Take your family or friends on a vacation to the Italian city of their choice for one night only, in your own dining room or kitchen. They’ll be delighted, and with these delicious recipes from MAGGI®, creating an Italian-style dinner will be a real cinch for you.
In order to make the experience more authentic, it would be fun to serve an antipasti, or appetizer, as they do in an Italian home or restaurant, before the grain-based primo piatto (first course). And depending on those appetites (and how long you’re willing to stay in the kitchen), you can go the whole nine yards with a protein-based second course and dessert.
Green Pea and Asparagus Risotto
Ingredients:
- 1 small shallot, finely chopped
- 1 tbsp. sunflower oil
- 2 cloves garlic, crushed
- 2 cups Arborio rice (short grain, starchy rice)
- 4 cups hot water
- 2 cubes MAGGI® Chicken Stock with Natural Herbs
- ½ cup green peas, frozen
- ½ cup green asparagus, cut into small pieces
- ½ cup parmesan cheese, grated
- Freshly cracked black pepper, optional garnish
Directions:
- In a deep pan, sauté shallots in oil until soft. Add garlic and continue cooking until garlic is slightly golden.
- Add rice and sauté for one minute. Then add half the water and crumbled MAGGI® Chicken Stock with Natural Herbs over rice and simmer over medium heat until rice has absorbed the moisture. Add the remaining water and the vegetables and continue cooking until rice is tender.
- Stir in Parmesan cheese and transfer to a serving dish. Sprinkle top with freshly cracked pepper and serve.
Rigatoni Béchamel Pie
Ingredients:
- 1 medium onion, finely chopped
- 1 medium carrot, finely grated
- 1 tbsp. vegetable oil
- 300g minced beef
- 3 cloves garlic, crushed
- 2 tbsp. tomato paste
- 3 medium tomatoes, peeled and chopped
- 2 tsp. dried oregano
- 300g rigatoni pasta, boiled in water and drained
- 3 cups skimmed milk
- 1 sachet MAGGI® Béchamel Mix
- 3 tbsp. mozzarella cheese
Directions:
- To prepare tomato sauce: In a large saucepan, sauté onions and carrots until soft. Add minced beef and garlic, and continue cooking until meat is cooked. Add tomato paste, tomatoes and oregano and simmer over medium heat for 15-20 minutes. Remove from heat and set aside.
- Meanwhile, prepare béchamel sauce by combining milk and MAGGI® Béchamel Mix in a medium saucepan, bring to a boil and simmer over medium heat until slightly thick.
- Arrange rigatoni pasta in a round spring form pan, gently spoon tomato sauce on top to fill the inside of the pasta and pour béchamel sauce over the top.
- Sprinkle cheese on top and place back in preheated oven at 175°C for 20 minutes until slightly golden on top.
- Allow to cool for five minutes before removing from pan. Slice like a cake and serve.
