Simple Antipasto Recipe Could Become Family Favorite

Dear Merri Lou: I have been looking for a recipe on how to make antipasto. Would you have some recipes? We really enjoy it; it makes a good snack. Thanks, Denise, Spokane

Dear Denise: Check out Italian cookbooks and you’ll find a wide variety of antipasto recipes. Here’s a simple one my family likes.

Antipasto

From the Italian Peasant section of the Appaloosa Health and Vitamin store home page on the World Wide Web (www.liberty.com/home/appaloosa/).

1 small red onion, sliced

8 ounces mushrooms, sliced

1/2 to 1 cup fat-free Italian dressing

Romaine lettuce, cut into bite-size pieces

Iceberg lettuce, torn into bite-size pieces

2 tomatoes, each cut into 8 wedges

1 can artichoke hearts (packed in water), sliced in half

1 (15-ounce) jar roasted red peppers, sliced into narrow strips

3 ounces small pitted black olives

3 tablespoons Parmesan cheese (or Romano or Parmesan/Romano blend)

Dressing:

2 tablespoons balsamic vinegar

1/4 cup extra-virgin olive oil

1/4 cup water

1 tablespoon parsley

1 tablespoon basil

3 cloves garlic, chopped

Coarsely ground black pepper

Place the onions and mushrooms in a bowl and cover with the Italian dressing. Refrigerate overnight.

Whisk the dressing ingredients together (refrigerate if making early).

Place a bed of lettuce approximately 1 inch high on a platter. Arrange tomatoes, artichoke hearts and roasted red peppers on the lettuce. Sprinkle the olives around the platter (you can refrigerate it at this point).

To serve, arrange the marinated onions and mushrooms over the platter and sprinkle the dressing and cheese over everything.

Yield: 6 servings.

Nutrition information per serving, including dressing: 157 calories, 10.84 grams fat (62 percent fat calories), 4 grams protein, 12 grams carbohydrate, 2 milligrams cholesterol, 460 milligrams sodium.

Dear Merri Lou: Several years ago the paper printed a recipe for biscotti. I don’t remember the name, but it did have espresso in it. It was a good recipe. I can’t find it in my collection of recipes. Can you find this one and reprint it? Thank you. - Rosemary, Spokane

Dear Rosemary: Unfortunately, there’s a gap in our recipe files and yours is probably in the missing set. However, here’s a recipe that I think you’ll really like.

Espresso Biscotti

From “Biscotti,” by Lou Seibert Pappas (Chronicle Books, 1992).

2/3 cup blanched slivered almonds

3 tablespoons coffee beans

2 tablespoons Kahlua or double-strength coffee

1/2 cup butter

3/4 cup sugar

2 eggs

2 cups plus 2 tablespoons unbleached or all-purpose flour

1-1/2 teaspoons baking powder

1/4 teaspoon salt

Place almonds in a shallow pan and bake in a preheated 350-degree oven for 7 to 8 minutes, or until golden brown. Let cool.

Grind coffee beans into a fine powder. Place in a small bowl, add Kahlua or coffee and heat in a preheated 325-degree oven for 5 to 7 minutes. Or place in a microwave-safe dish, add Kahlua or coffee and microwave on HIGH 10 to 15 seconds. Set aside.

In a mixing bowl, cream butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Beat in eggs and coffee mixture.

In another bowl, combine the flour, baking powder and salt. Add to the creamed mixture, mixing until blended. Fold in almonds.

Divide dough in half. On a greased and floured baking sheet, pat out into 2 logs about 1/2 inch high, 1-1/2 inches wide and 14 inches long, spacing them at least 2 inches apart (see note). Bake in the middle of a preheated 325-degree oven for 25 minutes or until lightly browned.

Transfer from the baking sheet to a rack. Let cool for 5 minutes. Place on a cutting board. With a serrated knife, slice diagonally at a 45-degree angle about 1/2 inch thick.

Place the slices upright on the baking sheet, 1/2 inch apart, and return to the oven for 10 minutes longer to dry slightly. Let cool on a rack. Store in a tightly covered container.

Yield: 3-1/2 - 4 dozen cookies.

Nutrition information per each of 3-1/2 dozen cookies: 73 calories, 3.58 grams fat (44 percent fat calories), 1 gram protein, 9 grams carbohydrate, 16 milligrams cholesterol, 57 milligrams sodium.

Note: Shape dough into logs with clean, lightly floured hands. If hands become sticky with dough, clean them and re-flour. The dough will be sticky.

Dear Merri Lou: I’d like a recipe for New York cheesecake. Thank you. - Ruth, Spokane

Dear Ruth: This is the classic cheesecake that’s rich, rich, rich. Substitute light cream cheese and sour cream for lower fat content.

New York Cheesecake

From “Simply Celebrating” (Kraft Foods and Meredith Corp., 1997).

1 cup graham cracker crumbs

3 tablespoons sugar

3 tablespoons butter or margarine, melted

5 packages (8 ounces each) cream cheese, softened

1 cup sugar

3 tablespoons flour

1 tablespoon vanilla

3 eggs

1 cup sour cream

1 (21-ounce) can cherry pie filling

Mix crumbs, 3 tablespoons sugar and butter; press onto bottom of 9-inch springform pan. Bake at 350 degrees for 10 minutes.

Mix cream cheese, 1 cup sugar, flour and vanilla with electric mixer on medium speed until well blended. Add eggs, 1 at a time, mixing on low speed after each addition, just until blended. Blend in sour cream. Pour over crust.

Bake 1 hour and 5 minutes to 1 hour and 10 minutes or until center is almost set. Run small knife or metal spatula around rim of pan to loosen cake; cool before removing rim of pan. Refrigerate 4 hours or overnight. Top with pie filling. Store leftovers in refrigerator.

Yield: 14 servings.

Nutrition information per serving: 514 calories, 36 grams fat (63 percent fat calories), 9 grams protein, 40 grams carbohydrate, 149 milligrams cholesterol, 343 milligrams sodium.

, DataTimes MEMO: Have a food question? Looking for a recipe? Merri Lou Dobler, a registered dietitian in Spokane, would like to hear from you. Write to Cook’s Notebook, Features Department, The Spokesman-Review, P.O. Box 2160, Spokane, WA 99210, or e-mail to merrid@spokesman.com. As many letters as possible will be answered in this column; sorry, no individual replies.

The following fields overflowed: CREDIT = Merri Lou Dobler The Spokesman-Review