MammaMiaRecipes.com

Home made oatmeal cookies from Grandma’s kitchen are always a special treat. We know, nothing authentic or Italian about this one but the kids want the recipe so whata you a going to do! Here is Nanna Gina’s recipe:

Ingredients

4 cups Flour
4 cups Oatmeal
4 cups Brown Sugar
2 cups Coconut
2 cups Margarine OR (1 cup margarine and 1 cup shortening)
1 tsp Baking Powder
1 tsp Baking Soda
1 tsp Vanilla Extract
1 cup raisins or chocolate chips
4 eggs

Instructions

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.
2. Combine wet ingredients into one bowl and dry ingredients in another.
3. Mix together and make into patties.
4. Place on cookie sheets.
5. Cook 18-20 minutes or until golden.

Yield 3 dozen

Mangiare!

Link to a recipe for real Italian Cookies – Skawaylay

Another family favorite we enjoyed growing up was the lupini. This bean is high in protein, comes dry and once soaked they become sweet and tender. This bean is a healthy nutritious snack which is native to Italy.

To remove the bitterness from the dry bean there is a preparation process which requires some patience. To do this, you need to soak the beans for several days. We used to boil the beans, then place them in a sack, secure sack to a tree and place them in the cold creek water for up to two weeks. Not practical when you live in the city!  Here is our recipe:

Ingredients

1 package – Dry lupini beans

Salt to taste

Sprinkle of Oregano

Directions

Cover the dry beans with water and boil for about 1 to 1.5 hours. Make sure you keep beans covered by adding water as required. Remove the beans and soak them in cold water for up to seven days changing water daily. Taste them and when they are no longer bitter they are ready to eat.

Storage – Cover the lupini beans with cold water in a tupperware dish with lid. Place in fridge and should last about 1 week.

Preparation – In a small bowl add the lupini beans, some sea salt and a sprinkle of oregano.  Mangiare!  For a different variation  try adding a little olive oil.

Cooler temperatures tend to encourage us to find something hot to drink.  Try our Mocha Espresso Italiano Cafe recipe.

Serves: 1

INGREDIENTS
1 Cup instant coffee
1 Cup sugar
4 ½ Cup non-fat dry milk
½ Cup cocoa

PREPARATION
Stir ingredients together. Process in a blender until powdered. Use 2 Tablespoons to one small cup of hot water. Serve in demitasse cups. Makes about 7 cups of mix.

For all you fish lovers, here is a fantastic marinade for your salmon courtesy of our friend and executive chef, Rick Gabel.

Ingredients

1 cup light soy sauce – Kikkoman

1 cup dark soy sauce – China Lily

2 cups brown sugar

1 tbsp chopped fresh garlic

1/2 tbsp chopped fresh ginger

Directions

• Stir ingredients into a saucepan and bring to boil
• Cool completely
• Marinate salmon fillets for at least 4 hours, turning occasionally
• Remove from marinade
• Bake or Grill as desired

• Combine 2 parts sesame oil, 1 part lemon juice and 1 part honey
• Whisk and brush over cooked product to glaze

Penne is a pasta favorite and it looks like a cylinder or small short tubes with diagonally cut ends. Mamma uses a Catelli brand which is made in Italy. A great recipe you might want to try with penne is pasta with stuffed tomatoes….Pasta con i pomodori.

This recipes serves 6 people.

Ingredients

1/2 lb (225 g) Penne Noodles
6 tomatoes
1/4 tsp (1 ml) pepper
1 tsp (5 ml) basil
1/2 tsp (3 ml) oregano
1/2 tsp (3 ml) salt
1/4 lb (115 g) grated Mozzarella cheese
1/4 lb (115 g) grated Cheddar cheese
1/2 cup (125 ml) grated Parmesan cheese
Butter

Directions

1. Start by preheating your over to 350 deg F.
2. Cook penne pasta in a large pot of boiling salted water. Drain and rinse. Set aside. Going in oven later so make sure your pasta is firm or al dente.
3. Plunge your tomatoes in boiling water for 1 minute, remove and skin. Cut tops from tomatoes.
4. Carefully scoop out the middle or centers and discard.
5. Sprinkle the inside of the tomatoes with seasonings and fill with equal amounts of cheddar and mozzarella cheese.
6. Bake in oven until tomatoes are soft and the cheese is melted.
7. Place your noodles on a large greased oven safe platter.
8. Top with tomatoes.
9. Sprinkle with parmesan and small dot of butter.
10. Place in oven for 5 minutes and Mangiare!!

As a variation and if you have some cooked ground beef or cooked sweet Italian sausage you can add some to the inside of your tomatoes with the cheeses when stuffing.

Antipasto is a Christmas favorite at our home. Crack a jar, get some crackers and scoop away. In Italian, antipasto means before the meal so in essence an appetizer thus the many recipe variations you will find. With all these great ingredients it is like a meal served as an appetizer.

Ingredients

2 lb green pepper
2 (20 oz) bottles ketchup
1 bottle cocktail sauce
1 bottle chili sauce
2 tins pitted sliced black olives
1 jar stuffed olives (green pimento)
1 lb cauliflower
1 jar pimento
2 tins sliced mushrooms
1 tin green beans
1 jar dill pickles
1 to 2 small tins anchovies
3 tins white tuna
1 cup oil

Directions

Precook cauliflower for 5 minutes. In a large stock pot (big enough to hold all these ingredients). fry pepper and pimento in oil. Add remaining ingredients into pot. Slice pickles and flake fish when adding. Stir over low heat for 15 minutes. Fill jars. Seal and process for 20 minutes.

Hint: Use small jam jars and give them as a gift with crackers and cheese.

Family traditions at our home involve baking our favorite foods. At Easter, it is Pane di Pasqua which is a sweet Easter Bread. At Christmas, Mamma makes Croustoweele which is a fried bread; pastries like Skawaylay which are a honey coated pastry; biscotti which is a twice baked cookie as well as other goodies. Here is a fun recipe for Christmas Biscotti, it has candy canes in the ingredients and goes great with a cup of Espresso or Cappuccino.

This recipe makes approximately 24 cookies. You can slice them a little thinner if you want to reduce the sample size.

Ingredients:

1-3/4 cups flour
2 tsp (10 ml) baking powder
2 eggs
3/4 cup (175 ml) sugar
1/3 cup (75 ml) melted butter
2 tsp (10 ml) vanilla
1/2 tsp (2 ml) peppermint extract
1 egg white lightly beaten
6 each mini candy canes

Directions:

In large bowl combine flour and baking powder and crushed candy canes
Whisk eggs, sugar, butter, vanilla, and peppermint extract.
Stir into flour mixture until soft, sticky dough forms.
Transfer dough to lightly floured surface, form into smooth ball, divide in half, roll each into 12 inch long log. Place on ungreased baking sheet.
Brush tops with egg whites.
Bake in 350 F oven for 20 minutes.Remove and cool for 5 minutes on rack. Cut diagonally into 3/4 inch thick slices, stand cookies upright on baking sheet.
Bake sliced cookies for an additional 15-20 minutes or until golden brown.
cool on rack … mangia!!

Biscotti in Italian means cookie and also means twice baked. Our Christmas biscotti with the crushed candy canes is a nice twist to this yummy Italian cookie.

Who doesn’t want a flaky pie crust? Without a doubt the flakiest pie crust in the world…Mamma’s. Okay we are a little biased. It is one of our favorites so we thought we would add it. Here is her recipe:

Ingredients

1 LB Tenderflake Shortening
1 tbsp Salt
1 tbsp Sugar
1 tsp baking powder
5 cups flour

1 Egg, 1 tbsp vinegar, top up with ice cold water to measure 1 cup. All these ingredients make 1 cup of liquid which you will add in stage 2.

Directions

Mix flour, salt, sugar, baking powder and tender-flake ingredients into a large bowl; mix gently and just using your fingers.

Using a measuring cup beat 1 egg, add the tbsp of vinegar and then top up with ice cold water. Do not exceed 1 cup of total liquids. Add to mixture gradually until you reach desired consistency.

Mix and roll and you have your pie crust.  Add your favorites fillings, cover with same dough and bake.

Yield = three complete pies (top and bottom).  The instructions will yield enough dough for 3 each 10-inch pies with a crust top or 6 each bottom shells.

Thanksgiving is a time when Mamma adds so many side dishes to the table we do not even get a chance to sample them all. Cooking with beets and finding different ways to prepare them can be a challenge but Mamma makes these cooked beets fresh from the garden…wow, even carnivores eat them.

Here is her recipe:

Ingredients

Beets
1 tbsp Vinegar
2 tbsp olive oil
Garlic clove
Salt to taste
Light sprinkle oregano

Directions

Wash and boil beets until tender
Rinse with cold water and peel skin. Colder the water the better.
Slice beets and place into serving bowl. Whisk the 1 tbsp of vinegar and 2 tbsp of olive oil together…drizzle over the beets. Mix well. Grate in one (1) clove of garlic. Add salt to taste and sprinkle of oregano….stir and serve. Buon appetito!

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Pickled Eggplant

In a hurry and looking for a recipe for a quick panini? A favorite of ours is made with a specialty Italian meat called capicollo (capacollo, capicolli, capicola) which is a dry-cured salted ham. It can be purchased in different varieties (spices ) with a hot or mild coating and it is one of the most popular Italian cold-cuts. It is salted and cured for up to six months. This meat with a mild provolone cheese will give your taste buds a ride and you now have a specialty sandwich everyone will love. Provolone (means large Provola) was first popular at the end of the 19th century and was first made in the Southern regions of Italy. It is a smooth cheese which accentuates the taste of the capicollo when blended together.

Ingredients

1 slice of your favorite Flat Bread
3-4 slices Capicollo Mild or use hot if you like spicy! We like ours thinly sliced.
1 slice Cheese Provolone
Sweet onion (red)
Mushrooms (sliced)
Tomato (optional)

We like to fry the mushrooms first. Fold flat-bread in half and place the meat, cheese, onions and mushrooms into the flat bread. Place in panini and grill sandwich until hot and cheese has melted. Buon appetito.