The Proof is in the Pudding (41 page)

This recipe came from my friend Fred Caruso, who produced
The Rat Pack
and
Blue Velvet
for HBO, and was production manager on the first
Godfather
movie.

 

Have all your ingredients prepared and lined up in order of use prior to beginning to make the sauce. Use small bowls or water glasses.

 

In a large hot skillet, over medium heat, render the chopped pancetta until crispy. Add the onions and a splash (about 1 tablespoon) of olive oil. Cook over medium/low heat until the onions are transparent. Add garlic and red pepper. Cook 5 minutes.

 

At this point: Bring a large pot of water to boil for the spaghetti. Add salt to water just before tossing the pasta into the boiling water. Cook per directions for al dente, usually 12 minutes.

 

Back to the sauce: Add the chopped olives, capers, and sun-dried tomatoes. Cook for another minute. Add the tomato paste and stir well. Cook for 3 minutes, then add the wine, water, and seasonings. Simmer a few minutes. Now: Remove a cup of the hot pasta water. If sauce is too thick, add a few tablespoons of the pasta water.

 

As soon as the pasta has reached al dente, drain the pasta and toss it with the sauce. Serve with the grated cheese. Serve (and cook) with a good sangiovese or chianti wine. Serves 4. (Leftover Pasta Caruso is delicious the next day, when reheated in microwave.)

Heat olive oil in a Dutch oven over medium heat. While heating, season the chicken breasts with the salt and pepper. Brown the chicken breasts on both sides. Remove from Dutch oven and set aside.

 

Into the Dutch oven, put strips of pepper and prosciutto and sauté over medium heat until peppers are tender and prosciutto is browned, about 9 or 10 minutes. Add garlic and cook for no more than 1 minute. Add tomatoes, wine, fresh thyme, and oregano leaves. Stir thoroughly to combine, including the browned bits from bottom of the Dutch oven.

 

Add the chicken back into the Dutch oven. Add chicken stock and bring to a boil. Reduce heat, cover the Dutch oven, and simmer for about 15 minutes, until chicken is thoroughly cooked. (If you prefer chicken with the bone in, cooking to doneness will take longer, 20 to 25 minutes.) Taste to see if you need to add salt and pepper. (You probably won’t. Remember that the capers will add a bit of salt.)

 

This dish is best if “rested” for a day. (Cooled to room temperature, and then stored covered in refrigerator overnight.) When getting ready to reheat to serve next day, add 2 tablespoons of capers (drained), and ¼ to ½ cup of chopped or cut up Italian parsley.

Reheat in the Dutch oven over medium flame. When ready, serve with rice, or with boiled baby gold or red potatoes (skin on), or with mashed potatoes. I like to make mashed potatoes that are half potatoes and half cooked spinach, chopped.

Penni Crenna, wife of actor Richard Crenna, always loved making meals for her family and doing the cooking when they gave parties. Her Mexican-Style Chicken Kiev was a great favorite with their guests. When I made it I understood why.

Pound the chicken breasts between two pieces of wax paper until each is about ¼ inch thick.

 

Slit the green chilies into halves lengthwise and remove seeds (unless you want this dish hotter), then cut into 8 equal pieces.

 

Cut the Jack cheese into 8 fingers about ½ inch thick and 1½ inches long.

 

Combine the breadcrumbs with Parmesan cheese, chili powder, garlic salt, ground cumin, and ground pepper. (Penni makes her own breadcrumbs: instructions below.)

 

Lay a piece of green chili and a finger of Jack cheese on each of the chicken pieces. Roll them up to enclose the filling. Tuck ends under. Dip the bundles into melted butter, drain briefly, and then roll in the crumb mixture to coat evenly. Place bundles seam-side down without sides touching in a 9 x 13-inch baking dish. Drizzle remaining melted butter over all. Cover and chill at least 4 hours, or overnight.

 

When ready to bake, heat the oven to 400 degrees F.

 

Bake uncovered in a 400-degree oven for 20 minutes or until chicken is no longer pink when slashed. Remove to a serving platter. Serves 8.

 

 

Seana, actor Richard Crenna’s daughter, grew up in Hollywood, but instead of going into show business, she earned a Masters in Psychology and went to work with troubled adolescents in residential facilities. When I asked her how she handled them, she said, “Bring homemade Goody Bars and the kids will do anything.”

 

This quiche is an easy main course for a luncheon or for a light dinner. Seana says she usually serves it with mini muffins and Caesar salad.

Prick the bottom and sides of the unbaked piecrust and bake according to the package directions. (Or the directions in your cookbook if you make the crust from scratch.) When the crust is light brown, remove from oven and cool on a wire rack.

 

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.

In a large mixing bowl, combine cottage cheese, eggs, cheeses, green onions, salt, and pepper. Hand mix until thoroughly combined.

 

Pour mixture over cooled piecrust and bake for 30 to 40 minutes until the quiche has puffed (about ½ inch).

Pull out the oven rack beneath the quiche and cover the quiche with the crushed onions. Then continue to bake until the onions appear lightly toasted—about 5 more minutes.

 

Remove from oven and cool for 5 or 10 minutes before serving.

NOTE FROM DELLA: For homemade crust, I recommend the standard pastry recipe for an 8- or 9-inch one-crust pie in
Betty Crocker’s Cookbook
.

This recipe is from British author Penrose (Penny) Anderson. She wrote for Thames Television in London, is a published poet, and is also a voice-over actress. She said her favorite voice job was in
Warhammer
, a fantasy video game in which she got to play both the High Elf and the Dark Elf, contrasting characters she described as the “video game’s version of
Jekyll and Hyde
.” When Penny’s not providing the voice for various animated characters, she’s working on a novel.

Sauté onion and garlic is hot butter for 3 minutes, until softened. Add quartered tomatoes, tomato paste, chicken broth, bay leaf, and basil (or
herbes de Provence
). Put into a blender. Pulse
briefly
so as not to liquefy, but to have bits of tomato visible. Pour into saucepan. Add lemon juice, salt, and pepper. Return soup to simmering point. Garnish with chopped parsley. (
Della’s note:
I like Italian flat leaf parsley.) Serves 6.