Italian Food

[Mobasser]

I married an Italian girl a little over 40 yrs ago. When we started dating, it was always dinner at her folks house every Sunday. Her mother was a great cook, and always made some delicious recipes. This was my first introduction to " real" Italian food.                                                 There are two family's in Kansas City that make Italian sausage. The Scimeca family, and the Begulia family. Both are great, and it's hard for me to pick a favourite. Luckily, my wife learned to cook Italian food from her mother. Many recipes were handed down through generations.                      My own favourite is Lasagna, but I like most Italian food I've tried over the years. I've heard people say , " it's all about the sauce". This is true. Anybody can boil some pasta, but getting that perfect blend of spices to make a good sauce is a culinary art.                                      And  I'll add, the next time your cooking on the grill, try some good Italian sausage. Cook it slowly, and serve it on a hoagie bun, with some mozzarella cheese and some grilled onions and peppers.        It's super good.                          Do you like Italian food? What's your favourite?

[gim]

4 minutes ago, Mobasser said:

Do you like Italian food? What's your favourite?

Pizza (the non-chicago style)

[Catt]

8 minutes ago, Mobasser said:

Do you like Italian food?

 

Not a big pasta fan but my wife like any kind (she's Polish).

 

10 minutes ago, Mobasser said:

What's your favourite?

 

Chicken Alfredo ?

 

Agree 100% it's in the sauce!

[A-Jay]

My Dad's side of the family came here from 'the old country.'

Grew up in a neighborhood where everyone's last name ended in a vowel.

The smells floating through the air on Sat & Sun were heavenly.

Many of my friends parents didn't speak English.

But they sure were loud. 

I was exposed to some wonderful foods.

Pasta was served with every meal.

Sauce was 'gravy'.

Most everything was made from scratch.

Learned how to make much of it and I LOVE IT ALL.

But it's not the healthiest deal, so I have all but abandoned eating most of it now. 

A-Jay

 

 

[Mobasser]

1 minute ago, Catt said:

 

Not a big pasta fan but my wife like any kind (she's Polish).

 

 

Chicken Alfredo ?

 

Agree 100% it's in the sauce!

Love chicken Alfredo also Catt. I can't eat as much of all this at my age now. Watching calories etc. 

[Deleted account]

Cioppino, or zuppa di pesce, which are very similar, as far as pasta dishes, tagliarini Bolognese. Great grandfather was Italian, and grandpa would bring fresh ravioli home often, and was a fan of squab over spaghetti. 

[Mobasser]

Just now, A-Jay said:

My Dad's side of the family came here from 'the old country.'

Grew up in a neighborhood where everyone's last name ended in a vowel.

The smells floating through the air on Sat & Sun were heavenly.

Many of my friends parents didn't speak English.

But they sure were loud. 

I was exposed to some wonderful foods.

Pasta was served with every meal.

Sauce was 'gravy'.

Most everything was made from scratch.

Learned how to make much of it and I LOVE IT ALL.

But it's not the healthiest deal, so I have all but abandoned eating most of it now. 

A-Jay

 

 

This is me also A-Jay. I still eat some, but not a huge amount. I still love a good sausage or meatball sandwich though.

[padlin]

Of the Italian dishes, I eat more Pizza than the rest, if you consider Pizza Italian, I grew up on Greek style pizza.

 

When we go out I get either veal parmigiana or sausage, peppers and onions. I always have a hard time deciding.

 

Many of the Italian neighbors had full kitchens in their basements, the upstairs was for when they had company.

[Mobasser]

My own family was Irish. So, it was always meat and potatoes, fried chicken on Sundays etc. When I first started dating my wife, I never knew food could be that good. I was a greenhorn from the farm. A bumpkin.

[Deleted account]

2 minutes ago, Mobasser said:

This is me also A-Jay. I still eat some, but not a huge amount. I still love a good sausage or meatball sandwich though.

 

Was out for a 4 hour bike ride yesterday, and I ate 4 portions of penne with meat sauce and some left over beef noodle soup ( and 8 M&Ms) as soon as I got in the door. In a few weeks, I'll have trouble keeping weight, even shoving food down my face non stop. Viva cardio!

[Jar11591]

Pesto, risotto, bolognese, I love it all. I usually opt for white dishes more than the red ones, but I don’t think there are many Italian dishes I don’t like (or any dishes for that matter lol). My absolute favorite is Carbonara, but too often when I get it it too closely resembles Alfredo.
 

I worked as a fill in cook at an old school Italian restaurant for the last few years. The owners just retired a few months ago. My best friend was the head chef, and is ridiculously talented. 

[slonezp]

Mom's side of the family is Calabrese. We ate pasta every Sunday. Grandma made gravy, meatballs, sausage, and neckbones every week with fresh ingredients. The recipe was stored in her head and the measurements were "A little bit of this and a little bit of that" My grandfather had final say if there was enough of this or too much of that.

 

Mom would make linguini with red clam sauce which was a favorite of mine. 

 

Veal parm, chicken parm, eggplant parm would get thrown into rotation once in awhile. 

 

My mother was kind enough to write down the family recipe for the gravy before she died. The problem I have is it's enough for maybe 5lbs of pasta and most of it gets frozen.

 

Mom also made the best pizzelle's which is an Italian cookie. Her recipe is like no other I ever had. 

[TnRiver46]

To my knowledge, there is no Italian in my family tree but I will eat all of the Italian food I can and then a little bit more. Wouldn’t mind some right now 

[slonezp]

I forgot to bring up pepper and egg sandwiches. Not sure if you can find them outside of Chicago. 

We also invented the Italian beef sandwich 

[casts_by_fly]

2 hours ago, Mobasser said:

I married an Italian girl a little over 40 yrs ago. When we started dating, it was always dinner at her folks house every Sunday. Her mother was a great cook, and always made some delicious recipes. This was my first introduction to " real" Italian food.                                                 There are two family's in Kansas City that make Italian sausage. The Scimeca family, and the Begulia family. Both are great, and it's hard for me to pick a favourite. Luckily, my wife learned to cook Italian food from her mother. Many recipes were handed down through generations.                      My own favourite is Lasagna, but I like most Italian food I've tried over the years. I've heard people say , " it's all about the sauce". This is true. Anybody can boil some pasta, but getting that perfect blend of spices to make a good sauce is a culinary art.                                      And  I'll add, the next time your cooking on the grill, try some good Italian sausage. Cook it slowly, and serve it on a hoagie bun, with some mozzarella cheese and some grilled onions and peppers.        It's super good.                          Do you like Italian food? What's your favourite?

 

So many different styles and dishes, there is no way I'm picking one.

 

cinghiale (Wild boar) ragu over pasta (we had papperdalle) in a little tratoria in tuscany was life changing.  Fresh sliced truffle over butter pasta and a paired wine (barolo maybe).  Bisteca ala florentine where they bring the full primal cut to the table and ask how thick you want it before taking it back to the kitchen and cooking it perfectly might be one of the best steaks ever.  My NYC Italian favorite (I've not found it in actual Italy) is Chicken Scarpariello.  I think that translates to 'shoemaker's chicken'.  White wine and vinegar based sauce.  Chicken, sausage, potatoes, peppers, onions, and pepadew peppers.  That's been a favorite for a long time.

[Mike L]

I’m a 2nd generation Sicilian American which in a lot of way’s especially when it comes to food, is a different culture. 
 

There really wasn’t any formal names for most of what was prepared.
Oh sure we had Lasagna, Tortellini, home made sausage, etc etc

But the ones I would call favorite are written down on small yellowed scraps of paper that my Ma and Grandma wrote down for my Irish wife. 

Along with my Lasagna, Fettuccine, Linguine, Canoli’s etc.

Give me some Gigillane and couchidatti cookies, boboluche (snails worked in sauce), Arancini (rice balls) Red Prawns, Ricotta Salad, Stuffed Eggplant…

 

God, I miss those women 

 

 

Mike 

[A-Jay]

10 minutes ago, Mike L said:

I’m a 2nd generation Sicilian American which in a lot of way’s especially when it comes to food, is a different culture. 
 

There really wasn’t any formal names for most of what was prepared.
Oh sure we had Lasagna, Tortellini, home made sausage, etc etc

But the ones I would call favorite are written down on small yellowed scraps of paper that my Ma and Grandma wrote down for my Irish wife. 

Along with my Lasagna, Fettuccine, Linguine, Canoli’s etc.

Give me some Gigillane and couchidatti cookies, boboluche (snails worked in sauce), Arancini (rice balls) Red Prawns, Ricotta Salad, Stuffed Eggplant…

 

God, I miss those women 

 

 

Mike 

And the cookies & DESERTS WERE JUST To DIE FOR.

A-Jay

[Bankbeater]

There's no Italian in my family but my mom used to make the best spaghetti and lasagna.  I'm not sure where she got the recipes from, but you could always tell when she was making them.

[Mike L]

55 minutes ago, slonezp said:

I forgot to bring up pepper and egg sandwiches. Not sure if you can find them outside of Chicago. 

We also invented the Italian beef sandwich 

Johnny’s on North Ave west of Harlem is the Capital of the World for both !!

 

(the beef must be soaked in au juice or it don’t count) ?

 

 

 

 

Mike

[Deleted account]

4 minutes ago, Mike L said:

(the beef must be soaked in au juice or it don’t count) ?

Mike

Au juice made me LMAO out loud...  

[DitchPanda]

I love Italian food. Grilled Italian sausage with peppers and onions, fettuccine alfredo, of course the old favorites pizza and lasagna are right up there. My favorite the past several years is carbonara. 

[bowhunter63]

I grew up right next to two Italian restaurants. Angelos and Al and Ledas . Right next to the river. Great food great fishing and cold beer. I look back now it was the best place I ever lived 

 

[Mike L]

50 minutes ago, Deleted account said:

Au juice made me LMAO out loud...  

 

You should hear a 2 yr old try to say it 

 

 

 

 

Mike

[slonezp]

2 hours ago, Mike L said:

Johnny’s on North Ave west of Harlem is the Capital of the World for both !!

 

(the beef must be soaked in au juice or it don’t count) ?

 

 

 

 

Mike

I haven't been to Johnnie's in Elmwood park in quite some time. I moved out of the area 20 years ago. The have another location in Arlington Heights which I do go to a few times a year. My new favorite beef sandwich is from Nano's Pizza on Lincoln Ave. CBGB(cheesy beef on garlic bread) with giardiniera and side of fries for $13 out the door.

 

[Bird]

My wife is a clone of Rachel Ray and her specialty is Italian.

I've been a happy man for almost 40 years.