Mambo Italiano

I like food. I like food from many different countries. I like food especially from Italy. Oh, how original. How very exotic of me to like things involving carbs, cheese, and tomatoes.

The problem is that Italian food can be quite overwhelming in the calorie department, at least in its American versions. I have a feeling actual Italians might do things a little healthier, given that I saw mostly quite svelte folks in my two weeks bumming around the place six years ago. I've recently stumbled across a lot of great, healthier ways to do Italian, though, so I thought I'd mention them all in one blog entry.

1) Of course, quite simply, I've mentioned the Flat Out bread pizzas, using those delicious breads for thin-crust pizza. And I've mentioned multiple times about whole-wheat pasta, which I've grown completely accustomed to. I don't even notice a difference, so long as I watch the cooking time a little more carefully than regular. So those are good go-to's.

2) This afternoon, I decided I wanted a flat-out pizza and was out of sauce. I rode my bike (go me!) to the grocery to get some (along with some peppers and onion--staples!). As I looked over my options, I was thinking about how frustrating it is that I never get through a whole jar before it goes bad on me. I considered some of the smaller can options, which are noticeably more expensive. I was looking over ingredient lists as I pondered and noticed that they all have high-fructose corn syrup and other artificial ingredients, so then I got really irked. I looked to my left and saw tomato paste, and found a brand (Contadina) that is "just tomatoes." No extra anything! Well, I thought. Maybe my solution is a small can of tomato paste that I can definitely use before it goes bad--then I can add whatever I want to make it more pizza-sauce-like.

I took a can home, added two cloves of garlic, some Italian seasoning, some oregano, and a little tiny splash of chicken broth to soften it up a bit (you could use olive oil, too). I just ate the pizza using this sauce, and it was fantastic. The tomato paste with seasoning is so much richer and more flavorful than the canned sauce! I love the thickness, too. I used half the can's worth of tomato, so I'll have more for another one later on if I want. Best of all, there's nothing gross added to the sauce--basically a totally natural, preservative-free food! Score!!

2) I also found this recipe for lasagna cupcakes on Hungry Girl. I'm really excited to try this because it sounds simple, delicious, and fun. You could mess around with ingredients a bit, using pasta sauce from the jar (several good brands are relatively natural and without added sugar) instead of the rigamarole she does. I would also use a real egg (or egg white only) instead of Egg Beaters because I just don't dig the Egg Beaters phenomenon. I would also probably go without the meat, personally, but it would be good either way. I'd just add extra peppers or something. But the premise, in whatever form, sounds great. I'm definitely going to try this soon.

3) Then I was flipping through an issue of Prevention magazine and saw this for eggplant parmesan. I posted earlier this summer, I believe, about the ratatouille I made for friends this summer. That was my first experience in cooking with eggplant, and it was wonderful. It's easy to cut, easy to cook, and tasted much better than I would ever have thought in my pre-healthy days. The linked recipe here is a high priority for me to try. I might be a wimp and just use pasta sauce instead of all the work, though. I would also probably halve the recipe so I'm not eating it for a week. But this is definitely a way to eat healthy Italian with lots of healthy vegetables! You could definitely also add meat to this if you wanted.

4) Then, of course, there's the pumpkin gnocchi recipe I mentioned last time that a friend recommended to me. I think that sounds amazing. Gnocchi is something I hadn't even heard of till I went to Italy. After having it for the first time, I was outraged that I had gone 27 years without it. :) I've only tried making it a couple of times here at home, with marginal success, but I'm game to try again!

Going with that is pumpkin pasta bake, which I'm definitely going to try.

My only real problem with these is that I'm so often not home till after 7pm, and then I'm too lazy to cook anything elaborate. I've decided that this madness stops this week. I am going to make a concentrated effort to work on making good, elaborate meals at least two nights this week!! Then I can eat off those for lunch, too. I can definitely make that work on Monday night and Thursday night. For Tuesday and Wednesday, we'll have to wait and see what happens.