ESCAROLE FRITTERS

SERVES 6

Whenever Aunt Loulou made cauliflower fritters, she made these too.

6 teaspoons salt

2 heads escarole, tough stems trimmed and leaves cut into 2-inch pieces

4 large eggs

1 teaspoon black pepper

6 tablespoons minced garlic

½ cup chopped fresh Italian parsley

2 cups grated pecorino

2 cups all-purpose flour

2 cups olive oil, for frying

Bring a medium saucepot of water to a boil. Add 2 teaspoons of the salt and the escarole and cook until tender or easily pierced with a fork. Remove the escarole from the water and let it cool.

In a medium bowl, combine the escarole, eggs, pepper, garlic, parsley, and cheese. Stir well, then add the flour and remaining 4 teaspoons salt. Stir until the batter is smooth.

In a frying pan, heat the olive oil over high heat until it registers about 325°F on a deep-frying thermometer. You can also test the oil without using a thermometer by dropping in a little bit of batter. If it sinks to the bottom or sticks to the side without bubbling, then it ain’t ready yet. It’s gotta float right to the top and start bubbling right away.

Scoop ½-cup portions of the batter into the hot oil and cook them evenly on both sides until they’re golden brown, about 2 minutes a side. Remove the fritters from the pan and lay them gently on paper towels to absorb the excess oil. Serve ’em hot.

 

ARTICHOKE FRITTERS

SERVES 6

These weren’t on the table as much as cauliflower or escarole fritters, but when we opened Artichoke Pizza, of course we had to have ’em on the menu.

1 (14-ounce) can artichoke hearts (about 30 hearts)

4 large eggs

1 teaspoon black pepper

6 tablespoons minced garlic

½ cup chopped fresh Italian parsley

2 cups grated pecorino

2 cups all-purpose flour

2 tablespoons salt

2 cups olive oil, for frying

In a medium bowl, combine the artichoke hearts, eggs, pepper, garlic, parsley, and cheese. Stir well, then add the flour and salt. Mix the batter until it’s smooth.

In frying pan, heat the olive oil over high heat until it registers about 325°F on a deep-frying thermometer. You can also test the oil without using a thermometer by dropping in a little bit of batter. If it sinks to the bottom or sticks to the side without bubbling, then it ain’t ready yet. It’s gotta float right to the top and start bubbling right away.

Scoop ½-cup portions of the batter into the hot oil and cook them evenly on both sides until they’re golden brown, about 2 minutes a side. Remove them from the pan and lay them gently on paper towels to absorb the excess oil. Serve ’em hot.

SOPRESSATA AND PROVOLONE

In our houses, if you had company—even if it was someone just stoppin’ over for a quick meetin’—you always had to feed ’em. We always had cheese and cured meat in the fridge, so that was somethin’ you could put together in no time. You’d have some provolone, some olives, and some sopressata, which is a spicy, dry salami. You’d get it all on a cuttin’ board, maybe with a loaf of bread, and put it on the table for a fast snack or an appetizer before meals, especially during the holidays. It’s a great way to feed people quick if dinner’s still on the stove. Or keep it in the glove compartment for when you get stuck in traffic on the Verrazano Bridge.

½ pound sliced sopressata

¼ pound sliced provolone

1 jar roasted red peppers

1 large crispy Italian hero roll, halved lengthwise

Spicy brown mustard such as Gulden’s

Olive oil

Stack the meat, cheese, and peppers on the hero roll, dress it for success, and get down!

 

BROCCOLI RABE AND SAUSAGE

SERVES 8 TO 10

Broccoli rabe is grown in Sicily, which is why our family is crazy for the stuff. It’s more like a leafy green than like actual broccoli, and it’s a little bitter. But after you cook it up with some oil and garlic and serve it with grilled sausage, you don’t feel like someone’s makin’ you eat your vegetables. We eventually grew up to love it after bein’ forced to eat it all the time when we were little.

This dish was usually on the table on the weekends when the family was gettin’ together. And in the summertime, we’d have it on the barbecue in our grandfather’s backyard. We’d get pork sausage from Ariemma’s Italian Deli, where they stuffed it with parsley and grated cheese and looped it into a giant pinwheel that was like ten inches across and held together by two skewers like a cross. The secret was cookin’ it over a low flame so the outside wouldn’t burn before the inside was done.

2 pounds sweet Italian sausage links

3 tablespoons chopped garlic

¼ cup olive oil

2 bunches broccoli rabe, bottom inch of the stems trimmed and the rest cut into roughly 2-inch pieces

2 cups chicken broth

½ teaspoon red pepper flakes

½ cup grated pecorino

1 lemon, cut into wedges

Preheat the oven to 350°F.

Put the sausage links on a baking sheet and bake for 15 minutes, or until golden brown.

Meanwhile, in a large saucepan, sauté the chopped garlic in the olive oil over medium heat until the garlic begins to brown. Add the broccoli rabe, chicken broth, and red pepper flakes to the pan and cook until the broccoli rabe is tender, about 10 minutes. Transfer the broccoli rabe to a serving bowl.

Slice the cooked sausages into ½-inch rounds, toss them with the broccoli rabe, and serve hot with the grated cheese and a wedge of lemon.

 

FAST MUSHROOMS

SERVES 2 TO 3

This is a recipe that sorta came to us by accident. When we were working at our mothers’ restaurant in Staten Island, something we did was make all the pizza toppings in-house. We weren’t using mushrooms that came out of a can, you know? The onions, the mushrooms, the broccoli—it was all sautéed with garlic and olive oil. But sometimes we’d be runnin’ low on mushrooms and have to try a little shortcut. We figured out that if you cut ’em nice and thick and put ’em in a hot deep fryer for twenty seconds, they don’t shrink to nothin’ like they do when they’re sautéed in a pan. It’s like all the flavor and juiciness were getting locked in because it was so hot and quick.

Now, if you take those hot, steamin’ mushrooms, drizzle ’em with a little bit of olive oil, raw garlic, salt, red pepper flakes, a little bit of parsley, and some pecorino? People’ll go nuts for ’em.

2 cups olive oil

1 (8-ounce) package button mushrooms, cut into thirds

4 tablespoons chopped garlic

3 tablespoons chopped fresh flat-leaf parsley

2 pinches of salt

1 teaspoon red pepper flakes

½ cup grated pecorino

In a frying pan, heat the olive oil over high heat until it registers 400°F on a deep-frying thermometer. Test to see if the oil’s hot enough by dropping a tiny bit of water into the pan. It should sizzle loudly. Add the mushrooms in batches—so you don’t crowd the pan and steam ’em—and let ’em flash-fry for 45 seconds, or until tender. Scoop ’em out of the oil with a spider or a slotted spoon and transfer to a bowl. Throw in the garlic, parsley, salt, and red pepper flakes and mix well. Top with the pecorino and serve hot.