Kelli's Kitchen

Fathers Day Antipasto

Like most men, my husband loves meat and potatoes.  He has been a great sport with how I have changed our eating habits and rarely ever complains about dinner.  His favorite type of food is anything Italian, and when we were first married, I made pasta all the time.  I have since cut pasta dishes down to about once a week and it's usually whole wheat pasta.  Again, he never complains but on the occasion when I make something from the old days, his face is priceless.  This fathers day I am going to share some of his favorite dishes.  These little antipasto appetizers are great.  They are easy to make, great at a party or just to eat as dinner. This is a man-favorite in my house.

Ingredients:
Sliced salami
Cherry tomatoes
Marinated artichokes hearts
Fresh mozzarella pearls
Salt and Pepper

Directions:
Pre-heat oven to 350'.  Using a greased muffin pan, place salami in the pan, making a cup shape. Bake in the oven for 8 to 10  minutes or until crispy.  Let the salami cups cool. Mix the other ingredients in a small bowl. Place mixture in each cup. 
 

Not exactly stuffed Tilapia

Well, this recipe started out as stuffed tilapia but very quickly turned into something different.  This happens a lot when I start a recipe from scratch.  It all started with wanting to make fish for dinner but I also needed to use up some greens I had in the fridge, so the idea of stuffed fish was born.  I thought I would use a similar stuffing as in stuffed chicken. Unfortunately once I got the stuffing done and was ready to roll the fish, I realized my fish were too small and cut up the middle. This made rolling them impossible.  So, I decided to dump all the stuffing on top and this recipe was born.  I completed the dish with some couscous, YUM!  Not the prettiest picture I know, but it honestly tasted great!


Ingredients
4 tilapia fillets
2 tablespoons olive oil
Salt and Pepper
1 cup fresh spinach
1 cup fresh kale
2 cloves garlic minced
1 cup feta cheese
1/2 cup panko bread crmbs
2 tablespoons kalamata olives chopped (can omit or add another kind of olive)
1/2 cup Parmesan cheese

Directions
Pre-heat oven to 375 degrees.
In a large sauce pan heat oil over medium high heat.  Add spinach and kale and season with salt and pepper.  Cook the greens down until they are wilted and have decreased by half.  Add the garlic, feta, bread crumbs and olives, cook for another minute.   Turn heat off.

Prepare your fillets in a small baking dish, place them very close together so that they are touching. Salt and Pepper your fillets.  Place the greens mixture on top of the fillets.  Spread it evenly over all the fillets.  Sprinkle with the Parmesan.  Bake in the oven for 8-10 minutes or until fish is cooked through.

Lemon Pasta

Lemons always remind me of my parents and the first year their lemon tree produced an abundance of lemons.  They were so proud, and at least once a week by skype they would show me their lemons.  Though I was impressed, I did begin to tease them about their lemons.  Actually, everyone started to tease them.  Since then I always chuckle at the site of a lemon.  This is one of our favorite lemon recipe.  It's just a great light spring time recipe.

Ingredients
1 box angel hair pasta
1/4 cup olive oil
2 tablespoons butter
3 garlic cloves minced
1 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes
Zest of 1 lemon
Juice of 3 lemons
1 tablespoon basil leaves chopped



Cook pasta according to box instructions.  Heat a sauce pan on low, heat olive oil and butter until butter is melted.  Add garlic, lemon zest, and red pepper flakes.  Heat until garlic becomes fragrant. Depending on your stove this can take 5 to 8 minutes. Turn off heat and let sit until pasta is done.  Drain pasta.

In a large bowl add pasta,olive oil and butter sauce, lemon juice, and basil.  Toss and sprinkle with Parmesan cheese.  Serve immediately.