Monday, April 13, 2015

Italian American Gagootza a.k.a. Cucuzza

ZUPPA di CUCUZZA
 
"THATS a GAGOOTZA" !!!


RECIPES FROM MY SICILIAN NONNA 

by Daniel Bellino "Z"

 
 
 
RECIPE
 
Zuppa di Cucuzza
 
Excerpted Form Daniel Bellino's
 
Grandma Bellino's Italian Cookbook
 
 
 
 
ZUPPA di CUCUZZA

    “Gagootz” !!!!


This is a soup that my mother used to make every now and then. Usually when her friend Mary Santangelo gave her a couple big Cucuzza, from their backyard garden in Garfield. My mother Lucia learned this recipe from her mother who used to make it back in Sicily, and she learned how to make it from her mother, my Great Grandmother Salemi. This dish is one of the quintessential recipes of this book, and also of both the Italian-American and Sicilian-American table as a whole, and of course of Sicilians in Sicily, especially in the years of the first 70 years of the 20th Century from around 1900 to 1970’s or so. The soup is easy to make and quite economical, feeding about 15 or 16 portions of which you can serve over a 3 - 4 day time. Cucuzza are not always available in every store, however more and more super markets are carrying them during their growing season, and you can always get them at any produce store that specializes in Italian foods.

This zuppa is a soup of course, but almost a pasta dish as well, and you can vary the amount of pasta as you like. Cooking pasta separately on the side and when you are serving it, you will use double the amount of pasta or more, with less liquid in the soup and using the soup actually as a sauce. I always do this, as there are always leftovers when making a pot of it, and serving it as a pasta is a nice welcome alternative to give one variety from the same dish. I do the same with Lentil Soup to make Pasta Lenticchie, a pasta dish. In addition, if you like, you can sauté one link of Italian Sweet or Hot Sausage, serve up the soup as either pasta or soup and add a link of sausage or two to each plate. You will love it any way you do, as do the Bellino’s and millions of other Italian’s have over the years. So make it, and enjoy, and always Mangia Bene Amici!






GAGOOTZ


 
RECIPE :

INGREDIENTS :

1 large Cucuzza ak.a. Gagootz
1 large onion, peeled and diced
6 Garlic Cloves, peeled and sliced thin
8 tablespoons Olive Oil
½ teaspoon Red Pepper Flakes
1 teaspoon Sea Salt
½ tsp. Black Pepper
6 Plum Tomatoes, chopped
1 pound fresh cooked Fava Beans, or frozen Baby Lima Beans (or canned lima beans)
1 pound imported Italian Ditalini (or Ronzoni)


Cut off ends of the Cucuzza and peel it with a vegetable peeler. Cut the Cucuzza in half lengthwise. Scoop out seeds and discard. Cut into 1 ½ inch cubes.

Put olive oil and cucuzza in a large 6-quart pot. Cook on medium heat for 5 minutes, occasionally stirring with a wooden spoon. Add onion and cook for 4 minutes more.

Add garlic and cook for 3 minutes. Add red pepper, and cook for 2 minutes.

Add tomatoes and cook on high heat for 5 minutes. Add water and cook on medium-low heat for 12 minutes.

Add Fava Beans (or Lima Beans) and cook on low heat for 6 minutes.
Cook Ditalini according to directions on package. When finished cooking, drain in a colander, making sure to reserve 2 – 3 cups of water to add to soup.

Add all the pasta to the soup. Add salt 7 Black Pepper and stir.
Add water little by little to the soup until you reach the consistency that you like. The soup should be fairly thick, yet slightly watery.

Ladle soup into bowls. Drizzle a bit of olive oil over the top of each bow of soup and pass grated cheese for your guest to put in their soup.

Save any remaining soup in a closed container to enjoy anytime for lunch, dinner, or anytime in-between.




 
 

ZUPPA di CUCUZZA
 
 
Mangia Bene !!!






MINESTRA di CUCUZZA SICILIANA




GOING to SICILY ?

ANYWHERE in The WORLD ?


FLIGHTS & HOTELS

WORLDWIDE

"FLY WITH EXPEDIA"







PASTA con CUCUZZA



PASTA con CUCUZZA SICILIANA

VIDEO RECIPE









3 SICILIAN CUCUZZA Recipes

From a REAL SICILIAN


POLEPTTE (Meatballs) di CUCUZZA

CUCUZZA eb PANDELLA

CUCUZZA with TUNA






POLPETTE di CUCUZZZA

CUCUZZA MEATBALLS





HOTELS WORLDWIDE


 
 
 

 
 
 
 
ALSO by DANIEL
 
 

SUNDAY SAUCE
 
WHEN ITALIAN-AMERICANS COOK


 
 
 

Saturday, April 11, 2015

AL PACINO SPAGHETTI GARLIC & OIL



AL PACINO
and AGLIO OLIO

"SPAGHETTI THAT IS" !!!





SPAGHETTI AGLIO OLIO alla PACINO 

AL PACINO & AGLIO OLIO


Al Pacino and Aglio Olio you ask? What about it? Well it’s just that Spaghetti Aglio Olio always reminds me of that great fellow New Yorker Sicilian American, the one-and-only Al Pacino from da Bronx. It’s not a big deal, just a wonderful little memory for me. When I was the Wine Director at the famed Barbetta Restorante on Restaurant Row in New York’s Theater District (where Al often performs on stage), Al Pacino used to come and eat there every now and then. He never wanted anything to fancy, but something that just about all true blooded Italian-American wants, and that dish is Spaghetti Aglio Olio, plain and simple, yet it’s in our blood. That’s what Al wanted and that’s what we gave him, and Al loved it and you will too.






Recipe Excerpted

from  Grandma Bellino's Cookbook


 
RECIPE :

Spaghetti Aglio Olio
the Way AL Likes It !!!

"Al Pacino That Is"


Recipe Excerpted From Daniel Bellino's Grandma Bellino's Italian Cookbook

Note : Note, the recipe for Spaghetti Aglio Olio as Al Pacino likes it and as it's written in Daniel Bellino's Grandma Bellino's Cookbook, encompasses Two-Recipes-In-One .. You have the Recipe for Spaghetti w/ Garlic Oil & Anchovies, and to make Spaghetti Aglio Olio the way AL Likes It, is by making this recipe, but omitting the ANchovies to end up with Spaghetti Aglio Olio, just the way the Great Al Pacino likes it. Mangia Bene!


INGREDIENTS :

¼ cup best quality Italian Olive Oil
6 cloves of Garlic, peeled and minced
½ teaspoon Red Pepper Flakes
6 Anchovy Filets minced fine
1 pound imported Italian Spaghetti
¼ cup Italian Parsley


Put a large pot with 4 quarts of water on the stove. Add 2 tablespoons salt and bring to the boil.
Place Olive Oil and Anchovies in a large frying pan and cook on medium heat for 2 minutes.

Add garlic and cook on medium heat for 2 minutes. Add red pepper and continue cooking on low heat until the garlic begins to turn slightly brown. Turn heat off and let rest.

Add spaghetti to the boiling salted water. Cook spaghetti according to directions on package. Two minutes before the cooking time on package start testing the doneness of the spaghetti by taking a strand out of the water and biting into it to see how far cooked it. By doing this you’ll be able to determine if it needs to cook a bit longer or if it’s ready.

Once the past is finished cooking, quickly remove it from the heat and drain into a colander, reserving about 4 tablespoons of the pasta cooking water to add to pasta sauce.

Add spaghetti back to the pot it cooked in and drizzle on a little olive oil and mix. Pour the garlic anchovy sauce and the reserved pasta water over the spaghetti with half the chopped Parsley and mix well.

Divide the spaghetti among four pasta plates or bowls. Sprinkle the top of each plate of Spaghetti with some chopped parsley and serve.




The GODFATHER


Micahel Corleone (Al Pacino), Captain McCloskey (Sterling Hayden),
and Sollozzo (Al Lettieri)

"GET THE VEAL. IT'S THE BEST in THE CITY"
MICHAEL NEVER ATE HIS SPAGHETTI AGLIO OLIO
BUT SOLLOZZO GOT HIS






MICHAEL GETS HIS REVENGE

GET THIS RECIPE AND MUCH MORE

in

GRANDMA BELLINO'S ITALIAN COOKBOOK

RECIPES FROM MY SICILIAN GRANDMOTHER

by Daniel Bellino "Z"











ONE LAST PICTURE of AL



Al Pacino
as 
Bobby Deerfield

1977

HE'S a HANDSOME FRIGGIN DEVIL

ISN'T HE ???




ALSO by DANIEL

His # BEST SELLING

SUNDAY SAUCE

01ff9-sunday-saucesmall1











 
GNOCHHI POMODORO
 
Notice AL PACINO on COVER
 
of Daniel Bellino Z's SUNDAY SAUCE
 
WHEN ITALIAN-AMERICANS COOK



 
 


Author Daniel Bellino "Z"
 
MAKING SAUCE
  
aka GRAVY

 

Thursday, April 9, 2015

Remember The CRONUT

The CRONUT
by Dominique Ansel

Soho NEW YORK







RECIPES FROM MY SICILIAN GRANDMOTHER


Screen Shot 2015-03-10 at 11.26.19 PM
GRANDMA BELLINO 'S ITALIAN COOKBOOK
by Daniel Bellino "Z"
on
KICKSTARTER
Screen Shot 2015-04-09 at 11.20.49 AM

Sunday, March 29, 2015

Daniel Bellino New Sicilian Cookbook

GRANDMA BELLINO 'S ITALIAN COOKBOOK
 
RECIPES FROM MY SICILIAN GRANDMOTHER
 
by Daniel Bellino "Z"
 
 
Best Selling Italioan Cookbook Author Daniel Bellino "Z" has a new cookbook, Grandma Bellino's Italian Cookbook  ... Our advanced peek of this new book by Daniel Bellino proved to be quite interesting. The book, which has some of Italian Cuisine's most sought after and popular recipes has a pelethora of unique ones. Unique recipes that is, and quite a number of them are recipes that have never before been published ... This news should be of special interest to and serious Chefs, cooks, cookbook lovers and all interested in Italian Food and espcially the Cusisine of Sicily and of Sicilian-Americans, Daniel Bellino's latest book is a winner. As with all Daniel's previous books Grandma Bellino's Italian Cookbook is filled with great recipes coupled with wonderful little stories that takes the reader on an enchanting journey of the foods of Italy, of Italian-American and more specifically here, of Sicily and the cusisne of the Sicilian American peoples .. The book is both delightful and informative, and is sure to please many, I know it did for me. So I would suggest to anyone interested in Italian, Sicilian, and Sicilian-American food and culture to hop on board and get yourself a copy of Daniel Bellino's latest, of Recipes From My Sicilian Grandmother, as soon as it hits the shelves, which is expected in May of 2015 .. Until then, as Daniel would say, Buon Appetito Tutti !
 
 
 
 
 
Richard Roma Reporting
 
 
 
 
 
 
Also By Daniel Bellino "Z"
 
 
SUNDAY SAUCE
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
SEGRETO ITALIANO
 
SECRET ITALIAN RECIPES
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
La TAVOLA
 
ITALIAN-AMERICAN NEW YORKERS
ADVENTURES of The TABLE
 
 

Monday, March 23, 2015

It's Official Caffe Dante Has Closed

"IT'S OFFICIAL"
 
CAFFE DANTE HAS CLOSED
Caffe Dante shut its doors yesterday, Sunday March 22. 2015 ... A very sad moment as I watched my friend of 30 years Mario Flotta pull down his pictures of the many Celebrities that have spent time at Caffe Dante over the years. I had to hold back my tears when I said goodbye to Mario and he and his  two sons Mario Jr. and Anthony locked the doors for the last time.
 
I said goodbye to Mario and his sons and walked around the corner to go home, knowing my second home had closed for good. One of those sad moments in life, but one one must deal with never-the -less. 
 
 
ME & MARIO
 
Greenwich Village Writer Daniel Bellino Zwicke
and
Mario Flotta Sr. at Caffe Dante on The Day of its closing, 100 Years
after opening on Macdougal Street in Greenwich Village ... A Very Sad Day to say the least.
 
 
 
MARIO
 
 
 
Copyright Daniel Bellino Zwicke
 
 
 
 
 
 
SUNDAY SAUCE
 
by Daniel Bellino-Zwicke
 
 
 
 
 
SEGRETO ITALIANO
 
SECRET ITALIAN RECIPES
 
 
by Daniel Bellino-Zwicke
 
 
 
 
 GRANDMA BELLINO'S ITALIAN COOKBOOK
 
RECIPES FROM MY SICILIAN GRANDMOTHER
 
A NEW COOKBOOK
 
by Daniel Bellino
 
 
 
NEVER BEFORE PUBLISHED SICILIAN RECIPES
 
DUE Mid APRIL 2015
 
In Paperback & Kindle on AMAZON.com
 
 
All Photgraphs & Art Work are the Property of Daniel Bellino-Zwicke and may not be published or used without written consent.