Ragù Bolognese: The Official Recipe

Name: Ragù Bolognese: The Official Recipe
Prep time: 15 min
Cook time: 2 h
Yield: 4 people
Ingredients: 300 g coarsely ground beef (diaphragm [e.g. hanger or skirt steak] or belly [e.g. plate or flank steak] or shoulder [e.g. chuck]); 150 g pancetta (diced then finely chopped); 50 g carrot (finely diced); 50 g celery (finely diced); 50 g onion (finely diced); 300 g tomato puree; 100 ml dry red wine; 200 ml whole milk; Broth as needed; 45 ml extra virgin olive oil (or 50 g butter); salt (to taste); black pepper (freshly ground, to taste); 100 ml light whipping cream (approximately 30% fat (optional, see below))

4 Comments

February 11, 2022

I’m a little more than halfway through a week’s visit to Bologna. Bologna is referred to as la dotta, la grassa, la rossa: the learned, the fat, the red.

“The learned” relates to Bologna as the seat of the oldest university in the western world and the top-rated university in Italy. It has a highly educated population.

“The red” refers to the color of the terra cotta tiles on many of the roofs.

“The fat” is well earned based on the food. This is the land of mortadella, ragù Bolognese, tagliatelle, tortellini, lasagna al forno (aka lasagna Bolognese), prosciutto, parmigiano reggiano, and balsamic vinegar of Modena among other traditional, and dare I say, famous foods.

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Let’s not forget gelato. While I don’t think Bologna can claim title to the originator of gelato, they have perfected a style made with eggs that is consummately smooth. A gelateria is often referred to as a cremeria in Bologna.

**Tagliatelle al Ragu at at Osteria dell’Orsa in Bologna.**

My main goal being here is to eat. I want to taste some of the iconic foods of the region in the cathedral to food that is Bologna. To that end, I’ve had dishes with ragù Bolognese three times in the last three days. Though there were slight differences, the preparations tasted amazingly similar. That got me to thinking about consistency.

I know that there’s an official recipe for Pesto alla Genovese which I reference in my post on pesto. That got me to thinking about other official recipes. After some internet sleuthing, I discovered that there’s an Italian Academy that, after substantial research, codifies and registers what it considers to be the official recipes for traditional dishes. (Of course there is! This is Italy. Food is paramount.) Access to these recipes is quite limited. (Of course it is! This is Italy. Food is rigorously protected.)

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My primary culinary interest is traditional recipes. Discovering the existence of this academy has been a revelation for me. So much so that I decided to occasionally post their recipes, translated into English with notes on ingredients and techniques as appropriate to enable my readers to recreate the taste of the original.

So much of what passes for Italian food in the States is far from the original.

**Lasagna al Forno (aka Lasagna Bolognese) at Trattoria Anna Maria in Bologna.**

I’ll be quick to add that credible variations on these official recipes exist but the very existence of the official ones sets a standard of comparison. Several years ago, I posted a recipe for Ragù Bolognese. You will see the similarity. The main differences in my version are a greater proportion of tomatoes and the absence of dairy. It is a very good ragù, and one that I continue to make on a regular basis. But today, I’m giving you the official recipe.

Enjoy!

(Photo: Erikatrioschi, CC BY-SA 4.0 <https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0>, via Wikimedia Commons)

Ragù Bolognese: The Official Recipe

Butchering in Italy produces different cuts from butchering in the United States. I’ve noted some US cuts of beef that would be appropriate based on the recommended Italian cuts. For those of you who want to try your hand at this, the original cuts of meat listed are cartella, panica, fesone di spalla, and fusillo. Broth in Italy is light. It is not an intensely flavored stock as might be common in much of French cooking.

Course

Pasta, Noodles, and Sauces

Cuisine

Italian

Prep Time

15 minutes

Cook Time

2 1/2 hours

Servings

people

Ingredients

300 g coarsely ground beef diaphragm [e.g. hanger or skirt steak] or belly [e.g. plate or flank steak] or shoulder [e.g. chuck]
150 g pancetta diced then finely chopped
50 g carrot finely diced
50 g celery finely diced
50 g onion finely diced
300 g tomato puree
100 ml dry red wine
200 ml whole milk
Broth as needed
45 ml extra virgin olive oil or 50 g butter
salt to taste
black pepper freshly ground, to taste
100 ml light whipping cream approximately 30% fat (optional, see below)

Course

Pasta, Noodles, and Sauces

Cuisine

Italian

Prep Time

15 minutes

Cook Time

2 1/2 hours

Servings

people

Ingredients

300 g coarsely ground beef diaphragm [e.g. hanger or skirt steak] or belly [e.g. plate or flank steak] or shoulder [e.g. chuck]
150 g pancetta diced then finely chopped
50 g carrot finely diced
50 g celery finely diced
50 g onion finely diced
300 g tomato puree
100 ml dry red wine
200 ml whole milk
Broth as needed
45 ml extra virgin olive oil or 50 g butter
salt to taste
black pepper freshly ground, to taste
100 ml light whipping cream approximately 30% fat (optional, see below)

Instructions

Sauté the pancetta in a heavy-bottomed pot, approximately 7-8 inches in diameter (20 cm). Render as much fat as possible without browning the pancetta. A little gold color is fine.
Add the olive oil or butter along with the carrot, celery, and onion. Sauté gently until softened, without browning, approximately 10 minutes.
Add the beef and mix well. Sauté until it sizzles (that is, until all liquid has evaporated and the beef begins to cook in the fat).
Add the wine and cook gently until it completely evaporates.
Add the tomato puree. Season with salt and pepper. Cover and simmer for two hours, adding broth as needed when the ragù becomes too thick.
During the last few minutes add the milk. This will counteract the acidity of the tomatoes.
Taste and adjust the seasoning.
If the ragù is going to be used for dried pasta (instead of fresh pasta or lasagna), it is customary to add the cream, otherwise not.

Recipe Notes

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Recipes

Ragù alla Bolognese

4 Comments

March 11, 2020

I grew up eating exactly one type of tomato sauce for pasta: my mother’s long-simmered, Italian-American-but-based-on-Southern-Italian (Calabrese, to be exact) ragù.

OK, OK, I sometimes ate Aunt Margie’s or Aunt Mamie’s version of the same sauce but we’re talking very minor variations on a theme.

My mother made pasta other ways than with ragù, most commonly with beans as in pasta e fagioli. But if we were going to eat pasta for pasta’s sake, not mixed with beans or in soup, it was ALWAYS served with her ragù.

**My recipe for Lasagna Bolognese will be posted in a few weeks. Get ready by making Ragù alla Bolognese and putting it in the freezer!**

When I went away to university at the age of 17 this is one of the first things that I learned to cook. Well, sort of. There’s a bit of a learning curve but even my first attempt was respectable.

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I now make scores of tomato-based sauces on a regular basis but I keep going back to three of them over and over:

My mother’s ragù.
Ragù alla Bolognese.
Ragù del macellaio (the butcher’s ragù).

There are so many childhood memories attached to my mother’s ragù that I can’t imagine a time when it wouldn’t be my favorite.

As far as I’m concerned, Ragù alla Bolognese is the gold standard for those tomato-based pasta sauces made with ground meat. (My mother’s ragù, on the other hand, is made with large pieces of pork. Other meats can be added but the pork is always there.)

**It is really important that the vegetables for Ragù alla Bolognese be cut in tiny dice, 1/8 on a side, often called brunoise.**

Ragù del macellaio is very good but, as you might expect for a sauce linked to a butcher, it is made with an array of meats—pretty much anything you have. I always end up with odds and ends of meat in my freezer, a bit of beef, a bit of pork, some sausage, a piece of chicken, some pancetta, and so forth. I grind them all up and make the sauce. The fact that it cooks, unattended, in a slow-cooker all day is an added bonus.

Just as there is an official Pesto alla Genovese recipe, there is an official Ragù alla Bolognese recipe that was codified in the 1980’s. The ingredients go something like this:

300 grams ground beef, preferably thin flank aka skirt (finta cartella in Italian)
150 grams pancetta, minced
50 grams carrot, minced
50 grams celery, minced
50 grams onion, minced
30 grams triple-concentrated tomato paste
1/2 glass red or white wine
180 ml milk
olive oil
salt and pepper

Every family in Bologna probably has a slightly different version.

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Some aspects of the recipe are notable. There is no garlic. There are no herbs. The amount of tomato is quite modest. Probably the biggest differences I see in credible recipes for Ragù alla Bolognese is whether or not to add milk or cream. The official version clearly includes it but many otherwise solid recipes do not.

This is not a “tomatoey” sauce. It’s really ground meat held together with a bit of tomato “binder.”

The version that I make most often varies somewhat from the official one. I add a hint of garlic and more tomato. I don’t typically use pancetta though it’s a great addition. I never add milk or cream.

So, I’ve done it, I’ve laid down a gauntlet. I’m advocating a recipe that’s not the official one. I can tell you, however, that it’s darn good.

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

Ragù alla Bolognese

I make garlic oil and keep it in a squeeze bottle by the stove. It comes in really handy for cooking and for flavoring finished dishes. You can use plain extra-virgin olive oil if you wish. In fact, that would be more traditional than garlic. For added flavor, sauté 150 grams of minced pancetta in the olive oil until the fat is rendered. Remove the cooked pancetta. Brown the meat in the oil. Add the cooked pancetta to the meat just before adding the wine. Ragù alla Bolognese should be served with a wide long pasta such as mafalde or linguine.

Course

Pasta, Noodles, and Sauces

Cuisine

Italian

Prep Time

30 minutes

Cook Time

5 hours, mostly unattended

Servings

liters

Ingredients

1 kg ground beef 15% fat (or half beef and half pork)
30 ml garlic oil
500 ml full-bodied red wine
60 g butter
60 g celery cut in brunoise (3 mm or 1/8 inch dice)
100 g carrot cut in brunoise (3 mm or 1/8 inch dice)
100 g onion cut in brunoise (3 mm or 1/8 inch dice)
3 kg canned San Marzano tomatoes passed through a food mill (3 x 35 oz cans)
1 bay leaf optional
salt
black pepper freshly ground

Course

Pasta, Noodles, and Sauces

Cuisine

Italian

Prep Time

30 minutes

Cook Time

5 hours, mostly unattended

Servings

liters

Ingredients

1 kg ground beef 15% fat (or half beef and half pork)
30 ml garlic oil
500 ml full-bodied red wine
60 g butter
60 g celery cut in brunoise (3 mm or 1/8 inch dice)
100 g carrot cut in brunoise (3 mm or 1/8 inch dice)
100 g onion cut in brunoise (3 mm or 1/8 inch dice)
3 kg canned San Marzano tomatoes passed through a food mill (3 x 35 oz cans)
1 bay leaf optional
salt
black pepper freshly ground

Instructions

Heat the butter in a heavy-bottomed sauté pan. Add the celery, carrot, and onion.
Sauté the celery, carrot, and onion in the butter until soft without browning. Reserve.
Heat the garlic oil, or extra-virgin olive oil, in a heavy-bottomed sauce pan. Add the beef and pork, if using.
While the meat is cooking, break it up into small bits.
Sauté the beef and pork, if using, in the garlic oil until a lot of fond develops.
Add the wine and boil it all away, loosening the fond from the bottom of the pan.
Pass the canned tomatoes through a food mill.
Add the sautéed vegetables, the tomatoes that have been passed through a food mill, and bay leaf, if using.
Season with salt and pepper.
Simmer 3 to 4 hours partially covered, stirring frequently, until reduced by 50%.

Recipe Notes

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Recipes

Caponata: A Taste of Sunny Sicily

2 Comments

January 22, 2020

The origins of both caponata and its name are unknown but that doesn’t keep some “authorities” from making definitive statements about both its origins and its name. Other authors are more cautious about how they approach the topic. There are many theories. There are perhaps more theories about the origins of the dish and its name than there are versions of caponata itself, and that’s saying a lot.

Leaving the skin on the eggplant improves the texture of the caponata.

What we do know is that caponata, as we now know it, is Sicilian though there are traditional Neapolitan versions as well.

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At its most basic caponata is a vegetable dish (though some versions include fish) with eggplant typically being the predominant ingredient (though there are other versions, such as one with artichokes) in a lightly sweet and sour sauce that usually contains some tomato product (fresh tomatoes or tomato sauce of some sort) and capers.

Beyond the basics, caponata has numerous traditional regional variations from different areas of Sicily. There are also the endless variations introduced by individual cooks.

**Onions are a common addition to caponata.**

One could add or subtract celery, sweet peppers, zucchini, olives, pine nuts, almonds, and raisins (to name a few).

The eggplant can be fried, sautéed, or steamed (but almost always with the skin on).

Caponata can be served on a slice of toasted bread (crostino), as (part of) an antipasto, as a side dish (contorno), or as a main dish (secondo). Though not traditional, I like tossing it with pasta.

**Capers are in virtually every traditional version of caponata. Some authorities suggest the name “caponata” may be related to the word “caper.”**

I prefer caponata that is neither aggressively sweet nor sour and, while the vegetables should not be mushy, I don’t want to hear a crunch when I bite down.

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If I were drowning in home-grown tomatoes during harvest season, I’d probably work on perfecting a version that uses fresh tomatoes. Since that’s not the case, my version uses tomato sauce. The advantage is that I can make it year-round as the necessary vegetables are always available and of good quality.

Though it should not be frozen, caponata can be canned. In fact, one of the demonstrations that I did for students at the Italian Culinary Institute this past September was how to can caponata.

**Sweet peppers are traditional in some versions of caponata.**

Unlike Italy, where the best eggplants and peppers are available only “in season” that’s not true in the United States. Rather than canning a large batch of caponata, I just make it whenever I want some.

I hope you enjoy this version of caponata.

**Turbinado or Demerara sugars are good substitutes for Italian “cane sugar” (zucchero di canna).**

If you want to get more into the fray about the origins of caponata or its name, or the different versions, you can look here, here, here, here, here, or here.

Caponata: A Taste of Sunny Sicily

There is a link to the recipe for Basic Tomato Sauce in the Notes section below. Any simple tomato sauce, or even tomato puree, could be substituted. If vegetable broth is not available water can be used. To my American readers, I apologize for the metric measures. You can convert to American measures by using the dropdown menu below. Turbinado and Demerara sugars are most similar to the “cane sugar” used in Italy. American light brown sugar would work in this recipe since the quantity is small. You can use either vinegar-packed or salt-packed capers.

Course

Appetizers and Nibbles, Mains, Vegetarian

Cuisine

Italian

Prep Time

30 minutes

Cook Time

45 minutes

Servings

cups

Ingredients

350 g unpeeled eggplant cut in 1 cm (1/2 inch) cubes
90 g red bell pepper diced
90 g onion diced
80 ml extra virgin olive oil
180 ml vegetable broth
salt to taste
black pepper freshly ground to taste
4 teaspoons sugar preferably Turbinado or Demerara
1 tablespoon white wine vinegar
2 tablespoons capers rinsed
1 1/2 tablespoons pine nuts
180 ml Basic Tomato Sauce

Course

Appetizers and Nibbles, Mains, Vegetarian

Cuisine

Italian

Prep Time

30 minutes

Cook Time

45 minutes

Servings

cups

Ingredients

350 g unpeeled eggplant cut in 1 cm (1/2 inch) cubes
90 g red bell pepper diced
90 g onion diced
80 ml extra virgin olive oil
180 ml vegetable broth
salt to taste
black pepper freshly ground to taste
4 teaspoons sugar preferably Turbinado or Demerara
1 tablespoon white wine vinegar
2 tablespoons capers rinsed
1 1/2 tablespoons pine nuts
180 ml Basic Tomato Sauce

Instructions

Sauté the peppers and onions in olive oil with a pinch of salt until the onions become translucent.
Add the eggplant and sauté until most, but not all, of the eggplant has become translucent.
Add the vegetable stock and salt and pepper to taste. Cover and cook until just tender, 5-10 minutes.
Remove cover. Quickly evaporate any remaining liquid.
Add sugar and vinegar. Cook over moderately high heat until almost dry.
Add the capers and pine nuts.
Add the tomato sauce. Simmer briefly to blend flavors, 5-10 minutes.
Adjust salt and pepper while cooking.
Refrigerate.
Bring to room temperature for serving.

Recipe Notes

The recipe for Basic Tomato Sauce can be found here.

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Recipes

Basic Tomato Sauce

10 Comments

June 13, 2019

Basic Tomato Sauce isn’t sexy or exciting.

It’s a foundational ingredient that makes cooking a lot of other dishes much easier than they would otherwise be but, honestly, until a few months ago I never bothered to make it to have on hand.

That was a mistake!

That doesn’t mean that I didn’t have tomato sauces of various types in my freezer. I almost always do but they’re fully prepared special-purpose sauces like my mother’s long-simmered Southern Italian Ragu or my mother-in-law’s Salsa Friulana. If I needed a basic tomato sauce as the starting point for another sauce, I just did it in the moment.

That all changed as part of attending the Master of Italian Cuisine course at the Italian Culinary Institute (ICI). We made a basic tomato sauce (dubbed Simple Tomato Sauce by Chef John) by the gallons…ok, by the liters!

It keeps well. It freezes beautifully. It can be used in its own right as a sauce for pasta or meat or fish. Having it on hand allows you to whip up really tasty pasta sauces much more quickly. Give my recipe for Lupara a look, for example.

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Having foundational ingredients on hand has become more important since I returned from Italy. In an effort to fully integrate what I learned, and to expand my knowledge even further, I’ve been cooking dinner every night that we’re not otherwise engaged.

As an extension, this month we started something new as a way to catalyze learning more about Italian Regional Cuisine. We randomly select a Region of Italy by pulling a slip of paper out of an antique coffee jar. Most of the meals for the month need to be from that Region. This month’s Region is Piemonte. July’s Region is Molise.

**An antique coffee jar from my hometown of Johnstown, PA filled with slips of paper each containing the name of a Region of Italy.**

I start by researching the foods of the region. Waverley Root’s The Food of Italy is a big help but so are the introductions to many Italian regional cookbooks that I own. Once I have a grasp of the traditional raw ingredients and the classic preparations of the region, I start to curate a list of dishes I want to make. I go through my Italian regional cookbooks as well as Italian-language food websites to find multiple renditions of the dish then decide on how I will make it.

The dishes that I plan to make go on my calendar days in advance and get readjusted based on new ideas or ingredients from the market. Sometimes a dish requires purchasing hard-to-find ingredients, like anchovies cured in salt (of which there is an 800 gram tin sitting in my kitchen right now) or amarena cherries preserved in syrup (1000 gram tin plus a smaller jar from a different company).

The Piemontese have a knack for putting anchovies into almost everything except dessert. And if it doesn’t have anchovies, the dish probably has a bottle of Barolo, like the braised beef that I made a few days ago.

After cooking my way through Molise in July, I’ll be going to Italy for August and September. In August I’ll be learning traditional Tuscan dishes from Great Aunt Fidalma. September will find me be back at ICI for an guided independent study on food preservation. I’ll resume cooking my way through the Regions of Italy in October.

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Now that I’ve been convinced of the benefit of keeping foundational ingredients on hand, I’m upping my game. In addition to Basic Tomato Sauce I’ve started keeping infused oils. Currently, in squeeze bottles next to my stove, I have garlic oil and rosemary oil. Sometimes I use these to provide a little extra squirt of flavor on a finished dish. Sometimes I use them as I start sautéing ingredients. At this moment, I also have some mint oil on hand that I made to drizzle on a risotto with fresh peas.

**Infused oils at the ready next to my stove.**

I am eagerly anticipating our fall harvest of hot peppers so that I can make peperoncino oil, which is sometimes called Olio Santo (Holy Oil) in Calabria. Does that give you an inkling of the significance of hot peppers in the cooking of Calabria?

Although Olio Santo can be used within a few days of being made, it is better to let it age for a year. That means I’ll have to make an extra-large batch in the fall so that I have a fully aged stash to hold me until the oil from the 2020 harvest of hot peppers is ready in 2021!

I modified the ICI recipe for Simple Tomato Sauce just a bit to make it my own. I’ve changed the name to Basic Tomato Sauce. That’s the version I’ve posted here.

Basic Tomato Sauce

This makes enough sauce for about 1 kilogram (2-plus pounds of pasta). Most often this sauce is used as the base for other sauces. You can make it in larger quantities and freeze it for future use. While I prefer to pass the tomatoes through a food mill to remove the seeds and the occasional hard bit of tomato, you can skip this step. Just add the tomatoes to the sautéed vegetables, mashing them with a potato masher, and proceed as written. Since this sauce cooks quickly it is especially important that the vegetables be very finely diced.

Course

Pasta, Noodles, and Sauces

Cuisine

Italian

Prep Time

15 minutes

Cook Time

30 minutes

Passive Time

15 minutes

Servings

quart (plus a bit more)

Ingredients

3 1/2 ounces onion finely diced
3 1/2 ounces carrot finely diced
2 ounces celery finely diced
3 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
1 35-ounce can whole peeled tomatoes preferably San Marzano
salt to taste
black pepper freshly ground to taste

Course

Pasta, Noodles, and Sauces

Cuisine

Italian

Prep Time

15 minutes

Cook Time

30 minutes

Passive Time

15 minutes

Servings

quart (plus a bit more)

Ingredients

3 1/2 ounces onion finely diced
3 1/2 ounces carrot finely diced
2 ounces celery finely diced
3 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
1 35-ounce can whole peeled tomatoes preferably San Marzano
salt to taste
black pepper freshly ground to taste

Instructions

Sweat the onion, carrot and celery, with a large pinch of salt, in the olive oil until soft and the onion is golden, without browning, approximately 15 minutes.
Meanwhile, pass the tomatoes through a food mill.
There should be very little residual in the food mill.
Add the tomatoes to the vegetables. Season with salt and pepper.
Simmer, partially covered approximately 15 minutes.
Cool slightly and blend with an immersion blender or jar blender. Adjust salt and pepper.

Recipe Notes

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Recipes

Cotechino with Lentils

Auntie Helen’s Lentil Salad

Aunt Margie’s Pasta è Ceci (Pasta and Chickpeas)

4 Comments

May 4, 2018

Beans and Macaroni. Pasta è Fagioli. Even Pasta Fazool to quote Dean Martin.

It’s a classic combination and there are as many variations as there are cooks! (Google returned 6,300,000 entries for “beans and macaroni,” 588,000 for “pasta è fagioli,” and 57,900 for “pasta fazool!”)

This is my interpretation of Aunt Margie’s, which she made with chickpeas.

**At Aunt Margie’s 90th birthday party in September 2010. From left to right, Aunt Margie’s grandson, Jim, me, Aunt Margie, my cousin Donna (Aunt Margie’s daughter)**

It couldn’t be more different from my mother’s which was made with baby lima beans.

Aunt Margie’s was made with water and oil. My mother’s had tomato sauce.

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Aunt Margie’s was quite soupy. My mother’s was just slightly “saucy.”

They grew up in the same house and learned to cook from the same mother. I wish I had thought to ask either of them where their respective recipes came from and why they were so different.

**My cousin Donna and I in the lobby of the Hilton Plaza in Miami Beach, 1970**

One thing that both versions had in common, though, is that they were frequently served on Fridays, which our families observed as meatless back then. (When Fridays were no longer meatless, my father joked that it was because the Vatican sold its fisheries.)

But Friday or no, pasta è fagioli, or, in this case, more specifically pasta è ceci (ceci means chickpeas), is consummate comfort food. Admittedly, pasta è fagioli does not need to be meatless but it very often is. (Actually, I made a non-meatless version earlier this week with guanciale, cured pork jowl.)

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Aunt Margie and Uncle Joe were like second parents to me. I spent many (most?) summer days at Aunt Margie’s, getting there in the morning and staying until dinnertime or later. My cousin, Donna, is nine months younger than I am. Her neighbor Ricky Slivosky is nine months younger than she is. The three of us hung out pretty much all summer. That made Aunt Margie’s house the logical choice.

**Aunt Margie got a little too much sun while we were staying at the Beau Rivage Resort in Miami Beach, 1971**

Our families often vacationed together. Florida was a favorite destination. Once every 5 years Uncle Joe had 13 weeks of vacation (ahh, the glory days of American steel manufacturing…and collective bargaining). Those years were likely to include a trip to California.

Aunt Margie really didn’t like vacations. Several times I witnessed what I believe was an annual ritual. Uncle Joe would be loading the suitcases in the trunk of the car and Aunt Margie would be standing beside him still trying to convince him to cancel the vacation. Aunt Margie never won.

**Beau Rivage Resort, Bal Harbour, Florida**

Those vacations were always by car; two days to Florida and four days to California. Aunt Margie ate the same lunch every day of every trip: bacon, lettuce, and tomato sandwiches on white toast, hold the mayo. Only after we reached our destination did she resume a “regular” diet!

We always had fun and even Aunt Margie seemed to enjoy herself (a minor episode of seasickness, notwithstanding).

**Aunt Margie getting seasick on the boat trip from Miami to the Bahamas, 1970**

My father didn’t always go on vacation with us due to his work schedule. He made it on the 1970 trip to Florida, which included several days in the Bahamas which we reached by boat from Miami. The only food memory I have of that trip is going to an Italian restaurant in Freeport where the garlic bread was so garlicky that it was bitter. The food itself must have been pretty good as we went back again. Unfortunately, the garlic bread was just as bad the second time around.

Aunt Margie's Pasta è Ceci (Pasta and Chickpeas)

Aunt Margie’s Pasta è Ceci was more soupy than my mother’s Pasta è Fagioli. It had no tomato sauce. This is my interpretation. I have made the liquid a little thicker by emulsifying the cheese and oil at the end. Aunt Margie never used wine. That is my addition. To prepare dry chickpeas, combine 1 pound of dry chickpeas, 7 cups of water, 1 tablespoon salt, 2 bruised garlic cloves, one bay leaf, ½ teaspoon whole black pepper, and a piece of Parmesan cheese rind. Cook in the Instant Pot for 15 minutes or simmer, partially covered, adding more water if needed, till tender but not mushy. If not using the Instant Pot, add the salt after about 15 minutes of simmering. Measure out 3 ½ cups of cooked chickpeas. Reserve the remainder for another use. Use the cooking liquid as described below. Aunt Margie's pasta è ceci was usually so soupy that it was served in bowls. Feel free to make yours as loose as you would like.

Course

Pasta, Noodles, and Sauces

Cuisine

Italian

Prep Time

10 minutes

Cook Time

45 minutes

Servings

people

Ingredients

1 pound ditalini or other very small dry, cut pasta
3 1/2 cups cooked dry chickpeas or two 15 to 16 ounce cans
1/3 cup dry white wine
1/2 onion finely diced
1/3 teaspoon dried oregano
4 cloves garlic bruised
1/3 cup extra virgin olive oil
1/2 cup Pecorino Romano cheese grated, plus more for serving
1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil
salt to taste
black pepper freshly ground to taste

Course

Pasta, Noodles, and Sauces

Cuisine

Italian

Prep Time

10 minutes

Cook Time

45 minutes

Servings

people

Ingredients

1 pound ditalini or other very small dry, cut pasta
3 1/2 cups cooked dry chickpeas or two 15 to 16 ounce cans
1/3 cup dry white wine
1/2 onion finely diced
1/3 teaspoon dried oregano
4 cloves garlic bruised
1/3 cup extra virgin olive oil
1/2 cup Pecorino Romano cheese grated, plus more for serving
1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil
salt to taste
black pepper freshly ground to taste

Instructions

Measure out three cups of chickpea-cooking liquid or use the liquid from canned chickpeas adding water to make three cups.
Combine chickpea liquid, white wine, diced onion, oregano and black pepper in a Dutch oven large enough to hold the cooked pasta comfortably. Bring to a boil and simmer approximately 20 minutes, until the onion is tender.
Meanwhile, brown the garlic in 1/3 cup of olive oil over gentle heat.
When the garlic is brown, remove it and reserve the oil.
Cook the pasta in two quarts of heavily salted, boiling water until the pasta retains just a little crunch at the very center.
Reserve at least two cups of the pasta-cooking water.
Pour some of the remaining pasta-cooking water into the serving bowl to warm it while proceeding with the recipe.
Drain the pasta and immediately add it to the seasoned chickpea-cooking liquid along with the chickpeas.
Add the garlic-infused oil and salt and black pepper to taste.
Simmer gently, covered, until the pasta is just al dente. Add some of the reserved pasta-cooking water as needed.
When the pasta is al dente, add more of the reserved pasta-cooking water, if necessary, to make a slightly soupy mixture.
Remove from the heat.
Stir in the Romano cheese and 1/4 cup of olive oil to create a glossy sauce.
Add a bit more of the pasta-cooking water if needed to thin the sauce as the combination of cheese and olive oil will create an emulsion that will thicken the sauce.
Taste and adjust salt and pepper.
Serve immediately with additional freshly grated Pecorino Romano cheese.

Recipe Notes

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Recipes

Piselli in Umido (Peas in Tomato Sauce)

6 Comments

April 11, 2018

Italians have knack for combining a modest array of vegetables into an almost endless cannon of dishes, each of which is distinctive, even if the interrelationships of the various parts are obvious.

This dish of peas cooked in tomato sauce is from my husband’s paternal grandmother, Amerina Pieri.

I learned to make this from my mother-in-law, Marisa, Amerina’s daughter-in-law.

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Everyone who makes it adds his or her own signature. Mine is not exactly like my mother-in-law’s and I’m sure hers is not just like Zia (Aunt) Ida’s, Amerina’s daughter.

Interestingly, Nonni (as we all called her) used canned peas. In talking with my father-in-law (who grew up eating this) and my mother-in-law, they were pretty sure Nonni would not have used canned peas in Italy unless she possibly canned them herself. Somehow canned peas became the norm in America.

**Amerina Pieri (aka Nonni or Nonni’merina) Christmas 2005**

And, while canned peas produce a pretty good dish, I prefer something a little fresher. Because really good fresh peas are available for only a few weeks a year at the Farmers Market in Santa Fe, I usually use frozen peas.

If the frozen peas haven’t been in your freezer so long that they start to dry out and freeze into a block they are superior to “fresh” peas except during the few weeks a year when they are really locally-grown and truly fresh.

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My mother-in-law usually uses canned tomato sauce when making this, as did Nonni (at least when she made it on this side of the Atlantic Ocean!).

I use tomato paste and water. If you read the ingredient lists on cans of tomato sauce that you can buy in the United States, you will find that most are made from tomato paste and water, so why not just do it yourself? Those few brands of tomato sauce that are not made from diluted tomato paste are a little too sour for my taste. I would opt for a good-quality tomato puree instead.

**My favorite brand of domestically produced tomato paste**

Tomato paste has a richer flavor than tomato sauce or tomato puree. I attribute this to the extra cooking that is needed to concentrate the tomatoes. Those little cans provide the foundation of a taste that could otherwise only be achieved with hours of simmering.

Homemade tomato puree would be another good option if you want a fresher, more summery taste. Here’s where you can find my recipe.

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.

Piselli in Umido (Peas in Tomato Sauce)

Fresh or canned peas can be used in place of frozen. Fresh peas will take longer to cook. The canned peas should be cooked briefly to avoid overcooking. I like to rinse off frozen vegetables to remove any ice crystals on the exterior. I find the ice crystals can carry a “freezer” taste.

Course

Sides, Vegetables

Cuisine

Italian

Prep Time

10 minutes

Cook Time

75 minutes

Servings

people

Ingredients

1 pound frozen petit peas
1/2 onion finely diced
2-3 cloves garlic minced
2 sage leaves minced
1/4 cup minced fresh parsley
3 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
1/3 cup dry white wine
1 x 6 ounce can tomato paste
3 cups water
1/2 teaspoon sugar
1 bay leaf
Pinch rosemary fresh or dry, optional
Pinch Pinch dry oregano optional
salt to taste
black pepper freshly ground to taste

Course

Sides, Vegetables

Cuisine

Italian

Prep Time

10 minutes

Cook Time

75 minutes

Servings

people

Ingredients

1 pound frozen petit peas
1/2 onion finely diced
2-3 cloves garlic minced
2 sage leaves minced
1/4 cup minced fresh parsley
3 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
1/3 cup dry white wine
1 x 6 ounce can tomato paste
3 cups water
1/2 teaspoon sugar
1 bay leaf
Pinch rosemary fresh or dry, optional
Pinch Pinch dry oregano optional
salt to taste
black pepper freshly ground to taste

Instructions

Sauté the onion, garlic, sage, parsley and ½ teaspoon of salt in the olive oil in a heavy-bottomed saucepan till the onion is translucent.
Add the wine and cook, stirring frequently, until it evaporates.
Add the tomato paste and sauté until it becomes slightly darker, 3-4 minutes.
Add the water, sugar, bay leaf, rosemary, oregano, and salt and pepper to taste.
Simmer, partially covered, until thickened, approximately 45 minutes.
Adjust seasoning.
Rinse the frozen peas under cool water to remove any ice crystals.
Add the frozen peas to the sauce.
Simmer approximately 15 minutes, adjusting seasoning once again, if needed.

Recipe Notes

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Recipes

Frittata di Spaghetti (Frittata with Spaghetti)

4 Comments

March 9, 2018

Although I typically heat up left over pasta and have it for lunch, it definitely pales in comparison to the freshly made dish.

In the pre-microwave days of my youth, leftover pasta was heated gently in a sauté pan with a little bit of water added. Now, the microwave makes quick work of the same task.

If you have leftover pasta, though, consider turning it into a frittata. I think it constitutes an entirely new dish, and not leftovers, because it’s being turned into something totally different.

**A slice of frittata with a few Calabrian oil-cured peppers on the side**

We eat so much pasta in our house that if we turned the leftovers into frittate (the plural of frittata) our dinners would alternate between pasta and frittata almost every day of the week! That’s why some of the leftover pasta is simply heated up for lunch.

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A frittata is often referred to as an Italian omelet. But an omelet it most definitely is not. It is cooked using a different technique with a different intended outcome.

Calling a frittata an Italian omelet is like calling everything made from ground beef a hamburger. (OK, off my soapbox for now.)

You can use most any combination of pasta and sauce for a frittata but you don’t want there to be lots of extra sauce or it will be difficult to get the eggs to set.

Most often, I’ll use a long thin pasta, like spaghetti or spaghettini with either a tomato sauce or anchovies and garlic. They both work well. That said, I’ve made frittate from a wide array of leftover types of pasta. Shape is no object!

If you happen to know somebody who raises chickens or if you have access to freshly laid eggs at a farm stand or farmers’ market this is an excellent use for them. There’s little that stands between you and the eggs, so using really good, fresh eggs is noticeable.

**Crushed red pepper is a good alternative to Calabrian oil-cured peppers, but definitely not as flavorful**

As I mentioned earlier this week, I’m losing the battle to raise chickens at our house.

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A frittata is cooked slowly in a sauté pan until the eggs set and turn golden brown on the bottom. I prefer to do this with the pan covered as it aids in setting the top of the eggs, too.

Once the bottom is set, there are two methods to finish the frittata. One is to put the frittata under the broiler or in the oven. The good folks at Wikipedia think this is the only way to do it. In fact, I would suggest that most Italians do not do that. They simply flip the frittata over. (OK, I was back on the soapbox for a moment there.)

If you’re going to finish the frittata by flipping, however, you need to be sure that the top of the frittata is not runny. It should be just barely set.

In case you missed it, I previously published a recipe for an onion frittata. Although it uses a large quantity of onions, they cook down into sweet, golden deliciousness before the eggs are added.

And…before we leave the subject of leftovers…leftover frittata makes a great filling for a sandwich, especially with a few oil-cured Calabrian peppers!

Frittata di Spaghetti (Spaghetti Frittata)

This is a wonderful Italian way to use leftover pasta by turning it into something completely different. The proportions are approximate and will depend on how much pasta is leftover. The pictures show this being made with about half a pound (uncooked weight) of spaghettini with anchovy and garlic (see the Notes section below for a link to the recipe) but it works equally well with most pastas and sauces, including tomato sauce. Use 8 eggs if you have a larger amount of leftover pasta or if you need to stretch the dish to feed more. Use either onion or garlic as the aromatic. Which you choose will depend on which better compliments the pasta. In this case, because the sauce had a lot of garlic, I chose onion to add a bit of a sweet note. If using a tomato sauce, I would have chosen garlic. Whether or not to use Parmesan cheese follows the same logic. Italians feel that cheese rarely goes with fish, like the anchovies in this sauce, so I didn’t use it.

Course

Breakfast and Brunch, Mains, Vegetarian

Cuisine

Italian

Prep Time

10 minutes

Cook Time

1 hour

Servings

people

Ingredients

1/2 pound leftover cooked pasta with some sort of sauce Note: 1/2 lb is the uncooked weight
6 eggs
1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil
2 cloves garlic minced, optional
1/2 onion chopped or sliced, optional
1/4 cup Parmigiano Reggiano cheese grated, optional
salt to taste
black pepper freshly ground to taste

Course

Breakfast and Brunch, Mains, Vegetarian

Cuisine

Italian

Prep Time

10 minutes

Cook Time

1 hour

Servings

people

Ingredients

1/2 pound leftover cooked pasta with some sort of sauce Note: 1/2 lb is the uncooked weight
6 eggs
1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil
2 cloves garlic minced, optional
1/2 onion chopped or sliced, optional
1/4 cup Parmigiano Reggiano cheese grated, optional
salt to taste
black pepper freshly ground to taste

Instructions

Heat the oil in a 12 inch (preferably non-stick) sauté pan.
Add the onion or garlic and sauté over medium heat until the onion is soft and caramelized or the garlic is fragrant.
Add the pasta and sauce and heat gently.
Toss the pasta a few times to be sure it heats evenly.
Meanwhile, beat the eggs with salt and pepper to taste.
When the pasta is heated through, spread it evenly on the bottom of the pan.
If you cannot clearly see enough of a slick of oil on the bottom of the pan to protect the eggs from sticking, add a bit more. (Some sauces sop up the oil more than others.)
Pour the eggs over the pasta, being careful to distribute them evenly.
If using cheese, sprinkle it over the top of the eggs.
Cover the pan and reduce the heat to low.
Keep the eggs covered the whole time and move the pan around on the stove, even putting it off-center much of the time, to be sure the heat is evenly distributed around the bottom of the pan.
Cook until the top of the eggs is just set. That is, there is no runny egg left. This will take approximately 25-30 minutes.
When the eggs are set, slide them out of the pan onto a cookie sheet or pizza pan.
Put the sauté pan upside down on the eggs and then flip the whole set-up over.
Return the eggs to the heat, uncovered, for approximately 5 minutes to lightly brown the bottom.
Slide on to a serving platter and cut in wedges to serve.

Recipe Notes

This is where you can find my recipe for Spaghettini with Anchovy and Garlic.

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Recipes

Italian Wedding Soup

6 Comments

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.

**I’m guessing that many Americans with no affiliation to Italy have never had escarole.**

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.

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.

Course

Soups and Stews

Cuisine

Italian

Prep Time

1 hour

Cook Time

5 hours

Passive Time

2 hours

Servings

people

Ingredients

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

Course

Soups and Stews

Cuisine

Italian

Prep Time

1 hour

Cook Time

5 hours

Passive Time

2 hours

Servings

people

Ingredients

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

Instructions

Broth and Chicken

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.
Slice the onions. There's really no need to peel them first.
Same with the garlic, no need to peel. It all gets strained out in the end.
Combine all ingredients in a large stock pot. Cover and bring to a boil. Reduce heat, and simmer, partially covered for two hours.
After two hours, remove the breasts, legs, and thighs. Continue to simmer the broth.
Remove the meat from the bones. Return the chicken bones and skin to the broth.
Continue to simmer the broth for another two hours, adjusting seasoning as needed.
Meanwhile, shred the breast meat and refrigerate.
Reserve the leg and thigh meat for another use.
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.
Alternatively, immediately strain and discard the solids and proceed as below.

Meatballs

Put all the ingredients except the bread into a mixing bowl.
Cut the crusts from the bread.
Cover the bread with warm water for 3-4 minutes.
Squeeze some of the water from the bread.
Add the bread to the mixing bowl.
Mix with your hands, until thoroughly combined and no streaks of white from the bread remain visible.
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.
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.
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.

Final assembly

Skim the fat from the broth. Add water to make 6 quarts of broth. Bring the broth to a boil.
Meanwhile, coarsely chop the escarole.
As the broth comes to a boil, adjust the salt and pepper.
Add the chopped escarole. Return to a boil and cook at a moderate boil for approximately 5 minutes.
Add the meatballs. Return to a boil and boil gently, so the meatballs don’t break, for 10-12 minutes.
Add the shredded white meat chicken and return to a gentle boil.
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.
Add the pasta and boil gently until pasta is cooked, approximately 10 minutes.
Adjust salt and pepper.
Serve with freshly grated Parmigiano Reggiano cheese.