Growing Cucuzza in your backyard .. An Italian-American time-honored Tradition ..
PASTA con CUCUZZA
Pasta & Gagootz !!!
Pasta & Gagootz is a long time favorite with the Bellino Family. Cucuzza, a.k.a. Gagootz is oh so Sicilian, and third only to Eggplant (Melanzane) and Artichokes, as the most popular and loved vegetable of all. Well yes there’s tomatoes and we love cauliflower quite a bit too, but Gagootz? Yes Cucuzza is the big Italian Squash eaten mainly by Italian-Americans, and mostly those of Sicilian and Neapolitan origins. Even in the Italian-American community, still not many know of this amazing Baseball Bat sized vegetable that most Sicilians do. So yes Cucuzza is ours, we Sicilians and other Southern Italian peoples, but not everyone you see. Hey, we love to share, but once in a while we like to keep a few things to ourselves. Doesn’t everyone? My mom used to make this often, along with Zuppa di Cucuzza from her mothers traditional recipes from Lercara Friddi. The recipe is oh so Sicilian, tasty and whimsical too. If you make it, you and your guest are sure to love it, as we Bellino’s have for more than 100 years now. Mangia Bene!
RECIPE : PASTA GAGOOTZ
1 large Cucuzza (Italian Squash)
1 medium Onion, peeled and chopped
¼ cup Olive Oil
1 teaspoon Red Pepper Flakes
4 cloves Garlic, peeled and sliced
1 – 28 ounce can crushed tomatoes
1 pound Green Beans, cleaned and cut in half
¼ cup fresh Basil leaves torn in half
1/3 cup grated Pecorino Romano Cheese
Peel the Cucuzza with a vegetable peeler and scoop out an large seeds if there are any and discard. Cut the Cucuzza (Gagootz) into 1 ½” pieces.
Place Cuccuzza and olive oil in a 6-quart pot and cook on low heat for 5 minutes. Add onion and cook for 4 minutes more.
Add garlic and cook on low flame for 2 minutes. Add red pepper flakes and cook 1 minute while stirring.
Add tomatoes and cook for 20 minutes, stirring occasionally with a wooden spoon.
While the sauce is simmering cook the green beans in a large pot of boiling salted water for 3 minutes. Drain the beans in a colander and put in the pot of sauce after it has been simmering for 12 minutes. Continue cooking for a total cooking time of 40-45 minutes for the sauce.
Add basil and cook two minutes.
Cook pasta according to directions on package. When finished cooking, drain the pasta in a colander, reserving about 7 tablespoons of the pasta cooking water.
Put the pasta back in the pot it cooked in. Drizzle on a little olive oil and mix. Add 1/3 of the sauce to the pot with the pasta and mix.
Divide the pasta among four plates. Top each plate of pasta with a little more of the sauce. Give a plate to each guest, pass the grated cheese and enjoy.
PASTA GAGOOTZ
Frank Eating a Scrambled Egg Sandwich at home … Palm Springs California
Besides eating his Italian-American favorite foods, Frank loved eating a nice simple Scrambled Egg Sandwich on good old American white bread for breakfast and anytime during the day as a in-between meals snack prepared by his Valet George Jacobs ..
SCRAMBLED EGG SANDWICH alla SINATRA
Ingredients : 2 slices White Bread, 2 large Eggs, 2 tablespoons Milk, Butter, Salt & Black Pepper, 4 tablespoons Olive Oil
Place 2 tablespoons Olive Oil in a large non-stick frying pan and turn heat to medium low .. Add bread and cook until slightly brown. Turn bread over and cook to slightly brown. Remove from pan and set aside on the plate you will serve the sandwich.
Add eggs to a small bowl with a pinch each of Salt & Pepper and the Milk. Beat eggs with a fork until completely mixed …
Add remaining Olive Oil and Butter to pan and turn heat to medium.When the pan is heated and the butter starts to sizzle, add the eggs to pan and let cook while stirring for about 15 seconds. Turn heat to low and let the eggs cook without stirring for 45 seconds.
Flip the eggs over and let cook for 60 seconds on low heat. Turn heat off.
Place the cooked eggs on one piece of bread. Sprinkle a little salt & pepper over eggs. Top with second slice of bread and serve.
.
Italy - Live It !!! Eat It !!!
The BEST MUSIC EVER !!!
"Everything & Anything" !!!
Cooking Italian 