Category: Italian American

Best Thanksgiving Side Dishes

Best Thanksgiving Side Dishes

Scordo Thanksgiving Food Tradition My immediate family immigrated from Italy in the early 1970’s and immediately adopted the traditional Thanksgiving meal.  My parents, who lived with my grandparents, tell me the first Scordo Thanksgiving meal featured a whole turkey, mashed potatoes, and something akin to sausage stuffing.  Of course, the meal included other “essential” best Thanksgiving side dishes such as […]

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Fettuccine Alfredo (Fettuccine al Triplo Burro)

Fettuccine Alfredo (Fettuccine al Triplo Burro)

When it comes to Fettuccine Alfredo (Fettuccine al Triplo Burro) one ingredient separates the dish as it’s prepared in the United States versus Italy; viz., cream.  The original dish was created (or popularized) by Alfredo di Lelio when he supposedly tried to cook something satisfying for his pregnant wife.  Alfredo created a sauce of butter and grated Parmigiano-Reggiano and the dish was enjoyed by both his wife,and later, the many […]

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Top Italian Delis, Markets, and Specialty Shops in New Jersey

Top Italian Delis, Markets, and Specialty Shops in New Jersey

We’re going to cover the Top Italian Delis, Markets, and Specialty Shops in New Jersey with an emphasis in North Jersey, for a list of the best shops in New York City, see Gourmet’s excellent article. When folks find out we publish articles on authentic Italian recipes and food and live in the New York metropolitan area the inevitable question follows: can […]

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United States Food Culture, Food Reductionism, and the Evil Chris Kimball from America’s Test Kitchen

United States Food Culture, Food Reductionism, and the Evil Chris Kimball from America’s Test Kitchen

How I Learned to Cook Italian Food and Creative Cooking Like most Italians I learned to cook by watching my mother and grandmother prepare food in their home kitchens. And both woman cooked dishes that were driven by what their mothers cooked at home (and, if I had to guess, this tradition of learning how to cook at home goes […]

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Pickled Eggplant (Melanzane Sott’Olio)

Pickled Eggplant (Melanzane Sott’Olio)

Pickled eggplant (Melanzane Sott’Olio) has been a staple of our Italian American pantry for 40+ years.  Along with giardiniera (a mix of pickled vegetables including carrots, cauliflower, celery, etc.) sun dried tomatoes in olive oil, and pickled mushrooms, our family keeps large quantities of pickled eggplant in our cool, basement, pantry.  We use both melanzane sott’olio and giardiniera (and all of […]

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Fried Italian Peppers (Peperoni Friarelli Fritti)

Fried Italian Peppers (Peperoni Friarelli Fritti)

Friarelli are a type of green (and sometimes red) sweet pepper which are commonly found in Italian specialty shops or any good gourmet market.  Our fried Italian peppers recipe is usually made with friarielli (and/or friggitelli) and not dissimilar to Cubanelles.  Friarelli are distinguished by their narrow conical shape and relatively transparent flesh. A similar recipe which utilizes Friarelli or standard bell peppers is called Peperonata. Fried Italian Peppers […]

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Early Summer Vegetables: Chard, Arugula, Zucchini, Parsley

Early Summer Vegetables: Chard, Arugula, Zucchini, Parsley

With our parents in Italy for the summer we’ve been benefiting from their small, yet abundant, New Jersey garden and thus far have collected many early summer vegetables:  chard, arugula, zucchini, parsley, basil, mint, and zucchini flowers.  The chard and arugula make excellent fresh salads and we combine the zuchhini and zucchini flowers to make sublime frittelle di fiore di […]

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Pizza Gain or Pizzagaina, Pizza Rustica, Italian Easter Ham Pie

Pizza Gain or Pizzagaina, Pizza Rustica, Italian Easter Ham Pie

Pizza Gain Aka Pizzagaina, Pizza Rustica, or Italian Easter Ham Pie Recipe PizzaGaina goes by many names including Easter Pizza, Pizza Chiena, PizzaGaina, Italian Ham Pie,  Pizza Gaina, Pizza Rustica, Italian Easter Ham Pie, Stuffed Easter Bread, Pastiera, etc. And just as there are many names for Pizza Gain there are various versions of the classic Easter dish.  For example, in provinces such […]

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Salad Pizza – Arugula and Margherita

Salad Pizza – Arugula and Margherita

(photo: homemade pizza with arugula salad <including red onion>) Growing up in the suburbs just outside of New York City our neighborhood had its fair share of pizza joints, including Vincent’s Pizzeria, Sal’s Classic, First Pizza Pan, Godfather II Pizzeria, Euro’s Pizzeria, Villa Rosa Pizzeria, etc.  All of the pizzeria’s mentioned made pizza in the NY fashion, that is to […]

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Italian Christmas Food Photos

Italian Christmas Food Photos

(photo: fish salad made with octopus, shrimp, squid, scungilli, and scallops; choose just a few fish for a good fish salad) We hope everyone had a wonderful Christmas holiday and spent quality time with their friends and family!  We cooked a traditional Italian Christmas Eve dinner and wanted to share our photos with you, including pictures of our dinner antipasto […]

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