Super User Mobasser Posted March 1, 2023 Super User Posted March 1, 2023 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? 6 Quote
Super User gim Posted March 1, 2023 Super User Posted March 1, 2023 4 minutes ago, Mobasser said: Do you like Italian food? What's your favourite? Pizza (the non-chicago style) 1 1 Quote
Super User Catt Posted March 1, 2023 Super User Posted March 1, 2023 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! 2 Quote
Super User A-Jay Posted March 1, 2023 Super User Posted March 1, 2023 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 4 Quote
Super User Mobasser Posted March 1, 2023 Author Super User Posted March 1, 2023 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. 1 Quote
Super User Deleted account Posted March 1, 2023 Super User Posted March 1, 2023 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. 2 Quote
Super User Mobasser Posted March 1, 2023 Author Super User Posted March 1, 2023 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. 1 Quote
padlin Posted March 1, 2023 Posted March 1, 2023 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. 3 Quote
Super User Mobasser Posted March 1, 2023 Author Super User Posted March 1, 2023 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. 2 Quote
Super User Deleted account Posted March 1, 2023 Super User Posted March 1, 2023 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! 1 Quote
Super User Jar11591 Posted March 1, 2023 Super User Posted March 1, 2023 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. 5 Quote
Super User slonezp Posted March 1, 2023 Super User Posted March 1, 2023 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. 6 Quote
Global Moderator TnRiver46 Posted March 1, 2023 Global Moderator Posted March 1, 2023 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 3 Quote
Super User slonezp Posted March 1, 2023 Super User Posted March 1, 2023 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 2 Quote
Super User casts_by_fly Posted March 1, 2023 Super User Posted March 1, 2023 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. 2 Quote
Global Moderator Solution Mike L Posted March 1, 2023 Global Moderator Solution Posted March 1, 2023 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 4 Quote
Super User A-Jay Posted March 1, 2023 Super User Posted March 1, 2023 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 3 Quote
Super User Bankbeater Posted March 1, 2023 Super User Posted March 1, 2023 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. 2 Quote
Global Moderator Mike L Posted March 1, 2023 Global Moderator Posted March 1, 2023 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 2 Quote
Super User Deleted account Posted March 1, 2023 Super User Posted March 1, 2023 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... 1 Quote
Super User DitchPanda Posted March 1, 2023 Super User Posted March 1, 2023 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. 5 Quote
Super User bowhunter63 Posted March 1, 2023 Super User Posted March 1, 2023 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 1 Quote
Global Moderator Mike L Posted March 1, 2023 Global Moderator Posted March 1, 2023 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 Quote
Super User slonezp Posted March 2, 2023 Super User Posted March 2, 2023 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. Quote
Super User Bird Posted March 2, 2023 Super User Posted March 2, 2023 My wife is a clone of Rachel Ray and her specialty is Italian. I've been a happy man for almost 40 years. 3 Quote
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