Zucchini & Carrot a Scapece (Antipasti) grazie a Giada

This is the last of the new recipes I tried for our most recent bookclub meeting. Another suprisingly delicious antipasti. I had never had this before but it had the kind of flavors that one bite is just not enough of. This recipe is also from her "Everyday Pasta" book. It is pretty simple as well.

Ingredients:

6 TBS extra-virgin olive oil

5 large zucchini (about 2 pounds), cut in 1/4-inch rounds

Salt and freshly ground black pepper

3 garlic cloves, thinly sliced

1/4 cup fresh basil leaves, chopped

1/4 cup fresh mint leaves, chopped (I left these out and it was still wonderful)

10 medium carrots (about 1 pound), peeled and cut in 1/4-inch rounds

1/4 cup red wine vinegar

Heat 1/3 cup oil in a heavy large frying pan over medium-high heat. Working in batches, add the zucchini and fry until golden, about 2 minutes per side. Using a slotted spoon, transfer the fried zucchini to a baking dish. Sprinkle generously with salt and pepper. Sprinkle half of the garlic, basil, and mint leaves over the zucchini.

Add the remaining oil to the frying pan. Add the carrots to the hot oil and saute until golden, about 5 minutes. Using a slotted spoon, transfer the fried carrots to the dish of zucchini. Sprinkle generously with salt and pepper. Sprinkle the remaining garlic, basil, and mint leaves over. Drizzle the vinegar over the vegetable mixture and toss gently to coat. Cool to room temperature. Cover and marinate in the refrigerator overnight. Allow the vegetables to come to room temperature before serving. Transfer the scapece to a platter. Serve with bread, fish or chicken.

RAVIOLI FRITO & ANTIPASTI - Giada De Laurentiis Style

Remember I said for my turn hosting book club I went with an italian theme for the food. It was a surprisingly simple and delicious experience. I just turned to Giada. I speak of her as if she is my friend...actually I feel like she is...her cookbooks are very user friendly for thos

e of us who aren't familiar with italian cuisine beyond spagetti and lasgna. I took all my recipes from her "Everyday Pasta" book. This first one is delicious and appears once platted that it takes great effort but looks are deceiving. It is nothing but easy and even better nothing but yummy! I had every plan to make a homemade marinara sauce but at crunch

time I went with Napa ValleyBistro Homemade-style marinara sauce by Mezzetta. I am so glad I did because it was unbelievably good for a store bought or homemade sauce and was the perfect complement to my ravioli frito. This recipe is a new family favorite.

Ingredients:
Olive oil, for frying
1 cup buttermilk
2 cups Italian-style bread crumbs
1 box store-bought cheese ravioli (about 24 ravioli)
1/4 cup freshly grated Parmesan
1 jar store bought marinara sauce, heated, for dipping
Directions
Pour enough olive oil into a large frying pan to reach a depth of 2 inches. Heat the oil over medium heat until a deep-fry thermometer registers 325 degrees F.
While the oil is heating, put the buttermilk and the bread crumbs in separate shallow bowls. Working in batches, dip ravioli in buttermilk to coat completely. Allow the excess buttermilk to drip back into the bowl. Dredge ravioli in the bread crumbs. Place the ravioli on a baking sheet, and continue with the remaining ravioli.
When the oil is hot, fry the ravioli in batches, turning occasionally, until golden brown, about 3 minutes. Using a slotted spoon, transfer the fried ravioli to paper towels to drain.
Sprinkle the fried ravioli with Parmesan and serve with a bowl of warmed marinara sauce for dipping.