When I think about Father’s Day, I think about Family and and then along comes food. What better represents Family Foodies than a great Italian style meal?!
I can just see it now, all of the family looking up ad Dad sitting at the head of the table. Everyone’s passing around their plates, laughing and having fun family style. (insert Olive Garden commercial here)
Why not create this wonderful scene for your Dad or Husband this year for Father’s Day in your own home. With these tried and true recipes, shopping list and a time line you can truly bless Dad for Father’s Day right from your own kitchen.
You can have your kids make a menu for Father’s Day. Let them be creative with paper, crayons or makers, scissors and glue. Dad will cherish this for years to come.
Menu:
- Spaghetti and Meatballs
- Italian Salad with Homemade Croutons
- French Bread
- Lemon Italian Ice
I know that when I’m tackling a large meal like this, sometimes its hard to have everything on the table at the same time. This time line will certainly help. Print it out and put it on the fridge before you start cooking, calculate the time and add it by each item. Click this link for the full menu plan ->
Time line:
- 2 Weeks before Father’s Day: Start collecting day old bread for croutons, add them to your freezer, and don’t forget to order gifts!
- 1 Week before Father’s Day: wrap gifts for father’s day, have children make cards and other projects
- 2 Days before Father’s Day: Grab your shopping list and pick up the freshest ingredients possible.
- 1 Day before Father’s Day: Make Lemon Italian Ice and Croutons
- 3 Hours before meal: Start French Bread in Bread Machine
- 2 Hours before meal: Start Melt in Your Mouth Meatballs and Spaghetti Sauce
- 1.5 Hours before meal: Remove dough from bread machine, place in french loaf pan and allow to rise for 1 hour
- 1 Hour before meal: Assemble kids for help! Set Table, Toss Salad, Check Sauce and Add Italian Ice to serving dishes and return to freezer.
- 45 minutes before meal: Preheat oven to 350 degrees
- 30 minutes before meal: Cook Pasta, Bake Bread
Print this shopping list. Mark off anything that you already have in your pantry, but double check first! You don’t want to be sending dad out for oregano on Father’s Day. Buy the freshest ingredients for your meal, and the best quality red wine that’s available in your price range. You’ll thank me later.
Shopping List:
| Baking & Staples | |
|---|---|
|
Italian Seasoning (1 teaspoon) Olive Oil, (1/4 cup) |
|
| Beverages | |
| Canned Foods | |
| Dairy | |
| Dry Goods | |
|
2 Cups of day old bread, cubed |
|
| Meat & Seafood | |
| Produce | |
|
Italian Salad Mix |
|
| Wine & Beer | |
Recipes:
These are all recipes that I have found over the years and now I’m sharing them with you. I have adapted these recipes for my family, read over them carefully before starting your adventure in the kitchen. Sometimes you may remember things a little differently than what they actually are. You may need to double these recipes for your family and that should not be a problem at all. Leftovers are great for meatball subs or even pizza. Dad will love carrying these leftovers to work on Monday.
I’ve Added the recipes to printable recipe cards. I suggest printing these on card stock, and adding them to your recipe box.
Italian Lemon Ice (Granita) 
Ingredients
- 3 cups water
- 1 cup sugar
- 1 pinch salt
- 1 cup fresh lemon juice (juice of about 6 medium lemons)
- 1 1/2 teaspoons finely grated fresh lemons, rind of (about the peel from 1 medium lemon)
- 2 teaspoons lemon extract
Instructions
- Combine 2 cups of the water with the sugar in a medium nonreactive saucepan; bring to a simmer over medium heat.
- Cook, stirring constantly, until the sugar is completely dissolved.
- Add the salt, stir, and remove the pan from the heat.
- Stir in the remaining water and let cool to room temperature.
- Cover and refrigerate for a minimum of 1 hour.
- Meanwhile, place a shallow metal 2 1/2 qt container (such as a large cake pan) in the freezer to chill.
- Add the lemon juice, lemon peel, and extract to the chilled sugar mixture; stir until well blended.
- Pour into the chilled metal pan.
- Place the pan in the freezer for 30-60 minutes, or until ice crystals form around the edges.
- Stir the ice crystals into the center of the pan and return to the freezer.
- Repeat every 30 minutes, or until all the liquid is crystallized but not frozen solid, about 3 hours.
- To serve, scoop the granita into chilled dessert bowls or goblets.
- (If the granita has become too hard, scrape it with a large metal spoon to break up the ice crystals.) Serve at once.
- Advance Preparation: The granita can be stored, covered, for up to four days in the freezer, but it will have become frozen solid.
- To serve, either allow the granita to thaw in the refrigerator until you can scrape the crystals, or break it up into chunks and process with on/off motions in a food processor fitted with the knife blade until fairly smooth.
Quick Notes
Add mixture to zip top freezer bag and freeze. Smash up the mixture in the bag before serving.
Number of servings (yield): 6
Meal type: dessert
Culinary tradition: Italian
Homemade Croutons 
Ingredients
- 2 cups of Day Old Bread cubed (I keep leftover bread in the freezer)
- 1/4 cup olive oil
- 1-2 T Parmesan Cheese
- 1t. Italian Seasoning
Instructions
- Combine everything in ziptop bag or bowl
- Mix well but gently so as not to tear bread into crumbs
- Spread evenly on shallow baking dish Bake at 350 for 15-20 minutes or until lightly toasted.
- Allow to cool and store in an airtight container
My rating:5 stars:
Basic Machine French Bread 
Ingredients
- 1 1/2 cups water, at about 105 degrees
- 4 cups flour (a flour with at 4 grams protein per serving is best)
- 1 1/2 teaspoons salt (I use kosher)
- 2 1/2 teaspoons dry yeast
Instructions
- Add to the bread pan in the order yours needs.
- For mine it is water first.
- Then I add half the flour and the salt followed by the rest of the flour and the yeast on top.
- This will run well on the normal, rapid, and delay start cycles.
Quick Notes
I only use this recipe on the dough cycle, then place my loaf in a French Bread Pan to rise for 1 hour, and then Bake at 350 for about 18 minutes, until lightly browned.
You can also lightly roll this dough out then fold it in thirds to make a long loaf, pinching the seam together and bake on a jelly roll pan as above.
Kittencal’s Italian Melt-In-Your-Mouth Meatballs
Ingredients
- 1 1/2 lbs ground beef (a mixture of 1 pound ground beef and 1/2 pound ground pork will work well also)
- 1 large egg, slightly beaten
- 1/2 cup grated parmesan cheese
- 1/3 cup breadcrumbs (or use enough to hold the meat together)
- 1-2 tablespoon fresh minced garlic (or use 1 teaspoon garlic powder or to taste)
- 1-2 teaspoon salt (or to taste, I use 2 teaspoons seasoned salt)
- 1 teaspoon fresh ground black pepper
- 1/3 cup milk (can use up to 1/2 cup milk)
- 1/2 teaspoon dried oregano (optional, or to taste)
- 1/4 cup chopped fresh parsley (or 2 tablespoons dried parsley)
Instructions
- Mix all ingredients together in a large bowl.
- Shape into small meatballs (at this point you can place on a jelly-roll/baking sheet and freeze to use later, or cover with plastic wrap refrigerate up to 24 hours before using).
- Drop the meatballs into simmering pasta sauce, do not stir for at least 20 minutes or you will risk breaking the meatballs.
- Continue cooking in the simmering sauce for another 20 minutes (depending on how fast your sauce is simmering 40 minutes total should fully cook the meatballs).
- After the 40 minutes cooking time continue cooking your sauce with the meatballs in for as long as desired.
Quick Notes
You may also bake the meatballs at 350 degrees F for 25 minutes or until cooked through.
Culinary tradition: Italian
Recipe: Adapted from: Jo Mama’s World Famous Spaghetti
Ingredients
- 1 small onion, chopped (optional)
- 3-4 garlic cloves, minced
- 1 (28 ounce) can diced tomatoes
- 2 (6 ounce) cans tomato paste
- 2 (15 ounce) cans tomato sauce
- 2 cups water (for a long period of simmering for flavors to meld. If you don’t want to simmer it as long, add less)
- 3 teaspoons basil
- 2 teaspoons dried parsley flakes
- 1 1/2 teaspoons brown sugar
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 1/4-1/2 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes
- 1/4 teaspoon fresh coarse ground black pepper
- 1/4 cup red wine (a good Cabernet!)
Instructions
- Add onions to saucepan cook, stirring occasionally until onions are softened.
- # 3 Add garlic, tomatoes, tomato paste, tomato sauce and water.
- # 4 Add basil, parsley, brown sugar, salt, crushed red pepper, and black pepper.
- # 5 Stir well and barely bring to a boil.
- # 6 Stir in red wine.
- Add meatballs (from above recipe) and simmer for 20 minutes before stirring.
- Gently stir sauce trying to avoid breaking up meatballs, and allow to simmer for an additional 20 minutes until meatballs are done.
- Simmer on low, stirring frequently for at least an hour. A longer simmer makes for a better sauce, just be careful not to let it burn!
What a great idea..a time line and a shopping list. Everything at your fingertips.What a great time saver. The menu looks so delicious.
Christi! AWESOME post. I am starving and this didn't help. I just want to eat the croutons all by themselves. Can I schedule you to draw up my weekly meal plans? LOL jk. Great advice and I know my hubby will love this!
Thanks Susanne! I know that I have struggled in the past to have everything ready at the same time, so time lines for me are very important. I also would never know what to do without a shopping list! lol
The croutons had to be made twice before the picture was taken…ooops!