The North End Italian Cookbook

Ok, so before I begin this blog, I just have to say that I am feeling pretty cool right now as I watch Oprah talking about a couple of the things that I have featured in earlier blogs...Ralph Lauren Olympic duds and Double McTwist 1260. I feel a kindred spirit!

Okay, onto this blog! This is my favorite, most used, most loved cookbook. I am not Italian, but I sure can cook like I am thanks to this book! Funny story on how my relationship started with this one! About 10 years ago I was living in Boston and working for AT&T. These were good times and each summer AT&T would host a big clambake for its employees (I am sure like many other things in this new era of fiscal responsibility that this tradition is long gone!) So, at this clambake I had my very first lobster, ever, and a beer. And then I started feeling sick, really, really sick--so I got into my beloved 83' Brown Saab, Betty (RIP), and left. The picnic was on the South Shore, which is about a good hours drive from Boston on a summer afternoon. I was feeling so sick during my ride, I called Mitia (not yet my husband), on my giant motorolla flip phone, and asked him to meet me at the nearest landmark that he could get to quickly, the Copley Mall in Boston. I arrived at the mall first and was feeling sick to my stomach, woozy, like I had been slipped a mickey or something--literally, on the verge of passing out, the entire mall spinning around me. So, to pass some time and to avoid going into a full-fledged panic atack, I calmly walked into the bookstore and purchased the first book that I saw thinking that I would be able to sit and focus my mind on something. This was the book--and I sat, on the floor, in the back of that bookstore in the Copley Mall until Mitia came to my rescue. A few weeks later I had shrimp tempura and again felt that same sensation of being on the verge of passing out and just really, really sick. The next week I visited the allergist and aha! shellfish allergy!

So, while I don't touch any of the seafood recipes in this book, I have tried many, many others and they are all magnifico! MY "signature dish" for many years was the homemade ricotta gnocchi in a broccoli cream sauce--yum!!! I use this book at least a couple of times a week. It has achieved gold-medal status in my kitchen and has been rewarded with its own very special area, separate from all those other cook books, so that it is always at arms reach. In fact, simmering on my stove as I type is my second batch of Pasta e Fagioli this week. It is an affordable, easy, delicious and healthy soup---I just love it! AND, HAPPY FRIDAY TO YOU!! I am delighted to share the recipe with you--give it a try over the weekend, I am certain your family will love it as much as we do!!

Pasta e Fagioli

To Prepare Beans
1/2 pound white navy or pea beans (I use half bag of Goya white navy)
6 cups cold water (I use 3 cups chicken broth and 3 cups cold water)
1/4 cup olive oil
2 garlic cloves crushed
S&P to taste

Rinse beans, discard any imperfect ones.
Put water/stock in pot, add beans, garlic, olive oil, s&p
Simmer until beans are tender 1.5-2hours (usually closer to 2)

Marinara Sauce
2 garlic cloves chopped
pinch of dried red pepper flakes, basil and mint
3 tablespoons olive oil
1 8 oz can tomatoes ( I actually use the 14.5 oz can of muir glen diced tomatoes with basil and garlic)
S&P

In a small, heavy skillet, slowly saute the garlic and seasonings in the olive oil until golden brown
add tomatoes and a pinch more of the seasonings
simmer uncovered for about 10 minutes on low

To Finish!
Boil some small pasta (I like small shells the best, but ditali or elbow macaroni are good alternatives) reserve 1 cup of the pasta water
When the beans are tender, add the marinara sauce and a SMALL amount of the cooked pasta (I add the pasta as we eat it b/c it absorbs the broth like you wouldn't believe! Don't add all of the pasta in at once to avoid it absorbing all the soup!) If more broth is desired, add from the reserved pasta water
Ladle into bowls, sprinkle with grated parm and enjoy!!


Things I Like....The North End Italian Cookbook by Marguerite Dimino Buonopane