Fast Italian Stew Food

EASY ITALIAN STEW

Steps:

• Heat dressing in large saucepan on medium heat. Add sausage; cook 8 to 10 min. or until done, stirring occasionally to break into small pieces. Drain.
• Add broth, stir-fry vegetables, beans and tomatoes; bring to boil. Stir in macaroni; simmer on medium heat 8 to 10 min. or until macaroni is tender, stirring occasionally.
• Top with cheese.

SICILIAN-STYLE FISH STEW RECIPE

Steps:

• Heat 1 tbsp olive oil in 5-quart Dutch oven (like this one) over medium heat. Add onions, celery, and a little salt and pepper (about 1/2 tsp each). Cook, stirring regularly, until softened (about 4 minutes). Add thyme, red pepper flakes and garlic and cook briefly until fragrant (about 30 more seconds).
• Now, stir in the white wine and reserved tomato juice from can. Bring to a simmer, and cook until the liquid is reduced by about 1/2. Add the tomatoes, vegetable broth, raisins, and capers. Cook for 15-20 minutes over medium heat until flavors combine.
• Pat the fish dry and season lightly with salt and pepper. Insert the fish pieces into the cooking liquid, and give everything a gentle stir so that the fish pieces are nicely covered in the cooking liquid. Bring to a simmer and cook for another 5 minutes. Remove the Dutch oven from the heat and cover. Let sit off heat for another 4-5 minutes so that the fish will finish cooking. Fish should be flaky when gently pulled apart with a paring knife. Finally, stir in the chopped parsley.
• Ladle the hot fish stew into serving bowls, top each with a few toasted pine nuts, if you like. Serve with your favorite crusty bread! Enjoy!

CHICKEN STEW

Steps:

• Heat the oil in a heavy 5 1/2-quart saucepan over medium heat. Add the celery, carrot, and onion. Saute the vegetables until the onion is translucent, about 5 minutes. Season with salt and pepper, to taste. Stir in the tomatoes with their juices, chicken broth, basil, tomato paste, bay leaf, and thyme. Add the chicken breasts; press to submerge.
• Bring the cooking liquid to a simmer. Reduce the heat to medium-low and simmer gently uncovered until the chicken is almost cooked through, turning the chicken breasts over and stirring the mixture occasionally, about 25 minutes. Using tongs, transfer the chicken breasts to a work surface and cool for 5 minutes. Discard the bay leaf. Add the kidney beans to the pot and simmer until the liquid has reduced into a stew consistency, about 10 minutes.
• Discard the skin and bones from the chicken breasts. Shred or cut the chicken into bite- size pieces. Return the chicken meat to the stew. Bring the stew just to a simmer. Season with salt and pepper, to taste.
• Ladle the stew into serving bowls and serve with the bread.
• Serving suggestion: crusty bread.

SIMPLE SICILIAN BEEF STEW

Steps:

• Preheat a large Dutch oven over medium-high heat and oven to 300 degrees F with racks in lower third and upper third of oven.
• Pat meat dry and season with salt and pepper. Add some olive oil to the pan, 1 turn of the pan, melt about a tablespoon of butter into oil and when it foams, add about a third of the meat. Brown evenly on all sides and remove, then repeat with more oil and butter as needed and removing meat to platter or tray as you work. Add remaining oil and butter and when butter foams add the onions, fennel and garlic, bay, citrus and rosemary. Partially cover and soften about 10 minutes. Add tomato paste, then stir and add wine. Reduce 2 to 3 minutes, then add beef, stock, semi-dried or sundried tomatoes, olives and chile flakes or paste. Cover and place in oven for about 2 hours until very tender.
• Arrange the Roma tomatoes on a small baking sheet, dress with EVOO, thyme, salt and pepper and slow roast them along with the meat, for 2 hours.
• Serve beef on a platter topped with tomatoes or in shallow bowls atop Polenta or potatoes.
• Heat water and milk in a saucepan to a low boil, then whisk in cornmeal and season with salt and pepper. Cook 35 to 40 minutes, whisking occasionally, until thickened and creamy to taste. Stir in butter to serve.

BONNIE'S ITALIAN STEW

Steps:

• Preheat the oven to 450 degrees F.
• For the meatballs:
• Pour the milk over bread and soak to soften.
• Place the meat in a mixing bowl and add the cheese, EVOO, fennel, crushed red pepper, garlic, egg, parsley, salt and pepper.
• Squeeze the excess milk from the bread and crumble into crumbs as you add it to the meat. Combine the meatball mix and roll into 2-inch balls. Place the meatballs on nonstick baking sheet sprayed with olive oil spray and roast until browned but not fully cooked, 10 to 12 minutes.
• For the stew:
• Meanwhile, heat the EVOO in a large Dutch oven over medium heat. Add the garlic, onions and bay, and season with salt and pepper. Cook until translucent, stirring occasionally, 10 to 15 minutes. Then add the tomato paste and stir until fragrant. Add the beef stock and tomatoes, then break up the tomatoes with a potato masher. Add the basil, potatoes and meatballs and bring to a boil. Reduce the heat back to medium, partially cover and cook 10 minutes. Add the green beans and cook 7 to 8 minutes more.
• Serve, or cool completely and store for make-ahead meal. Reheat over a medium-low flame, partially covered, stirring occasionally (or reheat in a 325 degree F oven) until sauce is bubbly.
• To serve, top shallow bowls of stew with cheese and an extra drizzle of EVOO.

ITALIAN-STYLE BEEF STEW

Steps:

• In a large saucepan, cook onion and garlic in olive oil for 5 mins until softened and turning golden. Tip in the beef strips, pepper, tomatoes and rosemary, then bring to the boil. Simmer for 15 mins until the meat is cooked through, adding some boiling water if needed. Stir through the olives and serve with mash or polenta.