Legacy Recipes, Part 2: Hearty Entrees
Mary Teofilo’s Chuck Roast Pasta
Contributed by Grace Teofilo Hilker (NAI Author)
From the Kitchen of: Mary Teofilo
Prep Time: 3.5 hours
Category: Main
Servings: 8
My great-grandma Mary Teofilo’s chuck roast pasta is my favorite dish in the entire world. It’s a chuck roast sauce that takes several hours to simmer on the stove and is a family favorite at special events. My great-grandma didn’t have a recipe, so my Nana once followed her around the kitchen, writing down every step Grandma Mary did, so we could pass this recipe down. My great-grandma’s rule was that in order to eat this messy pasta, you were required to wear a big white bib wrapped around your neck. We continue this tradition, and everyone, whether you’re 9 months or 90, has to wear a bib. We’ve had many confused adults try to protest over the years, but they do not get served if they don’t wear a bib. It’s a silly tradition that saves a lot of time on cleanup later.
Ingredients
- 1 3lb chuck roast
- 2 cloves garlic, quartered
- 3 tablespoons olive oil
- 1 lb italian sausage
- 1 clove garlic, minced
- 1 medium onion, chopped
- 2 6 oz. cans tomato paste
- 3.5 cups water
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 1 can (1 lb, 12 oz) plum shaped tomatoes, mashed
- ⅛ teaspoon pepper
- ½ teaspoon sugar
- 1 tablespoon basil, chopped
- 1 tablespoon fresh oregano, 1 teaspoon if dried
- 2 lbs cooked mostaccioli noodles
Directions
- Make four slits on each side of meat (8 total), insert garlic quarters.
- Heat oil in 3 quart pan.
- Brown meat, remove.
- Brown sausage, remove.
- Saute garlic & onion in pan, two minutes.
- Add tomato paste & water to pan, blend.
- Add remaining ingredients, except meat, blend.
- Add meat.
- Cook uncovered, 2.5 hours, turning occasionally.
- Serve with the cooked mostaccioli.
- Nap.
Served with: White bibs for eating, cot for napping.
Pozole (Mexican Soup)
Contributed by Aaron Cobas (NAI Author)
Ever since I first tasted the delicious, hot soup, I’ve loved this dish. To me, this dish is more than a tasty treat; it’s tied to my identity as a Latino and my love for my family, as we would enjoy this during the cold winter months.
Ingredients
- 4 dried guajillo or pasilla chiles
- 4 dried ancho chiles
- 2 tablespoons canola oil, divided
- 1-1/2 cups boiling water
- 2 pounds boneless pork, cut into 1-inch cubes
- 1/2 cup chopped onion
- 4 garlic cloves, minced
- 3 cups chicken broth
- 2 cans (29 ounces each) hominy, rinsed and drained
- 1-1/2 teaspoons dried Mexican oregano
- 1 teaspoon salt
- Optional toppings: Lime wedges, sliced radishes, diced avocado, and sliced red onion
Directions
In a Dutch oven, saute chiles in 1 tablespoon oil over medium heat until heated through, 1-2 minutes, pressing with a spatula (do not brown). Using a slotted spoon, transfer chiles to a bowl; add the boiling water. Soak until softened, about 20 minutes. Remove stems and seeds, reserving water.
In the Dutch oven, brown pork in the remaining 1 tablespoon oil in batches, sauteing onion and garlic with the last batch of pork. Return all pork to the pan and add broth. Bring to a boil. Reduce heat; cover and simmer until meat is tender, about 30 minutes.
Transfer chiles and soaking liquid to a blender; cover and process until smooth. Strain through a fine strainer, reserving pulp and discarding skins. Add pulp to pork mixture.
Stir in hominy, oregano, and salt. Cover and simmer for 20 minutes. Serve with optional toppings as desired.
Christmas Eve Italian Seafood Dinner
Paul Caputo (NAI Executive Director)
Grandmom Caputo taught me how to prepare our family's traditional Italian seafood Christmas Eve dinner before she passed away at age 93. It includes homemade clam chowder, followed by breaded tilapia served over angel hair with anchovy-marinara sauce. I've made it every year of my adult life.
On Christmas Eve morning, my brother Dave and his wife Jodi, their kids, and my kids get up at the crack of dawn and drive to South Philadelphia to get cannoli and Italian cookies from Termini Brothers Italian bakery. This is the only acceptable dessert for Grandmom Caputo's Italian Christmas Eve seafood dinner!
Ingredients and Directions
Clam Chowder Appetizer
- Chop and saute:
- 3/4 onion
- 3 cloves garlic
- 3 large potatoes
- 2 whole carrots
- 3 celery sticks
- 6 strips bacon
- Add in:
- 4 cups chicken broth
- 2 cups clam stock
- 4 cans clams
- Then right before serving:
- 3 cups 2% milk
- 1 cup half and half
- Fresh basil, oregano, thyme, parsley, black pepper, salt
Breaded Tilapia
- Dredge in flour, then egg-milk combination, then breading, saute in olive oil
Anchovy Marina
- 2 large cans tomato sauce
- 2 tins anchovies
- Garlic
- 1/4 onion
- Saute all day long so that the anchovies dissolve and the whole house smells like anchovy marinara all day
Chicken and Dumplings
Heather Manier (NAI Corporate Engagement & Partnerships Manager)
Growing up in Sussex County Delaware where chickens were a big part of the economy and culture, we had chicken and slippery dumplings most Sunday dinners.
Ingredients
Chicken
- 1 stewing chicken (about 4 or 5 pounds), cut up
- 4 celery ribs, chopped
- 1 medium onion, chopped
- 1 tablespoon chicken bouillon granules
- 2 teaspoons poultry seasoning
Dumplings
- 2 cups flour
- 2 teaspoons baking powder
- 1/4 teaspoon salt
- 3 tablespoons shortening
- 1/2 cup hot broth
Directions
Season chicken with salt and pepper; Place chicken, celery and onion in a Dutch oven. Cover with water; bring to a boil. Reduce heat; cover and simmer until chicken is tender (about 20 minutes per pound). Remove chicken and keep warm. Add water to measure 4 qts. Set aside 1/2 cup for dumplings. Return remaining broth to the Dutch oven; add Poultry seasoning and bouillon.
For dumplings, in a large bowl combine the flour, baking powder and salt. Cut in the shortening with a pastry blender until the mixture forms fine crumbs. Stir in enough hot broth to make a firm but manageable dough.
Meanwhile, bring broth to a boil. Roll dough to 1/16-in. thickness; cut into 2-in. squares. Drop one at a time into boiling broth. Reheat the broth to boiling over high heat. Reduce the heat to medium and cook dumplings uncovered until tender, about 15 minutes. Serve immediately with the chicken.
Pro Tips: There are variations of course and now with limited time in my life (and frankly I did not like the smell of boiling chicken) so I simply buy a rotisserie chicken and make separate gravy using the water from the boiled dumplings. Also once cut out and before cooking, the dumplings can be laid out on a sheet pan, frozen and then dumped into a freezer safe container for use at a later time. I have also made the dumplings and gravy vegan and vegetarian for a yummy side dish.
Uncle John’s Pepper Noodles
Adrian Boone (NAI Author)
Growing up in a nine-kid family, when we were tired after working outside in the yard all day, and wanting something filling to eat, Uncle John’s pepper noodles always hit the spot. This recipe is great because it’s easy to make, and some of the ingredients (depending on what you have in the garden) are easy to find.
Ingredients
- spaghetti noodles
- 1 head of garlic,
- 1 bunch of parsley
- 6 tablespoons of olive oil
- 1 Hawaiian hot chili pepper, which you can sub for half of a Thai chili pepper or a piece of a spicy pepper put in the amount that you feel you are able to consume.
- Garnish: parsley diced up, rock salt or sea salt flakes/himalayan salt coarsely ground, fresh ground black peppercorns.
Directions
Fill a sauce pan with water and boil to prepare your spaghetti noodles. In a separate sauté pan, add 6 tablespoons of olive oil. Drop your diced chili pepper into the olive oil once it’s hot, and brown the chili pepper. By browning it, you take away the heat from the pepper. Increase the amount of chili pepper to how many people are eating the dish. In Hawaii, we use one small Hawaiian hot chili pepper per person. Add in garlic to the hot olive oil and brown the garlic, but do not burn it. Time your work so your spaghetti noodles are done at the same time as the garlic and olive oil with the hot pepper is done. Drain your noodles and add them to the olive oil, pepper, garlic sauce. Stir the noodles with the olive oil, garlic, pepper sauce. Serve immediately garnished with rock salt, black pepper, and chopped parsley, and mix the garnish with the noodles.
