When it comes to Italian food and the spirit that comes with cooking my greatest inspiration is my grandmother, Mary Tumolo. Still to this day her recipes have remained ingrained in my families memories. Although my grandmother has passed every time I cook, especially when cooking her recipes I feel her spirit around me.
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The most vivid memory I have of my grandmother is of her hands. She had boney, ruff hands that seemed so worked but soft. As an observant child I would watch her cook everything from scratch. She had great strength and worked simple ingredients to perfection. Still no one can match her skill.
I have always greatly admired her as this cookbook is dedicated to her and preserving my Italian heritage with the more cherished of recipes. Italian families holiday meals consist of mountains of fresh food and endless dishes. A typical holiday meal traditional has 7 course: soup, jello, pasta, meat, salad, desert and cookies. As any one who has visited an Italian home knows Italians love
to feed people. For my grand mother she would never open the front door without running into the basement to thaw so food for whoever was at the door. Food and family is the most important thing to any Italian family.
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Caprese Salad Ingredients: 1 cup Fresh Basil 1 lb fresh Mozzarella 2 Roma Tomatoes 1/4 Cup Olive Oil 2 Tb Balsamic Vinger Salt and pepper Slice Mozzarella and tomatoes. Salt and pepper the tomatoes. To assemble alternate a slice of mozzarella, slice of tomato, and a leaf of basil. Pour olive oil and balsamic vinegar over top.
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Chicken Stock Ingredients: 1 fresh stewed or roasted chicken (no liver) Celery Potatoes Carrots Parsley Onions Salt For stock: add all ingredients to a pot and cover with water, let boil, skim off scum, turn gas low and simmer (approx. 2+ hours).
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Pasta Dough Ingredients: 6 eggs- well beaten 1 tbsp oil 4 cups flour- added gradually 1 tsp salt By Hand Break the eggs into a well of flour and add the oil and a pinch of salt. Gradually mix the egg mixture into the flour using the fingers of one hand, bringing the ingredients together into a firm dough. Knead the pasta dough until it’s smooth, 2 to 5 minutes. In a Mixer On a stand mixed and dough hook add the 6 beaten eggs, oil and salt. Beat on high with 1 cup of flour. When flour is incorporated add the next cup until 3 cups have been added. Every batch is different so add flour so the consistency is still sticky but can be handles in your hands. Knead with your hands until dough is smooth and elastic. Let rest for no more then 15 minutes as you set up the pasta machine. Roll out the dough to a relative thinness and cut into slices to fit into the machine. Start think and flatten at lest 2 to 3 times before cutting into desired shape.
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Tomato Sauce Ingredients: 28oz can Crushed Tomatoes 1 cloves minced garlic 1/2 cup Red Wine 1 Sweet Onion chopped 1/2 cup Dried Basil 1/4 cup Dried Parsley 2 tb Dried Oregano 2 tb Dried Thyme 1 tb Rosemary In a pot soften onions to a golden brown. Add minced garlic and wait 30 seconds before adding wine. Cook off the alcohol about 3-5 minutes. Add canned tomatoes and basil, parsley, oregano, , and rosemary. Let simmer for 20 minutes 9
Meatballs Ingredients: 2 slices of any bread 1/2 cup of milk 1 cup Parmasan 2 tablespoons of parsley 2 eggs 1Lb ground beef In a bowl tare bread into small pieces then add milk to soften. Stir in eggs, parmasan, and parsley. Mix beef into combining base and divide into palm size balls. Pre heat oven to 350. Or brown in a skillet until cooked and drain grease. Cook for 20-30 minutes then add to premade sauce
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Tentino-Alto Adige Friul-Venezia Giulia Aosta Valley LombardyV eneto Piedmont Liguria
Emilia-Romagna Tuscany
Marches Umbria Latium
Abruzzo
Molise Campania Naples
Sardinia
Basilicata
Apulia
Calabria
Sicily
Italian cooking has evolved over time but still takes roots from influences of the ancient Romans. The cuisine is different by region based on the ingredients available. Italian cooking does universally take influence in cheese and wine. In the 1700’s Italian cuisine became emphasized by region and cook books were written by housewives rather then professional chefs. Italians tend to eat what is local but the use of pasta and tomatoes are universally used. In Northern Italy a variety of stuffed pastas, polenta and risotto are popular as well as seafood. Central Italy focuses on meat and fish. In Southern Italy has a focus on fresh vegetables. Sicily, an island has Italian base but also Spanish, Greek and Arab influence. The ingredients like citrus, rice and saffron influence the cuisine. In the USA and Canada the Italian-America cuisine is based on Campania and Sicily with heavily Americanized ingredients. There are over a hundred different shapes of pasta. Pasta is categorized in two styles, dried and fresh. Under Italian law dry pasta can only be made from durum wheat flour or semolina. 11
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Pennoni Grandi
Pennoni Millerighi
Farfalloni
Orecchiette
Spirali Fantasia 14
Basil
Pairs well with Vegitables
Rosemary Pairs well with Chicken
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Dill
Pairs well with Fish
Thyme
Parsley
Pairs well with Salads
Sage
Pairs well with Stews
Mint
Pairs well with Lamb
Pairs well with Poultry
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Lasagna Ingredients: Two cans of home made tomatoes sauce 18 or 1 box of ridged noodles 15oz of ricotta 4 cups mozzarella Parmesan Make sauce before starting noodles. Heat a pot full of water with salt and oil. Drop noodles 1 at a time in boiling water cress crossing them. Cook noodles for less then 10 minutes, stirring every now and then. Drain noodles and rinse with cold water. Pull them apart using the cold water so they don’t stick. Find 6 un-broken noodles and set aside. Use 2nd best noodles for the bottom layer. 6 noodles per layers. Cover the bottom 9x13 baking dish with sauce. Put first layer of noodles overlapping them. Then another layer of sauce. Sprinkle Parmesan over sauce. Divide ricotta in the container in half. Use hands to chunk half the container of the ricotta in a layer. Then sprinkle 1 bag (2 cups) of mozzarella. Then add a layer of sauce. Finally repeat noodles and cheeses. Uses the less nice noodles in the middle layer. Top layer cover with sauce and top with parmesan. Bake 375 for 30-60minutes depending on the temperature (if more than 18 noodles add an extra to the bottom and the middle not the top)
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Ravioli Pasta Dough (Refer to Page) Filling: 3lb. ricotta 3 eggs Pepper Parsley 5-6 tbsp Parmigiano-Reggiano Roll out pasta dough and cut into sheets. Lay dough on ravioli form and create indents and add 1 tbsp of filling then cover with second noodle. Roll over mold with a rolling pin to cut out the shapes starting from the center. Cook for 10 to 20 minutes in boiling water stir when they float
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Wedding Soup Chicken Stock (Refer to page) Ingredients: Escarole homemade croutons Mini meat balls (Refer to page) Croutons: Toasted bread 2-3 eggs salt and pepper Cheese Oil Cook escarole separately in a little water, low heat with cover. Chop finely and add to broth. For croutons: Cut bread into cubes add all other ingredients and fry in oil. Make meat balls (1 inch balls) and fry them. At serving time- add meatballs and croutons to soup
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Manicotti Pasta Ingredients 2 cups Milk 3 eggs 2 cups flour 2 tsp oil 1/2 tsp salt Filling Ingredients 3 lbs. Ricotta 3 eggs 1 cup Romano Cheese or to taste Parsley, salt and pepper to taste Pasta Mix ingredients together in a blender and pour a 1/2 cup of batter in a 10 inch skillet that is brushed with melted butter. Cook each side until brown and re-butter each time. Fill pasta with filling and roll placing in a baking dish. Cover in tomato sauce. Cook at 350 for 20-30 minutes
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Pizzelles Ingredients: 3 cups flour 2 tsp. baking powder 1/4 tsp. salt 1½ cup butter 1 cup sugar 1 tsp. vanilla 1 tsp. anise 3 eggs Mix butter and sugar together well. Add eggs one at a time during mixing then vanilla and anise. Mix dry ingredients together and add to wet mixture. (Makes about 6 dozen) Cook in Pizzelle hand press for 45 seconds
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Zucchini Cake Ingredients: 1 cup oil 2cups sugar 2 cups raw graded zucchini 1 cup nuts 3 cups flour 2 tsp baking soda 3 tsp cinnamon 1/2 tsp baking powder 1 tsp salt 2 tsp vanilla Mix eggs, oil, sugar and zucchini in a bowl and beat together. Then add dry ingredients and mix all together. Pour mixture into a greased and floured bundt pan. Bake at 350° for 1 hour Let cool before taking out of form and sprinkle with powdered sugar when cool or use a milk glaze.
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Coffee Cake Ingredients: 1/2 cup shortening (butter) 3/4 cup sugar 1 tsp. vanilla 3 eggs 2 cups sifted flour 1/2 pt. sour cream 1 tsp. baking powder 1 tsp.. baking soda 2 tsp. cinnamon 6 tbsp butter 1 cup chopped nuts 1 cup brown sugar Preheat over to 350°Assemble and bake for 50 minutes.
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Snowball Cake Ingredients: 2 envelopes knox gelatin 4 pkgs. Dream Whip (envelopes) 1 large angel food cake 1 20oz can pineapple tidbits with jucies 1 cup sugar 1 to 2 tbsp lemon juice shredded coconut for top layer Dissolve gelatins in 4 tbsp of cold water; then add 1 cup of boiling water, lemon juice, pineapple with juice and sugar. Refrigerate mixture until it begins to jell. Remove crust from pre-made angel food cake and cut cake in half. Tear the half of cake into walnut size pieces and spread over the bottom of a 9x13 cake pan. Whip 2 envelopes of dream whip and fold into gelatin mixture. Pour over cake in cake pan. Take the other half of the angel food cake and tear into pieces and spread over the top of the gelatin then press down lightly. Whip 2 more envelopes of dream whip together and spread of top the assembled cake. Cover with coconut and chill over night.
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Pineapple Bars Crust: Sifted Ingredients: 4 cups flour 1/2 tsp salt 1 cup sugar 3 to 4 tsp baking powder Filling: 1 can crushed pineapple 1/2 cup sugar 3 tbsp cornstarch Other Ingredients: 1 cup shortening 2 eggs (beaten) 1/4 cup milk 1 tsp. vanilla Roll out 1/2 of the dough and pat into a greased pan. Cook filling until it thickens and let cool. Add 1 tsp lemon juice and spread over the dough. With other half of dough roll out on sugar between pieces of wax paper. Bake on 350° for 45 minutes. Icing: 1 1/2 cups of powdered sugar milk lemon or vanilla flavoring
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