Great Recipe For BRACIOLE
Signora Lina
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Vasteddi Sandwich
Also Known as Vasteddi or Pane e Milza
Is a Specialty of Palermo, Sicily
Made of Beef Spleen w/ Ricotta & Caciocavllo Cheese
on a Sesame Seed Bun called Vastedda
VINNY at HIS FOCCACERIA
East Village .. NEW YORK NY
Vinny is on The Right (Sadly La Foccaceria Closed in 2010)
La Foccaceria? Oh where have you gonna? Well, i know. After more than 90 years in business, it was time to close the doors. And a sad day it was for thousands, including me. I first moved into the East Village in November 1982 .. I was working in another famed old New York Italian institution in The East Village, in John's (Since 1908) on East 12th Street right around the block from La Foccaceria .. La Foccaceria was a great little Sicilian Specialties restaurant on 1st Avenue between East 11th and East 12th Streets on the east side of First Avenue .. That was the first spot where they opened the doors in 1914 ... I'm sorry to say, I never went to that one but to it's (La Foccaceria) 2nd locatoion a couple blocks south on 1st Avenue between East 7th Street and St. Marks Place (E. 8th Street) on the east side of the avenue. The new La Foccaceria, run by one Vinny Bondi was jsut one block from my apartment at the corner of Avenue A and St. Marks Place. In 1982 to the East Village was on an up-swing in popularity and improvement from a sort of sub-ghetto of The Lower East Side. the neighborhood which was strongly Eastern European; Ukranian and Polish, mixed with Hispanics, Italians, and people of Jewish persuasion. At this point in time many rental apartments were quite cheap and the neighborhood was attracting artists, so-called wannabe actors and musicians and young people who wanted to live in Manhattan. In the East Village they could find an apartment (though not the best physically) at reasonable rates for the time, I did. Through a friend I was able to procure a 2 bedroom apartment for a mere $400 a month. Quite a bargain. I shared the apartment with my good friend jay F. for the first year in that apartment. Once he moved out, I kept the apartment for myself. Hey, I'm getting off the beaten track. Yes back in 82 the East Village was an exciting and changing neighborhood, perfect for me and other young people just starting out in this great city of ours. I was only paying $400 rent and had money to spend eating out. i used to eat at a Ukrainian Diner Odessa on Avenue A and Leskos as well, 2 doors down from Odessa. there I could get plates of home-made Perogis, fresh Keilbasi and other solid for for cheap. In the East Village there were a few old-school Italian holdovers like; John's were I was working as a waiter & Bartender at the time, Lanza's (now over 100 Years old), De Roberta's Italian Pastry (over 100 years old) Brunetta a great little Italian Restaruant I used to go to which was on the same block as the original La Foccaceria and there was the current La Foccaceria on 1st Ave near East 7th Street .. I went in to La Foccaceria one day, I met Vinny and I loved it from the start. Vinny's father and mother had started the place way back in 1914 ... Vinny, I never asked his age, but he must have been in his late 60's at the time (1983). La Foccaceria served an array of wonderful dishes; all the usual pastas like; Lasagna, Spaghetti & Meatballs, Spaghetti Vongole (Clam Sauce), and Sicilaian Maccheroni like; Pasta con Sardi and Lasagna Coccati, broken pieces of lasagna pasta baked with sausage,peas, tomato, and mozzarella. Vinny had great soups like Pasta Fagoli and the best Lentil & Escarole Soup around. He sold sandwiches like Chicken Parmigiano, Meatball Parm, Sausage & Peppers, and his most famous dish of all, the famed Vastedda Sandwich of Palermo. A Vastedda (Vastedde) Sandwich as we've said is a very famous sandwich that is a specialty in Palermo, is made with Beef Spleen (or Veal) with Ricoota and Cacciocavallo Cheese on a small Sesame Seeded Bun. It is quite wonderful and was a specialty of the house at Vinny's La Foccaceria. I just loved it, and at $1.60 per, even in 1982 it was one of New York's great prepared food bargains. The average price of a sandwich back then was about $5.00, so at $1.60 per? Wow! I had tried most of the dishes at La Foccaceria in my first year eating there, but there was one that I loved by far most of all. Yes, the Vastedde. Most times I would have a Vastedde and a bowl of Vinny's wonderful Lentil & escarole Soup, the best I have ever had. If it was Thursday or Saturday, the days that Vinny made Arancini (Sicilian Rice Balls) and Sfingione (True Sicilian Pizza), I might get a piece of Sfingione and Lentil & Escarole Soup, or Sfingione, a Vastedde, and Soup. Yeah! Boy did I love Vinny's. There was nothing like those Vastedde and Vinny making them. Vinny had a special stattion at a counter up front of the place where he cut the cooked Beef Spleen, fry it in lard, cut the bun, cut some Cacciocavallo, he'd lay the spleen on the bun, add some Ricotta, and sprinkle the cut Cacciocavallo Cheese over the top. Yumm! And I'd have a little chat with Vinny as he made my Vastedde right before my eyes. When i ordered it, all I had to say to Vinny, was, "One with everything." That meant everything; the spleen, Ricotta and Cacciocavallo. Some people would order them minus the spleen. Why? Amateurs. Sadly, Vinny closed his Foccaceria a few years ago. it was a sad day for me, no more Vinny, no more La Foccaceria, no more Vastedde. Ode to La Foccaceria Ode to My Pal Vinny Ode to My Beloved Vastedde, I Will Miss You All So.
Ferdinando's Focacceria
Union Avenue, Carrol gardens Brooklyn, New York
Ferdinadno's is the Only Place to Get a Good Vasteddi Sandwich Left in New York
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Zucchini Frittata
Frittata
Frittata, they’re quite a wonder. Italian Flat Omelets that are tasty, versatile and easy to make. I’ve been making them for years. They’re one of my favorites. Frittata are quite versatile. You can fill them with a endless variety of ingredients, both fresh made or leftover, and this is one of the great uses and attributes of this Italian wonder, The Frittata. Americans are just recently learning about them. Italian Americans have known of, made, and have been eating Frittata in many forms for years. In the past several years you see them popping up in cafes, delis, and restaurants as the rest of American is now catching on to what Italian-Americans have known for years. There are several different ways to eat and use Frittata. You can make a small one with two or three eggs and what ever filling you choose like Spinach and Parmigiano or Mushrooms and eat the whole Frittata for one person for lunch or dinner, with or without a green salad on the side. The best and most useful use of Frittata is to make a large one using 8 to 12 eggs and whatever filling you choose. My favorites are Sausage & Pepper, Broccoli with Goat Cheese or Fontina, and the Spaghetti Frittata that has a cute little story behind it with me and my Aunt Fran. Anyway, when you make one of these large Frittata, the great thing is that you let it cool down, serve it at room temperature, cutting the frittata into wedges and eating it this way. A wedge of frittata can be a antipasto item on its own, part of a mixed antipasti misti, or my favorite, pulling a already made frittata out of the refrigerator and just cutting off a wedged shape piece and eating a piece any time day or night when you are hungry and need a little snack. Frittata are great items to include in a picnic, at a barbecue, and are especially goo if you’re on a long road trip in the car, in a bus, train, or plane, a piece or two of frittata is great to bring along. If you’re on a plane, get hungry, and you have a wedge or two of frittata with you, you’ll be happy as heck that you brought it along. Yes they make great travel food, The Frittata. They’re also great as part of a buffet or to pass around little pieces as Hors D’Oeuvres at a cocktail party. CLICK HERE For The RECIPE Excerpted From SUNDAY SAUCE by daniel Bellino Zwicke