Saturday, June 14, 2025
Old School Italian Red Sauce
Wednesday, May 14, 2025
Raos Meatballs Recipe
If you're looking for a hot and cozy fall recipe, look no further than Rao's. Known for its exclusivity and esteemed reputation, New York City's Rao's restaurant has been serving up authentic Italian food since 1896.
Here, Dino Gatto, the Executive Chef of New York City's Rao's Restaurant, shares his tips for how to make the juiciest meatballs:
For mouthwatering meatballs it's important to only use the freshest and best quality products.
In this recipe, you will find that we add the water, cheese and breadcrumbs in layers, which allows the breadcrumbs to be separate from the water. If you add the water, then breadcrumbs ... by the time you get started to mix, the water will be absorbed into the bread and will be hard to mix and dry, which also makes it hard to roll.
The longer the meatballs simmer in the sauce, the softer they will be inside and also have the crust from them being fried.
RAOS MEATBALL Recipe :
Ingredients :
1 pound Ground Beef
1/2 pound Ground Veal
1/2 pound Ground Pork
2 Eggs (beaten)
1 cup grated Parmesan Cheese
2 tablespoon fresh chopped Italian Parsley
1 teaspoon each Sea Salt & ground Black Pepper
1 Garlic clove, peeled and minced fine
2 cups fresh Breadcrumbs
1 cup water
1 cup Olive Oil
1 Garlic clove, mashed
1. In a large mixing bowl, add the Beef, Veal, Pork, Parmesan, parsley, salt & black pepper, minced garlic, and mix together using your hands (don't overmix).
2. Add the bread breadcrumbs to the meat, and combine. Slowly add the water a little at a time as you mix with your hands.
3. Shape the mixture into 3" Meatballs.
4. Add the Olive Oil to a large frying pan with the mashed Garlic. Cook the Garlic until it is lightly browned. Remove the garlic and discard.
5. Fry the Meatballs in batches, browning on all sides.
6. Frying the Meatballs in batches, remove the browned Meatballs, and set aside on a plate.
7. Once all the Meatballs have browned, cook the Meatballs in Tomato Sauce for 15 - 20 minutes, at a slow simmer.
Serve with Spaghetti or other Pasta, or make a Nice Meatball Sandwich.
Enjoy !
The WORLD'S BEST SUNDAY SAUCE
alla BELLINO alla PACINO
MEATBALL PARM MONDAYS
Friday, February 21, 2025
Making Clemenza Godfather Sunday Sauce - Recipe

SUNDAY SAUCE alla BELLINO
Thursday, October 24, 2024
Johns of East 12th Street - Red Sauce Joint
"JOHN'S" - Since 1908
Sunday, February 4, 2024
Carbone Makes Sunday Sauce
Wednesday, August 24, 2016
Italian Red Sauce Joints
Gino’s of Lexington Avenue? This restaurant was one of the most special restaurants that ever was. Ask any of the few hundred regulars who ate there so many times a year. How many you ask? Well, there are regulars who ate there 2 to 3 times a week, some once a week, some one or two times a month, and some maybe four to six times a year, but all regulars. That’s how it goes with regulars in restaurants, and this is a solid foundation that all good restaurants need to succeed in New York. Gino’s had a pretty long history for its regulars to enjoy for any number of years. The restaurant opened in 1945 by Gino Circiello and two partners, was in operations for 65 until it closed in 2010 after losing their lease. Needless to say this was a sad day for all its devoted regulars which included the likes of; Gay Talese, David Suskind, Frank Sinatra, many luminaries along with numerous businessmen and women, and people in the fashion business, publishing, law, and all sorts of businesses. Gino’s customers loved and revered the place, a wonderful Italian Red Sauce Joint where you could get a great meal of solid Italian classic dishes, at reasonable prices, with good service and a perfect ambiance that included one of New York’s last remaining telephone booths and the famed Zebra wallpaper. And it was the clientele that really made the perfect ambiance that was Gino’s, which was par excellence. Gino’s was filled to capacity each day and night for lunch and dinner, jammed with people doing business, or just simply having a great time eating Baked Clams Oreganta followed by Linguine w/ Clam Sauce, Chicken or Veal Parmigiano or perhaps a daily special like Veal Ossobuco or braised Lamb Shanks, the food was always good at Gino’s, everything was. The people just loved it there. The vibe was always great, lively and full of life, that was Gino’s.
. There was Gino and later on Michael Miele (a former employee who became the owner), there was of course the Zebra Wallpaper, the old-school waiters, the tasty food, and the clientele themselves that filled the air of Gino’s dining room with good natured chatter and that special feeling that a room full of happy people makes. And you were always more than happy when you were in Gino’s. Yes, Gino’s was a restaurant that’s now known as an Old School Red Sauce Joint. This being a restaurant that had pretty much the same standard dishes that so many people love, millions in fact. The menu had items like; Caprese Salad, Baked Clams, both Casino and Oreganata, Seafood Salad, Spaghetti w/ Tomato Sauce, or Bolognese, Manicotti, Ravioli, and Gino’s famous Pasta Segreto with their famed Secret Sauce. You had all the most popular chicken, fish, and veal dishes, dishes like; Chicken Parmigiano, Veal Saltimbocca, Veal Piccata, Veal Milanese (Sinatra’s favorite), Shrimp Scampi, Clams Posillipo another Sinatra favorite, Lobster Fra Diavolo and the sort of solid Italian food that Italian-Americans and the rest of their American brethren all loved and still love, regardless of what snobbish food critics may say or think. For Gino’s clientele knew what was real, and Gino’s was as real as it got. If you asked Frank (Sinatra) he’d set you straight, “Gino’s is the Real Deal Baby.” Well, so sadly, Gino’s closed in 2010. It was a sad day indeed, and for regulars an actual tragedy, we lost our favorite clubhouse of all. A place that was so special and uniquely wonderful you just can’t replace. Yes a sad day indeed. Gino’s was irreplaceable, it’s a sin that it died, never-the-less it did. This was a crime, a crime against New York, Italian-America and Gino’s many devoted fans. If you knew Gino’s you’d surely agree. Yes, even Gino’s a historical Old School Italian joint came to an end and died, a fate happening all over the country. We’re losing our wonderful beloved Red Sauce Joints. Places that are a part of American history, the history of Italian-America and even of Italy, as it was the citizens of our motherland who came here and created Italian-American Cuisine and Red Sauce Joints like our beloved Gino’s and other restaurants just like it all over America. Farewell to Gino’s and places like Rocco’s in Greenwich Village and all of our famous red sauce joints of years gone by. Now hold on a minute. Yes we’ve lost many a great red sauce joints in the past years, and even still. But guess what? With places like Frankie’s Spuntino and Carbone in Greenwich Village, Red Sauce are now hip and as beloved as ever. They’re among one of the hot new restaurant and food-trends of most recent years. Unfortunately, Carbone is very expensive. Frankie’s on the other hand is not, it’s quite reasonable and in the true spirit of Old School Italian-American restaurants. Let’s hope this trend continues and instead of so many flashy restaurant that are not in the spirit of old school Italian-America, we need to get more restaurants like Frankie’s and Rubirosa. And if we’re lucky some day, maybe someone will open another Gino’s complete with all the old dishes like Pasta Segreto and the Scalamandre Zebra Wallpaper of course, of which Gino’s would not be Gino’s. Gino’s we miss you so. So now it’s a sad state of affairs when we talk of these wonderful old Red Sauce Joints of our lives. We’ve had many good time there; family dinners, meals with friends, and courting and such. These places provide the perfect ambiance with great food, wine, and the animated waiter or two. But sadly not many are left. As you know, we lost Gino’s a few years ago and numerous good old restaurants before that. In Manhattan where I live it doesn’t even take the fingers of one had to count how many old Italian Red Sauce Joints are left. There’s Rao’s up in East Harlem, one of the all-time great new York City old-school Italian Restaurants with just the right ambiance and wonderful old-school Italian food, but guess what, you can’t get in. The place is sort of an exclusive club where people have a table reserved once a week and there’s never any opening, unless you know one of these elite in the know people, just Fuggetabout-it! So there’s Rao’s up in East Harlem, Patsy’s in mid-town, and John’s of East 12th Street down in the East Village. John’s opened in 1908 and is still in business. Not only is it still in business, but the place has been wonderfully preserved and retains its original décor from 1908, the old tile floor, murals of Italian Cities and places like Venice, Rome, The Bay of Naples, and more. They still have the original bar and autographed pictures of movie stars and other celebrities from a large part of the 2oth Century. The menu at John’s has most of the expected Red Sauce dishes like; Spaghetti with White or Red Clams Sauce, Veal Saltimbocca, Chicken Scarpara, Veal Piccata, Speedino of Mozzarella alla Romano, Baked Clams Oreganata, Spaghetti & Meatballs, Lasagna, and Canneloni. The kitchen churns out real solid food with standouts being there Baked Clams and their Speedino alla Romano which is without question the best in the city. John’s has quite a history with Lucky Lucciano being a regular once upon a time, along with numerous mobsters back in the day, and John’s has seen the likes of The Ramones, Cindy Lauper, John Lennon and other luminaries walk through its doors. There’s one other old Red Sauce Joint around the corner from John’s, and that’s Lanza’s on 1st Avenue and 11th Street. Lanza’s is actually a few years older than John’s opening in 1904. Lanza’s is pretty nice and a good part of it has been preserved, although a few years ago they made some changes to the décor which sort of ruined it a bit. Lanza’s has that great classic red sauce joint menu with items like Spaghetti Marinara, Pasta Fagioli, Manicotti, Braciole, Cannoli, and the like. Now we come to Patsy’s on West 56th Street in mid-town Manhattan. Guess what? This was Frank Sinatra’s all-time favorite restaurant, he ate there hundreds of times over the years and just loved it. It’s a great restaurant and if you go there, why not get some of Frank’s favorite dishes? Frank’s favorites were; Clams Posillipo, Spaghetti Marinara, and Veal Milanese. And yes, Sinatra went to Gino’s now and then, but it’s a well know fact that Patsy’s was his favorite. Well, that’s about it on red sauce joints, they’re a dying breed I’m sorry to say. If you’ve never been to John’s, you must check it out. This place is like a museum. Truly. The owners have preserved its décor in an admirable manner, and what you see now is pretty much what Lucky Lucciano would have seen a 100 years ago. You’ll get a wonderful experience here of days gone by. An experience you’ll not find at too many places, so grab it while you still can.
Excerpted from Daniel Bellino Zwicke's new forthcoming book, MANGIA ITALIANO, my Memories of Italian Food ....
Due October 2016
Tuesday, November 24, 2015
Italian Eggs
ITALIANS & EGGS
Not many would think of Italians as being big egg Eaters, but if you thought that, you’d be wrong. Italians probably eat more eggs than Americans, and they certainly have more ways to prepare them, especially in the form of the marvelous Italian Frittata. Italians eat Hard-Boiled Stuffed Egg at Wine Bars all over Italy, and they eat all kinds of Frittati mostly for lunch, but for dinner with a salad or as a late night snack as well. The fillings for Frittata are endless, with spinach, spaghetti, potato, and mushroom being most common. One famous Italian Egg dish is Uovo en Purgatorio, a dish of a couple eggs cooked in spicy tomato sauce and serve over toasted Italian Bread. But when it comes to Italian-Americans vs. our Italian brethren in Italy, Italian-Americans eat quite a bit more eggs than Italians in Italy. Where Italian-Americans beat out Italians in Italy in egg consumption is in the area of Egg Sandwiches, of which we just love and is our little secret, Italian-American Secret that is. American’s of other ethnic origins might not know of these tasty little sandwiches as we mostly eat them at home and the only Italian Egg Sandwich you are likely to see in an Italian-Deli is one of Sausage Pepper and Eggs. And you’re gonna have to go into a real heavy duty Italian neighborhood in Philly, Chicago, Brooklyn, and other parts of New York to find one, and even then you’re not gonna see many around. My favorite Egg Sandwiches are the previously mention Sausage Pepper & Egg and one my dear Aunt Helen (born in Salerno) taught me way back when. It’s a sandwich that’s not that well known and is sort of a family secret. I’ve cooked it for my friends, who have all gone nuts for it, and love it so much that since we have a good number of dinner parties, my friends asked me to top crostini with this egg sandwich filling. Oh, “So what is it,” you want to know? Well, it’s quite simple, but supremely tasty. It’s spinach sautéed with butter and olive oil then mixed in with eggs (Scrambling) and top quality grated Parmigiano Reggiano or Grana Padana Cheese. The result is amazing. One day I went over to Aunt Helen’s house to pay a visit to her and my Uncle Frank. As always Aunt Helen asked me if I wanted to eat. Well, more of an order than a question. “Heck yeah,” Aunt Helen, not what I said, but in my mind. OK, is what I said to Aunt Helen, one of the greatest Italian home-cooks this country has ever seen, her food was marvelous. Aunt Helen’s Meatballs are my all-time favorites. Anyway on this day, Aunt Helen gave me this sandwich. It was a Sandwich of Eggs scrambled with spinach and Parmigiano, and I was in Love at first bite. Dam, this sandwich was a revelation. I asked Aunt Helen how she made it, she told me and the rest is history. I made it for my friends who all went nuts for it as well, and I still make it to this very day, keeping my Aunt Helen’s memory alive, I always think of her and that day whenever I make it, Panino di Uovo e Spinaci. Yumm! You just gotta try one.
Excerpted From SUNDAY SAUCE - WHEN ITALIAN-AMERICANS COOK
by Daniel Bellino-Zwicke
- Place sausage in a small pot and cook in low simmering water for 10 minutes.
- Remove sausages from water and cut in to 1” pieces.