Mommys Stuffed Peppers Recipe

Stuffed Peppers alla Lucia

As I walked out of my apartment in Greenwich Village, something hit me. It was an unmistakeable smell ... A smell and aromas that instantly brought me back to my youth and my mother cooking the dish. Yes I know that smell quite well and can easily identify. The smell? Why Stuffed Peppers of course! As the peppers roast, stuffed most likely with ground beed mixed with rice (to strecth-out the beef), garlic and grated Parmiggiano Reggiano with tomato sauce. Yes the smell is quite wonderful and when I remember as my mother cooked the dish often. Stuffed Peppers along with; Meatballs, Stuffed Artichokes, Meatlaof, Eggplant, Braciole, and Stuffed Shells were one of the main-stays of my mothers Italian roots repetoire. A dish I always loved, but releived as I walked out my door the other day, a dish, just like Stuffed Shells and Chicken Cacctiatore that are hardly ever eat these days. I pondered why, and decided there was no good reason and I have to remedy this little delema, and soon.

I haven't had the dish in quite some time,  and decided I must have it soon. I went to the supermarket and got all the ingredients,; the Green Bell Peppers, ground beef, a can of San Marzano Tomatoes, and rice. I bought the Grated Parmiggiano at Raffetto's around the block and I was all set to go.

First things first, so I put the rice on to cook.  I got a little tomato sauce going with garlic, olive oil, Pepperoncino, and the San Marzano's,   I chopped the Italian Parsely, onions, and Garlic for the stuffing, and got things ready.

  I got 6 peppers that I would cut the tops off, then pull out the core inside. 

So the rice had finished cooking and cooled down, and it was time to put in a mixing bowl with the ground beef, garlic, chopped onions, grated cheese, and parsley. Season with salt and Black Pepper, throw in one egg and mix with my hands till everything was well mixed, just they mommy did. The stuffing was ready to stuff into the peppers. Fill all the peppers with the beef mixture, top them with their tops, pot some tomato sauce in the casserole dish, place the peppers in there, and throw them in the oven. In a little more than an hour they'd be done.

I pot on some Sinatra and Louie Prima, cracked open a "Nice Bottle of Chianti," as Anthony Hopkins would say, and waited for the Peppers to cook. 

Now I was making my own again, and I'm sure some of the neighbors were jealous as I was the other day, smelling those tasty Stuffed Peppers one of my neighbors was making, but none would I have. Not that day anyway, but now, and time for others to be wanting and not me. I'm sorry I can't feed everyone. Now anyone who knows me, knows that I love to cook and feed others. My friends, family, whoever, and this often do, of which many will attest to.

Well noone is coming today. I'm gonna eat a couple of these suckers today, and the rest I'll leave in the frig and have 3 or 4 more meals of these babies during the week, Stuffed Peppers, Chianti, and Sinatra, "yes life is good at times," times like these ....

Daniel Bellino-Zwicke

LUCIA'S STUFFED PEPPERS

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SUNDAY SAUCE

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Best Ever Minestrone Soup Recipe

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RECIPE : MINESTORNE GENOVESE

Ingredients :

1/4 pound Cannellini or Borlotti (cranberry) beans, soaked overnight

3 tablespoons Extra-Virgin Olive Oil 1/2 cup chopped onion 2 leeks, washed and chopped, white part only 1 medium eggplant (1 pound), peeled and diced 2 medium carrots, peeled and sliced 2 ribs celery, sliced 2 medium potatoes, peeled and diced 2 medium tomatoes, diced 2 cups hot chicken broth 4 cups hot water, plus extra if needed 1 cup chopped raw spinach 1 cup diced zucchini 1 cup shredded green cabbage 1/4 pound vermicelli or stelline pasta 3 tablespoons Basil Pesto Salt and pepper to taste

PREPARATION 

Drain the beans from the overnight soaking water, place them in a pot, cover with water, cook about 30 minutes or until still quite al dente, and set aside.

In a large pot, heat the oil. Add the onion, leeks, eggplant, carrots, celery and potatoes and sauté for about 8 minutes, or until the vegetables just begin to exude their juices.

Add the tomatoes, hot broth, hot water, beans and additional hot water to just cover the mixture. Bring to a boil, lower the heat to a simmer, and cook covered for about 30 minutes.

Add the spinach, zucchini, cabbage and pasta and cook another 20 minutes or until the pasta is al dente. Stir in the pesto. Add salt and pepper to taste and serve.

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BASIL PESTO for MINESTORNE GENOVESE and to Sauce the PASTA of Your Choice

Who doesn't Love Pesto ? Well I guess there may be some, but for the most part, just about everyone loves this wonderful no-cook Italian Sauce that highlights some of Italy's most iconic ingredients which include ; fresh garden Basil, Italian Olive Oil, garlic, Pignoli Nuts, and Parmigiano Reggiano . In Genoa and Liguria where Pesto was first born and is famous for there, there are primarily two ways to use this wonderful cold sauce, number one is to coat any one of a variety of pasta shapes to make a tasty pasta dish of Maccheroni & Pesto or pesto's second most important use is as the main flavor enhancer of Minestrone Genovese, the greatest vegetable soup of all.

RECIPE : BASIL PESTO

• 3/4 cup pine nuts (6 ounces)

• 5 cups basil leaves, chilled and very dry

• 6 small garlic cloves, quartered

• 1 Tablespoon Lemon Juice

• 1/3 cup freshly grated Parmesan cheese

• 3/4 cup extra-virgin olive oil, plus more for sealing

• Kosher salt and freshly ground pepper

1. Put the garlic in the bowl of a food processor and pulse until coarsely chopped. Toss in the nuts, Parmesan, if using, pepper and salt and chop until the nuts are finely crushed, about 1 minute. Add the basil, oil and lemon juice and pulse for 1 minute more, until smooth. 

2. To store, transfer the pesto to a sterilized jar with a tight-fitting lid. Pour a thin layer of olive oil on top of the pesto, seal and refrigerate up to 10 days or freeze up to 3 months.

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America 's Best Italian- American Cookbook Author

   

  There lives in New York City's Greenwich Village Italian neighborhood an author named Daniel Bellino Zwicke .. Daniel is the Best Selling author of much loved Italian Cookbooks as Sunday Sauce, Grandma Bellino'z Italian Coobook, La Tavola, and The Feast of The Seven Fish / Italian Christmas  ... There is no other Italian Cookbook author quite like Daniel. For one Daniel was a real restaurant chef helming the kitchens of some of New York's finest restaurants as well as creating America's FIRST Ever Venetian Wine Bar / Restaurant (known as a Bacaro). In writing such beloved Italian Cookbooks as Segreto Italiano, Sunday Sauce, and The Feast of The Seven Fish, Daniel is famous for 3 main aspects in writings of Italian Food and Wine. The three great aspects of Daniel's unique writing style is the great love and passion Daniel has for his subject matter, his unique storytelling style and the ease, authenticity, and accuracy of his recipes. Daniel Bellino Zwicke has carved out his own special niche in his food and cultural writings and that is that he has now established himself as the undisputed pre-eminent writer of Italian-American Food Cooking and Culture. And Daniel Bellino Zwicke is without question the world's number one proponent of Italian-American Food and Cuisine as a true and legitimate world cuisine. Daniel's fans and followers are enamored with Daniel's Italian Cookbooks which combine wonderful Italian Food Recipes that are coupled with delightful stories and facts of the food, the recipes, history, and people's of Italian-America. So we salute this Greenwich Village based food, wine, & travel writer and recorder of the Italian-American lifestyle one Daniel Bellino-Zwicke. Bravo!







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SUNDAY SAUCE

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