Pam and her father Archie Perugi developed this recipe as remembered by Archie from his childhood.
Makes 12 servings
INGREDIENTS
1⁄2 lb dried cannellini beans or
24 oz canned/cooked beans 1⁄2 c olive oil
1/2 c olive oil
4 oz pancetta, chopped
2 lg onions chopped small
2 leeks (white part only) cut in half lengthwise & thinly sliced
1 bunch kale, deveined & chopped bite size
1 bunch swiss chard, chopped bite size
1⁄4 to 1⁄2 cabbage, chopped bite size
3 qts water/chicken stock (I make my own chicken stock and use 1 qt stock and 2 qt water)
4 potatoes, diced small (4 cups)
1⁄2 lb linguine broken into 1-1 1/4 “ pieces
Salt and pepper
1/2 c homemade pesto (or to taste) without parm cheese
Parmesan for sprinkling on each serving
DIRECTIONS
Soak the beans overnight with 1 teaspoon baking soda for at least 8 hours, drain.
Heat the olive oil in a large soup pan, brown the pancetta. Add the onions and leeks and cook for 5-10 minutes until wilted. Add all the chopped greens and cook until wilted. Add (the soaked dried beans)**, and 2 quarts of water/chicken stock, bring to boil then lower it to a simmer for 45-60 minutes (test the beans).
Add the potatoes, (canned beans)**, and the linguine. Add 1 qt water. Raise temperature to bring to a boil and then lower it to a simmer. Season with salt and freshly ground black pepper. Cook until linguine are al dente. Turn off heat and add Pesto. Serve with grated Parmigiano-Reggiano.
**Soaked dried beans need more time to cook than the canned beans.
Pam and Nancy were contacted by cousin Norma who sent Pam this large photo of grandma Lea with her family. Below that are other documents including a marriage certificate and a 1930 census. See full census for 1920 and 1930 on the Document Page. There was no census in 1940 due to the war.
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.
For Christmas this year, Pam Marraccini made a Lasagna Bolognese for her family and Nancy and Ed’s families made the traditional Cappelletti Soup. Deb made Polenta Verde this week, Minestrone soup for Christmas Eve and Ricotta Christmas Cookies, Eva’s favorite! Cookie pics and recipe to come!
ITALIAN BREAD PUDDING From The Boston Globe
2/3 C light raisins
6-8 slices Panettone
2 C milk
3/4 C sugar
1 C heavy cream
1/4 C rum
1/4 C Marsala
3 large eggs
2 T grated orange peel
1/2 t cinnamon
Confectioner’s sugar
Preheat oven to 375 degrees.
Butter 12 x 9″ glass baking dish
Sprinkle half the raisins on the bottom
Make layer of half the bread slices over raisins
Sprinkle with remaining raisins and add the second layer of bread.
Combine milk and sugar in medium saucepan and simmer until the sugar is dissolved.
Remove from heat and stir in cream, rum and Marsala.
Beat eggs with cinnamon and orange peel and stir into milk mixture.
Slowly pour liquid over bread slices, pressing them down. Let stand 10 minutes.
Place dish in large roasting pan and fill it 1 inch, being careful to not come too close to bread dish.
(Moving the pan out of the oven may splash into bread pudding!)
Bake 30 minutes or until knife comes out clean 2 inches from edge and top is golden.
Just before serving sprinkle with Confectioner’s sugar. Serve warm or chilled. Yields 12 servings.
From Nancy: John (Krug) recently looked up Grandpa Perugi online and found information about his brother, Randolpho, who also came to the US at the same time. John discovered that Randolpho’s son, Alfio, passed away this past October (2016). He was 97 years old. I also did a Google search on Alfio and found several YouTube videos that someone posted. I received a card last Christmas from Alfio’s sister, Eugenia (Jean). She and Mom (Violet) were close cousins.
We are going to NYC with my brother Ed Slate and our families on Dec. 26 for 3 days. While there, we will go to Saint Patrick’s Cathedral to see Grandpa’s Pieta. I just read the New York Time’s article that Deb posted here about Grandpa’s last carving which is in the Church of Our Saviour (Park Avenue and 38th Street.) I recall going to watch Grandpa work on the carving that was featured in the article.
Nancy Krug and Ed Slate and families went to New York City last week. This is Nancy’s report.
“The carvings were on the outside of the church over the doors. They were not made of marble and may have been granite. The color looked like sandstone.
The church and location are: The Church of Our Savior, Corner of Park Ave and 38th Streets”
I recently watched a 20/20 program about how the mafia is diluting olive oil by mixing it with other vegetable oils and selling it as 100%. Recently I read another article where taste testing was done on common olive oils in the super market. One I remember that did not rate well was Pompeii. However, Trader Joe’s Virgin Olive Oil made with Kalamata olives from Spain did well. It costs $8.99.
While Snopes points out that the test, conducted in California, was misquoted, other studies including an investigation that the New York Times published last year say that olive oil they tested wasn’t exactly as advertised.
“Consumers pay higher prices to dip their breads and douse their salads in extra virgin olive oil. However, out of the eleven brands tested, six didn’t pass the lab’s stringent tests to meet the “extra virgin” standard. The lab in Australia performed chemical tests on the oil as well as sensory testing by trained humans to determine the flavor profile.
While they didn’t name which oils failed the tests, here’s a list of brands that they say passed:”
California Olive Ranch “Extra Virgin Olive Oil”
Colavita “Extra Virgin Olive Oil”
Trader Joe’s “ Extra Virgin California Estate Olive Oil”
Trader Joe’s “100% Italian Organic Extra Virgin Olive Oil”
Rich, Deb, Will and Eva Saltus were recently in Italy on an eight day tour of Venice, Florence and Rome. We saw some great sites, history, art and had some amazing Italian meals!
We had dinner at Michele and Cinzia’s home where Cinzia made a delicious and interesting pasta dish with green beans and potatoes! It was awesome! Also, the chocolate cake was great. We also had the best mozzarella ever as part of that meal.
Then the next evening we were invited to Margherita’s for dinner. We had a yummy potato baked dish, Roman Artichokes, balsamic marinated veal and an incredible dessert that she described to me and seen here, mostly eaten. She rolls out Torrone candy into bits and adds cream and gelatin to make into a mold. it is served chilled with chocolate sauce. Recipe coming soon I hope!
A delicate and tasty snacking cake. I used only 1 tsp. and it was more like pound cake, but still good. I also added 1 tsp. vanilla because most cakes call for that. Following is her note.
“Dear Debby, I’m sending you the picture of the yogurt jar because it’s the measure go the ingredients.
Put together:
1 jar full of yogurt
2 jars full of sugar
3 jars full of flour
1 jar full of oil
3 eggs
16 gr. baking powder (3 tsp.)
Grated lemon rind
Put the mixture in a pan greased with butter and flour and cook it for 30 minutes in a oven with medium temperature (160c-180c , sorry I don’t know your degrees )
If you want you can add apples or ciocolate or nuts. We prefere it plain.
Let me know how it comes
Have a nice Easter!
Ciao
Margherita
Ps I didn’t have time to try the Carrara rice cake, as soon I’ll do it I’ll send you the recepy😊
