Simple Italian Cookery
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Antonia Isola >> Simple Italian Cookery
Produced by David Starner, Karen Fabrizius
and the Online Distributed Proofreading Team.
SIMPLE ITALIAN COOKERY
Antonia Isola
CONTENTS
Soups
Macaroni and other Pastes
Rice, Etc.
Sauces
Eggs
Fish
Vegetables
Meats
Salads
Desserts
Index
SOUPS
BEEF SOUP STOCK
(_Brodo di Carne_)
1 pound of round of beef
2 quarts of water
2 small, new carrots, or 1/2 of an old carrot
1/2 pound of beef bones
2 small potatoes
1 onion
1 tomato, fresh or canned
Parsley
Boil the beef, bones, and vegetables in two quarts of water over a
slow fire--adding pepper and salt. Skim occasionally, and after two
hours add two tablespoons of sherry; then strain through fine
soup-strainer or cheese-cloth. This is the basis of all the following
soups, except when otherwise stated.
To make this stock richer, add a turkey leg to above receipt; boil one
and a half hours, then add one-half a pound of finely chopped beef.
Cook for half an hour longer, then strain.
To make meat jelly, add a little gelatine to the soup stock five
minutes before straining.
To give a good dark color to the stock, add a few drops of "caramel,"
which is prepared in the following manner:
Put three tablespoons of granulated sugar into a saucepan with a
little water, and until the sugar has become dark and reddish; then
add a little more water and boil again until the sugar is melted.
Strain and pour into a bottle when the caramel will keep perfectly for
several weeks.
CHICKEN BROTH
(_Brodo di Capone_)
This is made like the meat stock, substituting a fowl in place of the
beef and bones.
RICE SOUP
(_Minestra di Riso_)
Meat stock
2 tablespoons of rice
Cover the rice with water and boil for ten minutes; then drain and add
to the stock (after it has been strained), and boil for five or ten
minutes more.
STRACCIATELLA SOUP
(_Minestra di Stracciatella_)
1 egg
1/2 tablespoon of Parmesan cheese
1 tablespoon bread crumbs
Beat the egg, yolk and white together; add salt and the cheese,
grated, and the bread crumbs; mix well together and add to the boiling
stock (strained). Stir well with a fork to prevent the egg from
setting, and boil for four or five minutes.
VEGETABLE CHOWDER
(_Minestrone alla Milanese_)
1/2 quart of stock
2 slices of lean pork, or a ham bone
2 tomatoes, fresh or canned
1 cup of rice
2 tablespoons of dried beans
1 tablespoon of peas, fresh or canned
2 onions
Put into the stock the slices of pork, cut into small pieces; or, if
desired, a ham bone may be substituted for the pork. Add the tomatoes,
cut into small pieces also, the onions, in small pieces, and the rice.
Boil all together until the rice is cooked. Then add the beans and the
peas and cook a little longer. The soup is ready when it is thick. If
desired, this chowder can be made with fish broth instead of the
stock, and with the addition of shrimps which have been taken from
their shells.
This dish can be served hot or cold.
FISH BROTH
(_Brodo di Pesce_)
1 liberal pound of fresh codfish, or any other lean fish for boiling
1 quart of water
1 onion
Parsley
Salt and pepper
Boil until fish is thoroughly cooked; strain and serve.
CODFISH SOUP
(_Zuppa di Merluzzo_)
Take one-half pound of salt codfish that has been soaked, cut it up
into squares, but not small.
Prepare in a saucepan four tablespoons of good olive-oil, and one
small onion cut into pieces. Cook the onion in the oil over a slow
fire, without allowing the onion to become colored, then add a small
bunch of parsley stems, a small piece of celery, a bay-leaf, and a
small sprig of thyme. Cool for a few moments, then add two tomatoes,
skinned and with the seeds removed, and cut into slices, two
tablespoons of dry white wine, and one medium-sized potato, peeled and
cut into slices, and, lastly, one cup of water.
When the potato is half cooked, add the codfish, then one-half
tablespoon more of olive-oil. Remove the parsley stems, and put in
instead one-half tablespoon of chopped-up parsley; add a good pinch of
pepper, and some salt, if needed. When the vegetables are thoroughly
cooked pour the soup over pieces of toasted or fried bread, and serve.
LENTIL SOUP
(_Brodo di Lenticchie_)
3 tablespoons of dried lentils
1/2 tablespoon of butter
2 tablespoons of cream
Meat stock
Cover the lentils with water and boil until they are quite soft. Pass
them through a colander or a sieve. Melt the butter in a saucepan,
add the lentils and cream, mixing well, then add a ladleful of the
stock, and boil for a few minutes; then add the rest of the desired
amount of stock, a ladleful at a time.
VEGETABLE SOUP
(_Zuppa alla Primaverile_)
Take some cabbage, carrots, celery, onions, turnips, lettuce, squash,
potatoes, beans, and peas. Chop each into very small pieces, wash and
drain. Take a saucepan, put in a heaping tablespoon of butter; chop up
another small piece of onion and add to butter and fry until onion is
golden; then add all the vegetables, salt, and pepper, and cover the
saucepan. When the vegetables are half cooked, and their juice has
become absorbed, dissolve one tablespoon of tomato paste in one-third
of a cup of hot water, and add. Instead of the tomato paste there may
be added to the onion, before putting in the vegetables, one tomato,
peeled and cut into small pieces. When the tomato is cooked add the
vegetables. Then add water, a little at a time, until you have
sufficient quantity for two persons. Take a slice of bread and cut
into small squares or diamonds--toast or fry as desired--put these
into the soup plates, and pour the soup (without straining) over them.
LETTUCE SOUP
(_Zuppa di Lattuga_)
1 small lettuce
Meat stock
2 potatoes
The leaves of a head of celery
2 tablespoons of peas, fresh or canned
1 heaping tablespoon of flour
Put the potatoes, cold boiled, into the stock when it boils, add the
celery leaves, the lettuce chopped up, the peas, and the flour mixed
well with a little cold stock or water. Boil for one hour and a half,
and serve with little squares of fried bread.
PUMPKIN SOUP
(_Zuppa di Zucca_)
1 slice of pumpkin
2 tablespoons of butter
1/2 cup of water
1-1/2 cups of milk
1 tablespoon of sugar
Peel the pumpkin and remove the seeds, cut into small pieces, and put
into a saucepan with the butter, the sugar, a pinch of salt, and the
water. Boil for two hours, then drain and put back into the saucepan
with the milk, which has been boiled. Allow it to come to a boil, and
then serve it with squares of fried bread.
POTATO SOUP
(_Zuppa alla Provinciale_)
2 large potatoes
3 tablespoons of cream or milk
2 tablespoons of butter
2 yolks of eggs
Soup stock
Boil the potatoes, then rub them through a sieve. Put them into a
saucepan with the butter, a little salt, and the cream or milk. Simmer
until it is thick, then add the yolks of the two eggs to form it into
a paste. Turn out onto the bread-board, cut into small dice, and throw
them into the stock, which must be boiling. If desired, before serving
sprinkle a little Parmesan cheese into the soup.
MACARONI AND OTHER PASTES
MACARONI WITH TOMATO SAUCE
(_Maccheroni al Sugo_)
2 quarts of water
3/4 pound of macaroni
Boil the water until it makes big bubbles. Add salt, then break the
macaroni and put it in. Cover the saucepan and boil for fifteen
minutes. The saucepan should not be too small, otherwise the macaroni
will stick to the bottom.
Prepare the sauce as follows:
Take a good slice of ham fat, and chop very fine with it a piece of
onion, a piece of celery, and some parsley. Then put this into a
frying-pan and cook until the grease is colored. (If desired, add a
small lump of butter.) When well colored add two tablespoons of tomato
paste dissolved in a little hot water. Boil all together for fifteen
minutes.
Drain the macaroni, and put it into the frying-pan with the sauce, mix
well with fork and spoon over the fire, so that the macaroni will be
thoroughly seasoned, then add three tablespoons of grated Parmesan
cheese, mix again, and serve.
If no tomato paste is available make the tomato sauce as follows:
Chop up fine one-quarter of an onion, a piece of celery the length of
a finger, two or three basil-leaves, and a small bunch of parsley.
Slice seven or eight tomatoes (fresh or canned), add salt and pepper,
and put all on together to cook in four tablespoons of good olive-oil.
Stir occasionally, and when it becomes as thick as cream, strain, and
add the macaroni as before directed.
MACARONI WITH MEAT AND SAUCE
(_Maccheroni al sugo di Carne_)
Take one-half pound of beef without fat. Prepare the ham fat as in the
preceding receipt, chopped up with onion, celery, and parsley. Cut the
meat into several pieces, put it with the fat, etc., into a
frying-pan. Add salt and pepper. Cook until the meat is colored, then
add two tablespoons of wine, white or red. When the wine is absorbed
add two tablespoons of tomato paste dissolved in hot water. (Or tomato
sauce as in preceding.) Boil all together for five minutes, with cover
on the saucepan, then add one cup of boiling water, and allow it to
simmer until the meat is thoroughly cooked--about one-half an hour.
Boil and strain the macaroni as before, and pour over it the sauce
from the meat. Mix well, and serve with the meat in the middle and the
macaroni around it, with cheese (grated Parmesan) sprinkled over it.
This dish can be made with veal or mutton instead of the beef.
MACARONI WITH BUTTER AND CHEESE
(_Maccheroni al Burro_)
Boil and drain the macaroni. Take four tablespoons of table-butter,
three tablespoons of grated Parmesan cheese, add to the macaroni in
the saucepan, mix well over the fire, and serve.
SICILIAN MACARONI WITH EGGPLANT
Slice one eggplant and put it under a weighted plate to extract the
bitter juices. Then fry the slices delicately in lard. Make a ragout
of chickens' hearts and livers as follows: Put two tablespoons of
butter into a saucepan, fry the hearts and livers, and when cooked add
two tablespoons of tomato paste, thinned with hot water (or a
corresponding amount of tomato sauce). Cook for fifteen minutes.
Prepare three-quarters of a pound of macaroni, boiled and drained,
then put it into the saucepan with the hearts and livers, add the
eggplant and three tablespoons of grated Parmesan cheese. Mix well
together and serve.
VERMICELLI WITH OLIVE-OIL AND ANCHOVIES
Take one-half pound of vermicelli, boil in salted water and drain.
While boiling put into a saucepan three anchovies, cut up fine, with
four tablespoons of olive-oil. Fry the anchovies in the oil, then put
the vermicelli into the saucepan, mix well for a few moments on the
fire, then serve.
VERMICELLI WITH OLIVE-OIL, OLIVES, CAPERS, AND ANCHOVIES
Take one-half pound of vermicelli and cover it well with salted water.
Cook for about ten minutes. While it is boiling put into a saucepan
four tablespoons of olive-oil, three anchovies cut up fine with six
olives (ripe ones preferable) and one-half tablespoon of capers. When
these are fried add the vermicelli (well drained), mix well, and put
the saucepan at the back of the stove. Turn the vermicelli over with a
fork every few minutes until it is thoroughly cooked.
VERMICELLI WITH FISH
Boil one-half pound of vermicelli in salted water, drain, and mix with
two tablespoons of olive-oil and a little chopped-up parsley. Then set
to one side to get cool.
Take five smelts, split them, take out the bones, and fry them
slightly in one teaspoon of olive-oil.
Butter a pan and sprinkle it with bread crumbs. Then put into it
one-half of the cold vermicelli. Pour over this some thick tomato
sauce (one tablespoon of tomato paste cooked in two tablespoons of
olive-oil). Then put in the smelts cut in two, some anchovy, a few
capers, and three or four ripe olives chopped up with one mushroom.
Then add the rest of the tomato sauce, then the other half of the
vermicelli, and on top a layer of bread crumbs. Season all well with
salt and pepper. Put the pan into a moderate oven, and cook about an
hour and a quarter, adding a little olive-oil when necessary, so that
it will not dry up too much.
Any fish may be used instead of the smelts, cutting it into thin
strips.
SPAGHETTI WITH TUNNY-FISH
While one-half pound of spaghetti is boiling in salted water prepare
the following: Take two ounces of tunny-fish and cut them into small
pieces. Put them into a saucepan and fry them in their own oil. This
oil is generally sufficient, but should it not be, add another
tablespoon of olive-oil. When the tunny have been fried add a
teaspoonful of chopped parsley and four tomatoes, peeled and the seeds
removed, and a pinch of pepper. Let the tomatoes cook thoroughly.
When they are cooked put the spaghetti into the saucepan and move them
about with a fork and spoon until they are thoroughly mixed with the
sauce and the tunny. Then serve.
TIMBALE OF VERMICELLI WITH TOMATOES
(_Neapolitan Receipt_)
Take ten medium-sized fresh tomatoes and cut them in two crosswise.
Put a layer of these into a baking-dish with the liquid side touching
the bottom of the dish. Now put another layer with the liquid side up,
sprinkle on salt and pepper. Break the raw vermicelli the length of
the baking-dish and put a layer of it on top of the tomatoes. Now add
another layer of the tomatoes, with the skin side touching the
vermicelli, a second layer with the liquid side up, salt and pepper,
and another layer of the raw vermicelli, and so on, the top layer
being of tomatoes with their liquid side touching the vermicelli. Heat
three or four tablespoons of good lard (or butter), and when the lard
boils pour it over the tomatoes and vermicelli; then put the dish into
the oven and cook until the vermicelli is thoroughly done. After
cooling a little while, turn it out into a platter.
MACARONI "ALLA SAN GIOVANNELLO"
While three-quarters of a pound of macaroni are boiling in salted
water prepare the following: Chop up fine two ounces of ham fat with a
little parsley. Peel six medium-sized tomatoes, cut them open, remove
the seeds, and any hard or unripe parts, and put them on one side.
Take a frying-pan and put into it one scant tablespoon of butter and
the chopped ham fat. When the grease is colored put in the sliced
tomatoes with salt and pepper. When the tomatoes are cooked and begin
to sputter put the macaroni into the pan with them, mix well, add
grated Parmesan cheese, and serve.
RIBBON MACARONI
(_Pasta fatta in Casa. Fettuccini_)
2 1/2 cups of flour
2 eggs
3 tablespoons of cold water
1/2 teaspoon of salt
Put the flour on a bread-board. Make a hole in the middle of it, and
break the eggs into it. Add the water and the salt, and mix all
together with a fork until the flour is all absorbed and you have a
paste which you can roll out. Then take a rolling-pin and roll it out
very thin, about the thickness of a ten-cent piece. Leave it spread
out like this until it has dried a little. Then double it over a
number of times, always lengthwise, and cut it across in strips about
one-half inch wide. Boil two quarts of salted water, and put the
ribbons into it, and cook for ten minutes, then drain. Serve with the
meat and sauce as in receipt for Macaroni with Meat and Sauce, or with
the tomato sauce and cheese only, as desired.
RAVIOLI WITH MEAT
Prepare the paste as in the preceding receipt.
Take whatever meat is desired--chicken, turkey, or veal--this must
always be cooked. (Left-over meat may be utilized this way.) Chop the
meat very fine, add one tablespoon of grated Parmesan cheese, one egg,
a dash of nutmeg, a dash of grated lemon-peel, one tablespoon of
butter, cold. Mix these ingredients in a bowl. Take a teaspoon of the
mixture and put it into the extended paste, about two inches from the
edge. Take another spoonful and put it about two inches away from the
first spoonful. Continue to do this until you have a row of
teaspoonfuls across the paste. Then fold over the edge of the paste so
as to cover the spoonfuls of mixture, and cut across the paste at the
bottom of them. Then cut into squares with the meat in the middle of
each square; press down the paste a little at the edges so the meat
cannot fall out. Continue to do this until all the meat and the paste
are used up.
Put the little squares of paste and meat into the boiling salted water
a few at a time, and boil for ten minutes. Serve with tomato sauce, or
butter and grated Parmesan cheese.
RAVIOLI WITH BRAINS
Take one lamb's brains and parboil in slightly salted water for five
minutes. Put into a bowl with a small quantity of curds, one egg, salt
and pepper, dash of nutmeg, and a little grated Parmesan cheese, and
mix all together. Then put by teaspoonfuls on the paste as in
preceding receipt. Cook for ten minutes in boiling salted water, and
serve with tomato sauce.
RAVIOLI OF CURDS AND SPINACH
1 small bunch of spinach
1/2 pound of curds
Cook the spinach, drain, and chop up fine, add the curds, one egg,
salt and pepper, dash of nutmeg, and a little grated cheese. Add to
the paste, and boil as before.
SWEET RAVIOLI
(_Ravioli Dolce_)
These ravioli can be used also as a dessert by preparing them as
follows:
Take 1/2 pound of flour
1 tablespoon of butter
2 tablespoons of lard
Work this into a paste and roll out thin.
Take one-half pound of curds, add one egg, and the yolk of a second
egg, two tablespoons of granulated sugar, a few drops of extract of
vanilla. Mix well together and add to the paste as before. Then fry in
lard until a golden brown. Serve with powdered sugar.
TIMBALE OF MACARONI
Take a small piece of ham fat, one-half of onion, piece of celery,
parsley, small piece of carrot. Chop up fine together. Put into a
saucepan, and when the vegetables are fried add two or three mushrooms
which have been chopped fine; after five minutes add two tablespoons
of tomato paste, thinned with five tablespoons of hot water (or equal
quantity of tomato sauce without water). When the sauce is cooked take
out the mushrooms and put them on one side.
Take one-half pound of macaroni. Boil in salted water for fifteen
minutes, drain, and add the sauce described above. Add two tablespoons
Parmesan cheese, grated, and one tablespoon of butter.
Butter well a mold, then cover with a thin layer of bread crumbs the
bottom and sides. Pour into the mold one-half the macaroni, then place
on it a layer of mushrooms which you have taken out of the sauce. Now
add the other half of the macaroni, and then another thin layer of
bread crumbs. Put the mold into the oven without turning it over, and
bake in a slow oven until well browned. Then turn out and serve.
To this timbale, if desired for variety, cold meat of any kind cut up
fine may be added to the sauce; and one egg, hard boiled, and cut into
four pieces. Add the egg, and the pieces of meat which you have
removed from the sauce, to the timbale at the same time that you add
the mushrooms.
RICE TIMBALE
This timbale is made in the same way as the preceding one, only
substituting rice for macaroni. One-half cup of rice.
TIMBALE OF RIBBON MACARONI
This is prepared as the two preceding ones, using Ribbon Macaroni
instead of rice or ordinary macaroni.
RICE, ETC.
RICE WITH PEAS
1/2 cup of rice
Grated Parmesan cheese
2 tablespoons of butter
1 small onion
Chop the onion up fine and put it into the saucepan with one-half the
butter (one tablespoon). Cook until the onion is brown, then pour on
the rice (raw) and fry until the rice is dry. Then add hot water, a
ladleful at a time, taking care not to let the rice boil too hard, as
it will then become hard in the middle and floury around the edges.
When the rice is cooked, put the saucepan at the back of the stove,
and add the rest of the butter. Before taking off the stove add a
little grated Parmesan cheese and the peas, which have been prepared
as follows:
Take a small piece of ham fat, one-half small onion, and some parsley.
Chop together fine, add three tablespoons of olive-oil, salt and
pepper, and put into a saucepan on the fire. When the onion is colored
add one can of green peas (or fresh peas, according to season). When
the peas have absorbed all the olive-oil add a sufficient quantity of
broth to cover them (or water) and cook until peas are soft. Then mix
the peas with the rice, add one tablespoon of Parmesan cheese, and
serve.
RICE "ALLA ROMANA"
(_Risotto alla Romana_)
A small piece of ham fat
1 stalk of celery
Parsley
1 onion
2 mushrooms canned, or 1 fresh mushroom
1/3 pound of lean beef
Chop these ingredients together and put them into a large saucepan
with a small piece of butter. Cook until the meat is well browned.
Then add one tablespoon of red or white wine. Cook for a few minutes,
then add one tablespoon of tomato paste dissolved in a little hot
water, or two and one-half tablespoons of the other tomato sauce. Cook
well, adding from time to time a little water--one-half cup in all.
Wash the rice (a little less than a cupful), add it to the other
ingredients in the saucepan, and cook for about twenty minutes, until
the rice is soft, adding more water from time to time. Then add two
tablespoons of grated Parmesan cheese, mix well, and serve, with more
cheese if desired.
RISOTTO "ALLA NOSTRALE"
Take a small piece of onion, slice into small bits, and put into a
saucepan with two tablespoons of butter. Cook until onion is browned.
Wash well one-half cup of rice. Put it into the saucepan with the
onion, add salt and pepper, and fry until the rice is dry. Then take
one and one-half tablespoons of tomato paste, thinned with hot water
(or two tablespoons of other tomato sauce), and add to the rice.
Little by little add hot water until the rice is cooked through (about
one cup of hot water). Then add grated cheese, Parmesan or Gruyere,
one and one-half tablespoons of butter, and mix well over the fire,
then serve.
This rice can be served alone or with fried sausages, or with cold
chicken, or any left-over meat prepared in the following manner:
Take one and one-half tablespoons of butter in a saucepan. Cut the
cold meat into slices, and add them to the butter. Fry well, then take
one and one-half tablespoons of tomato paste, thinned in water (or
three tablespoons tomato sauce). Add to the meat a little at a time.
Simmer for one-half hour, then put into the middle of hot platter,
surrounded by rice, and pour this sauce over all. Add a handful of
grated Parmesan cheese to the rice.
This preparation of meat can be served with macaroni or corn-meal
instead of the rice.
RICE WITH BUTTER AND CHEESE
(_Riso in Bianco_)
Take one-half cup of rice. Boil in salted water. After twenty minutes
of boiling take off the fire and drain. Then put the rice back into a
saucepan with three tablespoons of grated cheese (Parmesan) and three
tablespoons of butter. Mix well and serve as an entree, or around a
plate of meat..
RICE WITH TOMATOES
Boil a cup of rice soft in hot water. Shake it now and then, but do
not stir it. Drain it, add a little milk in which a beaten egg has
been mixed, one teaspoon of butter, and a little pepper and salt.
Simmer for five minutes, and if the rice has not absorbed all the
milk, drain it again. Put the rice around a dish, smooth it into a
wall, wash it over with the yolk of a beaten egg, and put it into the
oven until firm. Take the strained juice and pulp of seven or eight
tomatoes, season with pepper, a little salt and sugar, and one-half of
a chopped-up onion; stew for twenty minutes, then stir in one
tablespoon of butter and two tablespoons of fine bread crumbs. Stew
three or four minutes to thicken, and then pour the tomatoes into the
dish, in the middle of the rice, and serve.
RICE WITH TOMATOES "ALL' INDIANA"
Wash a cup of rice and boil it. Take seven or eight good-sized
tomatoes, boil and strain them, and season with salt and a little
allspice. Take a baking-dish and put into it alternate layers of
tomato and rice, finishing off with a layer of tomato, covered up with
grated bread crumbs moistened with melted butter. Bake in a moderate
oven for a good half-hour.
RISOTTO WITH HAM
Cut into small pieces one ounce of raw ham, fat and lean. Chop up fine
a small piece of onion, and put it with the ham into a frying-pan with
one-half a tablespoon of butter. Fry slowly until the ham and onions
are golden. Then add one-half cup of uncooked rice; when it has cooked
for a few minutes, add twice its height of bouillon (or water), salt
and pepper, a dash of nutmeg, and mix well and allow it to boil for
twenty minutes over a good fire. Then take off the stove, add two
tablespoons of butter and two tablespoons of Parmesan cheese grated;
mix well and serve.
RICE WITH MUSHROOMS
10 mushrooms if canned, or 5 or 6 if fresh ones
3/4 of a cup of rice
Chop up a little onion, parsley, celery, and carrot together, and put
them on the fire with two tablespoons of good olive-oil. When this
sauce is colored, add two tablespoons of tomato paste, thinned with
hot water (or a corresponding quantity of tomato sauce). Season with
salt and pepper. Cut the mushrooms into small pieces, and add them to
the sauce. Cook for twenty minutes over a medium fire. Put on one
side and prepare the rice as follows: