Italian cooking

Don has become good friends with a business associate, Harald, who is from Austria. Harald's parents are Italian. So Harald came over for dinner last week & brought the fixings for a real Italian meal he was cooking for us! He did his shopping at Walmart, which he loves (no Walmarts in Austria), so he had to make a few substitutions. First he made bruschetta. It was fabulous! A meal in itself (but we did save room for the pasta).



The toppings for bruschetta vary, but Harold's version started with sauteing onions in a generous amount of olive oil. He added in some wild mushrooms (Chanterelles??), garlic, white wine, diced onion, hot sauce, chopped ham, Italian herb mix & Parmesan cheese.





Then he put it in a 400 degree oven until browned & topped with a little more cheese . . .



Then he made pasta sauce. Again more onions & garlic sauteing in olive oil. Then more white wine. He added a jar of pasta sauce & a large can of diced tomatoes. He seasoned it with more Italian herb mix, creole seasoning, soy sauce, chipotle chili powder, salt & pepper. At the end he added in shrimp. And he seasoned the pasta water with crushed garlic cloves, salt & Italian seasoning.











Zeke was hoping Harold would drop something on the floor.











Finally he mixed the pasta & sauce together into one large pot.



Daniel summed up the evening when he said "Someone at work asked me if I'd work for him tonight. Now I'm glad I said no." Thanks Harald! The leftovers were great too!