While most of the recipes on this site come from my father and his restaurant, my mom, Frances, was a great home cook in her own right. This manicotti recipe comes from her. My mom is an amazing woman. She worked very hard at the restaurant, wearing multiple hats, hostess, bartender, bookkeeper and general all…
I am extremely allergic to shellfish, which would not be a problem if had this condition my whole life and I really didn’t know what I was missing out on. Unfortunately, this is not the case; I developed it as an adult, long after Shrimp and Lobster were entrenched near the top of my favorite…
Fall is the perfect time for butternut squash stuffed ravioli, it is the pumpkin spice latte of ravioli. I love any ravioli tossed in brown butter and sage, but butternut squash makes a sublime partner for it. You don’t have to make your own ravioli at home (I didn’t), store bought ones are completely acceptable,…
Big nor’easter this weekend, so it seemed like a good time to make a nice Sunday Sauce. What is a Sunday Sauce, you may ask? A Sunday Sauce, also known in Italian as a ragù, is a slow-cooked, meat-based sauce made by Italian families. Typically made with whole cuts of meat that are then served…
Linguine with White Clam Sauce is the dish that taught me the unwritten Italian rule of no cheese on seafood. When I first started working at my father’s restaurant as a busboy, we would bring cheese to the table and offer to sprinkle it on the pasta dishes. I was told early on not to…
Clams Oreganato. Baked Clams. Stuffed Clams. No matter what you call them, they are a great appetizer and a perfect starter for your Christmas Eve fish dinner. It is very important that the stuffing stays moist and does not become dried out. If the bread crumb mixture feels too dry, you may have to add…
Our cousins Paul and Dee can tomatoes every year. They usually give me a few jars, and I use them mostly for my pizza sauce, which comes out great. This year Paul invited me to his aunt’s house in Mineaola, NY to participate in the canning. Oddly enough, even though it is a tradition among…
There may not seem like a lot to this dish, but boy is it tasty. Pork chops with vinegar peppers is an old Italian-American stand-by. I have always made this with sweet vinegar peppers, but if you prefer you can use hot, or a mix. For a different variation on this dish you can home…
Lingue di Pizza are a street food snack that can be found in bakeries all over Rome. The word lingue means tongue, which describes the elongated shape. I have been seeing videos from Italy of people making these all over my social feeds, and I decided I had to try making them. My first question…
Here is another excellent Sicilian variation on pesto. This is different from the Trapanese Pesto that I featured last week in that there is no tomato, and it uses pistachios instead of almonds. Think of it as closer to Genovese basil pesto, but with pistachios rather than pignoli. The difference is that instead of just…
