Pairing Pasta with your favorite Italian Wine

Pasta is a tasty and nutritious food that goes great with just about anything, including a great Italian wine.

During the holidays, many of us like to entertain and it's a good time to have friends over for a dinner. Pasta is great for dinner parties because it's so easy to prepare yet can be as elegant or as simple as you like. Choose a great bottle of wine and it will make any dinner special.

When choosing an Italian wine for your pasta, you will want to keep the flavor of the whole dish in mind. For instance, a pasta dish with a simple tomato-based sauce goes well with Chianti or any Italian red variety. A Sangiovese is an excellent choice for a heavy flavored sauce.

On the other hand, if you are serving a plain pasta with just a bit of herbs and olive oil or tossed with a lighter sauce, you may want to try a white Italian variety. Many people think the best Italian wines are red, but there are some excellent white varieties as well. A Soave or Tocai Friuliano are both nice, dry white wines that will not overpower the dish.

If you are serving seafood, the Pigato wind from from Liguria is an excellent choice. For a slightly more complex recipe, such as a Spaghetti alla Carbonara or a Fettuccine all'Alfredo, a fine Viognier is a perfect choice. The rare white is a great complement to those egg or butter based dishes. Or, test a fine Pinot Grigio and see which you prefer.

It is all about personal taste, so pick an Italian wine you prefer and enjoy!

Learn more about Italian Wine varieties...

Easy Italian Dinners from your Crockpot

Nothing beats a slow cooker as a time saver for the busy cook.

If you spend your days working at the office, its wonderful to come home and open the door to the delicious aroma of a dinner ready to eat. For those who work at home, or the hardworking moms home all day with little children, a crockpot can be a great time saving tool.

Slow cooking is the perfect way to braise meat and it can tenderize even the most inexpensive cuts. But if you think crockpots are only for beef stew, you would be surprised by how many delicious Italian dishes can be made in a crockpot.

Many of you already know that soups and stews are easy to do in a slow cooker, but have you ever tried lasagna? With a little imagination you would be surprised what you can cook up in a crockpot.

Now keep in mind, if you have a newer model it will cook hotter than the older versions due to more stringent food safety regulations. I did not realize this when I first bought my new crockpot and burned a few things before learning to adjust the times.

The best thing about these new crockpots, however, is the programmable timer. This is a great advantage for anyone who uses their crockpot when they are not home. You set the temperature and cooking time, and the crockpot will revert to a warming setting for up to 4 hours after the cooking time is finished. This has saved me from burning many dinners!

If you don't have a crockpot, you need to get one. They are not old fashioned devices our grandmothers used to use. These are invaluable tools for the busy, modern cook!

Here are some other Italian crockpot recipes ...

My first indoor garden with the Aerogarden!

Anyone who likes to cook and shop in home and cooking stores like me, must have seen the Aerogarden indoor garden. I have always wanted to give one a try because I love the idea of fresh herbs and tomatoes all year long. I live in Colorado so I can't grow these year-round outside.

Of course I love the idea of fresh herbs as I am always cooking with them, but I was intrigued by the idea of cherry tomatoes. I love to grow these in the summer and toss them in my salads, and where I live, tomatoes in the winter are terrible. They cannot compare to vine ripened, freshly picked tomatoes from your garden!

Yes, I know you can grow herbs in the winter an indoor window garden, but there are some advantages to the Aerogarden. My little house only has one window with enough sunlight to sustain any plants - and the cats have claimed this window! The Aerogarden has a few other advantages as well that interested me.

1. It uses hydroponics, therefore no messy soil.
   
2. It has its own lighting system perfect for growing plants, so you can put it anywhere.
   
3. If you are serious about buying organic, it will save you money in the long run.
   
4. The aerogarden comes equipped with everything you need and creates a perfect growing environment, therefore you don't have to have a green thumb to enjoy fresh herbs, vegetables or flowers. Some people buy the small unit with flowers to put on their desk at work to enjoy a little nature indoors.
   

I have always had pretty good success with my outdoor garden, but my indoor plants are fairly embarassing. It seems when I come inside, I leave my green thumb outside, therefore I was pretty excited that they pretty much guarantee anyone success.

Well, I just got mine (early Christmas present) and I am setting it up now.

I am growing Italian herbs (of course) and cherry tomatoes. I will keep you posted over the next several weeks and let you know if the Aerogarden is as good as it sounds.

If you want to give this a try too, many stores sell these now but you can buy one online if you can't find any in your area.

AeroGrow Classic AeroGarden with Gourmet Herb Seed Kit, Black

Top 10 Easy Italian Cooking Tips

I love Italian food because it is so easy to create flavorful dishes that seem complicated, but are actually quite easy. Professional chefs know the "tricks of the trade" to create rich, intensely flavorful dishes. By following a few tips from top chefs, you can make flavorful dishes just like the pros.

1. Using pre-made tomato sauce. Store bought tomato sauce is an easy alternative to making your own, but your own homemade sauce will taste much better. The great thing about tomato sauce is they can be made in advance and kept frozen for months. Thaw, reheat and toss onto freshly cooked pasta for a quick meal.
   
   
2. Don’t be afraid to experiment. Good cooks are never afraid to deviate from a recipe and add their own flair. While trying a recipe, take notes whenever you make a substitution or addition, so you will remember next time whether you liked the change or not.
   
   
3. Keep chicken stock handy. Homemade chicken stock is easy to make and adds a wonderful flavor to soups and sauces. Keep it handy by making in advance and storing in your freezer. Canned chicken stock is handy to keep in your panty as well, though it won't taste as good. Be sure to use the unsalted so you control the salt in your finished dish.
   
   
4. Add a little zest. When a recipe calls for a “zest” of a citrus fruit, it’s referring to the colorful outer part of the skin, not the inner white part, which is known as the pith. The zest contains all of the aromatic citrus oils and provides a hint of citrus tang to the recipe. Use a "zester" or "microplante" to easily zest your fruit.
   
   
5. Reduce the power of garlic and onions. You can get a milder flavor of garlic and onions by sautéing them in olive oil for a few minutes prior to adding them to other foods. This will release their natural sweetness and give a wonderful flavor.
   
   
6. Use Italian wine to add a flavor to dishes. Italian wine is another way, along with herbs and spices, of flavoring your dishes. Which wine you use depends upon your own taste, but a general rule is to cook with a wine you would like to drink with the finished dish. Don’t worry about the alcohol content of the finished dish; wine loses its alcohol when simmered long enough or cooked at high temperature as you deglaze your pan.
   
   
7. Use caramelized onions to add flavor. Caramelized onions are a delicious way to add flavor to mashed potatoes, vegetables, soups and sauces. Fortunately you can easily make some ahead and keep in the refrigerator until needed. Their sweet flavor is delicious on sandwiches or pizza.
   
   
8. Peel garlic easily. Peeling garlic can be frustrating unless you know this little tip that the pros use. Lay a clove flat on a hard surface and then press down hard on it with the flat side of a large knife. The garlic will “pop” out of the peel easily but even with this trick your fingers will smell like garlic. To prevent smelly hands, use a garlic peeler.
   
   
9. Cook with fresh herbs. Fresh herbs are best for flavor. If a recipe doesn’t specify fresh or dried, you can assume it means dried, since dried herbs are much more commonly used. Triple the amount and use fresh herbs.
   
   
10. Add garlic to oils. Olive oil that has been flavored with garlic provides a quick and easy way to add some punch to salad dressings, vegetables and meats. Add crushed garlic cloves to olive oil while it is heating to add flavor. You can also find garlic olive oil in many grocery stores as well as specialty shops.
    

I hope these tips inspire you to be creative in your kitchen and enjoy some delicious homemade meals!

Looking for Holiday Gift ideas? Try some Italian food gifts.

If you have been shopping lately, you will have noticed the holiday shopping madness has begun! I like to get my shopping done early and avoid the crowds as much as possible. Traffic jams and crowded malls can really take the joy at of my Christmas spirit and I have found many ways in recent years to create as stress free a holiday as possible.

One way to avoid the crowds is to shop online. There are some excellent places to shop online and the Internet can really be a great time saver! For those people who have everything and you just have no idea what to get them, try an Italian Food Gift Basket filled with pasta, sauces and wine. Everyone loves food and loves to splurge at the holidays. Heck, the diet can wait until New Years. Send an Italian vacation with one of these authentic, luxurious Italian Gift Baskets from GourmetGiftBaskets.com

Since the economy has hit so many people hard this year, you may also want to consider some homemade gifts. One of my favorite gifts for Christmas is my homemade Italian Seasoning made from the herbs from my herb garden. I dry the last harvest from my garden in late October and put these gifts together in November. There is nothing like the flavor and aroma of homegrown herbs, and this dried seasoning will stay fresh for several months.

Herbs are so easy to grow and make a great gift. Go to a local hobby or kitchen store and look for some nice glass containers. Fill with your own Italian seasoning, and you may want to tie a little recipe card to the top for an easy gift.

Here is my Italian Seasoning recipe:

This makes enough for 1 spice bottle - about the size you find in the grocery store, so adjust recipe depending upon how many bottles you are making.

2 tablespoons dried basil
1 tablespoon dried oregano
1 tablespoon dried thyme
1 tablespoon dried marjoram
1 teaspoon dried sage
1 teaspoon dried rosemary

Mix all dried herbs together and pour through a funnel into your container. It should be stored in airtight container and placed in a cool, dark dry place to preserve the flavor as long as possible.

For another homemade gift idea, try my Italian Pasta Soup in a jar. It is a fun and easy gift idea that will warm up your family or friends this winter.

One good thing that has come out of the current economic troubles is the return of some old fashion values. People are being more careful about their spending and giving gifts that have more meaning. The Christmas and holiday season are really about family, love and faith; not about spending money you don't have. If money is tight for you this year, try making some Christmas gifts that come from your heart. The people who receive them will appreciate them so much more.

Happy holidays!
Joyce