Sunday Sauce - Food Blog with Italian Recipes

Christmas Eve Recipe: Stuffed Calamari - Stuffed Squid

We're posting this in response to a request from one of our readers who needed a stuffed calamari recipe for Xmas Eve. This is Mom G's recipe which is influenced by Marcella Hazan's version from her masterpiece "The Classic Italian Cook Book". Hope it works out for you Joe!!!!

 

Here are some more links to Xmas Eve Feast of the Fishes Content:

Stuffed Calamari Recipe

Christmas Eve Feast of the Fishes Photo Gallery:

Mom B's Seafood Salad Recipe

Bobby Flay takes on the crew at Rao's on a Christmas Eve Feast of the Fishes Throwdown!

 

Stuffed Squid or Stuffed Calamari

Serving - 6 people

6 large squid - sac should measure 4.5-5" not including tentacles

The Stuffing:
1  tablespoon  olive oil
2 tablespoons finely chopped parsley
1/2 teaspoon finely garlic
1 whole egg
2.5 tablesppns freshly grated Parmesan Cheese
1.4 cup fine dry unflavored breadcrumbs
1/2 teaspoon salt
Freshly ground pepper about 6 twists of the pepper mill
(MOM G ALSO LIKES TO ADD 1/2 CUP FINELY CHOPPED MILD MUSHROOMS - NOT PORCINI!)

The Braising Liquid:
Olive oil - enough tom come 1/4" up the side of the skillet
4 whole cloves of garlic peeled
1/2 cup canned Italian tomatoes coarsely chopped with their juice
1/2 teaspoon finely chopped garlic
1/4 cup dry white wine

Directions:
1. Clean and prepare the squid (you'll have to look this technique up online folks)

2. Chop the squid tentacles very fine. In a bowl mix them with the stuffing ingredients until smooth, even mixture. Should be just enough olive oil to make it slightly glossy.

3. Divide stuffing into 6 equal parts and spoon it into the squid sacs -DO NOT OVERSTUFF0 b/c squid shrinks when cooking and the sac will burst. Sew up each opening with a toothpick o two.

4. Grab a skillet and coat with olive oil that comes 1/4 " up the side of the pan. Heat the oil over medium-high heat and saute the garlic cloves until golden brown. Discard the garlic and put into the stuffed squid. Brown the squid well on all sides then add the chopped tomatoes with their juice, the chopped galric and the wine. Cover tightly and cook over low heat for 30-40 mins. The squid is done when it feels tender at the pricking of a fork. 

5. Remove the squid to a cutting board and let it settle for a few mins. Cut into slices 1/2" thick. Arrange the slices on a warm serving platter so that each squid sac is recomposed. Warm up the sauce in the skillet, pour over the sliced squid, and serve immediately.

Cooking a Sunday Sauce...On the Edge of Insanity Part 2 (WITH PICS)

OK I'm back!

Nikki and I just enjoyed the leftovers from yesterday's Sunday Sauce and I can say report with the utmost confidence that the sauce was a home run. Nikki concurred with this. Yes, you read that correctly, even though I hadn't attempted this in ages AND after Nikki had told me that the meatballs were better off being used as Silly Putty. Oh, regarding the meatballs, I actually had one tonight and it was good. Certainly couldn't touch Nikki's works of art, but yesterday's harsh criticism was unfounded. All said, I'm still turning meatball responsibilities over to her.

Below you will find a few pics with comments on how they related to the dish. And yes, I did include

some pics of the kids....

These are the majority of the meats that I procured for the Sunday Sauce,all purchased at A&S Pork Store in Yonkers (NOTE: The sausage was purchased at Avitabile's which is on the Bronx/Yonkers border on McLean Ave) The beef ribs in the back of the photo provided a wonderful balance to the sweetness of the pork. And the pork chop (or country pork rib) was my favorite meat. The meat literally came off the bone like butter. I am a HUGE proponent of using meat with bones in the gravy - the flavors they impart are CRUCIAL! Also, the pork braciole was phenomenal, second time in a row A&S' braciole has kicked butt.

 

Avitabile's fresh mozzarella.This cheese will receive its own post at some point. It's that good. I've tasted the vaunted mozz at Fiore's in Hoboken and I'm telling you, Avitabile's is the best. Bar none.

 

 Here is a pic of my first scoop - penne, the sauce, a beef rib

perched on top with a dollop of fresh ricotta behind it.

 

Here is a cross-section of the hot sausages I purchased. Avitabile's is on the left, A&S is on the right. Avitabile's is better  - notice his includes more meat plus he has black pepper flakes for more flavor. For a future postI would like to study the difference between Avitabile's and Faicco's of NYC sausages and then conduct a taste test.

La famiglia! Scarlett in the forefront, Nikki and Baby Alexander. Notice the red on her high chair - she's a big fan of sunday sauce and yes I think that is a dollop of ricotta she is wearing on her face.

The Little Braciole!

 

More to come...we won't wait 9 mos, promise!

Cooking a Sunday Sauce...On the Edge of Insanity Part 1

It has been one week since our son Baby Alexander was born, and where I am finding the time to update this long dormant blog is completely beyond me. Actually, after taking care of Scarlett all day while Nikki (who is sick) attends to the infant has probably precipitated my descent into madness. Little to no sleep, everyone has been sick, Scarlett has turned moaning into an art form and mid December cold spell in New York has us feeling like we live on the Mongolian steppes. With all of this going on there is no rational explanation as to why I would spend the only free time I have had in about a week running between A & S Pork Store and Avitabile's to buy sausage so I could compare them before I made a 7 hr Sunday Sauce today. It's madness I tell you...

As I write this, Baby Alexander is sleeping and Scarlett has just been tucked in for her nap, which means it's time to type and do it fast. I told Nik that I was going to dust off the chef's hat and make a Sunday Sauce which is currently cooking away on our range. Here are a few thoughts as it cooks away.

 

1) I don't like the meatballs I made. At all. I mistakenly used 2 eggs as opposed to 1 and that made the balls way too gooey so they didn't hold together well when I browned them. Nikki is the Meatball Queen and if she was feeling better this would have turned over to her authority.

2)  The last Sunday Sauce I made I substituted pork shank for sausage and Nikki killed me for it. She thought the sauce was lacking big-time but I thought it was quite nice. Not only did the sauce still maintain it's normal sweetness, I though the bone shank contributed as well and the pork shank was absolutely delicious when eaten at the meal. The meat just fell off the bone. Nikki wouldn't relent though so I acquiesced this time and reintroduced sausage as I wanted to get a tangible comparison to see what the sausage is bringing to the table.

- Other ingredients on the meat side of things

        - one pork braciole

        - 3 meatballs (pork/beef)

        - one pork chop

        - 3 sausages

        - one beef rib

 

 

 

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Sunday Sauce Classic: Battle of the Pizza Rusticas

Ok, ok, we know we've been gone for a long time. We'll explain it all a bit later, but more importantly we'll soon be hitting you with new content as Nikki is revving up a bunch of posts b/c she has been cooking her behind off lately. In the meantime, it's Easter Week so it's time to talk PIZZA RUSTICA. This ditty is from 2008...enjoy and stay tuned....JM

Welcome to our first installment of Food Wars. We decided to use Jonny Mangia's favorite dish of the Lent/Easter season, pizza rustica, as the subject of the first Food War. We went out and bought four different version from leading vendors (hey, we wanted a homemade one but couldn't get one of the vaunted ones from Nicole's Great Aunt Tina in time for the taste test), brought them to Mom G's for Easter and set about tasting them with Mom and Dad G, Jen & Mario Giannettino and Chessy. Here are the contestants:

Faicco's Pork Store - 260 Bleeker Street, NYC 212-243-1974
The Skinny - Faicco's was handicapped as an early favorite. They specialize in stuffed breads and it's so damn clean you can eat off the floor of the place. Cleanliness = quality in the Sunday Sauce book.

Rocco's Pastry & Espresso Cafe - 243 Bleeker Street, NYC 212-242-6031 
The Skinny - Rocco's was a dark horse candidate, added at the last minute. His specialty is pies and pastries. Could he pull-off a prime-time pizza rustica?

DeCicco's Food Market - 21 Center Street Ardsley NY 914-813-2009
The Skinny - This is where Mom G bought the gorgeous lamb for Easter. They have a lofty reputation
for quality so we figured they would hold their own in this pitched battle.

A & S Pork Store - 1789 Central Park Avenue, Yonkers NY 914-337-2550
Jonny Mangia's "go-to" place when it comes to Italian food products.

Note: No contestants from Arthur Avenue? That's right folks. Due to it's rapid transformation into a
tourist mecca, the prices on Arthur Ave. are getting ridiculously inflated. $40 for a pizza rustica? Go scratch!

Here are the tasting notes:

Faicco:
Visual -Huge gorgeous chunks of soprassata show they didn't skimp on the meat. Towering piece.
Crust - A thick shell, almost bread-like
Taste - A bit salty due to the large amount of meat, but after the salt spike subsides, bliss.

Rocco's:
Visual - Shallowest one we bought, not  much meat.
Crust - Pie crust which makes sense as it came from a baker.
Taste - Tasted more like an Italian cheesecake due to the propensity of formaggio.

DeCicco:
Visual - Another large piece, alla Faicco. Decent amount of meat.
Crust - Flaky, phyllo-like crust. Very Middle Eastern.
Taste - Very nice, correct balance of meat and cheese. Only problem was the structure as it fell apart easily when cut into.

A&S Pork Store:
Visual - Somewhat underwhelming. Not much in the way of meat, especially when compared to Faicco.
Crust - Crust was a negative, had a gummy, undercooked vibe.
Taste - Certainly not bad when heated up, but most were unimpressed..with one exception (read below).

The Winner: Faicco's of Bleeker Street
Aside from the initial salt spike, there wasn't anything wrong with this beast, as it scored three 1st place votes and a 2nd place finish as well. Tasted great, held it's form and wasn't all that expensive to boot - about $24 for a whole pie.

Second place was awarded to DeCicco as they finished in the upper rung with all of the voters and avoided any last place finishes.

Next up was A&S which had a few last place finishes yet scored a 1st Place with Nikki !(?).

Rocco's took up the rear, mostly due to it's lack of meat. Hey if we were voting on cheesecake, it would have been a contender.