Easy Pepperoni Stromboli
This simple to make Stromboli is a family favorite, and loaded with pepperoni. The Stromboli started its roots in American culture back in the…
Category: Red Sauce Italian
Ricotta and Chicken Sausage Stuffed Shells
I miss my Josephine dearly. She and I were good friends, in the end, and I spoke to her on the phone many times…
Calabrese-Style Rigatoni with Spicy Pork Ragu
Once upon a time in Brooklyn, there was an Italian restaurant called Sam’s. This was old-school, red sauce Brooklyn, and Sam’s was the flickering…
Gnudi in Sage Butter with Fresh Tomatoes
Gnudi, pronounced “Nudee”, is a ricotta-based dumpling, a sort of ravioli in the buff. Hence, gnudi – it means naked! I clothed these fat…
Josephine’s Italian-Style Stuffed Artichokes
My grandmother never taught me how to make her famous stuffed artichokes. I had to rely on over-the-phone oral tradition – a conversation with…
Escarole Soup
With apologies to my dear, departed Josephine, this is the best escarole soup ever made. And she has no one to blame but herself.…
Clams Casino
Growing up in Maine, I was used to pretty simple seafood preparations. In Maine (and particularly in the 1980s), most of the clams, mussels,…
Potato and Pepper Frittata
My great-grandmother lived in a tall building in a big city not so far away. She was old. Wig-wearing old. Old country old. She…
Handmade Ricotta Cavatelli with Pepperoni Tomato Sauce
This is going to require patience. But it’s worth it. This is a pasta you make by hand. It is a little labor-intensive, so…
Swordfish Puttanesca
Never having cared much for either olives or capers, I was surprised by how much I have been enjoying the local supermarket’s “Tuscan Gorgonzola”…
Linguine with Mussels and Clams
A wader-wearing fisherman steps out smiling from the refrigerated barnlike structure, where haddock and other local fishes are getting sorted and processed, cleaned, scaled and filleted,…
Oven Risotto with Sausage and Peppers
Risotto thinks it’s so superior. So delicate, so capricious, so high maintenance. A pretty girl who won’t get dirty. At least, that’s how it…
Lasagna Soup
This post is not for the lactose intolerant among you. It’s not for people who don’t love, and I mean really, really love, cheese.…
Rigatoni with Roasted Peppers and Sausage
Right now, in my kitchen, there is sauce bubbling on the stove. And it is rich and good. The cutting board is green with…
Classic Lasagna Recipe
This fantastic classic lasagna recipe is bursting with flavor, and it is our pleasure to share it! It is our goal to craft every…
How to Make Meatballs
Josephine, daughter of Anna, taught me to cook in her tiny kitchen on Ruth Street. My grandmother was the child of immigrants, following the…