Dinner Italian Style

I have three recipes for you from our huge Sunday Italian style dinner. I cooked a lot, too much really, but I like for Chase to go home with plenty of leftovers. We had beer bread, tofu, spaghetti squash with creamy tomato sauce, risotto, and fudge cake. I baked everything but the sauce which made it a super easy and delicious meal. And it was a cold and dreary Sunday, so keeping the oven going all day was A-OK.

Many of the women in my family are going through our recipe collections to try to get a family cookbook together. These recipes are some I found in my collection. They are old, they were easily made vegan, and they turned out terrific.

First, a little music before dinner.



Beer Bread – This recipe is very similar to the one Happy Herbivore posted recently, but not as healthy. It baked up beautifully and Chase couldn’t get enough of it.

Beer Bread

Makes one 8 x 5 loaf

1-1/2 cups AP flour
1-1/2 cups white whole wheat flour
1 T. baking powder
½ t. salt
2 T. sugar
1 can beer, room temperature (but not flat)
2 T. melted margarine

Heat oven to 375 degrees.

Mix flours, baking powder, salt, and sugar together. Add in beer. Stir for 30 strokes. Pour batter into greased loaf pan. Pour melted margarine over top – this gives it a crispy crust. Bake for one hour. Remove from pan and cool on rack.

Italian Baked Tofu – This was the first time in a long long time I really missed being able to eat tofu. It smelled and looked so delicious, and Chase loved it.

I don’t have a marinade recipe, but I always start with store bought Italian dressing and white wine, then just see what else is in the fridge and spice cabinet I feel like adding.

Spaghetti Squash – When I flipped the halves over to bake the last 10 minutes, I saw that I had forgotten to scoop out the seeds! So I scooped them out and finished baking, with no harm done, whew…

Creamy Tomato Sauce – No recipe, just my favorite tomato sauce recipe to which I added white beans pureed with a little milk until smooth and creamy.

Baked Risotto – Well you know I’ve been baking my rice dishes, so I was thrilled to find this recipe. It was not as creamy as true risotto, but it sure was easy!

Baked Risotto

Serves 4

2 T. margarine
1 small onion, diced
¾ cup Arborio rice
1 cup vegetable broth
¾ cup white wine
1 cup carrots
1 cup green bell pepper
1/2 cup pomegranate seeds
2 T. Italian seasoning

Heat oven to 425 degrees. Lightly oil a 9 x 9 baking dish.

Melt margarine in skillet. Add onion and cook until soft. Add rice and cook for 2 minutes. Add broth and wine and bring to a boil. Stir in remaining ingredients. Cover and bake for 30 minutes. Serve immediately.

(I didn’t really like the pomegranate in this. And I would have preferred mushrooms in it, but no one likes them but me. Any veggies of your choosing would work, and nuts or raisins could sub for the pomegranate.)

Of course steamed broccoli was served as well. Here is my plate.

And here is Chase’s plate. I was afraid I didn’t have enough spaghetti squash so I made some *regular* noodles too, which you can see under the squash noodles.

I don’t know where the above two recipes originated, but dessert comes from my great aunt Sue. Aunt Sue died a long time ago, but I will always remember what a lovely lovely lady she was, full of Southern grace, and of course a fabulous cook. My recipe card merely has a list of ingredients and some sketchy instructions, so here is my vegan version of….

Aunt Sue’s Fudge Cake

Makes 9 servings

½ cup melted margarine or coconut oil
5 scant T. cocoa
1 cup sugar (I used ½ ZSweet and it was not grainy at all!)
¾ cup AP flour
½ t. baking powder
¼ t. salt
2 EnerG eggs
½ cup chopped nuts (I used unsalted peanuts)
½ tub ricemellow
chocolate frosting (I used melted vegan nutella)

Heat oven to 350 degrees. Light oil an 8 x 8 pan.

In a medium bowl stir together margarine, cocoa, sugar, flour, baking powder, and salt. Add in eggs and mix well. Stir in nuts. Spread into pan. Bake 22 minutes. Remove from oven and top with ricemellow. Bake 3 minutes more. Let cool. Top with favorite frosting.

I made mine in a to-go pan so Chase would take it away from me, because I remembered how much I loved this gooey treat.

It is soooo good.

Chocolate, peanuts, marshmallows, and more chocolate – who wouldn’t love it!!!


I’m off to Alabama to visit my sister and her family, so I’ll be away for a while. I don’t have a laptop, but I’ll visit your blogs when I get a chance. Please leave comments and please let me know if you try any of the recipes!

One more thing, remember the Razzcherries I blogged about? Everybody I’ve shared them with has gone CRAZY for them! I’m taking some to Alabama too. You must try them! Texas readers, I got mine from the bulk bin at Central Market.

Adios!