Pomodoro (Marinara)

by | Aug 5, 2023 | Lasagna, Pasta, Recipes, Sauce

1 large can San Marzano tomatoes with juice. (Find authentic San Marzano at Trader Joes, Whole Foods, Wegman’s and World Market.)

1/4 c olive oil

1 garlic clove

2 T tomato paste

fresh basil leaves

Bottle of Passata (purchase at Whole Foods or World Market)

 

Pour olive oil into saucepan and add roughly sliced garlic clove, brown lightly and remove. Add tomatoes. Break up as they cook into smaller pieces. Add tomato paste to thicken. Crushed red pepper if desired. Cook to reduce sauce. Add basil leaves and continue to cook until done..

Use as a base sauce for eggplant parmesan, Sasage Ragu, Pasta Puttanesca,  Cattiatore, pizza, etc.

(Photo to come)

 

Celebration in Martha’s Vineyard

Celebration in Martha’s Vineyard

by | May 13, 2023 | Party

The Slate and Perugi families were all aboard for the wedding of Ed and Wendy Slate’s daughter, Charlotte Rebecca Slate to Matt Carmody. As you can see, the cousins had a great time!

Pam Perugi Marraccini

John Slate

lee marraccini and nancy slate krug

John Krug

serving

underthetent

ed and nancy

richard saltus deb perugi

Grandma’s Rice Custard (updated)

Grandma’s Rice Custard (updated)

by | May 12, 2023 | Dolci, Recipes

RIce Custard in a glass baking dishFrom Grandma’s hand written note:

1/4 cup rice, wash well.

Cook slowly in quart milk, a little salt, stir all the time in a sauce pan, until rice is cooked

1/2 cup sugar to taste

Take 5 eggs if small (4 if large), heat a little, put a tsp. vanilla

Place in buttered pan, 4 small pieces of butter on top

Put in medium oven (325°) about 25-30 min (45 min.in our oven) until knife comes out clean.

 

(Note: Rich and I both felt that 1/4 cup uncooked Basmati rice was not enough in this recipe. Next time I would use 1/3 to 1/2 cup instead. Also, I would change sugar to 1/4 C. — Deb)

 

Pizza

Pizza

by | Aug 7, 2022 | Appetizer, Main Dish, Party, Sauce

MAKE DOUGH

Dissolve 1 package yeast (or 1 T) by mixing into 1 C warm water. (tap water is ok)

Add 1 t salt and 1/4 C olive oil and mix.

Stir into 2 C flour (00 flour is best) I used King Arthur Pizza flour.

Knead on floured counter top about 1 minute. Place in bowl and cover with damp towel and place in oven (turned off) to rise for 1 hour. (1st proof)

Scrape out onto floured counter and knead for two or three minutes. Sprinkle flour to keep it from sticking. Put back in oven and let rise up to 3 hours. I only did 2. (2nd proof)

Remove and knead a little to shape and spread in oily shallow baking pan. 

Turn oven on to 400 degrees F. While that was heating up, I put the dough pan on the bottom rack to bake a little.

MAKE SAUCE: (Can be made ahead.)

I used a small box of Cento chopped tomatoes. Heat on stove and add olive oil, crushed garlic, salt, pepper, oregano, basil, marjoram and then mix. Add tomato paste and a little anchovy. Cook until thick enough for pie.

CHEESE:

After spreading sauce on dough, sprinkle almost a small package of shredded Italian cheese. (Stop and Shop brand) Then add sliced mozzerella, I used almost one fresh white ball. The whiter the better. Then lastly some grated parmesan cheese.

Bake 10 minutes in the middle rack and 8 minutes on the top rack.

molto bene!

SemiFreddo di Torrone

SemiFreddo di Torrone

by | Jun 5, 2021 | Dolci

A couple years ago, RIch, Deb, Eva and Will took a train tour of Italy, including Rome where our three second cousins reside. Marguerita invited us for dinner one night along with Michele and Franco and various daughters! M was busy in the kitchen after dinner and came out with an amazing dessert. This is it. I found it in a cast off cook book (“Homestyle Italian Cooking, by Lori Carangelo”) given to me by a friend. I was looking through and immediately recognized the dish. This recipe does not require gelatin, which I thought was in M’s recipe. I dare you to try it!!

Fried baby artichokes

Fried baby artichokes

by | Mar 16, 2021 | Appetizer, Recipes, Vegetables

I tried this recently, but didn’t trim them enough. Here’s how to make baby artichokes dipped in seasoned flour and fried just like grandma made. from the NYTimes: “Snap off a few of the tough, dark exterior leaves of the little artichokes until the pale green centers are visible. (more than you think needed) Then cut a half-inch or so off the tops of each artichoke and trim the stem end with a paring knife. Cut them lengthwise into halves or quarters and put them in a bowl of water with a good squeeze of lemon juice to prevent them from turning brown. This can be done an hour or two before cooking. Use olive oil to fry them if you’re feeling extravagant, or a frugal combination of olive and vegetable oils.

• In case you need the coating info: dry artichokes with a clean towel, then dip a few at a time into seasoned flour, then dip onto beaten eggs, then the flour again. I used a cup or two of half olive oil and half peanut oil and the costing came out great.

Todaro’s Closes for Good

Todaro’s Closes for Good

by | Mar 16, 2021 | Groceries

Perhaps some of us accompanied our grandmother or parent into this store in NY. It closed for good April 2, 1999. I used to reliably order by mail cotecchino sausage there.  The link in the footer still takes you to their facebook page.

Zucchini Torte

Zucchini Torte

by | Jul 16, 2017 | Main Dish, Vegetables

This Zucchini Torte is a variation of the original recipe due to the lack of some ingredients. It is still easy to make and delicious. I had day old garlic bread and used that cut up instead of the bread crumbs. I skipped the additional garlic. I had some homemade tomato sauce so I used that instead of the tomatoes. I was all out of boxed Pomi tomatoes and did not have carrots. So here is the result. It only took 45 minutes in the oven.