Favorite meals

[naturegirl]

I love, love, love Pasta in any shape or form. My ex's mom was full blooded Italian, they even spoke Italian at home. She was all about her son and insisted I learn to cook the food he enjoyed so she taught me. From homemade gravy (not spaghetti sauce) to homemade pasta and real homemade Italian bread.

Bless her heart, she still makes all those big Italian feasts for holidays and she's 94 years old. She loves to cook. Weighs about 100 lbs and she's 5 ft tall, a little bitty lady even after all that pasta and cheese!! When my kids were growing up we ate some form of pasta at least 3 times a week.

 

[ShoeDiva]

Where were they from? (My father was born in Italy, they all came over when he was in his teens. My mother's parents came over before she was born.) Italian was my fathers and all my grandparents first language.
I do not really like pasta, but I can cook from scratch any Italian item someone requests.

 

[naturegirl]

Where were they from? (My father was born in Italy, they all came over when he was in his teens. My mother's parents came over before she was born.) Italian was my fathers and all my grandparents first language.
I do not really like pasta, but I can cook from scratch any Italian item someone requests.

She was from Naples, his family was from one of the islands, not Sicily can't remember the name. They weren't fond of Sicilians. :dunno

Did you ever eat creamed broccoli and home made finger pasta?? It was a staple during lent.

 

[ShoeDiva]

Where were they from? (My father was born in Italy, they all came over when he was in his teens. My mother's parents came over before she was born.) Italian was my fathers and all my grandparents first language.
I do not really like pasta, but I can cook from scratch any Italian item someone requests.

She was from Naples, his family was from one of the islands, not Sicily can't remember the name. They weren't fond of Sicilians. :dunno

Did you ever eat creamed broccoli and home made finger pasta?? It was a staple during lent.

My mom's family was from Prato, Tuscany and dad was from Palermo, Sicily. No creamed broccoli, but every meal, no matter what was being served, had a side of spaghetti and peas on the table. :dunno

 

[naturegirl]

Where were they from? (My father was born in Italy, they all came over when he was in his teens. My mother's parents came over before she was born.) Italian was my fathers and all my grandparents first language.
I do not really like pasta, but I can cook from scratch any Italian item someone requests.

She was from Naples, his family was from one of the islands, not Sicily can't remember the name. They weren't fond of Sicilians. :dunno

Did you ever eat creamed broccoli and home made finger pasta?? It was a staple during lent.

My mom's family was from Prato, Tuscany and dad was from Palermo, Sicily. No creamed broccoli, but every meal, no matter what was being served, had a side of spaghetti and peas on the table. :dunno

This is what the pasta looked like but we used our fingers to roll them up, they sort of looked like gnocci in the end but this is pretty much the ones we made. It was a garlic, broccoli cream sauce, almost like a soup, the homemade pasta thickened the broth.

 

[ShoeDiva]

Where were they from? (My father was born in Italy, they all came over when he was in his teens. My mother's parents came over before she was born.) Italian was my fathers and all my grandparents first language.
I do not really like pasta, but I can cook from scratch any Italian item someone requests.

She was from Naples, his family was from one of the islands, not Sicily can't remember the name. They weren't fond of Sicilians. :dunno

Did you ever eat creamed broccoli and home made finger pasta?? It was a staple during lent.

My mom's family was from Prato, Tuscany and dad was from Palermo, Sicily. No creamed broccoli, but every meal, no matter what was being served, had a side of spaghetti and peas on the table. :dunno

This is what the pasta looked like but we used our fingers to roll them up, they sort of looked like gnocci in the end but this is pretty much the ones we made. It was a garlic, broccoli cream sauce, almost like a soup, the homemade pasta thickened the broth.

I really do not remember those, but to be honest, so much cooking and homemade pastas, breads, just everything going on it is possible it was made. )
I actually do not think I ever saw my grandmothers kitchen counters clean and free from food. Mom and Dad were not as bad, but I think that is just because they had restaurants they could go mess up! :laugh

 

[naturegirl]

Here it is, this page calls them Cavatelli, we didn't use the board with ridges, just a flat bread board.

http://www.chelseasculinaryindulgence.com/2012/02/homemade-cavatelli-pasta.html

 

[I'm Floored]

I don't "love" pasta, but I've grown to have an appreciation for it, since my husband's family loves Italian food! I've never heard of the finger pasta, but that's really cool! :thumbsup

 

[Madea]

I love pasta dishes, mexican, and good old Southern comfort food. Oh, and bread. :laugh

 

[LisaC]

Speaking of pasta - one of my favorite dishes is the mushroom stuffed ravioli from Maggiano's.

 

[naturegirl]

Speaking of pasta - one of my favorite dishes is the mushroom stuffed ravioli from Maggiano's.

I don't like mushrooms but I love cheese or sausage ravioli .

 

[deewee]

Is that sorta like a macaroni type noodle that's not hollow?

 

[naturegirl]

Is that sorta like a macaroni type noodle that's not hollow?

The finger one?? If so, yes it's not hollow, it kind of rolls back around your fingers when you squish it and pull your fingers forward. Being it's homemade, the flour helps to thicken the broth and it ends up being like a cream soup with noodles. Of course you could just boil them regular, drain them and serve with any sauce or gravy. They cook rather quickly.

 

[deewee]

Yummm!

 

[LisaC]

Speaking of pasta - one of my favorite dishes is the mushroom stuffed ravioli from Maggiano's.

I don't like mushrooms but I love cheese or sausage ravioli .

This is amazing - the hubby's stepmom hates mushrooms and she was ready to lick the plate when she tried it. And, she didn't believe it had mushrooms in it until the waiter told her.

 

[MrsB]

I think pasta with a good tomato base sauce. I love pasta. I could eat it for every meal. Mmmm...

 

[honeybunny]

I think pasta with a good tomato base sauce. I love pasta. I could eat it for every meal. Mmmm...

Yes... one of favorite meals is spaghetti with meat sauce, spinach salad, and garlic rolls. :love
(My FIL belongs to a New Jersey Italian family who were the inspiration for The Soprano's...)

 

[naturegirl]

My next favorite is definitely a NY Strip steak with very little fat, cooked medium with a baked potato (butter only) and a nice salad. I could take or leave the bread.

 

[naturegirl]

I think pasta with a good tomato base sauce. I love pasta. I could eat it for every meal. Mmmm...

Yes... one of favorite meals is spaghetti with meat sauce, spinach salad, and garlic rolls. :love
(My FIL belongs to a New Jersey Italian family who were the inspiration for The Soprano's...)

That's pretty cool, I could have sworn it was based on my ex's family. :snick_bunny

 

[honeybunny]

I think pasta with a good tomato base sauce. I love pasta. I could eat it for every meal. Mmmm...

Yes... one of favorite meals is spaghetti with meat sauce, spinach salad, and garlic rolls. :love
(My FIL belongs to a New Jersey Italian family who were the inspiration for The Soprano's...)

That's pretty cool, I could have sworn it was based on my ex's family. :snick_bunny

I will have to tell ya the long sorted story sometime,
but I spent Thanksgiving of 1994 with the Sopranos.


Surreal... like a scene straight out of The Godfather.