Sunday, July 12, 2015

The Sopranos Dinner

Well folks…after three years we have finally completed "The Sopranos."  To commemorate our great achievement, we went all out tonight and prepared a huge feast!  We started cooking at 11am and had dinner around 7pm… and it was worth it!!





For dinner we had Carmela's Baked Ziti, Artie Bucco's Arancini, Satriale's Capicola and Crackers, Furio's MOLTO LIMON!, and Pie-Oh-My Cookies.


Carmela's Baked Ziti
We adapted this recipe.

Ingredients:
2lbs of ground beef
1lb of Italian sausage
1 large onion, chopped
28oz of crushed tomatoes
18oz of tomato paste
1 tablespoon of dried basil leaves
1 tablespoon of dried oregano leaves
4 cloves of chopped garlic
3 tablespoons of sugar
1 teaspoon of salt
1.5 teaspoons of pepper
6 cups of Mozzarella cheese
1 package of Ziti noodles
Parmesan

Directions:
1.Brown ground meat and onion in large skillet, drain grease
2. Brown the sausage and grind in the food processor
3. Move meat and onion into a large pot
4. Add crushed tomatoes, tomato paste, basil, oregano, garlic, salt, pepper, and sugar
5. Stir in water until sauce is slightly soupy
6. Bring to a boil, stirring constantly
7. Reduce heat to low and simmer for 3 hours, stirring every 30 minutes
8. Once the sauce is complete, boil water and cook the ziti noodles for about ten minutes
9. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees
10. Get out the largest oven safe pan you can find… you'll need it!
11. Layer the ingredients as follows: Add a layer of sauce, parmesan cheese to cover the sauce, add half of the noodles, add a layer of Mozzarella cheese, a layer of sauce, parmesan cheese, the rest of the noodles, another layer of Mozzarella cheese, and a layer of sauce
12. Put in the oven for 40 minutes 
13. Pull it out of the oven and put another layer of Mozzarella cheese on top
14. Put back in the oven for 10 minutes and then turn to broil
15. Take out once the cheese has browned







Artie Bucco's Arancini
This one was a toughy… I adapted this recipe.

Ingredients:

For the Filling
2 tablespoons of olive oil
1 finely chopped onion
1 finely chopped clove of garlic
8 oz of ground beef
1.5 cups of canned italian peeled tomatoes
Salt and Pepper to taste
1/2 cup of frozen peas

For the Rice:
5 cups of chicken broth/stock (I had used a mixture)
1/2 teaspoon of turmeric
2 cups of rice
2 tablespoons of butter
Salt, to taste
1/2 cup of grated Parmigiano
1/2 cup of grated Pecorino
4 large egg yolks

To Assemble:
5 large egg whites
2 cups of Italian bread crumbs
Flour
4 ounces of cubed sharp provolone
Vegetable oil 


Directions:

To make the Filling: 
1. In a medium skillet, combine oil, onion, and garlic.  Cook on medium for five minutes
2. Add the beef and lightly brown, about ten minutes
3. Stir in tomatoes, salt and pepper
4. Bring sauce to a simmer and reduce heat to low
5. Cook for 30 minutes stirring occasionally
6. Add peas and cook for five more minutes and let cool

To make the rice:
1. Bring broth and turmeric to a boil in a large pot
2. Stir in rice, butter and salt.
3. Cover, reduce heat to low and cook for 18 minutes
4. Remove rice from heat and stir in cheese, let cool slightly
5. Stir in egg yolks

To assemble:
1. Beat the egg whites until foamy
2. Cover a plate with flour and another with bread crumbs
3. Have a bowl of cool water on hand to dip your fingers into to prevent the rice from sticking
4. Grab a small handful of the rice mixture and poke a hole in the center of the rice.  Fill hole with burger mixture and add a piece of provolone, cover with rice
5. Gently squeeze into a ball
6. Roll into flour
7. Cover in egg white
8. Roll in bread crumbs 
9. Repeat steps 4-8 until out of ingredients (or you get tired!)  
10. Heat vegetable oil in a pan (oil should be about two inches deep)
11. Once hot, place in oil for 3-4 minutes until golden brown.  
12. Carefully remove from heat and let cool.









Satriale's Capicola and Crackers
or as they say, "Gabbagool!"





Furio's MOLTO LIMON!

3 oz Limoncello
2 oz Gin
Splash of Lime Juice
Sprinkle Thyme on top







Pie oh my cookies
I used this recipe!

Ingredients:
1/2 cup of butter, softened
1/2 cup of margarine, softened
2 cups of flour 
3/4 cup of powdered sugar
1 teaspoon of vanilla
10 oz of Cherry pie filling
1/2 cup of white chocolate chips

Directions:
1. Preheat oven to 325 degrees
2. Mix together butter and margarine until fluffy
3. Add flour, powdered sugar, and vanilla until dough is formed
4. Roll the into little balls and place on a cookie sheet
5. Make an indentation in the center of each ball
6. Scoop 1-2 cherries in the indentation
7. Back for 15 minutes
8. Let cool completely
9. Melt 1/2 cup of white chocolate chips in the microwave 30 seconds at a time until melted.
10. Use a spoon to drizzle over cookies





The end of this show gave us a lot to chew on literally AND figuratively.  I'm so glad we finished the show and had some Ziti that they had been talking about since the first season!!

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