FALL in Love Italian Dish

Fall is here..! And it's the perfect time to cuddle down with your significant other.  But before the cuddling commences, fall in love all over again over this Italian dinner celebrating some of the best of autumn flavors.  This is a full course but quick to prepare meal, so it's easy to pull this together on a Friday evening with no day-before prep work.

On the Menu

Garlic Bread Sticks

Caprese Salad

Butternut Squash Ravioli with Sage-Brown Butter Sauce & Toasted Pine Nuts

Seared Chicken Breast with Dijon Mustard & Tarragon Pan Sauce with Asparagus Tips

Recommended Dessert: Rustic Apple Crostata

Garlic Bread Sticks

Ingredients:

4-6 Bread sticks (you can usually find these frozen or fresh in the bread section at your local grocery store)

1/2 cup plus 1-2 tbsp. of extra virgin olive oil, separated

1-2 tsp garlic powder

1-2 tsp grated parmesan romano cheese

Salt, pepper and dried oregano to taste

1. First make sure bread sticks are defrosted if using frozen.
2. Preheat oven to 375 degrees F or per the package instructions.
3. Brush the 1-2 tbsp. of olive oil on each of the bread sticks.
4. Sprinkle with garlic powder and grated parmesan cheese even;y over each of the bread sticks.
5. Bake in the oven for about 8-10 minutes or until garlic and parmesan start to brown up (have baked into the bread).  More or less time may be needed depending on how cold the bread is when you begin.
6. In a ramekin or small condiment bowl, pour in 1/2 cup of olive oil, salt, pepper and oregano and mix together.
7. Serve with warm bread and use for dipping.

Caprese Salad

Ingredients:

1-2 large tomatoes

4-5 oz fresh mozzarella cheese (ball pkg preferred)

2 tbsp balsamic vinegar

1 tsp sweet dried basil

2 fresh basil leaves (optional)

1. Cut four equal sized slices of mozzarella cheese.
2. Cut four equal size slices of tomato as close to the size of the mozzarella cheese slices as possible. (reserve leftover tomato, dice it to use with ravioli below)
3. Arrange tomato and mozzarella slices alternating on the two serving plates.
4. Drizzle with balsamic vinegar and sprinkle with dried basil.
5. Top with fresh basil leaf if desired.

Butternut Squash Ravioli with Sage-Brown Butter Sauce & Toasted Pine Nuts

Ingredients:

2 cups of butternut squash ravioli (usually available in a frozen or refrigerated package)

4 cups of water

4 tbsp. butter

2 tbsp. fresh sage, washed and sliced into fine shreds

1/4 cup pine nuts

1 tsp garlic powder

1/2 - 1 cup diced tomato (left over tomato from caprese salad)

extra virgin olive oil cooking spray

salt and pepper to taste

1. Lightly spray a pan with olive oil and toast pine nuts and sage over a medium heat, agitating every so often to avoid burning.
2. When the oils of the nuts come up to surface and the sage crisps, remove from pan and set aside.
3. Bring water to a boil in a pot and drop in ravioli.
4. Boil for approximately 5-10 minutes, or until tender (or follow package instructions)
5. While ravioli cooks, add butter to the pan that you used to toast the pine nuts over a medium-high heat.
6. Stir often and cook for about 8-10 minutes or until the butter begins to brown.
7. Drain water from the ravioli and add to butter in pan.
8. Add garlic powder and salt and pepper to taste and mix ravioli in with butter sauce until ravioli is well-coated.
9. Reduce heat, and add in sage and pine nuts, and mix everything together to blend the flavors.
10. Top with fresh tomatoes and serve.

Seared Chicken Breast with Dijon Mustard & Tarragon Pan Sauce with Asparagus Tips

Ingredients:

3 boneless chicken breasts

1 tsp garlic powder

1 tsp red pepper flakes

salt and pepper to taste

1-2 tbsp extra virgin olive oil (light, for sauteing) 

1/4 cup low-sodium chicken broth

1/4 cup dry white wine

1/3 cup half and half or unsweetened almond milk

1 tbsp dijon mustard

3 tsp dried tarragon

5-6 spears of fresh asparagus, cut in 2-3 inch pieces 

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.
2. Prepare chicken breasts by trimming any excess fat, cartilage or veins.
3. In a skillet, over medium-high heat, heat up olive oil and make sure it coats the entire bottom of the pan.
4. Season chicken breasts evenly with garlic powder, red pepper flakes and salt and pepper.
5. Place chicken breasts in pan and cook each side for about 8 minutes or until both sides are seared to a deep golden brown. (If unable to fit all of the chicken in the pan at the same time you may need to add more oil if chicken starts to stick to pan).
6. Place seared chicken into baking dish.
7. In same skillet, add chicken broth and wine, scraping up any brown bits and cook until liquid reduces by half.
8. Lower heat to low-medium, and whisk in mustard, milk (or half and half) and tarragon.
9. Once the mixture is smooth, add in asparagus tips.
10. Cook for about 5 minutes and allow asparagus tips to soften slightly.
11. Pour sauce over chicken, flip chick to ensure the sauce is all over each breast and any juices form the chicken have mixed in with the sauce.
12. Bake in the oven for approximately 20 minutes or until the the chicken reaches an internal temperature of 165 degrees F at their thickest parts. 

Don't forget dessert!! Rustic Apple Crostata