Front: Grandpa Dominick and Grandma Connie; back: Fran with Sal’s brother Dominick

Clockwise from left: Sal’s brothers Vincent and Dominick, Sal, and Grandma Connie

 

8.

Growin’ up, our moms worked, which meant that weeknight suppers had to be fast. It was usually just a simple one-pot dish that didn’t take more than an hour to prepare, maybe with a coupla sides. Or if our moms were workin’ late, a lotta nights we’d eat at our grandma and grandpa’s over at Sal’s place. Our grandpa would make a big deal out of it, and usually made a whole meal with macaroni, maybe some chicken, and a salad. But at home, whatever was in that one pot was what you were eatin’. We’d sit in the kitchen—the dining room was for weekends and holidays—and we’d all be expected to pitch in, takin’ this or that outta the freezer to thaw or settin’ the table, foldin’ the napkins like it was a restaurant. We’d come in from playin’ with other kids on the block around 6 or 6:30 p.m., and we’d sit watchin’ TV while we ate—Diff’rent Strokes, Facts of Life, Family Ties. After that it was homework (our moms were real anal about that) and Taxi, then bed, unless it was a Tuesday night—then we were allowed to stay up past 10 p.m. for Moonlighting.

Fran, Fran’s mom, and Fran’s friend Karl

Grandma Connie at Bella’s on Clinton Street, Brooklyn

Fran with his dad

 

ITALIAN MACARONI AND CHEESE

SERVES 4

Red sauce isn’t the only thing that’s popular in Italian-American houses. Garlic and oil is huge. Our grandmother always used to say she could make anything taste good with garlic and oil. It was handy for when you didn’t have time to make a sauce. It was also handy when you needed to get a big pot of macaroni made for dinner—because that’s how we ate. It wasn’t three, four courses on the table. It was one big pot of somethin’. This was a weeknight staple for us—just simple macaroni with garlic, oil, and some pecorino.

Salt

1 pound linguine

½ cup olive oil

2½ tablespoons chopped garlic

1 teaspoon red pepper flakes

3 tablespoons chopped fresh flat-leaf parsley

2 tablespoons salted butter

1 teaspoon black pepper

10 fresh basil leaves, chopped

½ cup grated pecorino

Bring a large saucepot of salted water to a boil. Add the linguine and cook according to the package directions until al dente. Drain the pasta, reserving ½ cup of the cooking water. Set aside the pasta and reserved cooking water.

In a large frying pan, combine the olive oil, garlic, red pepper flakes, and 1 teaspoon salt. Sauté over medium-high heat until the garlic is golden brown. Add the parsley and remove from the heat.

Add the pasta to the pan with the garlic and oil, then add the reserved pasta water, butter, black pepper, basil, and pecorino and toss to combine and melt the butter and cheese.

SALTING PASTA WATER

All our pasta recipes call for cooking with salted water. It adds more flavor, sure, but really the point of adding salt is to help the water come to a boil more quickly. As for how much salt you should use, 3 to 4 tablespoons will do it.