As I mentioned in my recent post about Italian food, some of the best recipes come from Italian creativity when times are tough (la cucina povera) in southern Italy that was pretty much all the time… well, times are tough everywhere!  but don’t let that stop you from making delicious Italian food.  Pasta Pie or pizza di macaroni is a great way to make leftover pasta into a great new recipe.  This recipe was created for exactly that reason… as you may know, Italians don’t cook the “correct amount” of anything.  It goes something like this at my house, “how many people are we?… 6?  we’ll need 3 pounds of pasta.” So when there’s a pound of pasta left over, what do you with it?  (Yes frat boy, you could eat it cold.)  make Pasta Pie!

There’s no reason to wait until you have leftover pasta though… Pasta Pie is a great treat anytime!  especially in the summer.  Check out this monster my brother-in-law made this past weekend.  This is 4 pounds of pasta deliciousness.  Everyone has their own recipe, amounts, types of pasta, etc.  I don’t have the exact recipe (hint: there is no exact recipes in Italian cooking, the sooner you realize that, the happier we will all be) but here’s the basics of how he makes his… which was delicious!

He uses different types of long pasta (spaghetti, bucatini, etc.) if you use short cut pasta it tends to crumble easily.  The different pasta types also help make it less dense. Cook your pasta and let it cool and drain well.  Then beat 12 eggs per pound of pasta (no, that isn’t a misprint… 12 eggs per pound of pasta, I never said my brother-in-law wasn’t cRaZy) apparently my sister only had 24 eggs to add to the 4 pounds of pasta so it didn’t come out exactly how it should have (so 48 eggs would be the correct amount here?… C-r-A-z-Y!)  Add the eggs, grated parmigiana, salt and pepper to the pasta and mix well.  In a humongous frying pan (obviously) add olive oil and let the pasta mixture cook until golden brown (the trick is to move the pasta around so that it forms in the pan) then take the lid of the pan and flip the pasta.  Let both sides get golden brown and you have yourself a Pasta Pie.  I wouldn’t recommend starting with a 4 pounder… you might want to make a 1 pounder first.  You can also add other ingredients as well… sopressata, ham or whatever your creative Italian soul is feeling.  So have yourself a slice of Pasta Pie, a fresh summer salad and a glass of wine.  Enjoy and buon appetito!

In March I was in Calabria visiting my family and did a little wild asparagus hunting with my cousin… if you’ve read some of my posts, you know I like to forage for “wild things” so yesterday when E and I were out on a hike with Dexter (our Italian Labrador…. you mean you didn’t know about Italian Labradors??!) We decided to gather some dandelions for lunch and while I was picking and E was taking pictures, the conversation went something like this:

E: how about some asparagus?

Me: What?… did you say asparagus?  You must be mistaken.

E: No, these are asparagus.

Me: I don’t think so, there’s no asparagus around here.

E: I know what asparagus look like.

Me: HOLY S*&%!!

If you’ve seen the video and the photos of the wild asparagus we found in Calabria you can see the difference.  These asparagus look like the ones you would find in the supermarket.  I remember going asparagus hunting with my father when I was young.  He told me that there used to be an asparagus farm in the fields where we would find them, so the asparagus were thick.  There’s a neighborhood in that field now but I assume that there might be a similar story behind these since it was an old farm that has since been donated as a wilderness reserve…  whatever the story, it’s A-OK with E and me because we’re having asparagus for dinner!

I’ve made lots of friends through sopressata… I really have.  My father has been offered money, a friend wants to feature it in a future restaurant he is opening and one of my Irish buddies has somehow gotten “in” and now chips in financially and helps make them in order to get a share… in turn, he has friends that work on his motorcycle in exchange for a sopressata!  It’s comedy but it’s also delicious and one of southern Italy’s culinary delights. (Click here for more details on the process)

My father is a sopressata connoisseur of sorts.  In his own way, he studies the art of making it.  He tries different techniques, tinkers with the process, adds new ingredients/levels of ingredients and over the years it seems to have worked out well as we have managed to take home First Place at the “World Sopressata Championship” for the last 5 years running! (I’m kidding.. there’s no such thing.)

My brother and I have our own opinions on how and how much of course, so they have also been getting more and more “piccante” (spicy hot!) over the years.  This year we have a very controversial NEW process that the professore introduced : dry packing them instead of sotto olio (submerged/preserved in oil) Go figure?!  So far so good… they are ready to eat and the verdict is in: FIRST PRIZE once again!!

If you’re a regular reader of Italyville, you know that I’m passionate about true Italian brands and products.  One of those products is ITALIAN extra virgin olive oil.  I’m not talking about extra virgin olive oil that is brought into Italy from other countries to be mixed with Italian oil or simply bottled in Italy and labeled Italian.  I mean extra virgin olive oil made from olives grown in Italy, oil processed in Italy and oil bottled in Italy without being mixed with oil from other countries.  Don’t get me wrong, I have nothing against extra virgin olive oil from Spain or Greece or California or any other place that produces a quality product… which they do.  However, my passion for Italian extra virgin olive oil runs deep and is rooted in my families livelihood in Calabria.  Like many southern Italian families, my family has a large olive plantation and my uncle owns an Oleificio (where they make oil.)  So they live or die by the success of the crop and the market price of olive oil.

Italian extra virgin olive oil like many Italian food products has appeal and is perceived as being of high quality (which is true in many cases.)  Unfortunately for that same reason, there are many products of lesser quality that have taken advantage of the reputation of Italian extra virgin olive oil and are profiting by using an Italian name, or purchasing cheaper oil from other countries that are mixed with Italian oil and bottling it in Italy.  The oil itself regardless of its origin may be of high quality but the fact is, it comes down to branding….. and labeling a bottle “Italian extra virgin olive oil” helps sell.  What does all this do?  Bringing oil into Italy from other countries increases supply and it drives the price of Italian olive oil down, which in turn affects local farmers.  Some Italian companies are among the culprits.  This article sheds a little more light on the situation. All this talk about olive oil leads me to this article that I read this week in our local newspaper regarding olive oil standards in the state of Connecticut. There are companies that are passing non-olive oil as extra virgin!! Apparently the state of Connecticut is the first state to pass quality standards for olive oil.

**If you’re in need of some high quality Italian extra virgin olive oil in Calabria or need an Oleificio to process your olives, visit my zio Mario.  He is one of the most genuine, honest people I have ever known and a regular comedian…. and that’s not just because he’s my uncle.

]]> http://italyville.com/2008/11/brand-italy-extra-virgin/feed/ 8 http://italyville.com/2008/10/the-city-that-never-sleeps/ http://italyville.com/2008/10/the-city-that-never-sleeps/#comments Tue, 28 Oct 2008 13:01:00 +0000 Joe http://italyville.wordpress.com/2008/10/28/the-city-that-never-sleeps/ Buongiorno! I was in the city that never sleeps all last week for work, so I didn’t get a chance to post. I’m a country boy mostly but what I like about New York City is that there’s always something new to discover. A new street, a little shop, an off the wall concept, a [...]]]>

Buongiorno! I was in the city that never sleeps all last week for work, so I didn’t get a chance to post. I’m a country boy mostly but what I like about New York City is that there’s always something new to discover. A new street, a little shop, an off the wall concept, a cRaZy outfit and if you can think of it, it’s probably waiting to be found in some little corner of the city. I had a great meal at my friend’s restaurant “Forge” so a big thanks to Chef Marc Forgione and partner Chris Blumlo. The menu is always changing but if you get a chance to head down there soon, try the pumpkin creme brulee… it’s delicious!

I also got a chance to have lunch at one of my favorite Italian restaurants in the city, Bar Pitti. The food is authentic and very good. The owners and staff are all Italian and many of the customers are Italian as well. I sat near a group that was from Veneto (their accent gave them away) and had “Rigatoni Pitti” cooked perfectly al dente. If you’re in New York, check them out but bring cash… cause that’s all they take.

PS – I have gotten feedback that people are having trouble viewing posts on Italyville… wondering if anyone else is having difficulty viewing posts.

Once a month Italyville.com will post “Homemade” – authentic homemade Italian recipes. Since this is the first homemade post, well….. we’re going to have to start at the beginning; one of the foundations of the Italian culinary experience, something Italians simply CAN NOT eat without. Pane = Bread. If I had a lira for every time my father asked “where’s the bread?” when I was growing up, I would have a whole lot of worthless lire… but if they were Euros, I’d be a rich man! and half as rich if they were dollars…. damn the dollar!! sorry.

We were very lucky that my mother made homemade bread once a week when we were growing up… and still does. I can remember talking about “American bread” which was pretty much every other variety but mostly sliced sandwich bread. It was comical to us when we saw our friends bring sandwiches to school and their bread had the crust cut off. You cut off the crust? Isn’t that the best part? It is to Italians! We still fight over the end piece of bread….. even if you’re successful at securing it, take your eyes off it for a second and it might disappear!

So here it is, the recipe for the bread we grew up on.

Pane di casa

What you’ll need – (all these amounts are guestimated):

• 3-4 ounces of fresh yeast
• 5 lb bag of bread flour
• 1/4 cup of salt
• 1/8 of a cup of canola oil
• water

We start by cutting about a 1/2 inch slice from a block of fresh yeast. Fresh yeast is becoming more difficult to find at grocery stores but you should have better luck at a local bakery (we have a local baker in the family…. so it helps.) Place your yeast in a bowl with 1.5 cups of warm water and mix the yeast and water with your hands until it feels like the yeast has completely dissolved.

Take a small amount of bread flour (a few handfuls) and put it aside, then take the rest of the bread flower and put it in an extra large bowl. Make a hole in the middle of the flour and pour your yeast water in. Add the canola oil, 2 cups of warm water and salt (sprinkle it over the flour.) and mix the ingredients with your hands. Once you start mixing, check the dough consistency and add small amounts of flour or water as needed. Make sure to knead the dough well so that all the ingredients are mixed together properly.

Once your dough is ready, place it on a flat surface and cut it in half, then in half again so that you have 4 pieces of dough that are approximately the same size. It sounds funny to explain it like that but if you try to cut off 1/4 at a time…… well, the last piece probably won’t be the same as the first piece. get it? got it? good.

Now that you have your four equal size pieces, knead them individually again and then form each piece of dough into a small ball. We like to make a few small slices in the dough with a knife for decoration but you don’t have to. Place 2 pieces of dough side by side on a cookie sheet or baking tray that has been lined with tin foil and sprinkled with flour. Set your 2 trays aside and let the the dough rise. We put the trays on a table or bed and cover them with 2-3 blankets so that the dough rises quicker. It usually takes about 1.5-2 hours for the dough to rise when we do this…. it should rise to about double the size once it’s ready.

When the dough has risen, place it in the oven preheated at 350 degrees and cook until golden brown. It should take about 1 hour and 20 minutes, depending on your oven. Make sure to turn your trays around and switch them from the top/bottom rack after 40 minutes so that each bread is evenly cooked.

This bread is great for sandwiches, toast, bruschetta and much more.

To think, we used to feel embarrassed pulling out a sandwich like this at the lunch table at school when everyone else had white sandwich bread! Thanks Mom!

I have a confession to make. I can’t eat whole wheat pasta. It’s true! I’m all for eating healthy and not overdoing it, I exercise regularly and I consider myself “relatively fit.” I’m also fairly conscious of what I put into my body. I’ve refused to take prescriptions from my doctor after looking into them, I won’t take pain killers unless the hangover is really bad. So all that being said, I can’t do it….. some people will mix half regular and half whole wheat and claim you can’t taste the difference. What are you n’Americano? of course I can taste the difference! There are just some things that you don’t mess with. So with all the hype of elections this year, I’m starting my own campaign.

I’m still in Las Vegas, with one trade show down and one more to go. “E” came in on Valentines day and stayed through the weekend and a few college friends came to town as well. The weather was great, we got out to Red Rock Canyon for a hike and ate some very good food. If there is one thing I like about Vegas, it’s the food! Saturday night we went to Piero’s. It’s an Italian restaurant that has a very good Osso buco (their signature dish) and it did not disappoint! Actually, I tried their Osso buco for the first time in August and had to go back again this time around. If you like Osso buco and find yourself in Las Vegas, I highly recommend Piero’s. It’s on the pricey side but a throw-back to the glory days of Las Vegas. Check out their website. The first paragraph of their “history” page reads:

In 1982 Freddie Glusman opened Piero’s Italian Restaurant on Karen Avenue. It quickly became a hangout for Las Vegas locals and celebrities like the Rat Pack, politicians, and some of those businessmen in the casino industry with Italian surnames, the “local color” guys.

Just try not to make anyone mad if you go:)
PS: I wanted to take the photo before I started eating but it looked so good! and I forgot:)