Great Italian Cooking

My wife loves this soup. She had it at a famous restaurant a few times and asked me if I could make it for her. So with my passion of cooking and my love for her, I topped myself. What’s great about this recipe are a few things. #1) you control the heat #2) you can add as much sausage as you want. #3) there will never be any leftovers. How you doing? And by the way this is a B.L.D. Breakfast, Lunch or Dinner. Depending on how cold it will be when you wake up in the morning. Enjoy everyone.

Ingredients:

1lb ground Italian Sweet Sausage (remove from casing and crumble)

1 ½ tsp. crushed red pepper flakes

1 large diced white onion (sweet)

4 slices of thick bacon cut into 1 inch pieces

2 tsp. garlic puree (or mash fresh garlic into puree)

10 cups of Chicken Broth (Homemade or store bought Low Sodium)

2 Tbsp. Extra Virgin  olive oil

1 Cup heavy cream

6 large Russet Potatoes (slice into 1/2" rounds) Leaving skins on!

1 bag of Fresh Kale

In a 12qt. stock pot, add olive oil and bring to medium heat.

Add Italian sweet sausage (casings removed)  and crushed red pepper into pot.

Cook until sausage is no longer pink, constantly stirring and crumbling , leaving large chunks or to your liking.

When sausage is cooked, remove sausage with a slotted spoon,

Draining excess fat and place into a covered bowl.

Refrigerate while you prepare other ingredients.

In the same pot, sauté bacon, onions and garlic over low-medium heat

For approximately 15 minutes or until the onions are soft.

Add the 10 cups of chicken broth to the pot and bring to a  boil.

Now, lower the heat to medium.

Add the sliced potatoes and cover pot and cook until soft, about fifteen minutes.(you don't want the potatoes falling apart)

Stir gently at half way point making sure not to break potatoes into pieces.

At this point, take cold sausage from refrigerator and add to pot and bring to a low simmer.

Slowly add the heavy cream and stir until thoroughly mixed.(Do not break up potato slices)

Ladle soup into warm bowls and top with fresh kale. Yumy!

Now you can serve this to your friends and family...and of course save a bowl for yourself!

Suggestion:  Serve with soft Italian bread or breadsticks for dunking into soup.

Or you can lightly toast some Italian bread slices and place them on the bottom before ladling soup on top.

ENJOY!

Easter Pie Recipe

Traditional savory pie prepared as part of Easter celebration.

Ingredients for Filling

1 ½ lbs. Sweet sausage links, fresh

1 lb. Sweet Capicola (sliced 1/8” thick)

1 1/2 small pkg. 8oz. mozzarella sliced (12 oz. total)

3 large eggs

1 lb. Ricotta cheese

½ cup Fresh flat leaf parsley or ¼ cup of dried parsley

½ dozen large hard boiled eggs

Topping:

Nonpareils

1 large egg yolk

1 Tbs. sugar

1/3 cup of water, room temperature

Dough:

1 cup water

3 Raw Eggs

¼ lb. Margarine(softened)

1 Tbs. Honey

1 Tbs. salt

2 Tbs. sugar

5 cups bread flour approx.

1 package of fresh yeast

First Boil a ½ dozen eggs. Cool, shell, slice in half and store in refrigerator. Parboil the sausage (Cooking till no pink in centers), cool and slice diagonally into approximately ¼ inch slices. Slice the mozzarella 1/8” thick. The above can be prepared the evening before the preparation of the pie.

I put my bread machine/Kitchen Aid mix on pizza dough cycle by adding water first then the remaining ingredients.  Otherwise, dissolve the yeast in warm water. Let stand 5 minutes. Stir to dissolve. Add part of the flour (about 2 cups) and the remaining dough ingredients. Beat until smooth and well blended. Gradually add the remaining flour to make soft bread dough that does not cling to the sides of the bowl. Knead 6 to 8 minutes by machine or until smooth and elastic by hand. Put into a greased bowl, cover and let rise until doubled. Punch the dough down and let rest for about 15 minutes.

Preheat oven to 375 degrees.

Prepare ricotta filling by mixing 3 eggs into the ricotta and beat until smooth and creamy. Now divide the dough in half. Roll out one portion to cover a medium to large sized pizza pan or cookie sheet. Spread out the dough on the pan and fill as stated in exact order. Starting on the bottom working up, place a layer of sliced sausage, layer of Sweet Capicola, then a layer of mozzarella. Now using a silicone spatula, evenly spread  ricotta mixture over the meats and cheese. Sprinkle chopped parsley on top (I used dry and mixed it in with Ricotta and eggs).  Take the 6 boiled egg halves (12 total) and space on top of the ricotta mixture, yolk side down. (See photos)   Roll out the remaining portion of dough (Larger than bottom)and use it to cover the pie. Wet the edges with water, pinch together and roll under the pie (the edges should be trimmed to remove excess dough). Snip several holes in the top crust with a scissors. Bake until golden brown (45 minutes to 1 hour). Remove from oven and slide carefully onto a wire rack.

Prepare an egg wash by beating one large egg Yolk, one tablespoon of sugar and 1/3 cup of water. As soon as the pie is removed from the oven brush the top evenly and lightly (working fast) with the egg wash and sprinkle with the nonpareils. Allow to sit for about 15 minutes before cutting.

This dish is traditionally prepared on the Holy Saturday and eaten at noon. If there is any is left, it is good served cold / warm for breakfast, lunch, dinner or a snack. Invite good friends and enjoy!

Prep time: 2 hours

Cook time: 1 hour

Total time: 3 hours *includes dough rising

Serves: 12 large portions, this is not an appetizer, it’s a hearty serving of Love! Enjoy :O)

BRACIOLE by Jeff DuBose:

Top photo is baked with meat sauce right from oven.
Bottom photo are the same braciole just rinsed with water and topped with strained meat sauce on a platter.

Ingredients

3 cups your favorite sauce PLUS (More for pasta and dinner and dunking bread)

2 cups of day old (hard/semi hard) Italian bread ¼” cubes

1/3 cup grated Locatelli  grated cheese.

2 eggs+ 1 egg white
1/3 cup of milk

1 tablespoon chopped fresh parsley

2 teaspoon chopped fresh oregano

1 teaspoon finely chopped rosemary

1 teaspoon finely chopped thyme

2 cloves mince garlic

2 Tbs. of mashed Pine Nuts

8 large slices of pork,  1/4-inch thick or less (6”X10”) (little of black pepper to season)

8 thin slices of Prosciutto (Wax paper in between)

8  1/8” X 1/8” sticks (length of Braciole) of Asiago cheese

Olive oil, for brushing

Toothpicks (wooden)

(Do first) Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.

Place 2 cups of sauce on the bottom, and reserve 1 cup to top in a 9 by 13-inch baking dish.

In a large bowl using an electric hand food processor mixer, Beat/ mix the day old bread,2 eggs and 1 egg white, locatelli cheese, herbs, smashed pine nuts, milk and garlic and mix until it forms a paste.

Making Braciole, One at a time (This goes fast) (Mix is ready)

Brush the pounded pork cutlets lightly with the olive oil and season with (your liking) of black pepper.

Place one piece of Prosciutto at the bottom of pork cutlet, add mixture on top and add  Asiago cheese

Tightly roll from the stuffing side toward the flat clean side on meat, forming a jelly roll like tube. (I Use two wooden toothpicks  to seal the ends so the stuffing won’t come out while cooking . And one in the middle.

I spray non-Stick Pam and add olive oil, for searing Braciole in large frying pan. Over medium heat. Don’t burn the oil or smoke out the house. Sear the Braciole while turning till lightly golden brown on all sides.

Add the two cups of sauce to 9 by 13-inch baking dish, add Braciole, top with remaining  1 cup sauce, cover with a tin foil tent so that the foil is not touching the meat. Form a tight seal.  Bake for 60 minutes at 350 degrees. After 60 min. lower oven to 225 degrees and spoon sauce over Braciole and recover. Baste tops every ½ hr. for a total of 2 more hrs. at 225 and  Enjoy :O)