oil in large skillet over medium heat. Gently add chicken to pan and sear for 2 minutes on each side. Remove to baking sheet. Bake for 30 minutes. Allow to sit 5 minutes and remove toothpicks before slicing.

Vita again, in retrospect

Yesterday my angry post was fueled by a nasty headache and memories of frustrated hunger. Though I was extremely disappointed with my last experience at Vita, I do have to admit that I didn't comment on the food, our table placement or the fire alarm while I was there and therefore I didn't give them a fair opportunity to correct where I felt we were wronged.

In retrospect, I do feel a bit at fault for that. I think I was just really disappointed, not because I wanted a free meal, because I expect certain types of restaurants to handle the unexpected with the customer in mind. This wasn't the case during my visit. Now, if you look on my previous post, you'll see that Chef Yianni took the time to post a comment on my experience. I'm a little humbled by the gesture (and the offer of a free meal) and I really appreciate the time he took to express his concern. Thanks Yianni. We won't swear Vita off. Everyone has a bad day once in awhile.

Vita YOU SUCK- Erwin Square, Durham

Date night at Vita on Friday was a shit deal. It's only fair that I share it with you because I've given them two other shining reviews. Perhaps I'm being a little harsh in considering never returning after one bad dinner, but I'll let you be the judge.

1. We were one of three couples seated in the entire restaurant and we were seated directly between the other two couples. Nevermind that there were 20 other empty tables, I mean god forbid a couple have an intimate meal. Normally I wouldn't complain about this, but it was just the first thing of several to make my experience there bad enough to blog about.

2. I ordered the pancetta, spinach and goat cheese salad as my entree. Having had this before, I was sure that it was an entree portion and that it was a well balanced meal. What I got was literally two handfuls of spinach, three nickel-sized portions of goat cheese, about half a jar of roasted red peppers and about 1/8 cup of fried prosciutto or bacon. This salad was not an entree portion, didn't have the walnuts it was supposed to, nor the pancetta and it was covered in slimy roasted red peppers (which aren't supposed to be on it). I ate it nonetheless and didn't even comment on it to the waiter.

3. About 10 seconds after bringing our salads out the fire alarm started to sound. We were assured that we didn't need to evacuate and that it's just really sensitive. While the alarm went off, we were treated to a skipping Radiohead cd. After about 15 minutes of flashing lights and sirens, the fire department showed up and managed to shut the audible alarm off. The strobing lights continued, along with the skipping radiohead cd, even as we left 10 minutes later. The waiter and bar staff apologized a few times while waiting and I jokingly said, "Don't worry, you can just give us free dessert."

Perhaps my expectations are too high, but if I ran a restaurant with only three tables occupied on a Friday night at 6:00 and they were all couples that had to sit through 25 minutes of a fire alarm going off, I'd comp SOMETHING. Not a damn thing from Vita. Not a free beer, dessert, voucher, NOTHING. Nevermind that they own the restaurant next door too and could have offered to move us over there for a drink or something while we waited for the racket to end. NOTHING. Bad, bad, bad, bad Vita.

We left hungry and irritated (well mostly it was just me that was still hungry since 1 1/2 cups of raw spinach doesn't get it for dinner for a pregnant woman). We headed over to Cinelli's and got an appetizer sampler and some yummy chocolate cake. While the service was a little underwhelming, the fried platter was decent and the atmosphere was much better.

Sausage and spinach cannelloni

We had my mom over for dinner last night and, as with most Sundays, I cooked an Italian meal. We had a salad, along with my summer squash toss (only used zucchini and shallots though), and sausage and spinach stuffed cannelloni.For the cannelloni, I used the homemade marinara I made on Tuesday. I followed the recipe from Better Homes and Gardens, "Biggest Book of Italian Recipes", but with a few modifications.

Sausage and spinach cannelloni (adapted from Better Homes and Gardens Biggest Book of Italian Recipes)
Makes 6 servings
Ingredients:
8 oz. pkg manicotti shells (cooked to package directions)
8 oz. ground sweet Italian sausage
1 1/4 cup diced onion
2 tbsp crushed garlic
8 0z. softened cream cheese
2 beaten eggs
1/2 cup shredded mozzarella
10 ounces frozen chopped spinach (thawed and drained)
1/2 cup dry bread crumbs
1/4 tsp salt
pepper to taste
2 cups marinara
sprinkling of parmesan cheese

Directions:
Brown sausage and cook onion in a large skillet over medium heat. Add garlic and cook 1 minute more. Drain any fat and remove from heat. Stir in the cream cheese, eggs, drained spinach, bread crumbs and mozzarella cheese. Salt and pepper. Stir until mixed well.
Preheat oven to 350. Snip the corner off a large ziploc bag and spoon filling into it. Gently squeeze filling into a manicotti tube and place into a 3 quart (9x12) baking dish. If you find the filling hard to squeeze out, cut a larger hole in the corner. Repeat with remaining pasta tubes. I had 2 extra left over at the end because I filled each of mine pretty full. Once the baking dish is full, cover with marinara, then sprinkle with parmesan and bake for 30 minutes.

This is where I would put a photo of the finished product, if I had taken one. Alas, I was too hungry and had my mother and husband waiting, so I just plated and we devoured it.

Risi e Bisi

I made this last night, and it does differ from the traditional recipes, but it was still excellent. I didn't use any wine and I added mushrooms on top of tons of peas. I didn't bother to photograph it, but I still wanted to share my recipe.

Risi e Bisi (risotto with peas)
Makes 4 entree servings
Ingredients:
1/2 lb sliced crimini or button mushrooms
12 ounces frozen peas (thawed)
5 strips sliced bacon
2 tbsp olive oil
1/2 cup diced onion
1 cup arborio rice
4 chicken bouillon cubes
4 1/2 cups water
1/2 cup grated parmesan
salt and pepper to taste

Directions:
In a 2 qt or larger sauce pan, boil the water and throw in the boullion. Mix and mash up the boullion until it is completely dissolved. Reduce heat to low and keep broth simmering.

In a 3 qt or larger sauce pan, cook bacon until crispy over medium heat. Remove to drain on paper towels. Add mushrooms and cook for another 3-4 minutes. Remove from pan and set aside with bacon. Add olive oil and onions to pan and cook just until they're translucent (not brown). Add rice and stir constantly to avoid sticking. Once you see white dots in the middle of the rice grains (around 3 minutes), add 1/4 cup or so of the broth and stir so that it doesn't stick. Cook until broth is absorbed. Add 1/2 cup of broth and continue cooking and stirring until the liquid is almost absorbed.

Continue adding liquid 1/2 cup at a time, allowing to absorb each time before adding more. Once the final bit of liquid has been cooked down, add the parmesan, mushrooms, bacon and peas. Salt and pepper to your liking. Stir and cook another minute or so until heated through.

Easy Margherita Focaccia Pizza

Almost all of the ingredients came from Trader Joe's, but you can get them anywhere. The entire loaf of bread was 840 calories, the cheese was 800 calories, the oil is about 400. This works out to about 500 calories a serving. I served with a nice green salad. Not bad for a healthy and tasty dinner (and no fake or reduced-fat stuff was used)!

Margherita Focaccia Pizza
Serves 3-4
Ingredients:
1 loaf herb focaccia (I used rosemary)
4 tbsp olive oil
2 tbsp crushed garlic
1 8 ounce ball whole milk mozzarella
handful of torn fresh basil leaves
1/2 medium onion sliced thin
1 large tomato sliced thin
salt and pepper to taste

Directions:
Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Heat large non-stick grill pan over high heat.Brush olive oil evenly over cut sides of focaccia.
Grill bread, oiled side down for 3-5 minutes, until your desired crispiness. I pressed down on the bread with a spatula to make sure I got those nice grill marks. Spread 1 tbsp garlic on each "crust".
Next cook the sliced onion for about 2 minutes per side in the hot grill pan so that they caramelize and sweeten. Top each each crust with the onions, torn basil leaves and sliced tomato. Salt and pepper lightly.As thinly as you are able, slice the ball of mozzarella and spread evenly over both pizzas.
Place both pizzas directly on the oven rack with a cookie sheet on the rack below to catch any melted cheese. Bake for 10 minutes or until the cheese is melted and bubbly to your liking.

Spinach & artichoke stuffed shells

Stuffed shells are really easy for being so good. The traditional recipes aren't very figure friendly though and I was wanting a well-rounded meal so I created this variation. It was very tasty and pretty much guilt-free.Spinach & Artichoke Stuffed Shells
Makes 6 servings
Ingredients:
10 oz package frozen chopped spinach, thawed, water pressed out, and chopped
6 oz marinated artichoke hearts, drained and diced
1/4 cup roasted red pepper, diced
15 oz part skim ricotta
2 eggs, beaten
2 tbsp grated parmesan, romano or a combo of both + parmesan for sprinkling
1 tsp garlic powder
3/4 tsp salt
dash pepper
12 oz box large shell pasta (though you'll only use about 2/3, so if you have a smaller pkg that's okay)
16 oz marinara sauce (I had no homemade on hand so I used Trader Joe's)

Directions:
Cook shells al dente per package instructions. Rinse and set aside. Combine all other ingredients, except marinara, in a large bowl. It will be slightly runny.
Preheat oven to 350. Pour about 1/3 of the marinara in a large 9x13 baking dish. Using one of your tablespoons, fill a shell with the cheese filling. How full you fill them is up to you, but I like them full enough so that the shell is slightly bulging open. Place stuffed shell, open side up, in the prepared baking dish. Repeat with remaining shells and filling. If you're like me, you'll have quite a few shells leftover. That's because I wanted less pasta and more filling. I'm sure there is something economical that could be done with these, but I just threw my extra ones out. When the dish is full, spoon remaining marinara over the tops of the shells and sprinkle with more parmesan to your liking. If you're really feeling indulgent, you could top with some grated mozzarella. I was too lazy to grate...Cover with foil and bake for 30 minutes until hot. Let stand a few minutes before serving. Spoon marinara from baking dish over any exposed areas of the shells, once on the plate.

Piazza Italia - Brightleaf Square, Durham

For date night this weekend, we started with an appetizer of fried green tomatoes at Watt's Grocery. There were 3 lovely thick slices of tart, firm and juicy tomato breaded, fried and topped with a shrimp remoulade. It was garnished with fresh watercress. While it was very tasty, it felt steep for the portion size. 3 slices of tomato for $9! Nothing on the revised fall menu spoke to either of us so we settled our bill after the appetizer and headed to brightleaf square.

After quickly scanning the menu, we settled on Piazza Italia. The menu boasts that they make their own pasta fresh, daily and we'd never been there, so we figured we'd give it a try. The menu was quite expansive and they have a section where you can even customize your own pasta.

A light airy bread was served with a bulb of roasted garlic. No oil, butter, or balsamic vinegar were anywhere to be found. The bread was plain. The garlic was, well, roasted garlic. It was a little odd.

My hubby ordered a side chopped salad that was very large for a labeled "small" portion. He thoroughly enjoyed it. For our entrees, we both ordered the Rigatoni Siciliana. It consisted of grilled chicken, Italian sausage, garlic and wild mushrooms in a pomodoro cream sauce. I thought it needed a fair amount of salt and pepper, but the flavor was good. The grilled chicken was slightly dry and the sausage just had an odd texture. I don't think it was pork sausage. It resembled more the texture of turkey sausage. The portion was generous and after some table seasoning, was quite tasty.

Our server was crap. She left the dirty dishes (bread plates, salad plate, etc) on the table throughout our entire dining experience and never refilled our glasses. The bus gal, however, picked up her slack and refilled our glasses once she saw that the waitress was AWOL. The bad service wasn't enough to keep us from returning. The food was good, served hot and promptly. Next time I'd like to try a ravioli or another stuffed pasta.

Piedmont II - Foster Street, Durham

For date night last Friday, my husband and I decided on Piedmont. It's only a 5 minute or so drive and we knew being earlybirds that we'd have no problem getting a table. For those who may be unfamiliar with Piedmont, it's one of the many home-grown Durham restaurants that utilizes local and organic ingredients. This appears to not be just a fleeting trend in the area, but one that's caught national attention and here for the long run.

Their menu changes nightly, as you can see in their blog-format webpage, but they usually have staples there for a week or two with only a few items changing nightly. The entrees tend to have a somewhat Italian influence and usually have a homemade pasta or risotto. I've enjoyed all of the meals I've had at Piedmont and Friday's was no exception.

We started by sharing a cheese plate of two NC cheeses (green hill and new moon both of cow's milk). They were served with toasted hazelnuts, local peach jam and a heartly raisin-nut bread. Everything was great. I think I might have enjoyed a more neutral bread that allowed the cheese to be a little more of a star, but we ate every bite nonetheless.

For my entree, I had the risotto with roasted zucchini, tomato confit & fresh mozzarella. This was a large platter filled with tender risotto, perfectly cooked zucchini and onions and gobs and gobs of wonderful mozzarella cheese. I seriously loaded up at least 5 or six cheese only bites on my fork!

My husband had the local pasture raised ribeye with bearnaise sauce & pommes frites. His steak was perfectly seasoned (though a little on the rare side since the waiter never asked how he wanted it) and had a lovely light char taste. The fries were awesome. They were light, potatoey and crispy all at the same time. They were perfectly cooked fries both inside and out (which can be hard to find in my opinion).

We shared a chocolate torte with caramel sauce and a vanilla semifreddo. Translation: Rich, dense dark chocolate cake with caramel sauce and creamy vanilla ice cream. It was heavenly. It was rich, but not too sweet and it was the perfect ending to our meal.

Bruschetta chicken panini with orzo salad

I must have been on a sandwich kick yesterday. I was craving a panino and though I do not have a panini press, I do have a george foreman grill. I decided to give it a shot. This sandwich was inspired by a recipe I read over at Pam's place. It was a wonderful combination.
Bruschetta Chicken Panini
Makes 2 panini
Ingredients:
2 to 4 thinly sliced chicken breast pieces
4 slices of bread (I used a light whole wheat)
4 tbsp prepared basil pesto
4 slices mozzarella (I used the good round stuff)
4 slices tomato
Non-stick cooking spray
salt and pepper

Directions:
Sprinkle both sides of chicken with salt and pepper and quickly cook them over med-high heat in a non-stick pan (about 2 minutes per side, depending on thickness). Heat that foreman grill, panini press or waffle iron (if you're adventurous).

Spread 1 tbsp of pesto on one side of each of the bread slices. Pesto side facing up, place 2 slices of cheese on the bread (making the base of the sandwich), follow that with 2 slices of tomato, 2 small chicken pieces, 2 more pieces of cheese and top with the remaining slice of pesto coated bread (facing downward this time).

Spray each side of the sandwich lightly with canola oil spray and put on that grill. Grill until cheese is melty. I think mine took about 4 minutes. I also had to flip mine halfway through because the top doesn't seem to heat like the bottom of my george foreman. Regardless, an extra appliance to make panino is definitely NOT required!

Oh and the orzo salad? I boiled the water while the chicken was cooking and followed my own recipe. I left out the arugula (I didn't have any) so it was a little quicker since I didn't have to reheat it to wilt the stuff.Easy and yummy dinner was ready in about 25 minutes.

Spicy Marinara

Every cook should have their own marinara sauce. I use jarred on occasion when I don't have any of my own in the freezer, but as a general rule, I make mine. We like a non-acidic, slightly spicy, garlicky marinara. I made some this weekend and wrote along my ingredients as I went so that I could share with you.

Jeni's Spicy Marinara
Makes about 40 ounces (12 or so servings)
Ingredients:
35 oz can San Marzano (or other italian whole peeled or crushed tomatoes)
6 oz can tomato paste
5 oz chopped button or crimini mushrooms
1/4 cup chopped roasted red pepper
1 chopped large onion
5 cloves minced garlic
1 tsp chopped fresh rosemary (2 sprigs)
1 tbsp olive oil
1 bay leaf
2 tsp crushed dried basil
1/2 tsp crushed dried oregano
3 tsp salt
1 tsp crushed red pepper
2 tsp sugar

Directions:
Heat oil in a large saute pan or pot (3 quart or higher) over medium heat. Add in onions, mushrooms, 1 tsp of the salt, bay leaf and all herbs (not garlic) and saute until onions are translucent.
This looks intense doesn't it? I learned this from an old friend. Adding dried herbs at this stage helps release their flavor and then impart those flavors into the veggies. While the veggies are sauteing, puree the whole tomatoes, along with their juices, in a large bowl with an immersion blender. Or if you don't have one, use a regular blender or food processor.
Add garlic to the pan, stir well and saute 1 minute more before slowly adding the tomato puree. Add the remaining salt, cover and simmer on low for 30 minutes. Add sugar, tomato paste and water and stir well to smooth out the paste.
Cover and simmer another hour–hour and a half. Uncover and salt to taste (I didn't need any more salt). Serve atop your favorite pasta. I sauteed some leftover grilled chicken breast and spinach, mixed in the sauce and we had it over angel hair. We had this with a light cucumber salad and fresh homemade garlic rosemary bread!