photo credit: Maggie Hoffman

Cioppino with Italian rustic bread is a meal fit for a king!  I remember the first time I had it.  We were literally sitting in the Pacific Ocean off of San Luis Obispo, California.  We had to drive our car out onto the pier and park.  The meal was one of the best I’ve ever had – especially with their homemade crusty San Francisco sourdough bread.

Gourmet Italian Cioppino is a fish soup made with spices, tomatoes and red wine.  It is believed that the dish was created in San Francisco in the 1930′s – most likely by Northern Italian immigrants from Genoa.  Since crab is so prevalent in that area, it is usually found in traditional Italian cioppino recipes.  Back in Genoa, they would use whatever fish was nice and fresh that day.  The name comes from a Genovese word for fish stew – ciuppin.

If you want to entertain with Italian Cioppino, saute a choped onion with 3 cloves of minced garlic in 1/4 cup of olive oil.  Stir in 28 ounces of canned tomatoes, 15 ounces of tomato sauce, a cup of dry red wine, a cup of water. 2 tablespoons of red wine vinegar, 2 bay leaves and 2 teaspoons of Italian herbs.  Bring to a boil and reduce to simmer for 40 minutes.

While this is going on, clean your fish.  You’ll want a dozen clams, a dozen mussels, 1 1/2 pounds of firm white fish cut into chunks, a pound of shrimp and a pound of crab – cut in pieces.

Place all of the fish in a large kettle with the clams and mussels on top.  Pour the sauce over everything.  Cover tightly and cook over low heat for 20 minutes.  You are not ready to please your guests with Italian Cioppino!  Don’t forget the crusty sourdough bread! 

Watch the head chef from Red Lobster make a Lobster Cioppino here! Yum!  Notice Chef LaDuke refers to this as a Portuguese dish.  I’m not sure where he got that idea, as none of the research supports that – but it sure looks delicious, doesn’t it?

Mangia Bene!

photo credit: Barbara L. Hanson

A traditional Italian celebration occurs every March 19th and it is called St. Joseph’s Day.  It is customary to eat Sfingi – also known as zeppole – on this day.

There are many types of sfingi.  One type is much like fried bits of sweetened bread dough dusted with sugar.  However, the traditional Italian “sfingi di San Giuseppe” is often made with ricotta cheese.  They are delicious served warm, but they can also be cooled and filled with cream or whatever you like.

There is an Italian Festival in Houston, Texas every Fall and they make thousands of sfingi to the delight of all the visitors.  If you would like to learn more about this festival, click here.

One nice thing about cooking sfingi is that if you have your oil hot enough, the little dough puffs will turn themselves over.  All you have to do is take them out when they are golden brown.

To make the traditional Italian sfingi di San Giuseppe, combine 1 pound of ricotta cheese with 2 eggs, 2 tablespoons of white sugar and 1/2 teaspoon of vanilla.  Then combine 1/2 cup of flour with 2 teaspoons of baking powder and fold this into the cheese mixture.  Continue adding a little flour at a time until you have a nice thick batter.

When your oil is at about 375 degrees, drop the dough in by teaspoons and deep fry until golden brown.  Remove with a slotted spoon and drain on a paper sack or paper towels.

A fun thing to do with these traditional Italian “doughnuts without holes” is to arrange them all in a pyramid on a platter.  Then drizzle 1/4 cup of honey all over the pyramid and dust with 1/4 cup of powdered sugar.

There are many recipes for sfingi.  Some call for yeast.  Some have raisins.  They are all wonderful and they may bring back memories of the old potato chip commercial …”Bet you can’t eat just one!”  See the guys making these at a street fair here! Mangia Bene!

Back in old Italy, this dish was prepared using a mortar and pestle.  Now, that probably was NOT a quick Italian dish.  However, with our wonderful food processors these days, you can literally make this in under a minute.  Pesto was not widely known in North America until the late ’80′s, early ’90s.  Today, it is readily available everywhere.  There is one brand that is very reasonable that can be found in grocery stores near the pasta sauces.  It comes in a short, fat jar and it is incredibly delicious!  Unfortunately, the pine nuts are still outrageously expensive, so many people substitute walnuts or almonds.   If you are a true lover of pesto, you will probably want to grow your own basil.  Even a little kitchen window pot of basil will produce lots if the plant is properly “snipped” to encourage new growth.

There are many variations to this dish.  There is even a vegan version that is made with basil, walnuts, olive oil and miso paste.  I’m going to share with you two versions that I love.  By the way, pesto freezes beautifully – in case you are lucky enough to have an abundance of basil leaves.

Here is a quick Italian Lemon Pesto that is delicious!  In a small food processor, place 1 1/2 cups of basil leaves, 4 garlic cloves, 1/4 cup of pine nuts, and 1/4 cup of grated Parmesan cheese.  Whirl this all together and slowly add in 2 tablespoons of good olive oil and 2 tablespoons of fresh lemon juice.  That’s it.  Quick Italian love on a spoon!

Here is an even easier recipe than that!  In your blender or food processor, place 2 firmly packed cups of basil leaves, 3/4 cup of Parmesan cheese, 3/4 cup of good olive oil, 3 garlic cloves, and 1/4 cup of pine nuts.  Blend on medium speed for three minutes until smooth, scraping sides occasionally.

I use this quick Italian gorgeous green concoction on everything!  Eggs, chicken, pasta, bread, cheese, crackers.  If you have never had this, you are in for a real Italian treat!

Watch Chef Hoffman make pesto in his food processor here!

Mangia Bene!

photo credit: daveyll

One Italian specialty food that is a real treat and not too hard to make is Veal Saltimbocca.  The word Saltimbocca means “jumps in the mouth” because it is so good it almost jumps in your mouth!

This dish is made with either veal, chicken or pork.  The dish was invented in Italy in the 1800′s, but it is also quite popular in Greece, Spain and Switzerland.  The dish is one of meat, sage, cheese and prosciutto and some type of wine.  The dish begins with the pounding of the meat to make it soft and thin.  This part of the process is extremely important since the thin meat readily absorbs all of flavors of the dish and renders it extremely tender.  This dish is served with its own drippings to give it full flavor.

Many Italian specialty food recipes for Saltimbocca call for marinating the meat prior to beginning.  However, I prefer and quicker version called Saltimbocca alla Romana.  You can probably guess from the name that the dish originated in Rome – where it remains a specialty today.  This dish calls for veal cutlets, prosciutto, butter and/or olive oil and Marsala or dry white wine.  Remember not to use salt, as the prosciutto provides all the salt you need.

Italian Specialty Food:  Saltimbocca alla Romana

Have ready 12 veal cutlets pounded 1/8 of an inch thin, 1/4 pound prosciutto or boiled ham, paper thin and 1/4 pound of sliced Swiss cheese.  It is best if the veal is in somewhat of a square shape.

Start by mixing together 1/2 teaspoon each of crushed dried sage leaves and black pepper.  Rub this mixture all over one side of the meat.  Divide the ham and cheese over the top of this.  Now roll up carefully from one side and secure with toothpicks.

Now brown these rolls in 4 tablespoons of butter and 2 tablespoons of good olive oil on all sides over high heat for 5 or 10 minutes.  Take the pan off the heat and put the veal rolls only in a 31 x 9 baking dish – leaving the drippings in the pan.

Start heating your oven to 325 degrees.  Take your pan of drippings and stir in 3 tablespoons of flour, 3/4 cup Marsala or white wine and 1 1/2 cups of water.  Bring this to a boil and pour over the rolls in the baking dish.  Be sure to cover with foil to keep them very moist and bake for 35 minutes.

Although this dish doesn’t call for it, I like to sprinkle a little fresh lemon juice into the pan just before the veal is done to brighten the flavors.  Garnish with parsley and serve!

If you would like to make this dish with beef instead of veal, you will have to cook it about twice as long.

I have also served this cold as an appetizer.  I just make it the day before and put it in the frig.  I then slice in into “finger food size” pieces and put it on a platter surrounded with parsley.

Watch this dish being made with chicken at the Whole Foods store in New York City right here!

I hope you will try this Italian specialty food recipe!  Mangia Bene!

Mangia Bene!