Sunday Sauce - Italian Recipes, Food and More!

New York Times Reviews NYC's Nouveau Pizzerias

Frank Bruni takes his acerbic pen to the City's new wave of pizzerias. It's a great read. Enjoy!

His top list:

1. MOTORINO 319 Graham Avenue (Devoe Street), Williamsburg, Brooklyn; (718) 599-8899.

Bottom line: When I went, every pizza was terrific, at prices ($9 to $16 for individual-size pies) that didn’t rise nearly as high as Lucali’s or Una Pizza Napoletana’s, in an attractive setting with a back patio.

2. VELOCE PIZZERIA 103 First Avenue (East Seventh Street), East Village; (212) 777-6677.

Bottom line: These square pies ($15 to $19) are bigger and more filling than similarly priced round ones, and Veloce doesn’t have the attitude and preciousness of many new-generation pizza places.

3. UNA PIZZA NAPOLETANA 349 East 12th Street (First Avenue), East Village; (212) 477-9950.

Bottom line Excellent but aloof and, at $21 per individual-size pie, expensive.

4. ANSELMO’S 354 Van Brunt Street (Sullivan Street), Red Hook, Brooklyn; (718) 313-0169.

Bottom line: Good food plus a waiter in a dirty white V-neck and “Godfather” music. Irresistible.

5. FRANNY’S 295 Flatbush Avenue (Prospect Place), Prospect Heights, Brooklyn; (718) 230-0221.

Bottom line: It’s a multifacted pizza restaurant, but requires more commitment than others.

Scarlett Isabella Giannettino

More Pics from today...the angel has now left Lawrence Hospital, was blessed in St. Joseph's Church and is now resting comfortably in her beautiful nursery in our home.

Scarlett in her "Onesy" in her crib!

 

The whiteboard in the hospital that we used during final

deliberations over her name.

 

 

Born 6/27/09, 7:58PM

7.1 lbs, 20 inches

Pizza Notes...Frankie & Fanucci's, Zero Otto Nove

A couple of pizza-related notes...

Frankie & Fanucci's
Since we moved to Westchester in late January we have been nothing short of miserable when it comes to pizza. We visited Johnny's in Mt. Vernon but Nikki did not like the sauce (Jonny Mangia is a fan), Nikki also skeeved Totonno's in Yonkers, and we were also disappointed by Sabatino's in Hawthorne.

This resulted in us giving up on Westchester and continuing to patronize Zero Otto Nove on Arthur Avenue and on one particularly desperate night actually crossing the GW Bridge and heading back to Brooklyn's Pizzera in Edgewater NJ, our old stomping ground when we lived in Hoboken.

Thankfully, the darkness has passed because we are now happy to report that we have a new option in Westchester: Frankie & Fanucci's. 

Margherita pie at Frankie & Fanucci's

Frankie & Fanucci's opened in Hartsdale last month and we've visited the joint 3x already. It's very clean, is easily accessible off of the Bronx River Parkway and most importantly, they make a damn good pizza fired in a wood-burning oven.

 
Clam Pie slice at Frankie & Fanucci's

Typically, we've been ordering Margherita pizzas with a small clam pie as well. We've found the sauce on the Margherita to be very sweet and tasty and Jonny Mangia noted that the mozzarella they used, procured from a purveyor in Brooklyn, was of high quality as it didn't "sweat" - i.e - give off greasy residue common to lower rent slices. The clam pie was solid, thought not spectacular.  Not many places serve the clam pie, so the only point of reference is Lombardi's in NYC, and I found their's to be better. (We'll do a full clam pie showdown once Frank Pepe's opens in Yonkers and once we get over to the Tarry Lodge). Though they use a wood-burning oven akin to the pizza master's in Naples, Italy, the pies at Frankie & Fanucci's are actually closer to the "Roman" style, where they are extremely crispy and similar to a flatbread.  As Jonny Mangia is a huge proponent of the Neapolitan style and their softer, doughier crust, we were pretty surprised to find him dig Frankie & Fanucci's style so much. Bottom line is, the pies are very good, the place is clean, and the owner is a very nice guy who goes out of his way to make you feel at home.  Trust us, it's a very, very solid place which we will continue to patronize.

Zero Otto Nove
If you are familiar with this blog, you know how we have waxed poetic about Roberto's pies at Zero Otto Nove, so we're not going to be redundant.  We went back on Friday night after a long layoff and the song remains the same - Zero Otto Nove makes the best pie this side of Da Michele in Naples, Italy. 'Nuf said.

Back in the Saddle

We've been away for awhile, busy with this thing called life, but it's time to start posting again.
We are about 2-3 weeks away from the arrival of "Teeny", so suffice to say we are excited as can be.
Nikki's full belly hasn't prevented us from going out and eating though, and we are happy to say that we actually found a good pizzeria in Southern Westchester as well as got turned on to an amazing assortment of new sausage varieties at A & S in Yonkers. I've also dug  more info on the impending (we hope) opening of Frank Pepe's pizzeria in Yonkers on Central Avenue.

We'll be back shortly with posts on these and more.
In the meantime, take a look at this shot from a pie we enjoyed at Frankie & Fanucci's of Hartsdale. Yes God, there is decent pizza around here!

Rest in Peace Richie

I just received the news that a friend of ours from Hoboken just passed away from cancer.

Richie Turnbull was the owner of Uptown Pizza, which was located right outside our building on 14th Street. A native Brooklynite, Richie always greeted his customers with a smile that could light up a room.
He had an incredible amount of positive energy that you couldn't help but be positively affected by.

I had a Saturday ritual whereby after I returned from karate class, I would visit Uptown Pizza and spend an hour BS'ing with Richie and the other workers. I'd usually grab a slice with mushrooms and a few onion pinwheels (a specialty that Richie introduced me to - they were phenomenal).

Richie made really good pizza, and we were always thankful that he finally provided an alternative to the mostly-lousy pizza found in Hoboken.

After he was diagnosed with cancer, he had stopped putting in the around-the-clock hours at the pizza shop, instead opting to open it in the mornings then leave by lunch time. When his schedule changed I really didn't see much of him any more, except when I would bump into him in the Shipyard  apartment complex. He lost a ton of weight and looked tired, but he never stopped being upbeat. It was just his nature. And I'm sure that's what helped him battle this insidious disease for several years.

I didn't get to say goodbye to him before we left Hoboken in late January, so I had planned to stop by the pizza shop on one of our trips back to town and say hi. It's too late for that now, so Rich, we just want to say thank you for the great food, but more importantly, thank you for being such a warm, friendly human and for showing us how to be positive and appreciate life even when the chips are down.

Rest in peace.

Jonny

Where Have We Been?

There's been alot going on in our world which has made it very difficult to update the blog regularly.

First, we moved into this beautiful house in Westchester County 6 weeks ago.

Secondly, Nikki is 6 months pregnant with our little girl who we affectionately call "Teeny" !

So as you can see, it's been kind of hectic. But we promise to get posting again rather soon because
we have a really nice kitchen to that needs some great Italian meals cooked in it!

Talk to you all soon!

Jonny & Nikki (and Teeny)

How Much Water Does Pasta Need? - From the NY Times 2/24/09

It's been a LONG time between posts folks...much going on with Nikki and I as we will soon tell you.
In the meantime check out this article from today's NYT where the author intertwines energy consumption and savings with the production of cooking pasta in your kitchen . Do you know that Americans cook over a billion pounds of pasta per year? I think Nikki is probably responsible for a 1/4 of that total.

Christmas Eve 2008 Video - Feast of The Fishes on a Budget

Chef Dave Pasternak dropped by CBS to give tips on how to put together an authentic
Christmas Eve Feast of the Seven Fishes with only $80. Let it roll...

Christmas Eve 2008 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!!!!

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.

Christmas Week 2008 - Revisiting Xmas Eve 2007 Photo Gallery

While we round up content for this week, let's take a trip back in time to 

Mom G's Christmas Eve table 2007.

  

Mom G's Seafood Salad!