*And by everything, I mean everything… from cooking to eating, and yelling and driving Caddy’s to loving our families and squeezing each other’s cheeks!

Happy St. Joseph’s Day to all my fellow paisanos out there! Let’s eat zeppola pastries and get crazy!!! Lucky little me gets to celebrate two holidays this week and I’m not complaining. Where St. Patty’s Day is focused mainly on drinking and partying, the “feast” of St. Joseph’s Day is about gorging; on delicious, beautiful, homemade Italian food.. and if you’re lucky maybe you have a Nonna to make you some! 

The Feast of St. Joseph’s (in Western Christianity) is to celebrate the husband of the Virgin Mary, and the foster-father of Jesus Christ. In Sicily, he is known as their patron saint because he helped prevent famine in the middle ages. So I looked this up and according to legend there was a severe drought at the time and the people prayed to St. Joseph promising that if he brought them rain, they would prepare a large feast to honor him. Well my friends, the rain did come and they prepared said feast and wore red and ate Neapolitan pastries known as zeppola or zeppole, depending on who you ask.

Since this day occurs during Lent, traditionally, dinner tables were covered with meatless dishes. So today, because I really should be feasting (HA) I’m going to share with you some of my favorite Italian recipes, dishes and such. And I’m keeping it vegetarian so if you feel the need to add some meat, do it, but I promise it’ll be just as good without! This morning I had a lovely Frittata for breakfast to start off the feast right. Frittata meaning “fried” in Italian, is like an omelet or a crustless quiche and it’s egg based and topped with ingredients such as veggies, meats and cheeses.

On Easter, my Grandpa Alfred would make huge dishes of Frittata and us kids would dig in and always ask for seconds. He made his with a delicious panchetta  or ham variety but for today’s purposes, it’s all veggie and I used these HUGE duck eggs given to me by my student Sally who owns and operates Osos Farms in Arroyo Grande. There’s nothing better than fresh eggs and when they’re free, they’re even tastier!

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Breakfast Frittata- makes six large servings

Ingredients:

-3 cups fresh spinach

-1 cup baby bella mushrooms

-1/2 red onion

-1/3 cup Trader Joe’s Red Pepper Leicester Cheese

-3 eggs

-3/4 cup almond milk

-1 crown broccoli

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 350.

2. In large pan, spray coconut non-stick and sautee’ onions, mushrooms and spinach together until golden brown.

3. In separate pot, boil 3 cups water with broccoli until tender. Add the veggies and broccoli together.

4. Beat the eggs, milk and cheese together with salt and pepper and add to veggie mix. Stir all of the ingredients together and layer into a greased round or square baking dish.

5. Grate a little of the cheese on top and bake for 40 minutes or until set.

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Niccola’s Homemade Slow-Cooked Red Sauce- makes 7 cups 

Ingredients:

-5 lbs. of tomatoes (I used cherry, Roma and heirloom)

-1/4 cup red wine

-1 red onion- diced

-1 bulb garlic- minced

-1 bay leaf

-1/2 tsp red chili flakes

-1 T olive oil

-1/2 cup fresh herbs

Directions:

1. In a pan, sauté the onion and garlic together with some olive oil. When they are brown, take them off the burner and add the herbs on top.

 

2. Cut and de-seed the large tomatoes as best you can. This is messy! I left the cherry tomatoes whole and I did not peel them.

 

3. Place the tomatoes in the slow-cooker and add all of the other ingredients.

 

 

 

 

4. Cook on high for four hours.

 

 

 

 

5. Take red sauce out and place in a blender until smooth.

 

6. Place in Tupperware or Mason jars and enjoy on things like pasta, pizza and bruschetta! Mangia!

 

 

 

 

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Pasta e Fagioli- makes 1.5 gallons

Ingredients:

-1 and 1/2 cup Ditalini pasta

-2, 28 oz cans diced tomatoes

-2 cups water

-1 T olive oil

-1 red onion, chopped finely

-5 cloves garlic, chopped finely

-5 carrots, chopped

-5 celery sticks, chopped

-2 cups spinach

-1, 15 oz can red kidney beans

-1, 15 oz can cannellini beans

-handful of parsley

-2 tsp. Herbs Provence

-1 cube Vegetable Bouillon

-salt and pepper

Directions:

1. Chop up all the vegetables finely.

 

2. In large pot, add the olive oil and the garlic and the onion. On medium high heat, let them cook for 2-3 minutes.

3. Then add everything else (veggies, beans, herbs, water, etc) except for the dry pasta. Bring to a boil.

4. When it’s boiling, reduce the heat to low and cover for 30 minutes or until the carrots are soft enough. Stir occasionally.

5. Lastly, add the Ditalini pasta and let it cook for another 15 minutes. Stir occasionally.

6. When the pasta is soft, remove from the heat and serve. Add a sprig of parsley for the presentation!

 

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Spinach Calzone- serves 2 or more 

Ingredients:

-1/2 lb pizza dough (I used Trader Joe’s whole wheat but you can use a gluten-free variety if you need it)

-an 8 oz. bag of spinach

-1/2 red pepper, chopped finely

-1/2 green pepper, chopped finely

-1/2 cup crimini mushrooms

-1/2 cup sun-dried tomatoes

-1 small yellow squash

-1 baby eggplant

-1/2 red onion

-5 cloves garlic, minced

-3 T Niccola’s pesto

-Italian seasoning

-salt and pepper

Directions:

1. In a large sauté pan, cook the spinach with a bit of olive oil. Place the spinach in a strainer until it cools. Using your hands, ring out the spinach, so that all the remaining water releases. This way you won’t have a soggy calzone!

2. Chop up all the vegetables and place in a large bowl. Add the pesto, some salt and pepper, and mix well.

 

3. Roll out the pizza dough, using some flour, and try not to make it too thin.

 

4. Start to layer your vegetables on top of the dough, placing the spinach in between so it’s not directly at the bottom or top. Again, this is so your calzone won’t be soggy!

5. Sprinkle some Italian seasoning on top.

6. Either fold your calzone in a half-moon shape, or fold it like an envelope if you have a lot of extra dough.

7. Lightly brush some of the beaten egg over the seals to ensure the calzone doesn’t open while it’s cooking.

8. Flip the calzone over and place on an un-greased baking sheet or on your pizza stone, like me, for 35-40 minutes or until the edges are golden.

9. Mangia calzone!

 

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Steamed Okey Dokey Artichokey- serves two or more

Ingredients:

-one large artichoke

-2 cloves of garlic, crushed

-a handful of rosemary

-1/2 a lemon, sliced

-1 T olive oil

-salt and pepper

Directions:

1. Fill a large pot half way with water and add the olive oil, lemon, crushed garlic and rosemary. Bring to a boil.

2. While the water is heating, run the artichoke under water and then turn it upside down to make sure all the water is out.

3. Put a fresh cut on the bottom of the stem but don’t cut it off! It’s edible and delicious! Also, cut just the tip-top of the artichoke off so you can get rid of some of the spikes.

4. When the water is boiling, add the artichoke, cover the pot, and turn the temperature all the way down to it’s lowest setting.

5.  Let the artichoke simmer for at least 50 minutes. You’ll know it’s done when you can insert a fork into the stem and it’s open and “flowering.”

 

6. To eat, pull a bud off, and place it into you mouth, stem side at the top. Pull down on the “leaf” with your teeth and the fleshy part will release. Mangia!

 

 

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 Phew! That was a lot. Get your printer out or bookmark this page so it’s a quick resource when you want to cook Italian food! Before I go, I must tell you about the wonderful book I am reading by Cheryl Strayed, the author of Wild, that became a movie and stars Reese Witherspoon. This is her second book called Tiny Beautiful Things and it’s based on an advice column that she used to write years ago. The advice is to the point, no-nonsense and is refreshing to read and I have laughed out loud a number of times now. Write it down, it’s a good one!

And finally if you live in the area, come celebrate the spring equinox with me at the Yoga Centre this Saturday at 9 a.m. for a Yoga Mala practice. Mala is a Sanskrit word that means garland. The practice itself consists of 108 Sun Salutations and each practitioner will move at their own pace, in synchronization with the breath. It’s a great way to shed off the winter and prepare for a new season! Join me if you can!