February 5, 2018

Growing up I never really understood why this was called Wedding Soup.  It was NEVER served at weddings.

It was mostly served at home, unceremoniously.

The fact that it was unceremonious is a shame.  It is a wonderful soup and, being honest, takes a bit of work to pull together.  Both the soup, and the soup-maker, in my estimation, deserve a bit of attention.

Although it takes some work, it doesn’t require much in the way of heard-earned skills like frosting a cake or making pie crust.  It’s just a bit of slogging through a series of steps.

This is a beloved soup among Americans of Italian descent.  Interestingly, my in-laws who are actually from Italy had never heard of it until I made it for this blog!

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But back to the “wedding” part.  I did a bit of internet research (thanks Google!).  Actually, I hesitate to call it “research.”  I’m old school.  I remember when doing research meant hours upon hours spent in libraries looking at actual hardcopy materials.  It almost doesn’t seem fair to sit on my sofa with my laptop and read materials served up by Google based on natural language questions and call it research.

The “natural language” part is interesting too.  In the “old” days, if you found an article that was relevant to the research topic, you would look at the articles referenced by the author and find, potentially, other relevant articles.  But they would all be older than the first article.  This is where the “Science Citation Index” came into play.

The Index was a series of periodically published volumes that listed all the articles that cited a particular article in their bibliography.  With the Science Citation Index, you could start with a relevant article and then work forwards finding all the newer articles that had cited that article.

Now I just tell Google what I’m interested in and I get a bunch of (almost always) relevant “hits!”  Google is even nice enough to tell me how many hits there are and what fraction of a second it took Google to identify them.

Even when I’m researching a biomedical topic I sit on my sofa with my laptop and search the National Library of Medicine.  The search language is a bit more arcane than the natural language used by Google but it still feels like cheating compared to slogging around a library.  I can even have the full article delivered to my laptop so I don’t have to figure out what library has the publication I need.

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So, what did I learn from my Google search?

It appears (at least it’s a plausible theory) that Wedding Soup is an inaccurate translation of Minestra Maritata or Married Soup; apparently so-named because of the way the different ingredients marry together so well.

Interestingly, my husband’s Tuscan grandmother would use up small amounts of different types of dried pasta, perhaps putting them into a soup or serving them with a simple sauce.  She referred to this as Pasta Maritata because she was marrying the different types of pasta to create a dish.

If this theory is correct, I am perplexed by the inaccurate translation but, be that as it may, the soup is wonderful.  I urge you to give it a try.

I like breaking up the work over two days, especially since I like to make a long-simmered broth as the base of the soup.  My mother didn’t do this.  Once the chicken was cooked, it was removed and shredded and the broth was used without additional simmering to make the soup.  It shaves about 3 hours off of the prep time.  But, since making broth is mostly hands off, and the improvement in flavor is dramatic, I simmer everything a bit longer before straining and discarding the solids.

If you have a favorite family recipe and a bit of a story to tell, please email me at santafecook@villasentieri.com and we can discuss including it in the blog. I am expanding the scope of my blog to include traditional recipes from around the country and around the world. If you haven’t seen Bertha’s Flan or Melinda’s Drunken Prunes, take a look.  They will give you an idea of what I’m looking for.

Italian Wedding Soup

If you don’t want to use the white center of the escarole, start with two heads and just use the dark green parts. The pale inner portion can be served in a salad or cooked in a number of ways. I like to divide up the work over two days, making the broth on the first day and the remainder on the second day. It’s perfectly feasible to do it all on the same day, however. I always keep a stash of rinds from Parmigiano Reggiano and Pecorino cheeses in the freezer. They add great flavor to broths, beans, and an array of other dishes.

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Prep Time 1 hour hr

Cook Time 5 hours hrs

Total Time 8 hours hrs

Servings: 18 people

Ingredients Method Notes

Ingredients

  

1x2x3x?

Broth and Chicken

• 1 x 4 1/2 pound whole chicken
• 2 carrots chopped
• 2 stalks celery chopped
• 1 onion sliced
• 3 cloves garlic chopped
• 4-5 leaves sprigs parsley and tender stems only
• 1/2 cup white wine
• 1 tablespoon tomato paste
• 1 whole clove optional
• 1 bay leaf
• 1 piece Parmesan cheese rind optional
• 1/2 teaspoon black peppercorns
• 1 tablespoon salt
• 5 quarts water

Meatballs

• 1 pound ground sirloin 90% lean
• 1 egg
• 3 tablespoons Parmigiano Reggiano cheese freshly grated
• 1 clove garlic minced
• 1/4 cup parsley minced
• 1 1/4 teaspoons salt
• 1/2 teaspoon black pepper freshly ground
• 5 slices Italian bread 2-3 days old

Final assembly

• 1 large head escarole
• 1 pound acini de pepe or other very small dry pasta
• salt to taste
• black pepper freshly ground to taste
• Parmigiano Reggiano cheese freshly grated for serving

Method

 

Broth and Chicken

1. Cut the chicken into breast halves, legs, thighs, and wings. Cut the back into 2 or three pieces. Reserve the liver for another use but chop the remaining giblets.
   
2. 
3. 
4. Slice the onions. There's really no need to peel them first.
   
5. Same with the garlic, no need to peel. It all gets strained out in the end.
   
6. Combine all ingredients in a large stock pot. Cover and bring to a boil. Reduce heat, and simmer, partially covered for two hours.
   
7. After two hours, remove the breasts, legs, and thighs. Continue to simmer the broth.
8. Remove the meat from the bones. Return the chicken bones and skin to the broth.
   
9. Continue to simmer the broth for another two hours, adjusting seasoning as needed.
10. Meanwhile, shred the breast meat and refrigerate.
    
11. Reserve the leg and thigh meat for another use.
12. After the broth has finished cooking, cool it for several hours. Strain and discard the solids. Allow the broth to come to room temperature and refrigerate.
13. Alternatively, immediately strain and discard the solids and proceed as below.

Meatballs

1. Put all the ingredients except the bread into a mixing bowl.
   
2. Cut the crusts from the bread.
   
3. 
4. Cover the bread with warm water for 3-4 minutes.
   
5. Squeeze some of the water from the bread.
6. Add the bread to the mixing bowl.
   
7. Mix with your hands, until thoroughly combined and no streaks of white from the bread remain visible.
   
8. As you are mixing add a bit of the bread soaking water from time to time (about a quarter cup or so total) to keep the mixture moist but not wet.
9. The mixture should become tacky from the effects of the water and the mixing on the proteins in the meat. The tackiness will help the meatballs hold together for the same reason that sausage doesn’t fall apart when the casing is removed.
10. With damp hands, roll the mixture into approximately 50 meatballs. Keeping your hands moist will enable you to create a smooth surface on the meatballs. If there are visible cracks, the meatballs will split when cooking.
    
11. 

Final assembly

1. Skim the fat from the broth. Add water to make 6 quarts of broth. Bring the broth to a boil.
2. Meanwhile, coarsely chop the escarole.
   
3. 
4. 
5. As the broth comes to a boil, adjust the salt and pepper.
6. Add the chopped escarole. Return to a boil and cook at a moderate boil for approximately 5 minutes.
   
7. Add the meatballs. Return to a boil and boil gently, so the meatballs don’t break, for 10-12 minutes.
   
8. Add the shredded white meat chicken and return to a gentle boil.
   
9. Adjust salt and pepper. At this point, slightly over-salt the soup as the dry pasta will reduce the saltiness of the soup. The soup can be made ahead to this point. Return to a boil and add the pasta just before serving.
10. Add the pasta and boil gently until pasta is cooked, approximately 10 minutes.
11. Adjust salt and pepper.
12. Serve with freshly grated Parmigiano Reggiano cheese.
    

Notes

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January 31, 2018

Torta di Riso is an Italian specialty.  It is basically a rice pudding baked inside of a pastry crust; a Rice Tart, so to speak.

I first had Torta di Riso more than 20 years ago while visiting Italy with my husband and his parents.

We ate meals at the homes of many relatives.  I often arrived with a spiral-bound notebook to jot down the inevitable recipes that would be discussed around the table or the recipes I begged for after being served something wonderful.  That notebook is a mashup of American and Metric measures and English and Italian words for ingredients.  It became a bible of sorts for recreating many of the dishes I ate on that trip.

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My father-in-law’s Zia (Aunt) Mery made the first Torta di Riso that I ever tasted.  Her recipe is below (adapted for American measures).

After having it at Zio (Uncle) Beppe and Zia Mery’s house, I started noticing Torta di Riso in many places in Tuscany.

Alkermes liqueur originated in Tuscany so it is particularly appropriate to use it as the liqueur in Torta di Riso.  Alkermes is nearly impossible to find in the United States, however.  One can make a perfectly traditional Torta di Riso using rum in place of Alkermes but the resulting confection won’t be pink.

According to CooksInfo, “Alchermes was invented in the Frati Convent at Santa Maria Novella in Florence. Its making was kept secret, but the recipe was reputedly stolen by spies from the nearby city of Siena, which Florence was often at war with.”

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Recipes for alkermes (also spelled alchermes) are closely guarded but the process basically involves infusing alcohol with spices and flavorings like cinnamon, cloves, vanilla, nutmeg, mace, cardamom, star anise, rosewater, and orange zest.  The red color comes from cochineal, an insect that is the foundation for natural red food coloring.  The resulting infused alcohol is sweetened and diluted with water.

The pastry crust is pasta frolla, a slightly sweetened pastry, leavened with baking powder, and often flavored with vanilla and lemon zest.  This is Mery’s recipe for pasta frolla but I also have one from Zia Fidalma that makes about half the quantity.

If you don’t have access to Alkermes, you can use rum.  In fact, torta di riso is not always pink.  Many that I saw in Italy were white.

If you want to try to make your own Alkermes you can find a recipe here.  Amazon even sells the dried cochineal insects that provide the traditional scarlet color.

If you have a favorite family recipe and a bit of a story to tell, please email me at santafecook@villasentieri.com and we can discuss including it in the blog. I am expanding the scope of my blog to include traditional recipes from around the country and around the world. If you haven’t seen Bertha’s Flan or Melinda’s Drunken Prunes, take a look.  They will give you an idea of what I’m looking for.

Torta di Riso (Italian Rice Tart)

This classic Italian dessert is basically a rice pudding baked inside of a pastry crust. Alkermes is a traditional Tuscan liqueur used in a number of sweets, including torta di riso, for its color and spice-like flavor. If you don’t have Alkermes, use rum. Not all versions of torta di riso are brightly colored. Vanilla powder is a natural vanilla product, not artificial. Use vanilla extract if vanilla powder is not available.

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Prep Time 30 minutes mins

Cook Time 1 hour hr 15 minutes mins

Total Time 2 hours hrs 15 minutes mins

Servings: 12 people

Ingredients Method Notes

Ingredients

  

1x2x3x?

Pasta Frolla

• 500 grams flour (4 cups plus 2 1/2 tablespoons)
• 250 grams sugar (1 1/4 cups)
• 2 teaspoons baking powder
• 1 teaspoon vanilla powder or vanilla extract
• 1 pinch salt
• Grated zest of one lemon
• 4 ounces butter at room temperature
• 3 extra large eggs or 3 large eggs and 1 tablespoon milk

Rice

• 300 grams rice (1 1/2 cups)
• 2 cups whole milk
• 2 cups water
• 1/2 cup rum or 3/8 cup Alkermes plus enough rum to make 1/2 cup
• 3/4 cup sugar
• Grated zest of one lemon
• 1 egg
• 3 egg yolks

Method

 

Pasta Frolla

1. Blend the flour, sugar, baking powder, vanilla powder, salt and lemon zest in a food processor until combined.
2. Add the butter, cut in pieces, and blend till well combined.
3. Add the eggs and blend till the pastry almost forms a ball.
4. Remove the pastry from the food processor and use your hands to press everything into a single ball.
5. Wrap the pastry in waxed paper and refrigerate for an hour before using.

Rice

1. Wash and drain the rice.
2. Combine the rice, water and milk in a heavy-bottomed sauce pan.
   
3. Bring the rice to a boil.
4. Cover the rice and simmer, stirring frequently, until cooked and the liquid is almost completely absorbed. If the rice does not have the consistency of thick oatmeal, add a bit more milk at the end to make it creamy.
   
5. Mix the sugar, lemon zest, and Alkermes and/or rum into the rice.
   
6. 
7. 
8. Pour the rice into a bowl and cool, uncovered, stirring occasionally.

Assembly and Baking

1. Cut off a small piece of the pastry to make a lattice top and refrigerate.
2. Roll the remaining pastry between waxed paper, turning often, until it is large enough to cover the bottom and sides of a 10 inch springform pan.
   
3. 
4. 
5. Line a 10" springform pan with the pasta frolla.
6. Cut the pastry even with the top of the pan. Add the scraps to the pastry you have reserved for the lattice.
   
7. Beat the egg and egg yolks to combine.
8. Stir the beaten eggs into the cooled rice.
   
9. Pour the rice into the pastry lined pan.
10. Roll out the pastry reserved for the lattice.
    
11. Cut seven or eight strips, approximately 1/2 inch wide.
    
12. Arrange the strips into a lattice on top of the rice. Cut off the excess.
    
13. 
14. Roll the pastry lining the sides of the pan down to the top of the rice and form a decorative edge.
    
15. Bake at 350°F until the crust is lightly browned and the rice is barely jiggley in the center, approximately 30-45 minutes.
16. Cool on a rack for approximately 20 minutes.
    
17. Remove the side of the pan and cool completely.
    

Notes

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January 26, 2018

My father liked soup.  Actually, my father really, really liked soup.  Every few weeks my mother would make beef noodle soup as it was one of my dad’s favorites.  Beef noodle is the soup we had most often.  Goulash was the “stew” we had most often.  In fact, I don’t remember my mother ever making an American-style beef stew.

The first American-style beef stew that I ever made was from a recipe that my sister started using after she got married.  It was definitely not one of our family recipes, though it was good.

After the beef noodle soup that my mother made on a regular basis, other soups were just occasional affairs, though soups of various types appeared often on our table.

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Italian “Wedding” Soup was a favorite but not something that we had more than a three or four times a year.  Everyone in the family really loved Wedding Soup but, honestly, it’s a lot of work.  It’s coming to the blog next month but today we have my Mom’s Lentil Soup.

Let’s face it, lentil soup isn’t something people swoon over.  At best it is good comfort food.  That’s exactly what this is for me.

It’s also easy to make.  A few minutes of chopping and some stirring off-and-on are rewarded with a really good pot of soup.

My mother’s lentil soup was unusual in that she put enough black pepper into it to create a distinct bite.  The first time I tasted it, as an adolescent, I was surprised by how peppery it was but I loved it.   Whether or not you add that much black pepper is entirely your choice but, in my mind, it’s the black pepper that sets my mother’s lentil soup apart from the pack.

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Consistent with my mom’s low-and-slow philosophy, this soup is cooked longer that would be typical, for the average American cook at least.  Despite the long cooking, the lentils remain intact though soft.  They don’t really fall apart the way that dry beans might.

This soup freezes well so a big batch shouldn’t be a problem.

While a ham bone makes great lentil soup, it’s not something that most households have on a regular basis but a handful of baked ham or a few ounces of bacon make an awfully tasty soup.

If you have a favorite family recipe and a bit of a story to tell, please email me at santafecook@villasentieri.com and we can discuss including it in the blog. I am expanding the scope of my blog to include traditional recipes from around the country and around the world. If you haven’t seen Bertha’s Flan or Melinda’s Drunken Prunes, take a look.  They will give you an idea of what I’m looking for.

Mom's Lentil Soup

When my mother made this soup, she added enough black pepper to give it a distinct bite. The addition of a bay leaf is my only modification of the original recipe.

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Prep Time 10 minutes mins

Cook Time 2 hours hrs

Total Time 2 hours hrs 10 minutes mins

Servings: 12 people

Ingredients Method Notes

Ingredients

  

1x2x3x?

• 1 pound green lentils
• 1/4 pound bacon or ham diced, or a meaty ham bone
• 1 cup celery finely diced
• 1 carrot
• 1/4 onion finely diced
• 1 clove garlic minced
• 1 bay leaf optional
• 1 tablespoon salt
• 1 teaspoon black pepper preferably freshly ground or more to taste
• 3 quarts water

Method

 

1. Wash and pick over the lentils then drain.
   
2. Shred the carrot on the tear-drop side of a box grater.
   
3. Put all the ingredients in a large stock pot.
4. Cover and bring to a boil.
   
5. Reduce heat and simmer partially covered for 2 to 2½ hours.
6. Adjust salt and pepper to taste.
7. The soup should be thick and the lentils soft but intact.
   

Notes

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February 22, 2018

Risotto isn’t really a recipe.  It’s a technique.

Yes, there are a few quintessentially classic risotti for which precise instructions are needed (like Risotto alla Milanese) but, in general, you can adapt the technique to use an array of vegetables and other ingredients.

Risotto with Asparagus is a good example of a risotto where the vegetables are pre-cooked and added near the end.  The same can be done with both peas and mushrooms, for example.

Risotto with Butternut Squash is an example of a risotto where the vegetables are added at the beginning and complete their cooking as the rice cooks.  Though you wouldn’t think it would work, Risotto with Zucchini works the same way, as long as the zucchini are cut into thick slices.

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In a traditional Italian meal, risotto, pasta, and soup are all considered the same course:  the first course (Il Primo Piatto).  The first course follows the antipasto (which means, literally, before the pasta).  Il Primo Piatto is followed by the second course (Il Secondo Piatto), consisting of fish, meat, or poultry and accompanied by several side dishes (contorni).  The first and second courses have almost equal weight in an Italian meal; very different from an American meal.

While restaurants often par-cook a risotto so that it can be quickly finished for service, I find that cooking a risotto at home is best done “in the moment.”  That means I only make risotto for a small group when everyone can hang out in the kitchen during the 45 minutes, or so, that it takes to cook.  That pretty much consumes the cocktail hour.  Because of this, for me, risotto is a dish for family or very close friends.

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Risotto isn’t something I grew up eating.  It is traditionally a Northern Italian dish.  I also don’t remember Auntie Helen, who was from Rome, making risotto either.

As with much of Northern Italian cooking, my first introduction was through Marcella Hazan’s The Classic Italian Cookbook.  Beyond that, my Italian repertoire grew based on trips to Italy, cooking with Italian friends, and ultimately, marrying into my husband’s very Northern Italian family.

Risotto with butternut squash is a wonderful dish for late fall and winter.

If you have a favorite family recipe and a bit of a story to tell, please email me at santafecook@villasentieri.com and we can discuss including it in the blog. I am expanding the scope of my blog to include traditional recipes from around the country and around the world. If you haven’t seen Bertha’s Flan or Melinda’s Drunken Prunes, take a look.  They will give you an idea of what I’m looking for.

It is important to use what the Italians would call “riso per risotto” (rice for risotto).  The rice used for risotto is short-grained.  It can absorb a lot of liquid, turning creamy in the process while still maintaining the ideal “al dente,” (toothy) quality at the very core.  The most commonly available types of rice for risotto are Arborio, Carnaroli, and Vialone Nano.   Far and away, Arborio is the most common.

Since creaminess is the goal, rice used for risotto shouldn’t be washed.  The little extra starch on the grains will improve the texture.

A well-made risotto gets almost all of its creamy texture from the cooking method, not from the addition of butter, cheese, or cream.  To be sure, a bit of butter and Parmigiano Reggiano cheese are almost always added at the end but this should be for flavor, not to compensate for poor technique.

My most common quibble with risotto made in the United States is that it is overly rich with butter and cheese and (heaven forbid) sometimes cream.

To coax creaminess out of the rice, broth is added in small amounts and completely cooked off before the next bit is added.  In general, the amount of broth I add each time is no more than 1/3 the quantity of rice I start with.  For example, if I’m using one cup of rice, I add no more than 1/3 cup of broth each time liquid is needed.  The rice should be stirred frequently, but not constantly.

Risotto with Butternut Squash

Broth for risotto should be light in flavor, not a heavy stock. The broth should add the barest amount of background flavor but allow the other ingredients in the risotto to shine. Risotto uses a lot of broth. It is important that the broth have minimal salt so as not to result in an overly salty dish. I never salt my homemade broth for this reason. If it seems that you will run out of broth before the risotto has finished cooking, put some water on to heat. It is important that all liquid added to the risotto be at a simmer.

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Prep Time 15 minutes mins

Cook Time 45 minutes mins

Total Time 1 hour hr

Servings: 6 people

Ingredients Method Notes

Ingredients

  

1x2x3x?

• 1 1/2 cups butternut squash cut in ½ inch cubes
• 1 1/2 cups rice for risotto Arborio, Carnaroli or Vialone Nano
• 1/3 cup onion finely diced
• 2 cloves garlic minced
• 1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil
• 1 cup dry white wine divided
• 1/4 teaspoon rubbed sage or 1 minced fresh sage leaf
• 6 cups chicken broth preferably homemade and unsalted
• 1/2 cup Parmigiano Reggiano cheese freshly grated
• 2 tablespoons butter

Method

 

1. Bring the broth to a simmer.
2. Meanwhile, heat a three or four quart heavy-bottomed saucepan over medium high heat. Add the olive oil.
3. When the oil is hot, add the onion and garlic.
   
4. Sauté, stirring frequently until the onion softens and turns translucent. Do not brown the onion. You may need to reduce the heat.
   
5. When the onion is soft, return the heat to medium high and add the butternut squash.
   
6. Sauté, stirring often, until the squash starts to soften, about five minutes. Be careful not to brown the onion or garlic.
7. Add 1/3 cup of wine and immediately cover the pot. Cook another five minutes, stirring occasionally.
8. Remove the cover and cook off any remaining wine.
9. With the heat still on medium high, add the rice.
   
10. Continue cooking, stirring frequently, until the outer portion of the rice becomes translucent while the inside remains opaque white.
    
11. Add the remaining 2/3 cup of wine. Stir frequently, but not constantly, until the wine has totally evaporated. You will begin to see some starch leaching out of the rice. More and more of the starch will leach out as you cook the rice. This is what will make a creamy sauce, not a large quantity of butter, cheese, or cream.
12. When the wine has evaporated, add a scant ½ cup of simmering broth. Stir thoroughly paying particular attention to loosening any spots where the starch seems to be sticking to the bottom of the pan. You don’t want to brown (or worse yet, burn) the starch.
13. Stir frequently, but not constantly, until the broth has evaporated.
14. If the broth is unsalted, as I recommend, you can add a teaspoon of salt to the rice as you begin to add broth. If the broth contains salt, I recommend not adding salt until the end.
15. Keep repeating the process with a scant ½ cup of broth, cooking, stirring, and loosening any spots that are sticking until each addition of broth evaporates. The heat should stay as close as possible to medium high. The moderate boiling of the liquid will coax starch out of the rice to create the creaminess that is the hallmark of a good risotto.
    
16. Add the sage after about 20 minutes of cooking.
17. Begin tasting the rice for doneness at the same time. It will probably still be quite crunchy at the very core. Until you get the hang of it, I suggest testing a rice grain each time you add more broth so you develop a sense of how quickly the texture changes.
18. Continue cooking, adding simmering broth or water as needed, until the rice is al dente. Once the rice is cooked, add another 1/2 cup of simmering broth, stir, and then immediately remove the rice from the heat.
19. Off the heat, stir in the butter and Parmesan cheese.
20. Stir in enough additional simmering broth or water to create a creamy “sauce.” The starch that you have coaxed out of the rice, plus the modest amount of butter and cheese, should allow you to add at least another ½ cup of liquid, possibly more.
21. Taste and add salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste.
    

Notes

Check out the introduction to my recipe for Risotto with Asparagus for more information on making risotto.

Copyright © 2018 by VillaSentieri.com. All rights reserved.

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January 17, 2018

Tomatoes…and tuna…not clams or squid…as a sauce for pasta…quite a challenge for me as a young adult!

Although pasta (spaghetti, really) with red sauce and clams or squid was in my wheelhouse as an adolescent, the idea of a red sauce with tuna was, most definitely, not!

My undergraduate advisor, and later my business partner when I set up my psychiatric practice in Philadelphia, Gene d’Aquili, was a first-generation American of Italian and French descent.  I frequently cooked at his home in Berwyn on Philadelphia’s Main Line.  (If you read the obituary link above, you will notice a comment about a sign that read “Fantasyland.”  I was the person who had that sign painted after years of Gene referring to his estate by that name.  I had the sign painted in Guyana on a trip when I was doing research for my doctoral dissertation and ended up on the Guyana Airways float for the Mashramani parade but that’s a whole other story!)

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Gene’s father’s family was from Rome.  Gene’s grandparents emigrated to the United States with their four children, Gene’s father Guido, and Guido’s three sisters, very early in the 20th century.  One of the sisters died not long after coming to the United States.  The other two, Auntie Helen and Auntie Louise, are the reasons I now drink bourbon (Auntie Louise) and know a lot about traditional Roman cuisine (Auntie Helen).

The family home is now part of the American Embassy in Rome.  There are several buildings that are part of the American Embassy but I believe the palazzo pictured below was the one the d’Aquili family owned before coming to the United States.

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Gene’s father, Guido, was a fine artist of the New Hope School.  In a previous post, I included some pictures of some of the Old King Cole murals that he painted for a private club in Trenton, NJ.  Those murals ended up in the dining room of the carriage house I rented on the d’Aquili estate in Berwyn, PA when I was in medical school.

One of Gene’s ancestors was Antoniazzo Romano, a famous artist of the 15th century.  His father’s artistic bent is part of a long family tradition.

For one dinner at “Fantasyland,” really known as “Salus House,” Gene and his wife, Mary Lou, wanted to serve spaghetti with tuna sauce; a classically Italian dish but completely unknown to me at the time.

I winged it based on his description.  It was basically a simple tomato sauce (what we as Americans might call Marinara but what Italians would call Pomodoro) with tuna simmered into it.

It was good, and although many years went by before I made it again, it stuck in my memory.

I’ve tweaked the recipe over the years but it really hasn’t varied much from my initial foray into making spaghetti with tuna sauce based on Gene’s description.

If you have a favorite family recipe and a bit of a story to tell, please email me at santafecook@villasentieri.com and we can discuss including it in the blog. I am expanding the scope of my blog to include traditional recipes from around the country and around the world. If you haven’t seen Bertha’s Flan or Melinda’s Drunken Prunes, take a look.  They will give you an idea of what I’m looking for.

Spaghetti with Tuna Sauce

Although mushrooms are not strictly traditional, their presence is not really noticeable and I think they add a bit of savoriness to the sauce. You can omit them if you wish. It is important to use good quality tuna to avoid any “tinny” taste. Italian Tonno is ideal but a good American brand will work fine. The small amount of sugar is intended to counteract the sourness that some canned tomatoes can have. Adjust up or down to your taste. The presence of the sugar should not be detectable, however.

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Prep Time 15 minutes mins

Cook Time 1 hour hr

Total Time 1 hour hr 15 minutes mins

Servings: 6 people

Ingredients Method Notes

Ingredients

  

1x2x3x?

• 1/2 medium carrot
• 2/3 stalk celery
• 1/4 medium onion
• 4 ounces button mushrooms
• 3 cloves garlic
• 4-5 sprigs parsley leaves only
• 3 tablespoons olive oil
• 1/2 teaspoon crushed red pepper
• 1/4 teaspoon dry oregano
• 1 teaspoon dry basil or ¼ cup lightly packed fresh basil
• 1/2 cup dry white wine
• 1 x 28 ounce can tomato puree
• 1 cup water
• 1/2 teaspoon sugar or to taste
• salt to taste
• black pepper freshly ground to taste
• 1 x 6-7 ounce can tuna drained

Method

 

1. Coarsely chop the carrot, celery, onion, mushrooms, garlic, and parsley.
   
2. 
3. 
4. 
5. 
6. 
7. In a food processor finely mince the chopped vegetables.
   
8. 
9. Heat the olive oil in a heavy-bottomed saucepan.
10. Add the minced vegetables and sauté on medium high heat, stirring often, until golden.
    
11. 
12. Add the red pepper and sauté a minute or two more.
13. Add the wine and quickly evaporate, stirring often.
    
14. Add the basil and oregano. Stir well.
15. Add the tomato puree, water, sugar, 1 ½ teaspoons salt and black pepper to taste.
    
16. Simmer uncovered approximately 30 minutes, stirring occasionally.
17. Add the tuna and simmer 10 minutes more.
    
18. Adjust seasoning.
19. This makes enough to generously sauce one pound of spaghetti.
    

Notes

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January 12, 2018

I don’t remember my mother making Roman Beans and Kale till I was in my late teens.

The first time she made it, I remember her talking about her mother making it.  For something she really liked, she waited an awfully long time to make it.  But then, again, I did the same thing with her pasta è fagioli.

There were some dishes from her childhood that she talked about but never made.  Tiella is the one that I remember most.  It took me multiple tries over many years to recreate it from her description.

Roman beans and kale might seem a little unusual to many American palates due to the length of time the kale is cooked.  There is a point where it becomes silky but most definitely not mushy.  Southerners, though, would find the kale in this recipe cooked in a familiar way.  It is much like the Southern low-and-slow style of cooking greens of various types, such as collards or mustard greens, until they achieve the requisite tenderness.

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Texture is an important part of this dish. The beans should yield but not be falling apart.  The kale should not provide any resistance the way it would if it were just quickly sautéed.  The pasta, however, should be al dente.

Beans, kale and pasta are all pretty mellow-tasting in my estimation.  The garlic, olive oil, and Parmesan cheese are what give this dish its flavor oomph!  At the table, I add crushed red pepper but it shouldn’t be cooked into the dish.

Roman beans are also called Borlotti or Cranberry beans.  Depending on where you live you might have to order them.  In a pinch, though, you could use pinto beans or Anasazi beans.  (If you’re a bean savant, you’ll notice that I used Anasazi beans as I was unable to find Roman beans after searching market shelves in two different cities for a couple of months.  Though I could have gotten them online, I didn’t think the huge price premium was worth it.)

My mother’s approach to cooking most foods was definitely low and slow.  It’s classically Italian and so NOT French, which often aims for “high and fast!”  Though culinary education is now more inclusive and not so heavily French, we have a strong cultural bias away from slow, leisurely cooking due to the strong French influence of the past decades.  There are exceptions however, largely based on strong regional traditions, barbecue, for example.  But for the most part, mainstream America, and certainly mainstream American food and cooking publications, just don’t “get” low and slow.

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There are some foods that don’t benefit from low and slow, at least when cooked traditionally; steaks for instance.  My mother’s approach to these was that they should be well done, even though that state was achieved quickly.  In our house steaks were most often seasoned with olive oil, garlic, oregano, basil, salt and pepper and broiled.  I think it’s a wonderful flavor combination.  But it wasn’t until my late teens that I developed an appreciation for rare beef.

I remember one meal where my sister and I cooked the steaks for ourselves and our dad.  They were medium rare, as I recall.  Even though our mom didn’t have a hand in cooking them (and cooked her own steak well done) she spent the entire meal feeling like she had served us bad food.  The fact that we liked it didn’t seem to matter.  She had very definite opinions about what constituted good food, and something that was bleeding onto the plate didn’t fit!

If you have a favorite family recipe and a bit of a story to tell, please email me at santafecook@villasentieri.com and we can discuss including it in the blog. I am expanding the scope of my blog to include traditional recipes from around the country and around the world. If you haven’t seen Bertha’s Flan or Melinda’s Drunken Prunes, take a look.  They will give you an idea of what I’m looking for.

Recently I bought sous vide equipment.  I haven’t tried it yet but I’m itching to do so.  Steaks will be first.  The food gets vacuum sealed and then cooked slowly…for hours…in a hot water bath that is maintained at the temperature one wants the food to achieve.  The meat is cooked uniformly throughout…low and slow!  For steaks, one would want to quickly sear the outside before serving but many foods, like fish, poached eggs, and even hollandaise sauce can be used right out of the water bath.

For now, though, let’s try a slow-cooked pot of beans and greens…Italian style!!

Roman Beans and Kale

The beans should be cooked through but not falling apart. The kale should take on a silky texture but not be mushy. The pasta should still be a bit “toothy." This is even better if made a day or two in advance and refrigerated. If you are doing this, you will want to undercook the pasta so that it is not too soft after the dish is reheated for serving. Alternately, you can omit the pasta when mixing the beans and kale, then add it when reheating. Depending on where you live, you might not be able to find Roman beans. Roman beans are also called Cranberry or Borlotti beans. If you can’t find Roman beans, you can substitute Pinto or Anasazi beans.

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Prep Time 15 minutes mins

Cook Time 2 hours hrs

Total Time 2 hours hrs 15 minutes mins

Servings: 8 people

Ingredients Method Notes

Ingredients

  

1x2x3x?

• 1 pound dried Roman beans
• 2 bunches kale
• 2 cloves garlic
• 1/3 cup extra virgin olive oil
• 2 cups small dry pasta such as ditalini, optional
• salt to taste
• black pepper freshly ground to taste
• Parmigiano Reggiano cheese grated, for serving

Method

 

1. Rinse and pick over the beans.
2. Cover the beans with six cups of water.
   
3. Simmer the beans until almost fully cooked, adding 2 teaspoons of salt and black pepper to taste after the beans have cooked for an hour. If necessary, add a bit of boiling water from time to time to keep the beans just submerged. The beans will cook for about 10-15 minutes more after the kale is added so don't overcook them.
4. Meanwhile, cut out the center ribs of the kale.
   
5. 
6. Kale ribs about to be discarded.
   
7. Cut the leaves crosswise into large pieces.
   
8. Rinse and drain the kale.
9. Bring a quart of salted water to a boil.
10. Add the kale. The kale should quickly wilt enough to be covered by water. If not add a bit more water to just cover the kale.
    
11. Simmer the kale, covered, stirring occasionally, until cooked to a silky texture, approximately 1 hour.
    
12. While the kale is cooking, crush the garlic with the side of a chef's knife.
    
13. Slowly brown the garlic in the olive oil.
    
14. Once the garlic has browned, remove the oil from the heat. Discard the garlic. Reserve the garlic-infused oil.
    
15. If using pasta, bring two quarts of water seasoned with 1/4 cup of salt to a rolling boil.
16. When the pasta-cooking water comes to a boil, add the pasta. At the same time, add the kale and its cooking water to the beans. Keep the beans and kale at a simmer.
    
17. Cook the pasta in boiling water until it is still a little crunchy on the inside.
18. Drain the pasta and add it to the pot with the beans and kale.
    
19. Add the garlic-infused oil.
20. Taste and adjust seasoning.
21. Cook everything, uncovered, until the pasta is al dente, just a few minutes longer.
    
22. Serve with grated Parmigiano Reggiano cheese.
    

Notes

Copyright © 2018 by VillaSentieri.com. All rights reserved.

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January 1, 2018

In our house pasta mostly was dressed with a red sauce, specifically my mother’s long-simmered Southern Italian-style sauce.  In Western Pennsylvania, we called it “sauce” or sometimes “spaghetti sauce” though it was used on much more than spaghetti.  Further east, in Philadelphia, New York, and New Jersey the term “gravy” was common, but not where I lived.

Now I mostly use the Italian word “sugo” which is a general term for sauce, though commonly used for a tomato-based sauce.  The word ragù definitely connotes a tomato-based sauce, specifically with meat.  It also happens to be a trademarked name, though with a different accent mark on the last letter:  Ragú.

I found it interesting that Ragú was started in 1937 in Rochester, New York by Assunta and Giovanni Cantisano, Italian immigrants who sold the sauce from their front porch.  In 1969, the company was sold to Chesebrough-Pond’s.  The brand became the best-selling pasta sauce in the country and ultimately achieved a reported 60% share of the pasta sauce market in the United States.

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Purchased pasta sauce was something that NEVER entered our house!

When pasta wasn’t served with a red sauce, it was typically served as Pasta è Fagioli (Pasta and Beans) and, once a year, on Christmas Eve, with crispy breadcrumbs and anchovies.  You can find my mother’s recipe for Pasta è Fagioli here and mine here.  In the coming months you’ll get my Aunt Margie’s recipe and Louis Evangelista’s recipe for Pasta è Fagioli.

Although not something I grew up with, a simple sauce of anchovies, garlic and olive oil is now a favorite in my household.

My recipe is adapted from one by G. J. Gillotti (whose family also hails from Calabria) in Our Most Treasured Recipes, published in 1993 by the Morning Star Lodge of the Order of Italian Sons and Daughters of America.  The sauce comes together from pantry staples in the time it takes to bring the pasta water to a boil.

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Morning Star Lodge is in Pittsburgh, about 70 miles from my hometown of Johnstown, PA.  If you’ve been following my blog, you know I have both Italian and Slovak roots.  There are lots of people of Italian and Eastern European extraction in Western Pennsylvania.  I found it interesting to peruse the pages of this ostensibly Italian cookbook.  Among many Italian and Italian-American favorites are Eastern European dishes like holubki (stuffed cabbage), sweet sour kielbasa, and pierogi casserole.  This speaks to the melting pot that is Western Pennsylvania!

If you’ve gotten this far, I hope you’re interested in trying this recipe but I fear there are many of you who hear the word anchovy and stop cold in your tracks.  If any of you are still reading, however, I would encourage you to try this recipe.  The anchovies provide a background savory note but really are not front and center!

If you have a favorite family recipe and a bit of a story to tell, please email me at santafecook@villasentieri.com and we can discuss including it in the blog. I am expanding the scope of my blog to include traditional recipes from around the country and around the world. If you haven’t seen Bertha’s Flan or Melinda’s Drunken Prunes, take a look.  They will give you an idea of what I’m looking for.

Spaghettini con Acciughe (Spaghettini with Anchovies)

Buy good quality anchovies packed in olive oil. The difference in price between low-end and high-end anchovies is not that much but the difference in taste is astounding. Good anchovies will have only the slightest smell “of the sea” when you open the can. After cooking, they will fade into the background leaving a savory (umami) note without any fishiness. Italians rarely use cheese in dishes that contain fish. I prefer spaghettini in this dish. Spaghettini is thinner than spaghetti but thicker than angel hair (vermicelli).

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Prep Time 15 minutes mins

Cook Time 40 minutes mins

Total Time 55 minutes mins

Servings: 4 people

Ingredients Method Notes

Ingredients

  

1x2x3x?

• 1/3 cup extra virgin olive oil
• 4-5 cloves garlic minced
• 1/4 teaspoon fennel seed crushed in a mortar
• 1 teaspoon crushed red pepper or to taste
• 1 pinch dried oregano
• 1/8 teaspoon dried basil
• 1 x 2 ounce can anchovies packed in olive oil
• 1/4 cup dry white wine
• 1 egg lightly beaten
• 1 1/2 teaspoons black pepper freshly ground
• 1 pound spaghettini
• 1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil for finishing

Method

 

1. In a small frying pan gently sauté garlic in olive oil until golden brown.
   
2. Add the fennel seed, red pepper, oregano, and basil and cook for approximately 30 seconds.
   
3. Add the anchovies and their oil.
   
4. Cook gently, stirring frequently, until anchovies disintegrate. This will only take a few minutes.
   
5. Add white wine and simmer gently till most of the wine has evaporated and the anchovies have thoroughly disintegrated. Remove the pan from the heat.
   
6. Meanwhile cook pasta in 3 quarts of boiling water seasoned with 1/3 cup of salt until just al dente.
7. As the pasta nears completion, use some of the pasta water to warm the serving bowl. This is important as the egg will cook in the hot pasta and if the bowl is cold, the pasta will lose too much heat to do this effectively.
8. Just before draining the pasta, reheat the olive oil-anchovy mixture on medium-low.
   
9. Drain pasta, reserving at least one cup of the pasta-cooking water.
10. Drain and quickly dry the warmed serving bowl.
11. Put half of the olive oil-anchovy mixture in the warmed serving bowl.
    
12. Add the drained pasta.
    
13. Top with the remaining olive-oil anchovy mixture.
    
14. Toss pasta.
    
15. Add black pepper and beaten egg. Toss until well mixed.
    
16. In a leap of faith, add about ½ cup of the reserved (still hot) pasta-cooking water. Toss well.
17. Drizzle in approximately ¼ cup of finishing olive oil. Toss well.
    
18. Add more pasta-cooking water, if needed, to make a glossy sauce. You probably can’t go wrong with adding at least another ¼ cup of pasta-cooking water.

Notes

Copyright © 2018 by VillaSentieri.com. All rights reserved.

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January 3, 2018

A few years ago I was at a party and struck up an interesting conversation with a couple of guys originally from the East Coast.  One of the guys was of Italian heritage and the conversation turned to food, naturally!

He described a soup he grew up eating that included fennel stalks as well as the bulb.

It caught my interest because I’d not encountered a recipe that used the stalks before; some of the fronds, yes, but not the stalks.  It always seems like such a waste to me to throw them out as they contain so much flavor.

But they’re tough!

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In this soup, the stalks are pureed in a food processor and added to the diced bulb and some cannellini beans.

It is wonderfully flavorful, completely vegetarian, and comes together in a snap.

If you have some of my Cannellini alla Toscana lurking in your freezer, by all means use them in the soup.  If not, canned cannellini will work just fine.

As for the guys who gave me the recipe, I can’t find anyone who knows who they might be.  I’ve talked to the hosts of the party and they’re stumped.  I always like to include a personal interest story along with each recipe and I’ve truly exhausted what I know about this particular version of this soup.

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From my research, however, I can tell you that this appears to be a popular soup in Italy given the number of recipe variations I was able to turn up written in Italian.  Most contain meat, such as speck, and other vegetables, such as carrots and celery.  One even contains seaweed!  None of the recipes is quite as simple as this one…and I love the simplicity.

Give it a try and let me know what you think.

If you have a favorite family recipe and a bit of a story to tell, please email me at santafecook@villasentieri.com and we can discuss including it in the blog. I am expanding the scope of my blog to include traditional recipes from around the country and around the world. If you haven’t seen Bertha’s Flan or Melinda’s Drunken Prunes, take a look.  They will give you an idea of what I’m looking for.

Cannellini and Fennel Soup

This is one of the very few recipes I have seen that uses the stalks of the fennel plant, not just the bulb. Adding the stalks and fronds really intensifies the fennel flavor. You can substitute 4 cans (approximately 15 ounces each) of cannellini beans in place of the home-cooked beans. See the notes section, below, for a link to the Cannellini alla Toscana recipe. You can easily cut this recipe in half.

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Prep Time 20 minutes mins

Cook Time 1 hour hr

Total Time 1 hour hr 20 minutes mins

Servings: 6 people

Ingredients Method Notes

Ingredients

  

1x2x3x?

• 1 pound dried cannellini beans prepared according to my Cannellini alla Toscana recipe
• 2 large fennel bulbs with stalks attached
• 2 cloves garlic
• 1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil
• 1 cup dry white wine
• salt to taste
• black pepper freshly ground to taste
• Parmigiano Reggiano cheese freshly grated for serving

Method

 

1. Cut the stalks and fronds off the fennel.
2. Coarsely chop the stalks.
3. Grind the chopped stalks and fronds in a food processor. Reserve.
   
4. Dice the fennel bulbs.
   
5. Mince the garlic.
   
6. Sauté the garlic in the olive oil until fragrant.
   
7. Add the diced fennel. Season with salt. Sauté approximately 5 minutes.
   
8. Add the wine. Cover the pot and cook until the fennel begins to soften.
9. Add the cooking liquid from the cannellini (but not the beans) adding water if necessary to cover the fennel. Simmer until the fennel is almost completely cooked.
10. Add the cannellini. Simmer 10 minutes.
    
11. Add the ground fennel stalks and fronds and salt and pepper to taste.
    
12. 
13. Season with salt and pepper.
14. Simmer for 15 minutes, until fennel is tender but not mushy.
    
15. Serve with grated Parmigiano Reggiano cheese.
    

Notes

Here’s where you can find the recipe for Cannellini alla Toscana.

Copyright © 2018 by VillaSentieri.com. All rights reserved.

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December 29, 2017

I grew up in Johnstown, PA. The town was founded by a Swiss German immigrant, Joseph Schantz in 1800. Over the years, in various documents, recorders anglicized his last name, most commonly rendering it “Johns,” a name the family ultimately adopted. The name of the town was ultimately changed from Schantzstadt to Johnstown.

I can’t say there was much of a noticeable German influence when I was growing up in the 1950s to 1970s, except for one: New Year’s Day dinner.

Regardless of one’s ethnic background, the most common dinner on New Year’s Day was “Pork and Sauerkraut.” It was commonly acknowledged that this was a nod to Johnstown’s German heritage. And, much like black-eyed peas in the South, was viewed as a way to bring good luck to the coming year.

As you might expect, recipes for pork and sauerkraut vary. Sauerkraut and a large cut of pork are, obviously, essential. Sausages of some sort are common, as are dumplings.

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The recipe that I use is close to what my mother made except that I enhance the seasonings in the sauerkraut along more Germanic lines, with onion, carrot, apple, and juniper berries. My mother’s was more basic and similar to the way the Slovak side of my family prepared sauerkraut. My cousin Angie, of Italian heritage, added a brown gravy to hers, which also has Germanic roots.

Long and slow cooking is essential as much for pull-apart-tender pork as it is to mellow out the sauerkraut. Among Central and Eastern Europeans, sauerkraut tends to be cooked for several hours to tenderize it and tame its sour bite.

Kielbasa was a favorite sausage in our house and was always included in pork and sauerkraut. It was always locally made and never procured from large national meatpackers. Often times, other sausages, such as bockwurst or bratwurst, would also be added. But kielbasa was king in pork and sauerkraut and, in the sausage pantheon, second only to hot Italian sausage in our house.

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The kielbasa that we ate on a regular basis was made from pork, or pork and beef, but venison kielbasa was common too. The first day of deer-hunting season was a public school holiday. You can imagine the importance of venison.

Some of the hunters would have their venison (or some of it, at least) turned into kielbasa, flavored with garlic and smoked. I remember on several occasions going with my father to have work done on the car in late December. The service station had a big platter of meats, cheeses, and pickles laid out for customers to nibble on. Among the offerings was venison kielbasa made from a deer that the owner of the service station had shot.

One of my resolutions for the new year is to find a small, artisanal purveyor of kielbasa that’s as good as what I remember from childhood.

If you have a favorite family recipe and a bit of a story to tell, please email me at santafecook@villasentieri.com and we can discuss including it in the blog. I am expanding the scope of my blog to include traditional recipes from around the country and around the world. If you haven’t seen the post on Melinda’s Drunken Prunes, it will give you an idea of what I’m looking for.

Slow-Cooked Pork Roast with Sauerkraut and Sausage

Saueraut from the refrigerated section of the market is usually of better quality than canned, especially if the sauerkraut is from an artisinal producer. Draining the sauerkraut and rinsing it well under cool water will produce a more mellow taste. If you want dumplings with this (and who wouldn't?), remove the meat from the pan and keep warm while cooking dumplings on top of the sauerkraut on the stovetop. See the notes section below for my recipe for dumplings.

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Prep Time 20 minutes mins

Cook Time 6 hours hrs

Total Time 6 hours hrs 20 minutes mins

Servings: 10 people

Ingredients Method Notes

Ingredients

  

1x2x3x?

• 5 pound bone-in pork roast such as a shoulder or Boston Butt
• 4-5 cloves garlic
• 1/4 cup oil
• 1 cup white wine
• 2 onions
• 4 tablespoons butter or bacon fat or a combination
• 1 carrot
• 1 apple
• 2 pounds sauerkraut preferably refrigerated
• 1 tablespoon juniper berries
• 1 1/2 teaspoons caraway seeds
• 1 bay leaf
• 5 cups water
• 1 pound kielbasa
• 1 pound pork or pork-beef sausage of your choice such as bratwurst, bockwurst, and so forth
• salt to taste
• black pepper freshly ground to taste

Method

 

1. Cut the cloves of garlic, top to bottom, into approximately 4-6 slivers each.
   
2. Pierce the pork around the outside about 1 inch deep with the tip of a sharp knife.
   
3. Insert slivers of garlic into the slits
   
4. Season the pork generously with salt and pepper.
   
5. Brown the pork in a heavy Dutch oven using the oil.
   
6. Add white wine, cover tightly, and transfer to oven at 350°F.
7. After one hour, reduce heat to 225°F.
8. Slice the onions in half top-to-bottom then cut crosswise into thin slices.
   
9. Shred the carrot on the tear-drop side of a box grater.
   
10. Cut the apple into small dice.
11. After the pork has been cooking for a total of about 3 hours, drain and rinse the sauerkraut.
12. Slowly sauté the onion in the butter or bacon fat until caramelized, approximately 20 minutes.
    
13. Add the shredded carrot and diced apple and sauté until heated through.
    
14. Add sauerkraut, juniper berries, caraway seeds, bay leaf, and black pepper to taste.
    
15. Add water and bring to a boil.
16. Add the boiling sauerkraut to the pork after the pork has cooked for a total of four hours (1 hour at 350°F plus 3 hours at 225°F).
    
17. An hour later nestle the kielbasa and other sausage into the sauerkraut.
    
18. Continue to cook, covered, until the pork is fall-off-the-bone tender. Approximately 1-2 more hours.
19. Remove the pork and sausages.
20. Skim fat from the top of the sauerkraut.
21. Put the Dutch oven on the stove and cook dumplings on top of the sauerkraut if desired.
22. Meanwhile, pull the pork into big chunks. Keep the pork and sausages warm.
    
23. Serve the sauerkraut in a separate bowl, or use it to surround the pork and sausages.
    

Notes

This is where you can find my recipe for dumplings.

Copyright © 2017 by VillaSentieri.com. All rights reserved.

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December 26, 2017

I didn’t grow up eating crostoli.

That doesn’t mean we didn’t have our own version of fried dough.

Unlike crostoli, which are thin and crispy and leavened with baking powder, I grew up eating ovals of fried yeasted bread dough sprinkled with granulated sugar.

Frying bread dough and sprinkling it with granulated sugar is a common among Southern Italians. My mother had a name for it that I’ve never heard anywhere, it sounded something like “pitla.” I started doing some research. The word “pitta” is still used in Calabria, where my mother’s family originated, for various types of dough-based foods, including some that are quite flat. The word “pitta,” which I believe derives from the Greek word “pita,” became the word “pizza” in standard Italian. I’m guessing that “pitla” is a dialectical variation of “pitta.”

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One of the positive outcomes of doing research on Italian fried dough products is that I came across a wonderful Wikipedia page on fried dough from around the world.  Check it out here.

Crostoli (or crostui in the Friuli-Venezia-Giulia region of Italy where my mother-in-law was born) are traditionally served at Christmastime. My mother-in-law says that they would sometimes have them at other times of the year when they “wanted something sweet” that was simple to make.

Not growing up eating crostoli, I asked my husband to tell me what he remembered.

I got two sentences:
“We always had them at Christmas.”
“They’re not my favorite.”

There you have it, the entirety of the crostoli story in 10 words.

I even waited a couple of days and asked him again if he remembered anything else about crostoli. “Nope” was the answer.

Now we’re up to 11 words.

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That might have been the end had it not been for Christmas Eve. The morning of Christmas Eve, after I mixed dough for panettone, my mother-in-law and I made up a batch of crostoli to take to Christmas Eve dinner at the home of our friends Rich DePippo and Doug Howe.

Rich’s grandfather was from Domegge di Cadore in the Veneto region of Italy, just next door to Friuli-Venezia-Giulia where my mother-in-law was born. In fact, Domegge is about 100 kilometers from Treppo Grande, my mother-in-law’s home town.

As it turns out, Rich and his mother, visiting for Christmas, also made crostoli the morning of Christmas Eve.

There were dueling crostoli served for dessert (along with pizzelle, nut roll, and biscochitos).

Rich’s were long and thin, with a slit cut in the middle through which one end of the dough was twisted before frying. This seems to be the most traditional shape that I’ve seen in my research, though Lidia Bastianich, who is also from very near where my mother-in-law was born, ties hers in a knot.

Having seen pictures of crostoli twisted and tied before embarking on making them with my mother-in-law, I asked her why hers were just left as irregular squares (well, quadrilaterals, really) of dough. That’s the way her mother made them was, of course, the first response. After which she added that she liked them to puff up, which they don’t do if they’re twisted or tied.

The other difference in the crostoli is that Rich used anisette to flavor his whereas my mother-in-law used lemon zest and vanilla.

The anisette was definitely a new twist. In researching crostoli, I’ve seen citrus, usually lemon or orange, as the most common flavoring.  Often vanilla is added; sometimes brandy or rum. Never have I run into a recipe with anisette. Hopefully Rich will weigh in on his family’s recipe for crostoli and how they came to use anisette for flavoring.

Meanwhile, enjoy!

If you have a favorite family recipe and a bit of a story to tell, please email me at santafecook@villasentieri.com and we can discuss including it in the blog. I am expanding the scope of my blog to include traditional recipes from around the country and around the world. If you haven’t seen Bertha’s Flan, it will give you an idea of what I’m looking for.

Crostoli (Italian Fried Pastries)

Crostoli are pastries that re rolled thin, fried, and dusted with granulated sugar. Powdered sugar melts and becomes sticky so granulated sugar is traditional. Crostoli are usually larger than the ones shown here, something like 1 ½ inches by 3 or 4 inches. We made these smaller because they were being served as part of a dessert buffet at the end of a large meal.

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Prep Time 30 minutes mins

Cook Time 45 minutes mins

Total Time 1 hour hr 15 minutes mins

Ingredients Method Notes

Ingredients

  

• 3 cups all-purpose flour
• 1/4 cup sugar
• 2 teaspoons baking powder
• Grated zest of one lemon
• Pinch salt
• 4 large eggs
• 1 teaspoon vanilla
• 3 tablespoons lemon juice
• 4 ounces unsalted butter melted
• Granulated sugar for sprinkling

Method

 

1. Combine flour, sugar, baking powder, lemon zest and salt in a large bowl. Mix well.
2. Make a well in the center and add eggs. Using a fork, begin to incorporate the flour.
   
3. Add vanilla extract, lemon juice and incorporate.
4. Add melted butter.
   
5. Mix to form a soft, non-sticky dough.
   
6. When the dough becomes too stiff to mix with a fork, use your hand. Do not over knead.
   
7. Cut into four or five pieces.
   
8. Roll out less than 1/8 inch thick, dusting with a little flour as needed to keep the dough from sticking.
   
9. 
10. Cut into rectangles, approximately 1 1/2 inches by 3 inches, with a zig-zag cutter.
    
11. 
12. 
13. When all are cut, deep fry until brown. If you are not comfortable doing this from experience, use a thermometer and keep the oil at about 350 degrees Farenheit.
    
14. Sprinkle with granulated sugar as soon as they are removed from the oil so the sugar sticks.
    
15. They are best the same day but will stay fresh at least one day at room temperature, loosely covered.
    

Notes

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