European Cuisine Recipes

From EatingWell

This is a traditional Sicilian dessert for the hot weather. It starts with an icy espresso granita ("little grains" in Italian). The crystals are scraped up with a fork and served with a dollop of whipped cream.

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From EatingWell

Creamy Gorgonzola polenta (Italian cornmeal "porridge") is topped with a tender squash saute for a complete vegetarian meal. Once you know how easy polenta is to make, you may want to experiment with other Italian-style sauces and toppings. Make it a meal: Serve with crusty garlic bread and a garden salad.

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From EatingWell

This easy uncooked sauce is perfect on a hot summer night. You can serve it right away, but it tastes even better if everything marinates for an hour or so. To feed more people, simply add a little more of each ingredient-especially the tomatoes. Halved cherry tomatoes are a nice alternative to field tomatoes.

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From EatingWell

During the autumn season in Italy, turkey is often deliciously paired with a stuffing of chestnuts and sausage. The wild turkey was brought to Europe from the New World, and once domesticated, returned there to breed as the classic festive bird. It also became one of the large courtyard fowl animals in Lombardy. With Italy being one of the largest producers of chestnuts, it was expedient to put the two together in another happy marriage of New and Old World.

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From EatingWell

A frittata is a baked omelet, far easier because it lacks that pesky step of flipping it. Frittatas appeared on the Saturnia, a fashionable Italian cruise ship in the post-WWII years. The dish was an elegant lunch on transatlantic crossings and became a U.S. craze when The New York Times ran the first English-language recipe in 1952.

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From EatingWell

The delicate flavors of cucumber and watermelon go hand in hand to create a sweet-and-savory chilled soup, perfect as a first course on a hot night.

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From EatingWell

Puffy, chewy-crisp and fragrant with fresh herbs, this Parmesan focaccia goes well with soups, stews and, of course, Italian-style fare. Be sure to use only fresh herbs and avoid the temptation to stir them into the dough (sprinkle them over it); many herbs, including the ones called for here, inhibit yeast growth when they're combined in the dough. The dough bakes on the lowest rack in a very hot oven to simulate the hearth baking that is traditional for focaccia. Recipe by Nancy Baggett for EatingWell.

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From Vegetarian Times

Feel free to substitute your favorite cheese or a good melting vegan cheese, such as Vegan Gourmet Cheese Alternatives (a VT fave), in place of the Gruyere.

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From Vegetarian Times

Talk about a fusion of world cuisines! Cubes of avocado are folded into chimichurri--an Argentinean sauce made of chopped parsley, cilantro, garlic, vinegar, and oil--to create a Latin variation on bruschetta, a classic Italian starter.

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From EatingWell

When a whole bird is just too much--time and effort, as well as size--there is a quicker, simpler way: what's known in French cuisine as a roulade. Using a boneless turkey breast, butterflied and flattened, you can serve a beautiful spiral of juicy meat.

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From EatingWell

This chunky, full-bodied sauce is a good match for hearty whole-wheat pasta. We've augmented a little lean ground beef with mushrooms to get a rich, meaty sauce that has a minimum of saturated fat.

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From Vegetarian Times

Pistou is a fragrant sauce of garlic, basil, and olive oil that's related to Italian pesto. Here, it is stirred into a Provencal soup at the last minute. The heat of the soup releases the flavors of the garlic and basil without cooking them.

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From EatingWell

Fresh spring greens are set off by a dressing that takes its cue from the classic bouillabaisse flavoring, a nutty, creamy, garlicky melange that's stirred into the salad just before it's served.

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From Better Homes and Gardens

This hearty beef stew boasts the flavors of Greece. Serve over couscous for a complete meal.

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From EatingWell

Astoundingly good for minimal effort, this makes an indulgent weekend breakfast or anyday dessert. A judicious smear of mascarpone (half the fat of butter) is part of the luxury, but even lighter low-fat cream cheese will work as well. The real secret is warming the berries just enough to make the flavor bloom and transform their juices into a rosy syrup.

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From EatingWell

Grill the vegetables for this refreshing soup earlier in the day or even the night before. We sometimes serve the gazpacho in clear Spanish wine tumblers to show off the rich color.

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From Better Homes and Gardens

Saffron and lamb, mainstays of Spanish cooking, go wonderfully well together in this kabob dinner. Keep unused saffron in an airtight container in a cool, dark place to prolong its freshness.

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From EatingWell

Provence, in southeast France, has earned the culinary trademark a la Provencal for dishes prepared with plenty of garlic, olive oil and olives. Here we combine fennel, artichoke hearts, edamame, feta and olives in this quick and hearty one-skillet supper.

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From EatingWell

Superfine angel hair and delicate scallops are coated with a light lemon, white wine and caper sauce.

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From EatingWell

Italian ragus tend to be long-simmered dishes, but a French ragout is a quicker affair, a thick, cheesy stew. Tossed over pasta, this one is a true fusion, a halfway point between ragu and ragout.

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From EatingWell

In this salad, saucy, lemony beans stand in for a warm dressing, coating the arugula and wilting it just a bit to mellow its naturally assertive character. Add a piece of warm crusty bread and a glass of crisp white wine to make this an excellent light supper.

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From EatingWell

Rich, red-wine-infused risotto is served as a first course or side dish all over Northern Italy. The type of wine used varies according to region. In Piedmont, a local Barbera or Barbaresco is the wine of choice. Any dry red wine that's good enough to drink can be used in its place.

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From Vegetarian Times

Caramel and coconut pair well.

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From EatingWell

Couscous, which is actually a type of tiny pasta, makes an almost-instant side dish. Happily, the whole-wheat variety is just as fast to prepare as regular couscous. Lemon zest is a delicious accent to nutty Parmesan in this Italian-inspired couscous.

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