Family Cooking

Family Cooking

ADDED: I did finally get the blessings of my mother for breaking with family tradition and sharing this recipe. It was actually my Grandfather's recipe, his family's sauce recipe, originating in the Abruzzi region of Italy. Different regions DO have their own recipes and each of them are haughty about the superiority of their own sauces, even among the otherwise humble Italians. My Grandmother's family came from Calabria, and because of its close proximity to Sicily, my Grandfather refused to eat it. So he taught her his and it became hers, and she passed it on to me. My Grandfather honestly believed that adding sugar to your sauce is sacrilege, as is bell pepper, hamburger or other ingredients typically used in some Sicilian sauces. As it turned out, my Grandmother, who had 5 sisters, often hosted meals for them because the sauce was very popular among them, despite the fact that they typically used their own Calabrian sauces at home. 

__________________ Grandma Sabatini's Macaroni Sauce Recipe* ______________________

as told to Nancy, the granddaughter named after her



3 lbs chuch roast (round bone, blade cut or English roast)

*2 pigs feet - sawed, half or quarters OR 1 lb. pork neck bones

1/8 cup vegetable oil (or less if using olive oil)

2-3 large or 5-6 small cloves of fresh garlic

**2 large cans crushed tomatoes or tomato sauce

2 cans (12 oz) tomato paste

1 Tbsp basic

1 Tbsp parsley

1 tsp ground black pepper

***salt to taste

1 small carrot, washed not peeled

1 stalk celery

Optional - 1/2 cup red or white wine

*Many people do not like the idea of pigs feet and this item can be optional. Mild Italian sausage can be added, as well as meatballs in place of the meat offered above. But if you want to taste it like WE ate it, you will follow the recipe.

**NEVER used diced tomatoes or consider adding bell pepper, onions or sugar to the sauce EVER and think you will hold a civil conversation with us about Italian sauce (and we do not count the Sicilian sauces as being in a category to discuss either). Sauces are family trademarks and they are very often not shared because to eat their food you must eat at their house. I share no such idea and will share this recipe with all who will enjoy it. We always do and have.

***Garlic powder can be substituted for salt for salt restricted diets.

Cut the meat into serving pieces (similar to large bite stews).  Put oil and garlic in the stove and brown the garlic in the oil (like the color of medium toast). Add beef chunks and pork to oil and cover, stirring occasionally to keep it from sticking. Add the basil, parsley, salt and pepper. When browned, add tomato sauce, stir and cover. Tomato paste can be added next, stirring then add ~1/2 can of water and stir the remaining paste into the water, pour it into the pot. Add carrot and celery (to sweeten the sauce). Bring sauce to a medium boil, stir and lower. Cook on low for about 3 hours, stirring occasionally to keep the sauce from sticking on the bottom. If your sauce ever starts to burn, pour it into a new container without scraping the pot or you will spoil the pot. If it is very burned, there is nothing you can do, so make sure you check in one the pot about once every 20 minutes to stir well. The sauce is done with the oil rises to the top and darkens. (If you elect to add wine, do so about 20 minutes before taking the sauce off the stove).

NOTE: This sauce may be used on any kind of pasta, polanta, ravioli, gnocchi, or dipping italian bread into. Sauce may refrigerate well for about 2-3 days; it freezes well (if covered well) for about 3 months. IF you want to increase the amount of sauce to stretch it out, the less meaty sauce can double the tomato sauce and still do quite well. Suggested wine: Red wines such as Gallo or Paisano. Green leaf salad also goes well with this meal.

NOTE ADDED BY FAMILY REQUEST on 4/10/13: ALWAYS stir your sauce with a wooden spoon. If you stir it with a metal spoon, it picks up a hint of metal to the taste (for those of us who eat it a lot, it is noticeable).

Homemade Pasta (Grandma Sabatini's Recipe)

Although most people never really measure the flour,

the traditional proportions for feeding 8 people are:

4 eggs

3 cups all purpose flour

It's better to have less flour than more flour. It is easier to work.

Briefly, the steps are:

1. Combine the eggs with the flour - enough flour without becoming stiff or dry

2. Knead to a smooth, elastic consistency

3. Roll out to 1/8" thick

4. Roll up and cut into thin strips

More detailed instructions are:

  Pour flour on working surface. Shape into a mound and make a hole in the center. (This will look like a hill surrounding a lake). Crack eggs and put in center. Beat eggs slightly with your fingers. Mis flour into eggs in a circular motion, drawing flour from the inside well. When the eggs are no longer runy, tumble the rest of the flour over them. Working with palms of your hands and your fingers, push and squeeze eggs and flour into crumby paste.

Set the egg and flour mass to one side and cover with a bowl monentarily. Scrape every last crumb of caked flour off the working surface and wash your hands. Then, knead the mass, pressing with the heel of your palm, folding it over and turning ti again and again. After 8-10 minutes, it should be a smooth, compact, elastic ball. Pat it into a flat, bunlike shape. Let it rest under a bowl about 1/2 hour to an hour.

Take it out and start rolling with a rolling pin. Roll away from yourself. Turn 1/4 every time you roll and keep it in a circular shape. Stop when it is 1/8" thick. Cut into strips about 2: wide. Roll each strip lightly and slice about 1/8". Separate these thin strips and let dry on a floured surface.

NOTE: If the dough gets sticky while you are working with it, sprinkle flour on the surface and dust. If it gets too dry and crumbly, you can sprinkle it with water and work it back to smooth. It is a matter of feel to the dough.

Pasta Dough (Uncle Paul's recipe)

(This can be rolled out and sliced by hand, or put through a hand-cranked pasta machine. There were arguments about the preferred method of pasta (spaghetti) making. My Grandma always said the hand cut held the sauce better and was preferable for those willing to do the work. My Uncle Joe said the machine was better because it did not make enough of a difference to do all the work.)

This recipe may be multiplied depending on the amount you wish to make.

1 egg

3/4 cup flour (Semolina, Durham, or if you can't get these then use all purpose)

1/2 tsp salt

1 tsp oil

1 TBsp water

I usually make three eggs worth for four people.

Beat the eggs, water, salt, and oil together in a mixer if you have one. Then gradually add the flour. When it gets too stiff for your mixer, continue to add flour and mix by hand, eventually putting it on a counter and kneading it until you have a smooth, shiny ball, (add small amounts of flour or water as needed because the humidity in the air will greatly affect the proportions of the ingredients.)

If you do not have a mixer, the process is very different and this is how Grandma would make noodles (if is a lot of work). Put the flour (a little more than the recipe calls for) into a mound on your counter. Make a well in the middle just large enough to break in your eggs, water, oil, and salt. Using a large fork, begin to beat the egg mixture and incorporate small amounts of flour. Eventually you will set aside the fork and after dusting your hands with flour continue to incorporate the flour into the liquid until you have a soft but not sticky dough. Knead it until it is smooth and shiny (5-10 minutes).

Let the dough rest in a bowl covered with a damp cloth for 30 minutes or longer.

If you have a pasta machine follow the directions with the machine. If not:

On a lightly floured surface, roll out the dough into a rectangle that is as thin as you can get it. Keep flouring your roller as needed if the dough sticks. Dust the entire surface of the dough with flour and let it get a little dry. While it is still pliable, dust lightly once again and loosely roll it up like a scroll. Then using a sharp (NOT serrated) knife, slice it into thin noodles. Using a flipping motion of your wrist as you cut each noodle so that you are tossing them slightly to the side. This way they will not stick to each other.

When you have cut them all, unroll them and hang them over a clean broom handle to dry (Nancy: I dry them out on clean, flour dusted cutting board or triangular hangers), --(unless you are using them immediately). An alternative method is to loosen them and let them dry on a kitchen towl that has been dusted with flour. If you cook them while they are still fresh, they will cook in 1 or 2 minutes.