Daily Archives: March 12, 2012

Alfredo Sauce

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I was searching for the perfect sauce to go with a supermarket bought ravioli and despite the ravioli being mediocre, I think this alfredo recipe is being added to my all-time favorites. The sauce is slightly thin to really cling to the pasta, has a nice cheese and cream flavor.

Adapted from AllRecipes

  • 1/4 cup butter
  • 1 T olive oil
  • 1 cup heavy cream
  • 1 clove garlic, crushed
  • 3/4 cups freshly grated Parmesan cheese
  • 3/4 cup low-moisture part-skim mozzerella cheese
  • 1/4 cup chopped fresh parsley
Melt butter and olive oil in a medium saucepan over medium low heat and add garlic. Add cream and simmer for 5 minutes, then add parmesean and mozzerella cheese and whisk quickly, heating through. Stir in parsley and serve.

Butter, olive oil and garlic

Simmering cream, parsley and whisking in parmesean and mozzerella cheeses

Add freshly boiled ravioli to alfredo sauce

Fettucine Limone Parmeggiano

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The last time I made Fettucine Al Limon, I really enjoyed the salt of the parmesean and the bright flavor of the lemon. This time I added sour cream to make the cream sauce even more tangy.

Adapted from Cooks.com and My Father’s Daughter

  • 1/2 lb of fettucine
  • 1/4 c. light sour cream
  • 2 lemons (juice and zest)
  • coarse salt
  • 1/2 tsp freshly ground black pepper
  • 2 tbsp. butter, softened
  • 1 tbsp. olive oil
  • 3-5 tbsp. of pasta water, to thin
  • 1 1/2 cups finely grated Parmesan cheese, plus extra for serving

Boil the fettucine in salted boiling water, according to the package directions. Meanwhile, using a microplane, grate the zest from the lemon into a large mixing bowl. Cut the lemon in half and squeeze the juice into the bowl (I like to use the grater as a strainer- one less thing to clean). Add the 1 1/2 cups Parmesean, sour cream, pepper and a pinch of salt, and mix in the olive oil and butter.

When the fettucine is perfectly cooked, drain and 2 or 3 tablespoons of the cooking water to the lemon and cheese mixture. Add the cheese mixture to the pasta. Serve each portion with a sprinkle of coarse salt, a fresh grind of black pepper an a few gratings of extra Parmesean.

Eggplant Parmesan

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Lightly breaded eggplant parmesean doused in tomato sauce and mozzerella cheese is always a welcome entree. It is vegetarian friendly and exceptionally satisfying.

Adapted from AllRecipes and Smitten Kitchen

  • 2 medium eggplants, peeled and thinly sliced into 1/2 inch rounds
  • 1 tablespoon salt
  • 1 egg, beaten
  • 1 1/2 cups plain bread crumbs
  • 2 cups tomato sauce, divided
  • 1 (16 ounce) package shredded mozzarella cheese, divided
  • 1/3 cup grated Parmesan cheese, divided
  1. Heat oven to 350 degrees F (177 degrees C).
  2. Place sliced eggplant in a colander and sprinkle salt over eggplant and let stand 10 minutes; rinse salt and pat dry. Dip eggplant in egg then in bread crumbs. In a hot pan with a tablespoon of olive oil fry the  breaded eggplant, about 5-7 minutes on each side.
  3. Add 1 cup tomato sauce to 9×13 baking dish, half of the eggplant, mozzarella and parmesean cheese; repeat layering process finishing with the cheeses.
  4. Bake for 30 minutes, or until golden brown. Cool 5 minutes before slicing and serving.

Orange Leaf, Andover

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Orange Leaf is an Andover-based frozen yogurt franchise, a fairly new contender in the fro-yo competition pitted against berry line, Tasti-D-Lite and Pinkberry.

The attendant stated that this is the first Orange Leaf in New England, where the next closest one is located in Staten Island. The franchise is well represented in the South and will be growing in the North Shore of Massachusetts, in Newburyport and Salem.

The interior and exterior of the establishment has a orange, green and white color scheme and store fixtures.

To compare with other yogurt shops, Orange Leaf has more ice cream like flavors. I also appreciate how the company indicates when a yogurt is gluten-free.

Our waitress at Andolini’s suggested Orange Leaf to us specifically for the Wedding Cake yogurt flavor.

The price is by weight for $.49/ounce and there are two options for cup sizes, Large and XL. In terms of calories, the yogurt ranges from 28-45 calories an ounce.

Orange Leaf has a great variety of self-serve toppings including Kiwi, Pear, Honey, Mango, Honey Dew, Jelly Bellies, Fruity Pebbles, Dark Chocolate, Sunflower Seed, Marshmallows, Butterfinger and Reeses Cups.

You can sample the whole gamut of 10 or more flavors in store and rotate.  Some of the fun flavors they carry are: birthday cake, blueberry, caramel chocolate, eggnog, gingerbread, grapefruit, lychee, mango, passionfruit, pomegranate, pumpkin pie, raspberry lemonade, red velvet, snickerdoodle, taro and white chocolate.

We tried the coffee and health flavors. We only filled half the smaller cup. The total cost was $3.61 and came with cute orange spoons. The coffee had a nice intensity of flavor and really went well with the caramel crunch of the toffee bar.

Orange Leaf on Urbanspoon

Andolini’s, Andover

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Andolini’s is a moderately priced Italian restaurant in Andover Center. I really enjoyed the ambiance of the candlelit lounge and the spacious wood bar. The twinkle lights in the dining room set the merry atmosphere. The menu has a great selection of Italian dishes and is filled with family style salads, pizzas and pastas.

The kitchen was partially open and had knife and kitchen stencils.

We started off with a glass of syrah and chianti and our server then started us off with bread with oil, red pepper flakes, salt and pepper.

I ordered the Crunchy & Spicy Chick Peas for $4. They were soft on the inside, lightly crispy on the outside and highly addictive. I love fried chickpeas and would order these again.

The family style La Familigia Salad was $5 per person and had a light vinaigrette and fresh cherry tomatoes.

In every nook and cranny of the mushroom ravioli was the flavor of the truffle & parmigiano. It was unbelievably yummy and I really liked that the ravioli was handmade with bits of mushrooms throughout ($18).

The chicken parmesean with ziti was very hearty. The breaded cutlet was covered several times over with melted cheese and parsley ($18). I liked the flavor of the fresh tomato sauce on the pasta.

The service was warm, the food was excellent and the ambiance was comfortable and homey.Andolini's on Urbanspoon