CAMPARI JASMINE COCKTAIL

This is now my favorite drink. It is so refreshing and delicious!

3 to 4 oz vodka
2 oz fresh squeezed lemon juice
1 oz Campari
1 oz Cointreau

Fill a cocktail shaker with ice.
Add the vodka, lemon juice, Campari, & Cointreau and shake well.
Strain into a chilled martini glass and garnish with a lemon twist.

Makes 2 drinks

CROSTINI WITH BLACK OLIVES & FENNEL

There is something wonderful about the combination of sautéed olives and fennel. Crostini con Olive Nere e Finocchio.

1 French baguette, cut into ¼-inch slices

1 medium bulb fennel, fronds removed (save some for garnish), diced

2 T avocado oil or extra-light olive oil

¼ medium onion, diced

1 clove garlic, minced

½ t red pepper flakes

Sea salt and freshly ground black pepper

1 cup pitted and chopped Italian black olives
2 T extra-virgin olive oil

Grill bread slices on a grill pan over medium-high heat until golden brown on both sides.

In a skillet over low heat, sauté the fennel in oil for 10 minutes.

Add the onion and continue to sauté for another 10 minutes.

Add the garlic and red pepper flakes, and season to taste with salt and pepper.

Sauté another couple of minutes.
Add the black olives and extra-virgin olive oil and heat through.

Spoon the olive-fennel mixture on top of each slice of bread and top with some fennel fronds.

MY KITCHEN

APEROL-RED GRAPEFRUIT SPRITZ COCKTAIL

Aperol and Campari are known as Italian bitters and served as an aperitivo. Aperol is made with licorice, fennel, aniseed, poplar buds, bitter clover, wormwood, valerian, gentian, bitter orange, cinchona, and rhubarb. It became popular after the First World War. Aperol contains only 11 percent alcohol. This is a delicious and refreshing cocktail to have before an Italian dinner.

3 oz ruby red grapefruit juice (about 1 grapefruit)
1 ½ cups Prosecco sparkling white wine, chilled
¾ cup Aperol (Italian apéritif)
2 oz vodka (optional)
2 oz San Pellegrino water or other sparkling water
Ice cubes
Ruby red grapefruit slices, for garnish

Squeeze the juice from the grapefruit and pour into a pitcher.
Stir in the Prosecco, Aperol, vodka, and San Pellegrino.
Pour into 4 cocktail glasses ¾ filled with ice cubes.
Garnish with grapefruit slices and enjoy.

Makes 4 drinks 

DANTE'S INFERNO PANINI

Make the spread in the morning and put together the panini in the afternoon, for lunch, or evening, for dinner. I served the panini with a warm bowl of Tuscan Bean Soup. 
The panini are my take on two famous panini made at All' Antico Vinaio in Florence, Italy. One is called La Dante and the other is L'Inferno.

Lee's Kitchen Tips:
One sandwich is - un panino
Two sandwiches are - due panini
Vinaio in Italian translates to vintner or wine merchant

Spicy Eggplant & Zucchini Spread

1 T avocado oil
8 cremini mushrooms, cleaned, trimmed and diced

1 medium eggplant, peeled and diced

1 medium zucchini, diced

2 cloves garlic, minced

2 t red pepper flakes (adjust to your liking)

½ small jar sun-dried tomatoes, in oil, diced

½ jar artichoke hearts, drained and diced

2 T minced Italian parsley

1 T minced basil or basil paste

Sea salt and freshly ground black pepper

Extra-virgin olive oil, for finishing

In a large skillet, heat the oil over medium-high heat.

Add the mushrooms and cook until golden and crisp.
Remove with a slotted spoon to a bowl and set aside.
Add the eggplant and cook until golden and crisp, about 7 to 8 minutes.
Remove with a slotted spoon to bowl with mushrooms.
Add the zucchini and cook until golden and crisp, about 5 to 6 minutes.

Add the garlic and red pepper flakes and cook one minute more.
Return the mushrooms and eggplant to the skillet with the zucchini and garlic.
Cook another minute then turn off heat and add the sundried tomatoes, artichokes, parsley, and basil.

Season to taste with salt and pepper and drizzle with extra-virgin olive oil.

Spoon into a bowl and serve over bruschetta, crostini, or a spread for panini.

Panini

Ciabatta bread brushed with a little extra-virgin olive oil and warmed in the oven

Fresh mozzarella cheese

Spicy Eggplant & Zucchini Spread

Prosciutto di Parma, thinly sliced

Arugula

Extra-virgin olive oil, for drizzling

Cut bread in half and add a couple of slices of mozzarella on one side.

Place in oven under the broiler for a minute, just to melt the cheese; do not burn.

Spread the other side with the Spicy Eggplant & Zucchini Spread.

On top of the eggplant side, add some slices of prosciutto, top with arugula and drizzle with olive oil

Place the mozzarella side on top and serve.

Buon appetito!