Easter Dinner — Easter Bread, Spinach Pie, Lamb

Easter Bread: 

 Ingredients:

2 Pkgs dry yeast, softened in 1/4 cup warm water
1/2 cup butter softened
1 cup milk, scalded and cooled
1/2 cup sugar
1 3/4 tsp salt
4 egg yolks plus one egg for later
4 cups flour
Oil
Optional: 1 tsp vanilla, orange zest

In a small bowl, soften yeast in 1/4 cup warm water. (Add a pinch of sugar to activate the yeast).
In a large bowl combine butter, sugar, salt, egg yolks. Beat to combine well. Add vanilla and orange zest if using.
Add the lukewarm milk and stir to combine. Add half the flour and stir.  Add the yeast then the rest of the flour and knead into a soft, sticky ball The dough should be smooth and elastic. Add more flour if it’s too sticky. Shape into a smooth ball, brush with oil and place in a bowl, covered with a dish towel for two hours.

Shape the dough into two braids. Roll into four equal strips and twist two strips together and pinch the ends to seal. Place the braids onto a lightly greased baking sheet and cover with the dish towel. Let raise for another hour.
Brush with 1 beaten egg.
Bake 35 minutes at 350 F.

They should be golden when done and the house will smell wonderful, like Easter Sunday!

Spinach Pie: 

Ingredients:

9 inch pie shell (use the same recipe for apple and pumpkin pie) — unbaked

Filling:
4 Pkgs of frozen chopped spinach
4 TBS olive oil
2 cloves of garlic, chopped
2 eggs
1/2 cup seasoned breadcrumbs
8 oz mozzarella, cubed
Pinch of salt and pepper

Cook spinach in oil and garlic and cool.  In a separate bowl, mix eggs, breadcrumbs, mozzarella, salt and pepper.  Add spinach and stir to combine well. Put the mixture into the pie crust (in a pie pan).  Sprinkle more shredded mozzarella on top. Bake for 45 minutes at 350 F.

Lamb: 

Usually we use leg of lamb for this recipe
4 cloves of garlic, finely chopped
1/2 cup fresh parsley, finely chopped
Pinch of salt and pepper
3 TBS seasoned bread crumbs
1/4 cup olive oil
1 TBS grated parmesan cheese
Red wine

Trim excess fat from lamb but leave a little for flavor and to keep the lamb moist. Make 1/2-inch deep crosses with a sharp knife all over the lamb.
Combine garlic, parsley, salt, pepper, breadcrumbs, olive oil and parmesan in a small bowl. Press the mixture into the crosses in the lamb.  Put into a roasting pan. Pour about 1/2 cup of red wine over the lamb.  Let marinate several hours.

Roast the lamb at 350 F about 20 minutes per pound. The lamb is done when you can pierce the meat and no red juices run out. (I prefer my lamb well done but not dry).

Optional — the last half hour of roasting, slice potatoes and onions and put them in the pan with the lamb.

Happy Easter!!

Pumpkin Pie

The best recipe for pumpkin pie is from the back of the can of Libby’s Pumpkin.  However, I use fresh pumpkin — the big, round orange ones — so this is my recipe now! The middle one is the pumpkin pie.

Ingredients:
1 classic pie crust, unbaked — use the same one you use for apple pie.

Filling:
3⁄4 cup white sugar
2 large eggs
12 ounces evaporated milk
2 cups cooked, pureed pumpkin
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1⁄2 teaspoon ground ginger
1⁄4 teaspoon cloves
1⁄2 teaspoon salt

Prepare pie crust recipe. Do not bake.
If using fresh pumpkin, boil until soft. This makes it easier to peel and puree. Drain well before putting in blender to puree.
Put all filling ingredients into a blender and blend on high until combined and smooth. Pour into pie crust.
To keep the crust from burning, cover the edges with aluminum foil.
Bake at 425F for 15 minutes. Lower heat to 350F and bake for 40 minutes, until a toothpick inserted in the middle comes out clean. Cool on a wire rack and then refrigerate.
Great with a dollop of whipped cream!

Tiramisu or Pull Me Up

If you're fearful or just find raw eggs schivo, here's a great tiramisu recipe. Thanks to my friend, Rosanna Sarno who taught me how to make this while we both were living in Central America where you couldn't count on the cleanliness and freshness of food.


Ingredients:

1 16oz (500 gram) container of Mascarpone
1 16oz (500 gram) container of whipping cream (panna da montare in Italy)
2 Tbs sugar
2-3 cups espresso cooled
1 TBS Baileys liquor, or other flavorful liquor like amaretta
1 package Saboiardi cookies (lady fingers)
Cocoa powder

Whip cream with sugar until soft peaks form, add mascarpone and beat to blend well.
In shallow bowl, combine espresso with liquor.

Spread a thin layer of cream/mascarpone on the bottom of a 9X13 glass deep-dish pan.
Dip each cookie into the espresso and place on top of cream
Continue with a layer of cream, a second layer of cookies dipped in espresso and finish with a layer of cream. Sift cocoa powder to cover the top. Put in the refrigerator for at least two hours.
Serve chilled.

This makes enough for about 10-12 good size servings.

Photo to follow.

Welcome to Just4Family Cookbook blog!

Hello and welcome!

This Monfiletto family cookbook is a work in progress.  I'll be posting as I cook and bake the family recipes myself and take photos of them as they come out of the oven or pot.  I hope you'll enjoy taking this journey with me as I document our family history through dinners, desserts and holiday traditions, which I painstakingly try to uphold, under the watchful eyes of my mother Ann and grandmother Rose from above.    

All four of my grandparents emigrated from Italy to America at the turn of the 20th century. They brought with them all of their recipes -- in their heads and hands. Nothing had ever been written down. But once they settled in America, something wonderful was always coming out of the kitchen. It was magical. 

Years ago, my mother wrote some of these recipes down for me and my four sisters.  I’m including most of them exactly as she wrote them. I wrote more of these recipes at the request of my own children, who prefer measuring ingredients instead of using the eyeball-and-handful method passed down to me.

Just a note: I've shared our family recipes from time to time and have even been accused of withholding an ingredient or skewing a measurement to ensure that no one makes it as well as we do. This is not true! I wrote these recipes to the best of my ability -- turning eyeball-and-handful measurements into real world cups and tablespoons.  Sometimes you just have to adjust for taste.

Recipes aside, I learned to make many of these family specialties with my grandmother behind me, waving a wooden spoon and saying, “That’s not-a-right. Do some more.” The best advice I can give, for those who want to give it a go -- and who don't have an Italian grandmother handy -- is to make things a few times, until you get the consistency right and you're happy with the end product. As my mother always said, "Practice makes improvement -- no one ever truly achieves perfection."

 Here's a photo of the family cookbook my mother gave to me:

And here's the handwritten note my mother put in the cookbooks. (I'm fully aware that she addressed each of us as "My best daughter." )

Copyright: All rights reserved. No part of this blog may be reproduced or used publicly without express written permission from the author.  Marlene M. Nice 

Ragu or Bolognese -- a keeper from our time in Italy

After a successful ravioli party, where I made Bolognese sauce instead of the usual gravy with meatballs and sausage, we decided this is a keeper.  I created the recipe after reading several recipes in magazines and cookbooks. 

Ingredients: 

4 Tbs olive oil

1 large white onion finely chopped

1 large carrot finely chopped

1 stalk celery finely chopped

6 cloves of garlic finely chopped

2/3 cup of pancetta or guanciale finely chopped

1 pound of chopped beef, seasoned like meatballs (1 tsp garlic powder, 1 tsp parmesan cheese, 1 tsp parsley, 1 egg -- mix together with hands until well blended)

6 Italian sausage links, meat removed from casing

1 cup dry white wine

2 cans or bottles of tomato puree (I like to use the chunky or rustica)

salt and pepper to taste

Basil (12 leaves of fresh basil or 1 Tbs dried basil)

2 dried bay leaves

1/2 tsp crushed red pepper 

2 Tbs balsamic vinegar

4 Tbs light cream

Heat the olive oil in a deep frying pan or dutch oven.  Add the onion, carrot, celery, garlic and pancetta/guanciale and fry over low heat until the veggies soften and the pancetta/guanciale is crisp, about 7-8 minutes. Add prepared beef and sausage meat and cook until brown, breaking pieces apart, about 8-10 minutes. Add wine and let simmer until it reduces by half, about 6-8 minutes. Add tomatoes, basil, bay leaves, salt, pepper and crushed red pepper. Cover and simmer over low heat, stirring often, until thickened, about 1 1/2 hours.  Stir in the balsamic vinegar and the cream. 

Serve over pasta. 

Photo to come 

The Ravies -- It takes a village

Several years ago, we started the Christmas day ravioli tradition. We love to have them for our main dish for Christmas, but we also love the activity that brings the family together to roll the dough, fill and cut the ravies and of course, the forking -- sometimes viewed as the entry level job but in fact, the most import part of the process -- sealing the raviolis and quality control.

Another reason we do this at Christmas is because you need several people to form an assembly line. So in addition to Christmas, each of us in the Monfiletto-Nice branch of the family has a hand-crank ravioli roller. We use them for parties around the world, bringing family and friends together for ravioli parties. 

Here's the recipe that makes enough for about 10 people (and probably a bit left over):

8 cups flour

8 eggs

1 Tbs salt

1 cup warm water

Sift flour into a large bowl. Make a well in the middle and add the eggs, slightly beaten. Add the water and knead until the dough is smooth and soft.  Add more flour as needed. Set aside. 

Make filling: 

3 pounds or ricotta cheese

3 eggs

1 Tbs salt

1/2 cup parmesan cheese

1 Tbs chopped or dried parsley

1 tsp black pepper

Mix all together. 

Cut the dough into sections and run through the pasta roller to create long strips of dough. Use flour so it doesn't stick. 

Drop filling by rounded teaspoons in a line across the dough. Cover with a second strip of dough. Cut circles just bigger than the amount of filling. 

Don't forget to fork, fork fork! Press around the edges of each ravioli to seal them, but don't puncture the filling. 

Place them on floured trays until ready to cook. 

Fill a large pot with water and bring to a boil. Add raviolis, return to a boil and cook for about 20 minutes.  You'll have to test them to see if they're done. 

Drain and serve with the delicious four-hour gravy!! 

Note: In Italy, there are so many different fillings for raviolis. In fact ricotta and spinach is considered traditional. 

We also like adding a tablespoon of lemon zest (grated lemon peel) to the ricotta and serve them with butter and herbs. 

Or fill them with cooked cicoria or pesto.
Recently we added a pinch of truffle sauce to each ravioli as we filled them with ricotta and they were fantastic!

Note: You will likely have leftover ricotta filling after you finish the dough. You have two options -- make a smaller amount of dough to finish it off or put the ricotta in a pie plate and bake it for about 30 mins for a good side dish.  

Photos to come!

Zeppoli and Stroufoli -- Add more flour as needed!

When I moved to Pennsylvania, I made stroufoli and zeppoli on my own for the first time, using my mother’s recipes.  Now, I'm no chemist but the egg/flour ratio that she wrote didn't look right to me. When I called to ask her about it she said, "When you do it, it will come out OK, you'll see." And, of course, she added, "And double the recipe because it never makes enough."

I put 2 dozen eggs and 8 cups of flour (double her original recipe) in a bowl and mixed it up. It looked too soupy to turn onto the counter and knead so I called her again. She said, impatiently, "Just do it, turn it over and you'll see, it will all come together."

So I did as I was told and the soupy flour egg mixture ran over the counter and down the sides. I was using my whole arms to gather it in the middle of the kitchen island while I poured more flour until I could make dough.

I called her back and told her this and she said, "Well, you know I just estimated the amounts. You have to add a little more flour as needed."

Here's a better estimate of the ingredients and please, if it looks like it needs a little more flour, add it before you turn the dough onto the counter!

Always make the Zeppoli dough first because it has to raise.

Ingredients for Zeppoli: 
4 cups flour
3 packages of yeast -- dissolve in 1/2 cup of warm water and let it bubble before adding to the flour
2 Tbs salt
Oil for frying (sunflower oil works best)

Mix all ingredients in a large bowl. Add more warm water to make a very soft, stretchy, sticky dough. Let it rise about two hours. (While you're waiting for it to rise, make the stroufoli dough and shapes)

Always fry the zeppoli first, because the stroufali dough has eggs in it and ruins the oil.

Heat the oil in a deep saucepan.  Put a little COLD oil in a small bowl so you can dip your fingers in. This will keep the dough from sticking to your fingers. With your hands, pick up a small piece of dough -- about a tablespoon full -- stretch it a little and drop it gently into the hot oil. Turn the zeppoli to brown on both sides.  Put them in a brown paper bag to absorb the extra oil.

Stroufoli: 

Ingredients:

1 dozen eggs
8 cups of flour and ADD MORE AS NEEDED!!!!
1 tsp salt
1 tsp baking powder

Mix all ingredients until smooth and ADD MORE FLOUR as needed to make a soft, smooth dough.
Turn it on to the floured counter top (only when you're sure it's dough, not soup) and knead until smooth.

Let the dough rest about 20 minutes. Then, roll strips between your hands and cut into 1/4 inch nuggets. Make sure they're all the same size in honor of Gram! For pinwheels, roll dough out to a thin circle and cut into inch-wide strips, about 10 inches long. Pinch the dough together every inch and then twirl into a circle. You can also make bows by cutting the long strips into 3-inch pieces and pinching the middle.

Put all of the creations on floured trays. After you finish frying the zeppoli, fry the stroufoli in batches until golden brown.
Put it all in a brown paper bag to absorb the extra oil.

To serve the stroufoli and zeppoli:
 Mix two parts honey with one part water -- so if you empty a jar of honey into a pot, fill the empty jar halfway with water and mix with the honey.  Heat over medium heat and add the stroufoli in batches and boil for a few minutes.  Transfer to a serving dish with a slotted spoon. Decorate with colored sprinkles.


Enjoy! Just a note -- we rarely made Christmas cookies but enjoyed the stroufoli and zeppoli instead.