HOW to MAKE SPAGHETTI & MEATBALLS
AL PACINO'S Favorite Pasta !
SPAGHETTI AGLI OLIO
Scarpariello is often made with a whole chicken cut into eight or 12 pieces. After trying it that way a couple times, I switched over to using only bone-in, skin-on chicken thighs or legs. Breasts tend to dry out much more easily, and it's a bit too fiddly for a simple weeknight meal to fish out the breast pieces as they finish cooking, then add them all back in. Chicken thighs are packed with connective tissue, which means that they're very forgiving to cook. Even if you accidentally overcook them, they stay nice and juicy. Thighs are also great because that connective tissue breaks down and converts into gelatin, giving the sauce better body and flavor.
To start, I brown the chicken thighs deeply, with their skin side down, in order to get them crisp and to start building up fond—the tasty browned bits in the bottom of the pan—for my sauce base. Once the chicken is browned, I remove it and add a few whole Italian sausages to brown. Some recipes call for removing the sausage from its casings; I prefer to brown the sausage with the casing intact, then slice it into chunky pieces before braising it along with the chicken.
Once the sausage is browned, I add an onion and a bell pepper and sauté them until tender, then add a few sliced cloves of garlic and a couple tablespoons of minced fresh sage leaves. In the Cook's Illustrated version of this recipe, Sandra found that using a combination of a bell pepper and sliced pickled cherry peppers offered the best flavor, and I concur. You can use either sweet or hot pickled peppers, depending on your tolerance. (Using hot can make this dish spicy.)
2 1/2 pounds (1.15kg) bone-in, skin-on chicken thighs (6 to 8 thighs)
Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper
1 tablespoon (15ml) vegetable oil
3 to 4 links sweet or hot Italian sausage (about 1 1/2 pounds; 700g)
1 medium onion, thinly sliced (about 6 ounces; 170g)
1 large red bell pepper, thinly sliced (about 6 ounces; 170g)
2 tablespoons finely minced fresh sage leaves (about 1/4 ounce; 8g)
6 cloves garlic, thinly sliced
8 hot or Sweet Pickled Cherry Peppers, thinly sliced, along with 1/4 cup (60ml) pickling liquid from the jar
Italian Food
Italian Food? What is it? Well, in America, it more or less falls into two categories, dishes that are unadulterated authentic Italian Food from our mother country Italy, or else it’s Italian-America food which is basically Italian Cuisine of Italy that is made by Italian-Americans in America and under any one particular Italian-Americans way of cooking it. Italian-American Cuisine is made-up of dishes created by Italian-American immigrants either in the home or in Italian restaurants, creating dishes based on the Italian Cuisine of Italy but made in America by Italian immigrants and their offspring. Yes there are some differences, and some who think they are so smart and know it all, might turn their noses up at what is known as Italian-America, the food, the cuisine and how it’s made. Well, these people most likely are food writers and or critics who think they know more than they really do. Now any good food writer worth their salt should knows that food and cuisines are always changing, new dishes are created and added and make their way into whatever particular cuisine it may be. Let us not forget that the tomato only made it into Europe in the later part of the 16th Century, and was not even eaten for almost 200 years later as most Europeans including Italithought that the tomato was a poison vegetable. The tomato which is along with pasta a food most associated with Italian Cuisine did not even gain popularity in Italy and in its cuisine until somewhere around the 1870s with the popularity and invention of the Pizza in Naples in the 1880s. So you see, food and any particular country’s cuisine is always changing. This thing we call Italian-American is actually a full-fledged cuisine in it’s own right and the numbers back it up. Italian immigrants to the United States making the food of their homeland, but not having all the Italian ingredients available to them at the turn of the century in and around 1900, used what was available, making the dishes of their home region in Italy; of Sicily, Naples, Abruzzo, and Puglia, they re-created their regional Italian dishes as best they could. Italian immigrants to America who created new dishes includes restaurant owners of Italian restaurants who created some of Italian-America’s most classic dishes, dishes like Chicken Parmigano and Veal Parm as well. Most of the few million Italian immigrants from Italy came from the south, especially from Sicily and Naples and its surrounding areas. Much of this southern Italian Cuisine is based on dishes that use tomatoes in the preparation, thus dishes like Spaghetti Pomodoro (Tomato Sauce), Eggplant Parmigiano, Calamari en Casseruela, Mussels Marinara, and numerous dishes with tomatoes in them. These dishes became very popular and became dishes that not only Italian-Americans know, but all Americans no matter their ethnic backgrounds. The Italian immigrants and restaurateurs created new dishes based on the Italian Cuisine of Italy with dishes like Chicken and Veal Parmigiano, and later Penne al Vodka. Chicken Parmigiano being a boneless chicken cutlet that is coated with breadcrumbs, then fried, then topped with Italian Tomato Sauce and Mozzarella and baked in the oven until the Mozzarella is melted and all is hot. This Chicken Parmigiano is then usually served with Spaghetti with Tomato Sauce on the side and is without question one of the most popular and beloved Italian-American dishes of all.
There’s a famous dish that millions love, called Fettuccine Alfredo. It’s made with fresh fettuccine pasta that’s dressed with a creamy sauce made with heavy cream and grated Parmigiano Reggiano Cheese. The real dish from Rome is made with the pasta dressed with just butter and Parmigiano and no heavy cream at all, but some how the dish was changed over here. The dish has been hugely popular with millions upon millions of dishes being served over the years, so something must be right despite the small numbers of critics against the dish. In the end the masses decide, which in this case with millions loving the dish and eating it for many years, this alone is proof of its acceptance as a favorite dish of the Italian-American Cuisine. And the reason that Fettuccine Alfredo became so hugely popular is quite simple, the dish is dam tasty and people love it, simple as that! Remember cuisines never stay the same, they change and sometimes new ones are created, and this is the case with Italian-America and its cuisine Italian-American, millions love it, it’s legit, and that’s it. Here are my memories of it, of the Italian-American food, the culture, our people and the homeland Italy, it’s culture and cuisine.
Excerpted from MANGIA ITALIANO
by Daniel Bellino "Z" - Available on AMAZON.com
