Sicilian Recipes

Where the sun rises and colors the land,
and your mind and body
become  mystically enriched
in countless, revitalizing ways

 RECIPES… from Palermo, Menfi, Agrigento and Marsala

Antipasto - Appetizer

Sicilian Roasted & Baked Red Peppers

This Sicilian recipe for baked red peppers calls for day-old bread crumbs. We like doing it ourselves since we get a texture that's not too fine or too chunky.

• 6 red bell peppers, roasted
• 1/2 cup day-old bread crumbs
• 2 tablespoons chopped pignolia nuts
• 8 anchovies, rolled around capers
• 3 tablespoons finely minced parsley
• 3 tablespoons olive oil

METHOD

Preheat oven to 350° F.
Arrange red bell pepper slices close together in oiled, 8x11 inch baking pan. The peppers will be snug and can even overlap.
Mix together bread crumbs, pignolia nuts, anchovies, capers, and parsley. Add 1 1/2 tablespoons olive oil. Mix well. The mixture will be slightly dry.
Spread mixture on top of the peppers. Drizzle the remaining oil over the top.
Bake for about 15 minutes in preheated 350° F oven.
Can be served hot or cold.
Serves 4 - 6 as side dish.
Tip: When peeling the peppers, try to keep the slices large.

Zuppe – Soup

Lentil and Escarole Soup

Celery adds freshness to lentils. Adding an extra stalk, chopped very fine, towards the end brings out the flavor.

• 1 tablespoon olive oil
• 1 cup chopped onion
• 2 garlic cloves, minced
• 2 1/2 quarts water or vegetable broth
• 1 pound lentils, washed and picked over
• 3 stalks celery, roughly chopped
• 2 medium carrots, chopped
• 6 fresh plum tomatoes, roughly cut
• Salt to taste
• Freshly milled pepper
• 2 white potatoes, cut in 1/2 inch dice
• 2 small or 1 large head escarole
• 1 stalk celery, finely chopped
• 1/4 cup flat-leafed parsley minced
• 1 cup grated parmesan cheese

METHOD

Heat oil in large soup pot. Cook onion over medium heat until it is translucent. As onion softens, add minced garlic.
When onion is soft, pour in water or stock. Add lentils. Bring soup to a boil, then lower heat to medium. Add celery, carrots and tomatoes. Season with salt to taste. Do not oversalt as the parmigiano, added on serving, is salty. Grate in pepper. Cover and simmer for about 30 minutes. Add potatoes and cook for 15 minutes. Lentils should be tender.
While soup is cooking, clean the escarole and shred or chop into bite size pieces. Add to the soup and cook for an additional 10 to 15 minutes along with finely chopped celery. Garnish with parsley.
Serve with freshly grated parmigiano.
Serves 6 - 8

Insulate – Salad

Sicilian Orange Salad

Oranges scent the air of Sicily. This salad is easy and delicious, a wonderful mix of Sicilian elements.

• 1 bunch arugala
• 3 oranges
• 1 medium onion, minced
• 1/2 cup Sicilian cured black olives, pitted
• 1 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil
• Salt to taste
• Freshly milled pepper to taste

METHOD

Clean and dry arugala. Remove stems and tear into pieces.
Cut off ends from oranges. Working over a small bowl to catch liquid, cut off skin, keeping as much orange as possible, but removing all pith. Cut out orange segments, slicing between the white membranes. Cut into small pieces.
Put orange, onion and half the olives on top of arugola. Dress with oil and reserved orange juice, salt and pepper to taste. Mix well. Sprinkle remaining olives on top.
Serves: 4

Le Nostre Pasta

Classic Lasagna

Marisa has offered us Al's quick tomato sauce. If you have your favorite, use that, even if you have leftovers. It's good to have leftover sauce to use in other recipes. There will be no leftovers of the lasagna.
Sauce

• 3 tablespoons olive oil
• 1 medium onion, minced
• 2 garlic cloves, chopped
• 2 (28 ounce) cans Italian style peeled tomatoes, with juice

Meatballs

• 1/2 pound lean ground beef
• 1/2 pound lean ground pork
• 2 teaspoons fennel seeds
• 1 large egg
• Salt and black pepper to taste

Pasta Assembly

• 1 pound dried lasagna
• 1/2 cup grated parmigiano or Pecorino cheese (or both combined)
• 1 pound sliced mozzarella
• 1 1/2 pounds fresh ricotta

METHOD

Warm oil in large pot or Dutch oven. Stir in onion and garlic. When onion is softened, about 10 minutes, add peeled tomatoes and their juice. Break up tomatoes as the sauce cooks.
While sauce is cooking, mix beef, pork fennel, salt and pepper together and form into meatballs a little larger than golf balls.
When sauce boils, add meat balls. Let sit before stirring to harden meatballs. Bring to a hard boil, then lower flame and cook, partially covered for 1 hour, stirring deep in pot from time to time. When finished, remove meatballs and chop into small pieces.
Cook lasagna in abundant boiling water. When not quite al dente, stop cooking, drain and lay each noodle on a damp towel in preparation for assembling.
Preheat oven 350°F.
Using a baking dish about 2 inches deep, coat bottom of dish sparingly with tomato sauce. Line with layer of lasagna. Dot with spoonsful of ricotta, slices of mozzarella. Sprinkle lightly with grated cheese, spread with sauce, then add chopped meatball. Repeat layers in same order ending the top layer with pasta,. Spread this last layer with tomato sauce and grated cheese.
Cover pan with aluminum foil and bake in preheated 350°F oven for 15 minutes. Remove foil and cook additional 30 minutes. Cool slightly before serving.
Serves: 6 - 8

Vegetali – Vegetables

Cavolfiori al forno (Sicilian Cauliflower)

Vegetables are abundant in Sicily, and their flavor is intense due to the richness of lava-fed soil.

• 2 medium cauliflower
• 1 small onion, peeled but left whole
• 3/4 cup breadcrumbs
• 2 tablespoons butter
• 2 tablespoons flour
• 1/4 teaspoon thyme
• Salt to taste
• 1/2 cup Caciocavallo cheese, grated

Preheat oven to 350°F.
Break off large florets from cauliflower. Trim off exposed stalk of remaining head, then cut in quarters or eighths to arrive at equal size to the large florets. Boil in ample water with uncut onion. Drain, reserving 1 cup of the water. Butter an ovenproof casserole and sprinkle with 1/4 cup bread crumbs. Arrange cauliflower florets to resemble uncut head.
Melt butter in small saucepan. Using a whisk, stir in flour, salt and thyme. Add water reserved from boiling cauliflower. Cook over medium heat to make a thin sauce.
Pour sauce over cauliflower. Sprinkle with remaining 1/2 cup breadcrumbs, then with cheese. Bake in preheated 350° F oven for 20 minutes or until a golden crust forms.
Serves: 6

Pollo – Chicken

Breast with Marsala and Saffron

Veal Marsala is a classic Sicilian dish, but it can be made with chicken, too. When using chicken, the saffron is an additional savory taste and gives color to the sauce. You may use chicken with or without skin for this recipe - it's your choice.

• 1 to 1 1/2 cups chicken broth
• 1 packet saffron
• 2 tablespoons olive oil
• 1 1/2 pounds boneless chicken breast
• 1 cup Marsala wine Chicken
• 1/2 cup heavy cream

METHOD

In a small saucepan, warm chicken broth and saffron. Remove from heat when warm.
In heavy skillet, heat olive oil. Over medium heat, brown chicken breasts on both sides. Pour Marsala over chicken. Cook until Marsala is reduced by half.
Stir in infused chicken broth. Cook, partially covered, over medium-low heat until chicken is almost cooked through, about 20 - 25 minutes. Keep chicken at a tender simmer. If needed, add 1/2 cup more chicken broth.
When finished, remove chicken pieces with slotted spoon from pan and put on serving platter. Using a whisk, stir heavy cream into sauce in pan. Combine well, scraping up any sticky bits from pan.
Pour sauce over chicken and serve.
Serves: 6

Carne – Meat

Farsumagro (Stuffed Flank Steak)

The name farsumagro means "false lean," a mysterious name for something so rich. At first it was a way to stretch the meat budget and was stuffed only with bread crumbs, but was taken over by Sicilian aristocracy and dressed in this manner.

• 2 pounds flank steak
• 4 thin slices mortadella
• 1/4 pound ground pork or beef
• 1 egg, lightly beaten
• 1/3 cup grated romano cheese
• 1 tablespoon breadcrumbs
• 1/3 cup parsley, chopped
• 2 slices minced pancetta or bacon
• 2/3 cup peas
• Salt and freshly milled pepper to taste
• 4 hard-boiled eggs
• 2 tablespoons olive oil
• 1 cup red wine
• 2 cups beef or chicken broth
• 4 tablespoons tomato paste
• 1 bay leaf
• Butcher's twine

METHOD

Meat should be about 8 x 11 inches or larger as it must hold hard-boiled eggs.
Pound flank steak on both sides to make it as thin as possible. Do not tear.
In large bowl, combine ground meat, raw egg, grated cheese, breadcrumbs, parsley, bacon or pancetta, peas, salt and pepper.
Shell hard-boiled eggs. Slice off ends to expose yolk which should be in every slice of finished dish.
Spread beef so width runs left to right and is facing you. Spread ground meat mixture over meat, leaving 1/2 inch space along the edges. Put mortadella on top of spread. Line up eggs from end to end so the exposed yolks touch one another.
Have butcher"s twine ready. Roll beef away from you, so meat folding over eggs. Fold in outside ends and finish rolling the beef. Roll tightly, but do not force filling to spill out. Make a slipknot at one end and run twine the length of the meat. Be liberal with twine. Tie the roll, but not too tight or it will squeeze out the stuffing.
Using a heavy, deep skillet or pot, brown meat on all sides over a high flame. Lower heat to medium and add pour Reduce wine. Stir in broth, tomato paste, bay leaf Add enough water to cover 3/4 of the roll.
Reduce heat to low. Simmer meat, covered, for 45 minutes to 1 hour, turning occasionally.
Remove from pan and cool for about 20 minutes. Correct seasoning on sauce and simmer a minute or two longer. Remove bay leaf.
Untie roll and slice. Ladle a little sauce over the farsumagru, and serve what is left on the side.

Pesce – Seafood

Stuffed Squid (Stuffed Calamari)

Squid shrinks considerably in the cooking. It is important to buy ones that are uniform in size. The body should be no smaller than four inches and no larger than six inches . (Do not include the tentacles in this measurement.) Buying cleaned squid costs a few extra pennies, but saves a messy and tedious job.

• 10 squid as noted above
• 5 large Sicilian green olives
• 1/2 cup finely chopped onion
• 2 tablespoons butter or margarine
• 1 clove garlic, finely minced
• 3/4 cup fine bread crumbs
• 1 tablespoon grated parmigiano cheese
• 1 tablespoon grated romano cheese
• 1 egg
• 2 tablespoons olive oil
• 1 (16 ounce) can plum tomatoes, chopped

METHOD

Clean squid if not purchased clean. Finely chop tentacles and set aside. Pit olives and slice into thin slivers. Set aside.
Sauté onions in the butter. When onions begin to soften, add finely minced garlic and cook until onions are translucent. Let cool .
Mix together bread crumbs, cheeses, chopped tentacles and olives. Add cooled onion/garlic combination.
Break up egg with a fork, and mix lightly into bread mixture. Stuff calamari half full with the mixture. Do not overfill. The stuffing will swell as it cooks, and will fill the calamari completely. Close open end with a toothpick.
Heat olive oil in a heavy bottomed pan. Brown squid on both sides over medium/ high heat. Add tomatoes, reduce heat to low and cook for 15 to 20 minutes.
Serves 4 - 6.

If there is a lot of liquid in the can of tomatoes, pour some off, reserving for another use. The squid gives up liquid and the sauce will be watery if the canned tomatoes are too liquid.

Francesismo - Dessert

Tiramisu

This is a classic dessert not only in Sicily, but throughout Italy. Tiramisu literally translates to “pick me up”. This is a terrific recipe!

• 1 package of Savoiardi (Italian Lady Fingers)
• 4 egg yolks
• ½ cup of sugar
• 1 lb of Marscapone cheese
• 1 cup of heavy cream
• ½ cup freshly made espresso coffee
• ¼ cup cocoa powder

METHOD

In a large bowl, beat egg yolks with sugar until the mixture is thickened and light lemon color.
Blend in the Marscapone cheese until thoroughly mixed.
In a medium-size bowl whip the heavy cream until stiff peaks form and fold into the cheese mixture.
Dip the Savoiardi in espresso and line a 9” x 13” pan with them. Pour in half the cheese mixture and smooth. Add another layer of the Savoiardi dipped in espresso. Pour the remaining cheese mixture on top and smooth. Chill in refrigerator for 2 hours and dust with cocoa powder before serving.

Serves 6-8

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