Italian lunch/4 recipes

Stuffed mushrooms can be very tasty and addictive, but you have to make them right; we don't want the watery and soggy filling with the bland flavor. Follow this recipe that will fix the problems to make some ultimate stuffed mushrooms to impress your family or your friends.

While growing up, my Polish-Russian grandmother, who lived with our family, made these little meat patties quite often and they were a family favorite. Here is my rendition, from what I remember when cooking with Grandma, as she never wrote the recipe down. The patties were always served with mashed potatoes, green beans, applesauce, and, of course, plenty of ketchup for the patties.

Kick up your Independence or Flag day celebration an extra notch by making your own home-made ketchup (catsup) to make your barbecued hot dogs and burgers extra special. This is an easy way to really impress your friends and family and it's much better tasting than store bought varieties.

Halved zucchini stuffed with a savory meat filling, topped with melted cheese.

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Made this Italian grilled cheese with 15-minute tomato soup (see the linked recipe below) for lunch, and what more can I say other than delicious. Grilled cheese and tomato soup are a classic pair, so it always a winner.

This delicious spaghetti sauce is perfect for any type of pasta you like or can be used for sandwiches.

Pannacotta is a bit like like very creamy "Jello", this one is sweetened slightly with sugar and gently flavored with a real vanilla. Panna cotta has roots as an Italian dessert. It is eaten all over Italy typically being served with fresh berries, caramel and chocolate. This recipe was inspired by a recipe in one of Gordon Ramsay's cookbooks.

Our family loves banana muffins. I frequently make a batch of these for quick and easy grab n' go breakfasts during the week.

Roasted vegetables are always a great side dish with grilled or roasted chicken, beef or fish. It's so easy to make, and fresh veggies taste delicious once roasted at its peak.

A classic passover Matzah ball soup that simply delicious. No need to be Jewish to enjoy this chicken soup recipe.

Easy, make-ahead side dish perfect for a barbecue or mid-day lunch.

Quick and easy to make. The spinach and cheddar cheese made a delicious filling for the quesadillas. A quick, tasty and nutrition packed breakfast, lunch or dinner.

A quick and easy quiche, perfect for breakfast or brunch. It was quite rich and flavourful. We had it with a bowl of fresh and light salad that helped cut through the richness and it worked very well.

Excellent and very easy to prepare. The "crust" puffed up wonderfully into a cheesy fluffy topping and the meaty filling (upside down toppings) matched.

Quick, easy and fuss-free. Made this dish for Sean's lunch yesterday, and he absolutely enjoyed it. Followed the recipe, and used some mixed frozen stir-fry veggies we bought from Costco, it was a wonderful combination.