Italian Moms: Something Old, Something New: 150 Family Recipes (Volume 2) - Hardcover

Costantini, Elisa; Costantini, Frank

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 1454927984 ISBN 13: 9781454927983

Publisher: Union Square & Co., 2018

Synopsis

“The best reason of all to say ‘Mamma mia!’” —Booklist (starred review)
“Costantini presents these hearty, approachable recipes with sincerity and grace.” —Publishers Weekly
“Costantini blends recipes and memoir to brilliant effect.” —Library Journal

In her second cookbook, Elisa Costantini not only illuminates Italian cuisine through 150 homestyle recipes, she offers a loving celebration of food, family, and culture.
 
Elisa Costantini once again shares her vision of Italian home cooking. In this sequel to her bestselling debut cookbook, Italian Moms: Spreading Their Art to Every Table, she serves up more than 150 recipes: some are influenced by her childhood in Abruzzo and others are reinvented classic dishes that pay homage to newer generations of Italian-Americans. In the wake of her first book, Elisa received dozens of e-mails from readers asking her to identify recipes they remembered from childhood, but were unable to find. Elisa, with her profound understanding and love of Italian culinary traditions and ingredients, painstakingly reconstructed these beloved dishes from letters, notes, and memories—and developed many new ones, too. Her food, from antipasti to desserts, brings together family and friends, young and old, to the table to honor great food, traditions, and most of all, each other’s company.
 
RECIPES INCLUDE:
Verdure Miste Fritte (Fried Vegetables)  *  Sausage Crostini  *  Pancetta Corn Cakes  *  Tuna and Chili Pepper Tea Sandwich  *  Pasta Fagioli  *   Penne with Lobster  *  Fusilli with Broccoli Rabe  *  Beetroot and Farro Soup  *  Seafood Risotto  *  Italian Easter Pie  *  Veal Marsala  *  Lamb with Egg and Cheese  *  Chicken Saltimbocca  * Panna Cotta  *  Anisette Biscotti  *  Italian Rum Trifle  *  plus a variety of sauces, spreads, and jams!

About this title

About the Author

Elisa Costantini was born in Poggio Valle, Italy. The daughter of farmers, she learned to cook at a very young age using simple, fresh ingredients. She wrote this book as a legacy for her children and grandchildren, and to help home cooks make wonderful meals for loved ones. For more than 35 years, Elisa has used her expert cooking skills to provide for children with special needs at Divine Providence Village in Springfield, PA. She lives in Collegeville, PA.

Review

“From a reluctant immigrant in 1961 to a completely integrated Italian American citizen today, Constantini continues to bring new life and trends to longtime family favorites in her second cookbook . . . Her collection of 150 dishes, from antipasti to dessert, is intensely personal; not only does Constantini preface each meal course with an essay about, say, her first U.S. trip via the SS Independence but she also introduces notes from her family, as well as her own, for almost every dish. Helpful tips are found throughout: she’ll advise on substitutes, feature a sidebar on truffles, or highlight the celebration of San Giuseppe and its menu. Color photographs accompany most recipes, and, helping time-starved cooks, most preparations are contained in one page or less. Some newly minted ‘old’ ideas: beef and polenta, fried milk bars, fried celery, nettle soup (which can be made with spinach or escarole). The best reason of all to say ‘Mamma mia!’ —Booklist (starred review)

“Only a stone could resist Costantini’s heartfelt sophomore effort (after Italian Moms: Spreading Their Art to Every Table). In 1961 at age 23, Costantini left the Abruzzo for the U.S., where she would be joined by her husband, Francesco, and daughter, Nadia, ‘to start a new life.’ Local Italian specialties, like Abruzzo’s famous ‘seven virtues’ soup with nearly 50 ingredients, and puff pastry fiadoni with cheese filling, are well represented, and essays about festivals and Costantini’s annual tradition of making sausages with her brother couldn’t be sweeter. Writing with her son Frank, she offers recipes for a sausage paella (which she argues is similar to risotto as it is prepared in Venice); spaghetti with lamb and saffron; and a shrimp and scallop casserole. . . . Costantini presents these hearty, approachable recipes with sincerity and grace.” —Publishers Weekly

“Costantini's second ‘Italian Moms’ book, another collaboration with her son Frank, is a treasury of soulful Italian home cooking. Anyone with a grasp of basic techniques can enjoy her recipes (e.g., pancetta corn cakes, spaghetti with lamb and saffron, seafood paella), which include antipasti, pastas, soups, sides, desserts, and more. It helps to have a pasta roller for the sweet and savory pastries, some of which require dough-handling finesse. A food mill and electric stand mixer will also be useful. VERDICT Costantini blends recipes and memoir to brilliant effect. Highly recommended for readers with a taste for classic and heirloom Italian recipes.” —Library Journal
 

Edition details

• Publisher: Union Square & Co.
• Publication date: 2018
• ISBN 10: 1454927984
• ISBN 13: 9781454927983
• Binding: Hardcover
• Language: English
• Number of pages: 256