Maggiano's Little Italy - St. Louis, Mo

Maggiano's Little Italy

I would have to say my all time favorite food is Italian food. I especially love pasta, so when I visit an Italian restaurant I usually opt for something with pasta. This visit was no exception! I had never been to Maggiano's Little Italy before this trip. Amanda and I were in St. Louis on a Friday during Lent so we were in search of something yummy that did not consist of fish. 

I searched the menus of various Italian restaurants in St. Louis and found Maggiano's has Eggplant Parmesan on their menu. Amanda and I both love this so away we went.

Upon entering the building I was immediately impressed. The restaurant, even though quite large, had a very warm and cozy feeling. A place you could have a nice romantic dinner or celebrate a special occasion. I'm pretty sure I saw Lady and the Tramp off in a corner enjoying a bowl of pasta together at their red and white checkered table.

When we were first seated, our waitress brought out fresh warm bread! We took advantage of the olive oil and parmesan cheese on the table and used it to dip our bread. Yummy! 

For the first course, Amanda and I shared the spinach salad. After a few moderations...no bacon (lent), and sub provolone cheese for blue. The dressing was sweet and a little tangy, and was very delicious. I would like to try this again sometime with the bacon!

For an appetizer, we picked the Margherita Flatbread. It was the only option with no meat. I could have probably made a meal of just the flatbread and salad. After my dinner arrived however, I was soo glad I didn't!

After enjoying a little too much of the flatbread and salad, this giant beast of a meal came out piping hot and ready for me to dig in. This is the eggplant parmesan with marinara sauce on top of spaghetti with pomodoro sauce. This was so delicious, I wish I had more room in my belly to eat more than the few bites that I did! Amanda and I both ordered this so that is why there is only one entree pictured.

There is always room for dessert right? Well...not really but I guess I can try right? Amanda decided on the chocolate zocatto cake filled with chocolate mousse. This mountain of cake would have been enough for a small family to share!

I love Tiramisu, so of course that is what I ordered. After all, I get the opportunity to order chocolate cake more than I do the Tiramisu. Once again I was soo happy with my choice. Again, I could only consume a few bites of the espresso soaked lady fingers and mascerpone cheese, but it tasted just as good the next day fresh from my fridge.

A great deal from Maggiano's - we got to order a second meal of our choice to take home! Two for the price of one. You can't do any better than that! I chose Fettuccini Alfredo and when I reheated it the next day I added some sun dried tomatoes. I love them! This was very good as well!

Maggiano's Little Italy was a great find! I can't wait to go back there again. Maggiano's had so much to offer, a great ambiance, wonderful food, plentiful portions and great prices! The original Maggiano's is located in Chicago. Hopefully one day I can check out the restaurant where it all started!

Home made Pico de Gallo

Pico de Gallo!

Pico de Gallo, that yummy stuff that you get at the Mexican restaurants on the side, or on your nachos, and at Taco Bell when you order your food "Fresco" style. I love it, however, I don't love heat so my version does not contain any type of heat. You are more than welcome to add your favorite heat source however! My version of Pico contains Roma tomatoes, bell pepper, half an onion, fresh chopped cilantro, juice from a fresh squeezed lime and some fresh chopped garlic. Be careful not to overpower with onion. Just chop up your ingredients and mix together. Let all the flavors marinate a couple hours if possible to get the best flavor.

Enjoy!

Jamie

Eggplant Parmigiana

One of my all time favorite dishes from one of my all time favorite restaurants, The Olive Garden, is Eggplant Parmigiana. The closest OG is an hour away from me in Springfield, Il. Needless to say, I don't get there very often :( I decided if I can't go to the eggplant, I will bring the eggplant to me!

This was my first attempt making this dish and I must say I was quite pleased with it...watch out Olive Garden! lol I thought at first it was going to be complicated to make, but it actually turned out quite easy. 

First, I sliced my eggplant into to about 1/4 inch slices and then soaked in salt water for about 20 minutes. After their salt bath, I rinsed off the eggplant. While the eggplant were soaking, I prepped my coating for it. For the coating I used plain breadcrumbs which I spiced up with some garlic salt and italian seasoning, and an egg/milk wash. I double coated each one to ensure the eggplant would be nice and crunchy. I tossed the double coated eggplant in the the oven and cooked until nice and crispy. I then added some pasta sauce and mozzarella cheese to each one and back in the oven they went until the sauce was bubbly and the cheese was melty. I served the eggplant with a side of pasta and sauce, just like the Olive Garden!

You can use your favorite kind of spaghetti sauce. If you are really feeling energetic, you could even make your own sauce. I would suggest if you make your own sauce though to start that much earlier in the day or your eggplant will get soggy waiting for all those Romas to simmer!

Suggested sides: Garlic bread and/or Salad!

Bon Appetite!

Jamie :)

Blueberry turnovers

Blueberry Turnovers

1 Roll of refrigerated crossiants

1 can of bluberry pie filling (sub any flavor of filling)

1 C Powdered sugar

2 TB Milk

Pull apart croissants as you would if you were making croissants. Add pie filling and fold over croissant. Bake according to package until golden brown and then glaze.

Glaze:

Mix powdered sugar and milk. Add more milk if you want a thinner glaze.

Mini Blueberry Hand Pies

Mini Blueberry Pies

For Christmas I made a couple of pies for dessert. Being short on time, and frankly just too darn lazy to make the real thing, I used the lovely pre-made pie crusts found in the refrigerated items at the grocery store. I'm not sure how it happened, but I ended up with 1 crust left. As it turns out, I also grabbed a blueberry pie filling instead of cherry for my pie. So, I had one crust and one can of blueberry pie filling to work with. Not much you can do with that! 

Using a glass (of course most people would probably use a round cookie cutter) I cut out as many round mini crusts as I could. When I ran out of room to cut more circles, I rolled up the dough and flattened it out again and cut more circles.

Once my circles were all cut out, I added some of the blueberry pie filling to one side of the pie. If you add too much, it will make it difficult to fold over and close up your pie, so you will just need to figure out how to adjust your filling accordingly. Fold the crust over and press the edges closed. You can also use an egg wash to help it adhere a little better if you want. I was again being lazy, so i did not. Bake at 350 until the crust is golden brown.

Once the pies were done I topped each one with a simple powdered sugar glaze. Voila! Pie was born!