Cyndi's Recipes - Olive Garden

Olive Gardens' Recipes

Olive Gardens' Alfredo Fettucine
8 oz. Cream cheese cut in bits
3/4 cup Parmesan cheese(grated)
1/4 cup butter
1/4 cup milk
8 oz. Cooked, drained fettucine
In a large sauce pan combine all ingredients but pasta, and cook, and stir
until smooth. Toss pasta lightly with sauce.

Olive Gardens' Pasta Fagioli
1 lb. Can undrained northern beans
2 cans sliced style stewed tomatoes(14 oz. Each)
1 lb. Jar prego spaghetti sauce
2 ribs celery sliced thin
1 small onion chopped
2 cups small spiral pasta, uncooked
salt and pepper

Combine everything in Dutch Oven on med.-high. Bring to just a boil; turn
low. Cover the pan with a lid and allow to cook gently for 30 min., or until pasta is tender.

Olive Gardens' Raspberry Mousse Cheesecake
1 1/2 tsp. Gelatin
1 1/2tbsp. Cold water
1/2 cup raspberry preserves
2 tbsp. Sugar
1 cup heavy whipping cream
1 lb. Softened cream cheese
1/2 cup sugar
2 eggs
1/2 tsp. Vanilla
1 9" chocolate crumb crust (prepared)

Filling; preheat an oven to 325. Mix cream cheese, sugar, eggs, and vanilla with an electric mixer on med. Until thoroughly blended, about 3-4 min. Pour into prepared crust. Place on baking sheet and bake for 25 min. Cool to refrigerated temperature. Mousse; Sprinkle the gelatin over cold water, stir and let stand one min., put gelatin mixture in a microwave on high for 30 sec, or until the gelatin is completely dissolved. Combine the gelatin with preserves. Chill 10 min. Cream whip cream until soft peaks form. Add 2 tbsp. Sugar and cream until stiff peaks form. Measure out 1 P cups whipped cream for mousse, and set aside.
Put the remainder in the refrigerator, and serve as topping. Gently fold raspberry mixture into measured whipped cream. Spread raspberry mousse on top of chilled cheesecake, mounding slightly in the center. Chill one hour before serving.

Olive Gardens' Spaghetti Sauce
2 lbs. Ground round
2 tbsp. Oil
14 oz. Can stewed tomatoes(cut up)
6 oz. Can V-8
1 16 oz. Jar prego spaghetti sauce
1 pkt. Onion soup mix
1/2 cup grape jelly

Brown meat in oil; crumble with a fork. Stir in tomatoes, V-8, prego, soup
mix, and jelly. Cook stirring often

Olive Gardens' Bread Sticks
1 loaf unfrozen bread(thaw in a bowl at room temperature)
Pam® non-stick spray
garlic powder
dry oregano

When dough is soft enough to knead, spray your hands with the pam., and knead dough just enough to shape into cigar-shaped pieces 8-10. Place the bread sticks 3" apart on a cookie sheet sprayed with the pam. Let rise in warm place until bread sticks have doubled in size-about 1 1/2 hours- then holding the pam. about 8" away lightly spray the top of each stick. Dust with garlic powder and oregano. Bake at 375, for 20-25 min. Or until golden brown.

Olive Gardens' Ravioletti in Mushroom/Walnut Sauce
12 oz. Tri colored tortellini, or ravioletti(cooked)
2 tbsp. Extra virgin olive oil
8 oz. Sliced mushrooms
1/4 cup chopped walnuts
3/4 cup heavy whipping cream
1/4 tsp. Black pepper
2 cups fresh grated Parmesan
Heat olive oil in a large skillet, over med., heat. Saute mushrooms, and walnuts until mushrooms are golden. Add cream and cook stirring frequently for 5 min., until slightly thickened. Turn heat to warm and when cream stops simmering add pepper, and Parmesan and stir until sauce smooth. Do not boil. Serve pasta with sauce.

Olive Gardens' Neapolitan Ziti
1 1/2 lbs. Sweet hot Italian link sausage
1 1/3 cups green bell pepper
2 tbsp. Olive oil
3/4 lb. Ziti pasta;cooked
5 cups marinara sauce
28 oz. Can Italian tomatoes, or plum
10 3/4 oz. Tomato puree
1 tsp. Garlic, minced
4 tbsp. Olive oil
1/2 cup fresh basil, packed, and chopped
salt and pepper

Bake or pan fry the sausages until fully cooked, drain, cool. Halve the sausages and cut the split sausages into P" slices. Saute bell peppers in olive oil over med., heat only until their crispness is lost, but peppers are not soft. In a heavy saucepan add the tomatoes, tomato puree, garlic, olive oil, and fresh basil and bring to a light simmer on med., heat. Add sauted pepper strips, and cooked sausage and heat for 3-5 min., serve with pasta topped with sausage, peppers, and salsa marinara.

Olive gardens' Shrimp Cristoforo
Basil butter;
2 oz. Fresh basil leaves(about 2 bunches)
10 oz. Softened butter(2 « cubes)
1 tsp. Minced garlic
1/4 tsp. Salt
1/8 tsp. Black pepper
3 tbsp. Grayed Parmesan cheese + additional for garnish
1 tbsp. Grated Romano cheese
Rest of the dish;
1 lb. Fresh linguine of angel hair pasta
1 lb. Medium shrimp(shelled)

Remove any large stems from basil and wash leaves. Shake off excess water and dry with a paper towel. Place in a food processor; with blade attachment process until finely chopped. Process in two batches if nessescary to get uniformly chopped basil. Remove from processor and set aside. Place butter in a small mixing bowl. Using an electric mixer whip butter until pliable. Add garlic, salt, pepper, Parmesan, and Romano cheeses, and basil; mix until well incorporated. Basil butter can be used immediately, or stored in the refrigerator, covered for 3 days. Cook pasta according to directions on the pkg., drain well, and keep warm. Melt basil butter in a large skillet over med., heat. Add shrimp and saute just until done. About 2-3 min., serve over hot cooked pasta. Garnish with freshly grated Parmesan cheese. Makes 4-6 servings.

Olive gardens' Tiramisu Dessert
1 sponge cake(10-12") about 3" tall
3 oz. Strong black coffee(or instant espresso)
3 oz. Brandy or rum
1 lb. Cream cheese, or mascarpone, at room temperature
1 cups superfine powdered sugar
unsweetened cocoa powder

Cut across middle of sponge cake, forming two layers, each about 1 « inches high. Blend coffee and brandy. Sprinkle enough of the mixture over bottom half of cake to flavor it strongly. Don't moisten cake too, much or it may collapse on serving. Beat room temp., cream cheese and 1 cup sugar until sugar is completely dissolved and cheese is light and spreadable. Test for sweetness, during beating, adding more sugar if needed. Spread cut surface of bottom layer with half of the cheese mixture. Replace second layer and top this with remaining cheese mixture. Sprinkle top liberally with sifted cocoa. Refrigerate cake for at least 2 hours before cutting and serving. 6 servings

Olive gardens' con Zucchini Sauce
1/3 cup olive oil
1 cup chopped onion
1 lb. Fresh mushrooms, divided
1 1/2 tsp. Minced garlic
3 cups crushed tomatoes
16 oz. Canned, diced, drained tomatoes
1 1/2 cups tomato puree
1 cup sliced, drained black olives
2 tsp. Drained capers
1/2 tsp. Dried oregano
1/2 tsp. Dried basil
1/4 tsp. Black pepper
1/4 tsp. Crushed red pepper
1/2 tsp. Fennel seeds
1/2 tsp. Salt
Zucchini;
4 large zucchini, sliced, lengthwise-about 1/4" thick
2 tbsp. Olive oil
dried basil
dried oregano
salt, and black pepper
1 lb. Rigatoni-cooked
grated Parmesan

Sauce: cut 1/2 of the mushrooms into quarters, and reserve. Finely mince the remaining portion. Heat olive oil in heavy Dutch oven over med., heat. Add onions and minced mushrooms. Cook 10 min., or until onions are very soft, stirring frequently. Add garlic and mushroom quarters and cook, 5 min., stirring constantly. Add remaining ingredients, stir and bring to a simmer. Reduce heat and simmer 20 min., stirring frequently. Sprinkle sliced zucchini with salt, pepper, basil, and oregano. Heat 1 tbsp. Olive oil in a large skillet over med., heat. Place zucchini slices in one layer in the pan. Saute about 3 min., per side, just until tender. Remove to heated platter and cover to keep warm while sauteeing remaining zucchini. Add remaining olive oil as needed. Ladle sauce over pasta. Top with zucchini slices and serve. Pass extra sauce and Parmesan cheese.

Olive gardens' Gazpacho Italiano
Soup base;
28 oz. Canned Italian plum tomatoes
1 clove minced garlic
1/2 cup mixed herbs chopped very, fine
1/2 cup olive oil
3 tbsp. White wine vinegar
3 tbsp. Lemon juice
1 tsp. Salt
1/4 cup white or red onion diced
3 cups chicken broth
3/4 tsp. Tabasco sauce
1 tsp. Sugar(opt.)
1/2 cup green bell pepper, chopped fine
1 cup tomato, peeled and chopped, fine
1/2 cup ditalini or tubetti, cooked, rinsed, and drained

This soup should be served cold, about 35-45 degrees. The vegetable and pasta solids should not be added to soup base until it is time to serve, because they will get soggy. Soup base; process tomatoes, juice, garlic, and herbs. Mix in a non-aluminum bowl, with olive oil, vinegar, lemon juice, salt, onion, stock, and sugar. Place in refrigerator allowing 4 hours for soup base to chill and marry flavors. Prepare veggies and chill along with the pasta. To serve; soup bowls should be very cold. Stir base well, and ladle 6 oz. Soup per bowl. Add about 1 tbsp. Of blended veggies, and 2 tbsp. Pasta. Per bowl. Garnish with a few croutons and sprinkle the croutons with Parmesan and chopped parsley.

Olive gardens' Fontina Cheese Sauce
6 tbsp. Butter
6 tbsp. Flour
3 cups milk
6 oz. Fontina cheese, shredded
salt, and pepper

In a heavy, non-aluminum pot, melt butter, add flour and cook on moderate heat, for 2 min., stirring constantly with a wire whisk add milk, and bring barely to the boiling point. Turn off the heat and add cheese and blend into hot milk. Adjust salt and pepper to your taste.

Olive Gardens' Capellini Pomodoro
2 cloves minced garlic
2 lbs. Plum tomatoes seeded, and diced
1 oz. Fresh basil leaves, minced
1/3 cup extra virgin olive oil
3 oz. Parmesan cheese
12 oz. Angel hair pasta, cooked
1/4 tsp. Pepper

Heat olive oil and add garlic; cook until it turns white, add tomatoes and pepper and heat through, stirring constantly, about 2-3 min. Tomatoes should be not lose their shape. Remove from heat. Transfer hot cooked pasta to a large bowl. Toss pasta gently with tomato mixture, basil, and half of Parmesan cheese. Serve immediately, top with remaining Parmesan.