My daughter Meagan needs more recipes for Christmas, so again, you get to benefit. These are recipes passed down from at least her Great Grandmotheron her father's side, possibly older than that. (Caveat: I am not Italian at all. I married into it.) Her Great Grandmother was born in Sicily and emigrated to America. So they must be authentic, right? Well, maybe. What we have noticed is that theItalian family recipes seem to have morphed a bit to fit the poverty in which the family found itself in America as well as the lack of real Italian ingredients. Most of the recipes include lots of eggs even where seemingly unnecessary, probably to get the protein content of the food up and make use of a cheap source of protein. Breadcrumbs make lots of appearances, too. The surprising thing to me is that most of the family recipes are very bland considering that they supposedly originate from Sicily. These recipes were traditionally served on Christmas, but I can't abide Italian on Christmas, I am strictly a big-hunk-of-juicy-prime-rib sort of girl. We instead sometimes make them on Christmas Eve, which is what Meg is going to do and we're going to her house for Christmas Eve. Yay!!! Now I only have to cook two big meals for Christmas instead of three!!!
Bracciole
Butterflied top sirloin
Layer:
Breadcrumbs
Parmesan Cheese
Pepper
Parsley
thinly sliced, sauteed onions
sauteed meatball mixture
sauteed diced mushrooms
hard boiled eggs, sliced thin
roll and tie and saute the bracciole in olive oil until brown, add to red sauce and cook for two or three hours.
Manicotti
Beat 8 eggs well and add 2 cups of water and 2 cups of flour and 2 tsp salt. Cook on an ungreased griddle over low heat. Pour like small pancakes and cook on one side until rubbery.
Filling
1 1/2 lbs ricotta (Get the good kind from the deli section.)
2 egg yolks
1/4 c parmesan
salt and pepper
minced parsley, dash of sugar and cinnamon
Put 1 T filling in the center and spread it over the crepe. Roll seam side down aand layer in a baking pan with sauce. Bake 25 minutes at 350.
Traditional Italian Manicotti are crepes, not those huge pasta tubes you get at the grocery. They are very delicate and subtle, but super yummy! Although one Christmas eve when my son Ben was four (and a VERY picky eater) we made him try these and he immediately threw them right back up. We never forced him to try anything ever again. Although, that is my prefered method for raising un-picky eaters. Which the rest of my kids are not. Because I am (nearly) perfect.
Showing posts with label italian. Show all posts
Showing posts with label italian. Show all posts
Monday, December 22, 2008
Thursday, December 4, 2008
What I Cook When I have no time
We all have those hellish days when we can't think of what to make for dinner, have no time to make anything for dinner, or can't don't have the energy to put into making something for dinner. So what does the Mendon Foodie do on those occasions? Well, I'll tell you what I DON'T do: I do not make anything from a box. Have I made food from a box in the past? Yes, I have. And was it absolutely horrible? YES!!!! When I was pregnant with my first child (I have four, which may explain my bad attitude) I had a day when I couldn't face cooking or eating. yet I still had to feed my new hubbie. We were on a tight budget, so what did I do? I fixed a box of Hamburger Helper for my husband. Mind you, I have still to this day never eaten Hamburger Helper. My mother did not make packaged food, either. Well, maybe the occasional side dish, but if you ask me to name anything specifically, I wouldn't be able to. Maybe my sisters could. Anyway, so my husband comes home and looks at the splendid feast I have managed to prepare while only throwing up once and says, "What's this?" And I reply, "Hamburger Helper!" And he replies, "It looks like shit." Then he tastes it, looks at me and says, "Never fix this for me again." I really can't say that I blame him. There has got to be something fast and easy to make that still tastes like real food.
Well there is! And I don't mean any of those annoying Rachel Ray recipes where she runs around her kitchen frenetically trying to make food in 30 minutes just to show you she can. Most people would probably rather slow down and cook at a more leisurely pace so they don't die of an aneurysm. So what do I cook when I don't feel like cooking, don't have time to cook, blah, blah, blah? Pasta!
My family (everyone except me, that is) is Italian. They like to eat pasta. A lot. If I cooked it as often as they want it, I would get so sick of it I would have to throw up. But, in the winter, I probably make it twice a week. Okay, three times. But do I open a jar of red sauce and throw it on? ARE YOU KIDDING ME? NO OF COURSE I DON'T! There are many ways to dress pasta that require little effort, little time, and yet you would still want to actually consume them.There is one trick to getting a pasta dinner on the table fast: the first thing you do is start the water heating for the pasta. Make the sauce while the water comes to a boil. If you clean lettuce when you buy it and keep it wrapped in a towel inside a plastic bag in fridge you can have salad, too. Here is one of my families favorite pasta dishes, adapted from Marcella Hazan.
Bean pasta
Dice an onion and saute with four ounces of pancetta and two cloves of minced garlic until the onion is translucent and the pancetta is a little crispy. Drain one can of cannellini beans reserving liquid. Add that can plus one UNDRAINED can to the frying pan. Add some chopped fresh sage and rosemary. (Dried is okay, too.) Season to taste with salt and pepper. If it is too thick, add some more of the bean liquid.
Cook pasta while making the sauce and toss pasta with sauce and top with Parmesan.
The nice thing about this recipe is that you can keep the ingredients on hand and for when you are pressed for time. Pancetta freezes well. It is a nice thing to keep around. This recipe will make enough for about a pound and a half of pasta. You can make it with only one can of beans if you need a smaller amount. I devised this recipe when I still had four kids at home. I'm down to two, so now I make only one pound of pasta.
There are so many other quick pasta recipes that don't involve jarred sauce. I'll try to post some more soon, although I make no promises. It all depends on my mood.
Well there is! And I don't mean any of those annoying Rachel Ray recipes where she runs around her kitchen frenetically trying to make food in 30 minutes just to show you she can. Most people would probably rather slow down and cook at a more leisurely pace so they don't die of an aneurysm. So what do I cook when I don't feel like cooking, don't have time to cook, blah, blah, blah? Pasta!
My family (everyone except me, that is) is Italian. They like to eat pasta. A lot. If I cooked it as often as they want it, I would get so sick of it I would have to throw up. But, in the winter, I probably make it twice a week. Okay, three times. But do I open a jar of red sauce and throw it on? ARE YOU KIDDING ME? NO OF COURSE I DON'T! There are many ways to dress pasta that require little effort, little time, and yet you would still want to actually consume them.There is one trick to getting a pasta dinner on the table fast: the first thing you do is start the water heating for the pasta. Make the sauce while the water comes to a boil. If you clean lettuce when you buy it and keep it wrapped in a towel inside a plastic bag in fridge you can have salad, too. Here is one of my families favorite pasta dishes, adapted from Marcella Hazan.
Bean pasta
Dice an onion and saute with four ounces of pancetta and two cloves of minced garlic until the onion is translucent and the pancetta is a little crispy. Drain one can of cannellini beans reserving liquid. Add that can plus one UNDRAINED can to the frying pan. Add some chopped fresh sage and rosemary. (Dried is okay, too.) Season to taste with salt and pepper. If it is too thick, add some more of the bean liquid.
Cook pasta while making the sauce and toss pasta with sauce and top with Parmesan.
The nice thing about this recipe is that you can keep the ingredients on hand and for when you are pressed for time. Pancetta freezes well. It is a nice thing to keep around. This recipe will make enough for about a pound and a half of pasta. You can make it with only one can of beans if you need a smaller amount. I devised this recipe when I still had four kids at home. I'm down to two, so now I make only one pound of pasta.
There are so many other quick pasta recipes that don't involve jarred sauce. I'll try to post some more soon, although I make no promises. It all depends on my mood.
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