"leave the gun, take the cannoli"

....one of my favorite quotes from a movie, try to guess which one?  If your looking for a great selection of delicious authentic Italian pastries, then "Italia Bakery" is the place to go.  They make some pretty awesome ricotta filled cannoli that I absolutely LOVE! They also have the chocolate and vanilla custard filled ones too.  You can even buy the empty cannoli shells, so you can make your own filling, which is pretty simple to do.

All you need is about 1 cup of powdered sugar, 1 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract, 1 tsp cinnamon, some semi sweet chocolate chips (about 1/2 cup), 3 cups of ricotta cheese (make sure that you get the Scardillo Ricotta Genuina sold at your Italian deli) and a tiny bit of orange zest. Beat everything with your handmixer until smooth, put in a pastry bag and fill your shells.  Easy.

When you don't want to go out for Italian and you don't want to slave over a stove all day, they also make some pretty delicious house made sauces.  I love their Bolognese.  This stuff is the real deal Italian mamma yummy, delicious, simply thaw and heat on the stove kinda sauce.  Better than any jarred sauces I've tasted.  I love their homemade gnocchi too, they go great together.  You can find these sauces along with homemade lasagnas, cannelloni, pastas etc in their freezer section. 

I'm not affiliated with Italia Bakery, but I'm giving them a special shout out because they make some pretty delicious stuff.   Italia Bakery is located at 106-2828 East Hastings Street, Vancouver BC or visit them online at www.italiabakery.ca

ricotta filled...my favorite

chocolate and vanilla custard filled cannoli

 

yummy bolognese made with simple ingredients