Nanny Joan's Italian Sausage Easter Calzone Recipe

This Note contains the Italian Sausage Pie recipe that Nanny Joan used for Easter. It is based on an old family recipe. It wouldn't be Easter without this pie.

Crust:
4 coups flour
2 tsp salt
1 tsp baking powder
2 eggs
1/2 cup canola oil

Crust: Mix the ingredients together to form a smooth dough. Place on 13 to 15 inch casserole dish (circular or rectangle).

Filling:
2 pound Italian sausage (hard sausage)
6 boiled eggs
2 pounds ricotta cheese
4 eggs
1 cup grated parmegiano (use the real deal from Italy, don't be cheap on the cheese)

Filling: Slice the sausage and put over the crust. Top with hard boiled eggs. Mix eggs and ricotta (best with Mix-Master). Pour the mix over the hard boiled eggs. Sprinkle parmegiano. Bake at 350 degrees for 45 minutes.

Nanny Joan's Sweet Italian Easter Calzone Recipe

This Note contains the Sweet Italian Pie recipe that Nanny Joan used for Easter. It is based it on an old family recipe just like the sausage pie. And here too, it wouldn't be Easter without the sweet pie.

Crust:
3 coups flour
3/4 cup of sugar
2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
1/4 cup butter
1 tsp vanilla extract
2 eggs

Crust: Mix dry ingredients, then add butter, then eggs and vanilla. Place on 13 to 15 inch casserole dish (circular or rectangle).

Filling:
3 pound ricotta cheese
2 cups of sugar
pinch of salt
1/2 cup of butter (melted)
1 tsp vanilla extract
5 eggs
2 cups cooked rice
chocolate chips (semi-sweet)

Filling: Mix eggs, sugar, vanilla, salt, and then add ricotta and chocolate chips. Add rice. Pour the mix. Bake at 350 degrees for about an hour.

Marinara / Tomato Sauce / Gravy della Famiglia

Marinara goes with any pasta dish or with eggplant parmigiana. You have the choice to add neck bones to make it thick, but then it will not be called Marinara anymore; it would be called "gravy" or so says "la famiglia." Either way, Marinara (without meat) or Gravy (with meat, neck bones) it will be a delicious sauce. How you make it depends on how you want your dish that particular day; try it both ways.

Ingredients:

• One large onion
• Four cloves of garlic (Don't be shy now!)
• Olive oil
• Two cans of plum tomatoes (Italian of course. Dell'Alpe is good)
• One can of tomato paste (Contadina does the job)
• Handful of fresh basil
• Handful of fresh parsley
• Tablespoon of sugar
• Teaspoon of salt (to taste)
• Teaspoon of black pepper (to taste)
• Option for Pasta Only: about half a pound of neck bones (this is used only for cooking, not for eating.). This option does not apply for the eggplant parmigiana.

Preparation

• Chop garlic and onion (thin)
• Saute garlic, onion with olive oil
• Option: Saute the neck bones with the onion and garlic (Not for eggplant parmigiana)
• Crush the tomatoes
• Add crushed tomatoes, tomato paste, sugar, salt, pepper
• Stir for about 5 minutes
• Simmer, cook on low
• Open a bottle of Chianti and drink it while the sauce cooks for about an hour
• Add water as needed
• Towards end, add basil and parsley
• In the end, if you had added the neck bones, remove them; they were used only for the flavor and consistency of the sauce (You can eat them if you want to. Nanny Jen used to devour them)
  
  

Pizzelle -- Italian Family Tradition

Check out this pizzelle iron we have from a long time ago, an Italian family tradition.

Tristina's Carrot Cake

My sister in law Tristina is an amazing gourmet chef. Her carrot cake is proof of it. While it is based on the recipe from <A HREF="http://www.amazon.com/SILVER-PALATE-COOKBOOK-MANHATTANS-CELEBRATED/dp/B001G6TBTS/ref=sr_1_3?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1273720479&sr=8-3-spell">Silver Palate</A>, she introduces her own ideas making the cake incredibly delicious.

Ingredients:

• 3 cups unbleached all purpose flour
• 3 cups granulated sugar
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1 tablespoon baking soda
• 1 table ground cinnamon
• 1 ½ cups corn oil
• 4 large eggs lightly beaten
• 1 tablespoon vanilla extract
• 1 ½ cups coarsely chopped walnuts Tristina's Secret: big pieces
• 1 ½ cups shredded coconut
• 1 1/3 cups shredded carrots Tristina's Secret: Use a cheese shredder, large holes as if you were shredding cheese for pizza
• ¾ cups drained crushed pineapple

Preheat oven to 350. Grease two 9 inch spring from pans. Sift dry ingredients into bowl. Add oil, eggs and vanilla. Beat well .Fold in walnuts ,coconut ,carrots and pineapple. Pour batter into pans. Set on middle rack bake for 50 minutes (Note: It may take longer... just check), until have pulled away from sides and a cake tester inserted in center comes comes out clean. Cool cake on a cake rack for 3 hours , then frost.

Cream-Cheese Frosting

• 8 ounces cream cheese , at room temperature
• 6 tablespoons sweet butter , room temperature
• 3 cups confectioners’ sugar
• 1 teaspoon vanilla
• Juice of half a lemon. Tristina's Secrete: This is a must

Mix cream cheese and butter. Slowly sift in sugar, continue beating until fully incorporated. Stir in vanilla and lemon.

It pairs well with Prosecco.

Enjoy!

Ratatouille

Provence offers some of the most savory dishes in the world. They cook with fresh seasonal ingredients—vegetables and herbs. Ratatouille is one of those classic dishes.

When you visit Provence go to the towns on the day when they are hosting market day. Towns take turns hosting open-air markets each day of the week. You will find all fresh ingredients, cheeses, breads, wine, salami, candy, as well as perfume, fragrant soaps, art, etc.

Then come back home from your daily excursions, open a bottle of wine, or have a pastis (or two), take the cheese out, bread, and cook!

Ingredients:

• Eggplant
• Zucchini (yellow and green)
• Peppers (green and red)
• Tomatoes
• Garlic
• Basil
• Salt & pepper
• Olive oil

There must be other secret ingredients that go well in this recipe… Let me know of any tips!

Procedure:

• Cook in large pot
• Chop garlic and sauté in olive oil
• Cut vegetables in chunks
• Sauté the vegetables for about an hour or more until it reaches the right consistency
• Throw in basil at the end

It is a relatively simple dish. The only trick is to get the right consistency and flavor.

It pairs well with a Provencal wine.

Oscar "Il Pizzaiolo" Trevizo's Pizza

This recipe is based on Nanny Jen's southern Italian style pizza. I changed it a bit based on some tips, and things I learned over time. Good stuff.

 

INGREDIENTS (makes two 12" or 14" regular pizzas or one Chicago style pizza... it depends on how you feel that day)

• 3 cups of flour (or 2 cups of regular flour plus 1 cup of corn meal for Chicago style pizza)
• 1 1/2 teaspoons of salt
• 1 cup water
• 2 tsp of dry yeast
• 1/2 tsp sugar (to proof the yeast)
• 2 Tablespoons olive oil
• 2 tsp honey (Tip from Wall Street Journal... optional, and I have been skipping the honey)
• 1 egg THIS IS A FAMILY SECRET, so don't tell anyone, ok? (and as a side note, you can also use this dough for empanadas adding a 2nd egg. Later use a 3rd egg to egg wash the empanadas before baking)
• Grease for pan (I use coconut oil)
• Oregano
• Your choice of toppings: E.g. onions, capers, anchovies, pesto, prosciutto, artichoke, salumi, mozzarella, gorgonzola, basil, tomatoes, etc. Here are some of my favorites:

1. Gorgonzola and caramelized onions
2. Tomatoes, tomato sauze, italian sausage (mix fennel in the sausage), mozzarella, parmigiano, garlic
3. Pesto, pine nuts, and mozzarella
4. Anchovies (first sautee them to make a paste), mozzarella, kalamata olives, and caramelized onions
5. Tomatoes, basil, mozzarella, parmigiano, garlic (NOTE: drain the tomatoes first, otherwise the pizza will be too juicy) 
6. Mushrooms, caramelized onions (sautee mushrooms and onions first), mozzarella, and here use truffle oil instead of olive oil on the pizza before you add the mushroom, onions, and mozzarella
7. Prosciutto, mozzarella, tomatoes, garlic

PROCESS

Step 1: Make the dough

• Mix everything (flour, yeast, salt, egg and olive oil) into the bowl of an electric mixer, all at once.
• Use the hook that came with your mixer. Mix for about 4 to 5 minutes, and you will know when is ready
• You will have a nice ball of dough. Nice, a little sticky and that means the yeast is working, my friends.

Step 2: The dough rises

• Place dough in a glass bowl or in a tupperware container (first spread olive oil around the bowl or container).
• Cover the bowl with a dry towel, or seal the tupperware with its own cover.
• Place bowl or tupperware near a warm area for about 1 hour or more.
• The dough will double in size.

Step 3: Make the pizza

• Original recipe asks to punch down the dough, knead a bit by hand. I skip that now. So instead, I shape the dough into a big ball ready to divide to make two balls. Do this gently, avoid letting the air come out of the dough.
• Divide dough into portions to make two pizzas (or keep it as one pizza for Chicago style).
• Original recipe asks to roll the dough let it rest once in a while while rolling. I don't roll it any more. I do the whole thing by hand. It's tricky and I learned by watching other pizzaiolos. 
• Have some fun and you will learn to do this with practice. Start by making a circle leaving dough in the middle and spreading to the sides. Then left it and use your fists... Before you know you will have a nice looking pizza.
• Grease pan with coconut oil. You may want to use a pizza pan, a clay dish, or even a cast iron skillet.
• Spread corn meal over pan.
• Spread dough on pan.

Step 4: Add the toppings

• If the topping has tomato sauce start with the tomato sauce; spread on surface
• Otherwise start with the cheese
• Then add oregano right away, then the rest (except for pesto)
• Add olive oil before putting in over
• Note: do not spread the pesto on the pizza before baking. The pesto will go after the pizza is baked

Step 5: Bake the pizza

• Preheat oven to 525F.
• Bake on 525F for 8 to 10 minutes, then around 4 more more on 425F. You will need to experiment. 
• Total bake varies between 10 minutes, though it varies depending on the dish, the toppings or on weather you are making one big pizza or two or three smaller pizzas (volume).
• Regular pizza pan took 12 minutes (8 mins on 525F, the 4 mins on 425F).
• Cast iron skillet took 14 minutes (525F entire time). 
• Clay dish took 10 to 11 minutes (525F entire time).
• You will know when the pizza is ready. It will have a crispy brownish color, crispy outside, soft bake inside. It will feel just right when you touch the corners.
• If you making a pesto pizza, add pesto after you take it out of the oven.

Vicky's Eggplant Parmigiana

Melanzane alla Parmigiana is a tradition in Vicky's family. Vicky added some very good ideas to their dish.

Ingredients:

• Three eggplants
• Marinara sauce
• Medium size can of crushed tomatoes
• Parmigiano/Fontina/Romano cheese (1 cup)
• Mozzarella cheese (1 cup); Use chihuahua cheese as well... it's very good stuff.
• Olive oil
• Approx.10 eggs
• Approx. 2 cups of bread crumbs (Progresso breadcrumbs are good)
• Approx. 1 cup of flour
• Salt, pepper

Preparation

• Marinara/Tomato Sauce: The sauce has its own recipe. Please see my note: https://trevirecipes.blogspot.com/2019/09/marinara-tomato-sauce-gravy-della.html 
• In parallel to making the sauce prepare the eggplant.
• Slice eggplants in approx. 1/4 inch thick.
• Whip the eggs.
• 1. First flour;
  2. then eggs;
  3. then bread crumbs.
     
     
• Fry eggplant slices on both sides until cooked and the pieces are crispy.
• Lay on paper towels.
• After finishing frying all the eggplant, then:
• Layer in baking pan:
  1. First marinara / tomato sauce;
  2. then eggplant slices;
  3. then parmigiano/fontina/romano cheese;
  4. then add another layer of eggplant;
  5. then crushed tomatoes;
  6. then the mozzarella cheese;
  7. then another layer of eggplant;
  8. and marinara sauce.
• Put in the oven at 350 F for an hour: Cover with aluminum foil if it starts getting too brown.
• Put mozzarella on top and back in the oven for another 10 minutes.
• Take out of the oven; let it settle for 15 minutes (don't let Oscar start eating just yet!!!)
• Serve it in squares.
• Next to a nice green salad.
• And a bottle of Chianti.