L'amore Italian Restaurant

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5 Best Italian Vegetarian Dishes

If you’re a vegetarian or are simply looking for veggie recipes to cut back on meat, Italian food is the way to go. There are so many vegetarian Italian dishes to choose from that are delicious, healthy, and filling.

We’ve outlined our five favorites here for you to enjoy at home or during a night out for dinner.

1. Four Cheese Pasta

Love cheese? Then you’ll love this Italian recipe filled with parmesan, brie, cheddar, and emmental cheese. It’s like macaroni and cheese but only better and certainly does not come out of a box! It’s healthy and filling and is best served with a green salad and Italian bread.

2. Grilled Veggie Lasagna

Lasagna is one of the most famous Italian dishes. Typically, this dish comes with meat, but there are many vegetarian options you can use to make this a healthy, filling meal for the entire family. In between layers of lasagna noodles, you can add peppers, broccoli, squash or any other vegetables you love.

Like any other lasagna recipe, add lots of yummy cheese (ricotta and mozzarella) along with your favorite pasta sauce, homemade or not. This tasty treat is perfect for lunch or dinner. Serve with Italian garlic bread on the side to scoop up the pasta sauce and other ingredients.

3. Caprese Salad with Pesto Sauce

This recipe is a version of antipasti filled with fresh tomatoes, basil, mozzarella and pesto sauce. It makes for a perfect appetizer or a lunch dish. Did you know that the colors in this recipe actually represent the Italian flag? That’s right! Green, red, and white. Purely Italian.

4. Eggplant Parmesan

Skip the veal and chicken and grab some fresh eggplant for this filling vegetarian Italian dish. Layer this casserole with lots of tomatoes, parmesan cheese, and eggplant. Serve with a salad for extra vitamins and nutrients, along with garlic bread to scoop up the meal. Then sit back, relax, and digest this healthy meal.

5. Panzanella

This popular summer dish comes from the Tuscan area of Italy but is popular throughout the country. It’s a chopped salad consisting of tomatoes and bread. The bread is stale but soaked and goes perfect with freshly picked tomatoes. Add some onions and basil, along with a vinegar and olive oil dressing.  Create a small panzanella as an appetizer or side dish to go along with another incredible vegetarian Italian dish listed here.

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4 Interesting Things Italians Do Differently Than You Think

lamore italian restaurant cappuccino coffeePizza, pasta, wine – the list goes on and on when it comes to delicious, authentic Italian foods. However, while most people love to eat these dishes, there are some things you may not know.  Are you intrigued by Italian culture and food? If so, you are in the right place. Here you can learn more about Italian food, and even find out a few things you may have never knew. Keep reading to learn more.

1. Italians Don’t Drink Coffee the Way You Think They Do

For most people in America, starting out their day, then ending their day and several times in the middle – coffee is a must. Not just any coffee – milky, sweet, delicious coffee. However, Italians will only drink the popular milky coffee, such as cafe latte or cappuccino first thing when they get up in the morning. Many Italians don’t drink any other coffee throughout the day.

2. Never Walk While Eating

More than 70 percent of Italian people eat meals at home – all meals. They don’t have the typical on-the-go snacks that so many Americans consume on a regular basis. Cooking is something to enjoy and eating a meal is a pleasurable experience for Italians. The act of not eating or drinking while walking is something that is ingrained in children at a very young age. So the next time you visit Italy, don’t walk down the road eating a croissant and sipping coffee.

3. Authentic Italian Pizza is a Lot Simpler than You Think

There are some people who believe that for a pizza to be authentic, it should have a thick crust. However, in Italy, this is not the case. In fact, thicker crust is reserved for a focaccia. In Italy, pizza is a combination of thin dough, toppings, tomato sauce and the right cheese. The main focus is not the bread. This technique makes it possible to taste each of the ingredients that are included. The majority of pizzas served in the states are designed to fill you up with all the bread – after all, this is cheaper than the different toppings. However, this isn’t the case with authentic Italian pizza.

4. Salad Comes at the End of the Meal

The salad, along with the roughage that is found in the salad, will help you digest everything after you eat a big meal. It is all about the digestion process in Italy, and salad really helps with this. You won’t find too many restaurants that even offer a side salad with your regular meal.

When it comes to eating in Italy, there are more than a few things you need to consider. These food rules will ensure you eat the “right” way if you are planning to visit this country.

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Italy is the 4th most Visited Country in the World

lamore italian restaurant venice canalsDid you know that Italy is ranked fourth when it comes to the most visited countries in the world? It’s true! While there are several factors that likely attribute to this, one of the biggest factors is the food. After all, who doesn’t love authentic Italian cuisine?

However, there are also quite a few amazing sights that can only be seen in Italy. Keep reading to learn more about the Italian food and sights you are sure to encounter when visiting the amazing country.

The Food

Of all the different global cuisines, there is nothing that’s able to compare with the experience and taste of eating authentic, Italian home cooking. This food is a product of thousands of years of culinary innovation and wisdom and consists of recipes that have been handled down generation after generation.

However, something to note about Italian food is that authentic cuisine isn’t the Americanized version served in the United States today. Italian food is fresh, full of flavor and natural ingredients. This is why so many people travel to Italy just to experience the cuisine.

The Sights

There’s no question that the food in Italy is amazing; however, there are also amazing sights to see and experience on your trip to Italy. Some of tourist spots that are most highly rated by tourists include the following:

  • The Colosseum: This massive amphitheater is the biggest of its kind that was ever constructed during the Roman rule and it has a wooden floor that measured 83 by 48 meters. Beneath it is two levels of passages, cells, rooms and tunnels.
  • The Venice Canals: When you think of travel in Italy, chances are you imagine the gondola rides through the Venice canals. This is a mode of travel that has been used for centuries and something tourists enjoy.
  • The Leaning Tower of Pisa: This tower is well-known across the globe and one of the biggest attractions for tourists in Italy.
  • Lake Como: This is considered one of the most scenic areas in Italy and the lake is fully surrounded by mountains and small towns.
  • Cinque Terre: A coastal region that’s distinctive due to the sheer cliffs and steep hills, this area overlooks the Mediterranean. There are 5 beautiful villages, including Riomaggiore, Manarola, Corniglia, Vernazza and Mare that are available via walking paths and railroad tunnels.

If you are planning a trip to Italy, as you can see, there are more than a few things to experience. Be sure to keep the information here in mind as you travel your through this beautiful (and pretty tasty) country.

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You can Thank the Italians for These 5 Cheeses

When you think of Italian food, pasta certainly comes to mind but so does cheese. The Italians are famous for their variety of delicious cheeses that have made their way into the American diet. Read on to learn about five of the best cheeses to come out of Italy. 

1. Parmesan Cheese

This cheese is named after the area around Parma, where it originated.  Parmesan cheese is a hard cheese with a grainy texture, a strong aroma and sharp, savory flavor. In fact, it is considered to be the cheese of all cheeses according to cheese connoisseurs. It tastes best sprinkled over pasta and used as an ingredient in soups and risottos. Italians love to munch on it as a snack, as well.  

2. Gorgonzola Cheese

Hailed from the Gorgonzola region, this cheese is soft and crumbly. It can be made into a sharp or mild flavor, depending on its age, and has a nutty aroma. It’s an "old-world" blue-veined cheese made from unskimmed cow’s milk and takes up to four months to create. Serve it with red wine and your favorite pasta dish.

3. Mozzarella Cheese

Originating from the regions of Puglia, Molise, Abruzzo, and Campania, this famous Italian cheese is semi-soft with a stringy texture.  It’s white in color and has a milky flavor and aroma. In the past, mozzarella cheese was made from buffalo milk but today it is made from cow’s milk. Unlike most cheeses, mozzarella cheese doesn’t need to age. It’s eaten fresh. It tastes great on salads, meats, and with fish and vegetable dishes.

4. Provolone Cheese

From the Po valley Region, provolone cheese is firm and grainy with a mild or sharp buttery taste and pale yellow color. As an artisan cheese, provolone is semi-hard with a pleasant aroma. It has high amounts of calcium and protein but is also high in salt. Provolone goes wonderfully with red wine and served with fresh, homemade bread still warm.

5. Ricotta Cheese

This fresh Italian cheese is made from either sheep, cow, goat, or buffalo milk whey that is left over after making other types of cheese. It’s smooth, tastes sweet, and is high in protein but low in fat. It goes well with many Italian dishes such as lasagna, cheesecake, pizza, clazone, ravioli, manicotti, and more. Ricotta can also be used as a sauce thickener. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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3159 E Lincoln Dr
Phoenix , AZ 85016
Phone: 602.381.3159

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Lunch & Dinner
Mon – Thurs 11am–10pm
Fri 11am–10pm
Sat 4pm–11pm

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Mon - Fri: 4:00pm–6:00pm
No happy hour on Saturdays
Credit for most photos: Kay W. Eskridge: Images By Kay

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