My Mamma’s Pastina and Egg

This is a really good recipe when you have a tummy ache or just feel like you need something comforting to eat.

Ingredients (for one person):

-1 small egg

-2 tablespoons pastina

-lump of butter

-salt

 Directions:

Heat salted water in a small saucepan.

Break egg into a bowl and beat with a little salt.

Add pastina to water and boil until soft.

Remove about 1 tablespoon of water from pastina and save.

Drain pastina and return to pan.

Add lump of butter and egg and stir constantly over low heat until eggs are cooked.

If dry add a little of the saved water.

Check for salt and serve.

Grandma Cenza’s Eggs, Mozzarella and Tomato Sauce

Ingredients:

1 large or 2 small fresh tomatoes or 1 8oz. can of Italian tomatoes

mozzarella

chopped parsley

basil

salt/pepper

Directions:

Heat Oil to cover bottom of small frying pan. Crush tomatoes in pan with a  fork. Add parsley, basil, salt and pepper to taste. Let it cook slowly. Before tomatoes get too dry, add slices of mozzarella on top of tomatoes (leave some room for eggs). Cook short time – don’t let mozzarella get too soft. Add eggs on top of tomato (not on mozzarella and cook until the egg white is solid.

Grandma Cenza’s Peppers and Eggs

2 red peppers, cut into 1.5-inch squares (medium size)

3 eggs, beaten lightly with salt and pepper

2 cloves of minced garlic

olive oil

Put a thin layer of olive oil in a skillet. Fry peppers under medium heat till soft and brown. Add minced garlic. When garlic gets soft, add egg mixture and cook until eggs are set.

Grandma Cenza’s Potatoes and Beans

Ingredients:

• 1 lb of dried white cannellini beans
• 1 celery heart
• 2 cloves of garlic sliced
• about ¼ cup of olive oil
• about 5 medium sized potatoes cubed small (1/2 inch)

Directions:

Place beans into a medium sized sauce pan. Fill pot with water and soak overnight.   In the morning drain off all the water and refill with water to cover by about an inch.  Bring to a simmer and then turn off the heat and leave the beans to cool in the water.  When ready to cook reheat the beans and let simmer about 2 hours under low flame stirring about every 15 minutes and checking to see that water remains above beans.  Add additional hot water as needed. When the beans begin to start getting soft add chopped celery stalk, 2 cloves of sliced garlic and ¼ cup of olive oil. When beans are almost soft, add about 5 medium sized potatoes cubed small (½ inch). Add oregano, black pepper and salt. Cover again and cook until potatoes are done. Make sure that the water does not evaporate. If necessary, add hot water so that the potatoes have enough water to cook in. Water should never get below the beans or potatoes.  When potatoes are cooked but still keep their shape remove about 1/4 of the soup and puree then add back to pot.  Check seasoning. Best to let soup sit for a while before serving to let the flavors blend.

Potatoes and Beans (Using Canned Cannellini Beans)

Cut 4 to 5 medium potatoes into ½ inch cubes and boil until just tender covered with water. When done, add salt, black pepper, olive oil, garlic, celery and canned cannellini beans.  Heat and then let sit for awhile before serving.

Grandma Cenza’s Zucchini and Egg

Ingredients:

1.5 lbs of zucchini (medium zucchini)

4 eggs, beaten

2 heaping TBS of grated Locatelli Romano cheese

 

 

 

Directions:

Prepare egg mixture. Add 2 heaping TBS of cheese to the egg mixture. Cover this fairly heavily with black pepper. Cover lightly with salt. Beat.

Split zucchini lengthwise in half and slice into pieces that are ½-inch thick. Boil in a pan of salted water about 15 minutes until tender. Drain off water, except enough to cover half the zucchini. Add egg mixture to partially drained zucchini while still cooking under a low flame under the eggs are set.

Auntie M’s Veal Potatoes and Mushrooms – Grandma Cenza Style

Ingredients: 

3 medium potatoes cut into ¾ inch cubes

1 lb of veal (can substitute 1lb of boneless chicken breasts) cut into 1½ inch pieces

1 lb. of mushrooms (cut lengthwise in half if small or into thirds if large)

2 cloves garlic

Italian parsley

1 hot cherry pepper (from a jar of vinegarized peppers) *secret ingredient*

Romano cheese

small can of Ital. tomatoes

oregano

salt/pepper

olive oil

Directions: 

Place first three ingredients into a large baking dish. Add sliced garlic, ½- ¾ head of flat leaf (Italian) parsley chopped fine, hot cherry pepper cut into small pieces, black pepper, big handful or two (lots) of Romano cheese, oregano, juice from small can of tomatoes (8½ oz size), plush a few mashed tomatoes from the can (if not Italian tomatoes, add a little sugar and balsamic vinegar after it cooks awhile). Then add olive oil to the entire baking dish.

Cook in a 325° to 350° oven (covered) until done.

This dish can be made in a frying pan on top of the stove. Cover, when made on the stove, but remove cover for a short while after all cooked.

 

 

Stuffed Mushrooms – Grandma Cenza Style

This recipe is taken from a combination of Auntie M’s recipe and some variations and extra explanations from my mother.

 

Ingredients:

1lb. or more of large mushrooms

Progresso bread crumbs

garlic, minced

Italian parsley, chopped

grated Pecorino Romano cheese

¼ can of anchovies, chopped

oregano

salt/pepper

olive oil

1 medium can of Italian tomatoes (2 large tomatoes and little juice)

Directions:

1. Remove stems from mushrooms and cut stems into very small pieces.

2. Take about 2/3 of the stems and place in a bowl.

3. Next cover the stems with Progresso bread crumbs.

4. Then add garlic and cover with chopped parsley.

5. Next cover with black pepper.

6. Then add a pinch of oregano, the chopped anchovies, and the oil from the anchovy can, a pinch of salt.

7. Next cover the mix with grated Pecorino Romano cheese and then mix everything together.

8. Finally, add a little olive oil to help mix it together (until it looks like a stuffing).

9. Mix thoroughly, taste and adjust flavors if necessary, and then add:

• a little juice from a medium can of Italian tomatoes or a little bit of water.

10. Brush mushroom caps with a little oil.

11. Then stuff mushroom caps with stuffing mixture.

*My mom puts a little tomato sauce on the top of the mushrooms after they are stuffed if she is already making sauce for spaghetti.

12. Cover with aluminum foil and bake covered for about ½ hour in a 350° to 375° oven. Remove foil and brown.

Auntie M’s Stuffed Peppers – Grandma Cenza Style

Ingredients:

6 to 8 large red/green bell peppers (where possible, choose square symmetrical peppers with stems for easier handling when preparing)

2 cups (or more) Progresso Italian Style seasoned bread crumbs

2 large cloves of minced garlic

very large handful of fresh Italian parsley (1 batch)

1 tin of anchovy fillets

olive oil

fresh ground black pepper

Directions:

1.     Preheat oven to 400 degrees.

2.     In the top of each pepper, use a small knife to cut a square in the pepper top (use the stem to pull the cap off).

3.     Clean out seeds from caps and inside of pepper and reserve cap (keep cap next to each pepper, for easy assembly later). If necessary, rinse inside of peppers with water to remove seeds and drain (it’s okay to leave some seeds in).

4.     Cut inside pink-whitish membranes out of insides of pepper and cut off any excess flesh from the base of each cap. Chop these pepper parts up fine.

5.     In a medium size bowl, put bread crumbs and add chopped garlic, chopped parsley, chopped pepper parts, and the anchovies (chopped) and their oil. Cover with salt and pepper. Pour a thick layer of good-quality olive oil on top and then add water (until peppers become moist enough) and mix well. Taste mixture and adjust seasonings, as needed. Adjust oil and water as needed till the consistency of the stuffing is right. (Stuffing should be moist but not wet).

6.     Place several large TBS of stuff mixture into each pepper. You can add more stuffing if you like, but leave a little head space for shrinkage during frying (or baking) or the stuffing will ooze out during cooking. Place caps back on each pepper (make sure each is a tight fit). Using a paper towel, grease all sides and top and bottom of each pepper with a little olive oil.

7.     Put the oiled, stuffed peppers into a large Pyrex baking dish. Bake for one hour, until peppers are “fried.” Remove from oven and cover with tin foil and let sit for 5 minutes to allow moisture to steam through the peppers making them soft.

Auntie M’s Mushrooms in Tomato Sauce – Grandma Cenza Style

Ingredients: 

1 lb. of mushrooms (smaller ones halved; cut larger into thirds or quarter)

olive oil

1 clove of sliced garlic

chopped Italian parsley

1 to 2 vinegarized hot cherry peppers, split in half

salt/pepper

oregano

1 medium can of Italian tomatoes, mashed slightly

Directions:

Clean mushrooms with a damp paper towel. Add heavy layer of olive oil to a frying pan, sliced garlic clove, chopped Italian parsley, 1 to 2 hot cherry peppers, split in half (or dried hot pepper). When garlic is slightly golden, add mushrooms in pan and cook until mushrooms on medium high until water cooks out and mushrooms brown.

Add salt, pepper, and oregano to taste. Turn several times to absorb flavors and then add 2/3 of a medium can of Italian tomatoes (mashed slightly. Cover and cook over a low flame until tomatoes are cooked, but not too dry.

Auntie M’s Spinach Pie – Grandma Cenza Style

Ingredients (for two pies): 

3 lbs of fresh spinach

1 small onion (thin crescent slices)

½ cup of olive oil

½ tsp of black pepper

3 cans of anchovy fillets

1 oz of pignoli (pine) nuts (enough to cover pie)

About two kid-sized boxes of dark raisins (one for each pie)

2 TBS of olive oil (sprinkled over cooked spinach mixture )

Frozen bread dough (defrost overnight, let rise in a bowl and punch down)

Directions:

Defrost bread dough in refrigerator over night. (Can let rise in a bowl and punch down, if needed.) Preheat oven to 350°.

Wash, drain well, and chop the spinach. Heat the oil and onions under a low light and sauté lightly. Add one can of anchovies (not anchovy oil) that has been broken up and let it blend in with onions. Add black pepper. Add the chopped spinach. Simmer the mixture in a covered pot until the spinach flattens out. Then stir all together to get flavors to mingle. Let cool.

On floured board, roll out bread dough into a circle (a ½ circle of the dough will need to fit on a cookie sheet). Cut off two pieces of wax paper, each twice as large as a cookie sheet (one for each pie). Place first circle of dough on the wax paper. Gently, slide the right ½ of the dough/wax paper onto the first cookie sheet (twice as much as will fit on cookie sheet; the other half of the dough/wax paper should extend off the cookie sheet to the left). Place cooled spinach on right ½ semi-circle of dough on the cookie sheet and spread it out evenly within an inch of the rim of the dough. Cover well with pine nuts, 1 box raisins, 1/2 of the remaining can of anchovy fillets per pie. Sprinkle approximately 2 TBS of olive oil over each pie (if you prefer more anchovy flavor, you could replace this with oil in anchovy can, but the oil quality is not as good). Fold the second half of the dough over the ½ on the cookie sheet. Cut off any excess dough from edges. Then turn bottom edge over the top and flute (in scallop pattern) with fingers to lock in contents. Using a fork, prick dough top light all over.

Put pie (on wax paper over cookie sheet) in preheated oven at 350° for about 35 minutes. Check bottom after 30 minutes to make sure it isn’t burning (should be a golden color). Remove from oven. Slide wax paper onto pie cooler and let cool. Gently remove the wax paper. Cut into 3-inch squares and serve.