Author: Daniel Bellino

Hello All ! I'm Daniel Bellino "Z" Best Selling Italian Cookbook Author and Publisher of Positano The Amalfi Coast ... I have traveled the World extensively and have been going to: Napoli, Capri, Positano, and The Amalfi Coast of Italy Since 1985 ... I live and write in New York's Greenwich Village. I am the Best Selling author of such Books as : SUNDAY SAUCE , The RAGU BOLOGNESE COOKOOK, The FEAST of The 7 FISH, and the soon to be released POSITANO - Capri The Amalfi Coast , a book that tells stories of Napoli, Capri and Psoitano, and is part Cookbook of Regional Dishes of the area, as well as being a Guide Book of this region of Italy. I have been a Restaurant and Wine Professional for more than 30 Years, and I Created America's 1st Ever Venetian Wine Bar (Bacaro) in 1997, in Bar Cichetti, where I was the Head Chef / Wine Director and Managing Partner.

The Sinatra Sauce Recipe Cookbook by DANIEL BELLINO

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“SINATRA SAUCE”

The COOKBOOK

AMAZON.com

SINATRA SAUCE “Music Meatballs & Merriment”

Daniel Bellino Zwicke

Sinatra Sauce “Music Metaballs & Merriment” and Living The Good Life. “Like Frank” .. Yes, it’s about Frank. That is one Francis Albert Sinatra, the Greatest Singer of The 20th Century, and Icon of American, especially of the Italian-American Enclave in America. Frank Sinatra was many things, first and foremost a Great Italian-American singer, Love & Adored by Millions. Mr. Sinatra was also an actor, citizen, and Entertainer Par Excellence. Yes this book is about those things, Frank Sinatra : the incomparable singer, actor, recording artist, Teen Idol of the 1940s, philanthropist, and Las Vegas & Nightclub Entertainer. He was like no other, Sinatra was one-of-a- kind, and he had a lust for life, “Hanging with Friends,” – sipping cocktails, with good food, and making good times. That’s what this book is about, Frank Sinatra, eating (Italian Food), enjoying a cocktail or two, and the company of family and friends. Yes, Frank Sinatra lived life to its fullest. He wouldn’t have it any other way, but “His Way.” 

This book “Inspires” and gives you the tools to live out your Sinatra Dreams. You can make it reality, with recipes of Frank’s Favorite Italian Foods, Pasta, Meatballs, Posillipo, Eggplant Parm and more. Eating, drinking, and having good times, all the time as Frank did. Meals with friends and family. Meals you can cook, with recipes in this book. The info and recipes are all here in Sinatra Sauce. Read it, put on some Sinatra (music), cook, eat, and create memorable times at the table, just like Frank. That’s what this book is about: Sinatra, Family, Friends, and Good Times. “The Best is Yet to Come”


Visit SINATRA SAUCE – The Website @ https://sinatrasauce.com

Author Daniel Bellino Zwicke is a lifelong Sinatra fan. He is a Best Selling author, who lives and writes in New York’s Greenwich Village. Daniel is currently working on several other projects. He has authored : Sunday Sauce, La Tavola, Mangia Italiano, Grandma Bellino’s Cookbook, Segreto Italiano, and Positano The Amalfi Coast – Travel Guide / Cookbook.


Recipes :

SINATRA TOMATO SAUCE

DOLLY’S MEATBALLS

EGGPLANT PARMIGIANA

CAPONATA

ARTICHOKES SICILIAN STYLE

ARANCINI (Sicilian Rice Balls)

MINESTRONE alla DOLLY

DINO’S PASTA FAZOOL

MACCHERONI al FORNO

SICILIAN LASAGNA

CHICKEN VESUVIO

VEAL MARSALA

STEAK – SINATRA’S WAY

MARTY’S SICILIAN MEATLOAF

FRANK’S ITALIAN CHEESECAKE

REGINELLA SICILIAN COOKIES


And Much More !!!




SINATRA SAUCE – 5 STAR on AMAZON



Sinatra Bellino & Luciano – The Sinatra Sauce Cookbook

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“SINATRA SAUCE”

aka The SINATRA COOKBOOK

by Daniel Bellino Zwicke

COOK & EAT LIKE FRANK

His FAVORITE ITALIAN FOOD RECIPES

AMAZON.com





SINATRA SAUCE “Music Meatballs & Merriment”

Daniel Bellino Zwicke


Sinatra Sauce “Music Metaballs & Merriment” and Living The Good Life. “Like Frank” .. Yes, it’s about Frank. That is one Francis Albert Sinatra, the Greatest Singer of The 20th Century, and Icon of American, especially of the Italian-American Enclave in America. Frank Sinatra was many things, first and foremost a Great Italian-American singer, Love & Adored by Millions. Mr. Sinatra was also an actor, citizen, and Entertainer Par Excellence. Yes this book is about those things, Frank Sinatra : the incomparable singer, actor, recording artist, Teen Idol of the 1940s, philanthropist, and Las Vegas & Nightclub Entertainer. He was like no other, Sinatra was one-of-a- kind, and he had a lust for life, “Hanging with Friends,” – sipping cocktails, with good food, and making good times. That’s what this book is about, Frank Sinatra, eating (Italian Food), enjoying a cocktail or two, and the company of family and friends. Yes, Frank Sinatra lived life to its fullest. He wouldn’t have it any other way, but “His Way.” 

This book “Inspires” and gives you the tools to live out your Sinatra Dreams. You can make it reality, with recipes of Frank’s Favorite Italian Foods, Pasta, Meatballs, Posillipo, Eggplant Parm and more. Eating, drinking, and having good times, all the time as Frank did. Meals with friends and family. Meals you can cook, with recipes in this book. The info and recipes are all here in Sinatra Sauce. Read it, put on some Sinatra (music), cook, eat, and create memorable times at the table, just like Frank. That’s what this book is about: Sinatra, Family, Friends, and Good Times. “The Best is Yet to Come”


Visit SINATRA SAUCE – The Website @ https://sinatrasauce.com


Author Daniel Bellino Zwicke is a lifelong Sinatra fan. He is a Best Selling author, who lives and writes in New York’s Greenwich Village. Daniel is currently working on several other projects. 

He has authored : Sunday Sauce, La Tavola, Mangia Italiano, Grandma Bellino’s Cookbook, Segreto Italiano, and Positano The Amalfi Coast – Travel Guide / Cookbook.



Recipes : SINATRA SAUCE

SINATRA TOMATO SAUCE

DOLLY’S MEATBALLS

EGGPLANT PARMIGIANA

CAPONATA

ARTICHOKES SICILIAN STYLE

ARANCINI (Sicilian Rice Balls)

MINESTRONE alla DOLLY

DINO’S PASTA FAZOOL

MACCHERONI al FORNO

SICILIAN LASAGNA

CHICKEN VESUVIO

VEAL MARSALA

STEAK – SINATRA’S WAY

MARTY’S SICILIAN MEATLOAF

FRANK’S ITALIAN CHEESECAKE

REGINELLA SICILIAN COOKIES

And Much More !!!





GET SINATRA SAUCE

AMAZON.com



READ MORE !!!


The cookbook is 

Sinatra Sauce: Music Meatballs & Merriment by Daniel Bellino Zwicke. It was published on November 7, 2024, and is available for purchase on Amazon. The book features recipes of Frank Sinatra’s favorite Italian dishes, combined with stories about the legendary singer and his favorite restaurants. 


About the Cookbook

Recipes and stories: The book combines recipes with anecdotes and stories about Frank Sinatra’s life, his passion for Italian food, and dining experiences with friends and family.
  • Family connection: It includes classic Italian-American recipes inspired by meals made by Sinatra’s mother and father.
  • Dining experiences: It covers Sinatra’s experiences dining at famous establishments such as Patsy’s in Manhattan and Jilly’s in New York.
  • Featured dishes: Recipes include classic Italian-American dishes like spaghetti and meatballs, eggplant parmigiana, lasagna, and clams posillipo.
  • Author: Daniel Bellino Zwicke is an Italian cookbook author and lifelong Sinatra fan who lives in New York’s Greenwich Village.

Based on documented reports from his favorite restaurants and anecdotes from his family, 

Frank Sinatra had several favorite Italian dishes. The recipes for these classic Italian-American foods are featured in the cookbook Sinatra Sauce: Music Meatballs & Merriment by Daniel Bellino Zwicke. 


Veal Milanese
A breaded and fried veal cutlet was one of Sinatra’s all-time favorite meals. At his regular New York haunt, Patsy’s Italian Restaurant, the chefs would make his cutlets pounded extra thin and served crispy with a light arugula salad on top.
Clams Posillipo
A Neapolitan dish, Sinatra regularly ordered this plate of littleneck clams served in a light tomato and herb sauce. Because he was not a fan of overpowering garlic, Patsy’s chefs would sauté whole garlic cloves in oil to extract the flavor, then remove them before adding the sauce ingredients. 

Spaghetti and Meatballs
Sinatra had a deep appreciation for the Sunday sauce and meatballs he grew up with. He was known for his simple yet classic spaghetti with fresh tomato sauce. The Sinatra Saucecookbook features his mother Dolly’s meatballs and a recipe for “Sunday Gravy“. 
Fusilli with Garlic & Anchovies
At Patsy’s, Sinatra also enjoyed this simple pasta dish, which featured fusilli pasta with garlic, anchovies, and breadcrumbs.
Sicilian Stuffed Artichokes
Sinatra’s preferred appetizer was stuffed artichokes. Just as with the clams, he requested that the restaurant go light on the garlic.
Lemon Ricotta Cheesecake
For dessert, Sinatra’s sweet tooth was often satisfied with a slice of lemon ricotta torte.
Frank Sinatra did not eat a lot of sweets, but he loved this Cheesecake, and another favorite were “Regina Cookies” which are Sicilian Sesame Seed Cookies, and the recipe is in “Siantar Sauce” (Cookbook).

SINATRA BELLINO & “LUCKY” LUCIANO
Sinatra Sauce Cookbook by Daniel Bellino Zwicke, whose family is from the same town in Sicily that Frank Sinatra’s father – Martino Severino Sinatra was from, the town of Lercara Friddi, Sicily. Also from this town was infamous Mafia Boss – Charles “Lucky” Luciano, born in Lercara Friddi, Sicily, his parents immigrated to New York City 1906. The Luciano family settled into an apartment on East 10th Street in the East Village of New York City. Incidentally the author of  the Sinatra Sauce Cookbook, Daniel Bellino Z, lived in the East Village as well when he firsted moved to New York City. Daniel had an apartment on the corner of Avenue A & St. Marks Place, just two short blocks from where “Lucky” Luciano once lived.








At JILLY’S

Frank Sinatra, Holds Court at “JILLY’S” New York

With Daughters Tina & Nancy Sinatra & Friends





CHARLES “LUCKY” LUCIANO

of Lercara Friddi, Sicily

And NEW YORK CITY





Author DANIEL BELLINO ZWICKE

NEW YORK CITY






SINATRA SAUCE
The COOKBOOK
AMAZON.com
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Sinatra Sauce The Cookbook – Franks favorite Italian Recipes

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FRANK SINATRA


COME FLY WITH ME






SUNDAY SAUCE and SINATRA


It’s an old tradition in my family, that most Sunday the Bellino Family gathers together and we eat Sunday Sauce Italian Gravy. The whole family gets together and Grandma House, or Aunt Helen’s, but mostly at Aunt Fran’s House in Lodi, New Jersey. It’s a wonderful all day affair, starting with a little antipasto, followed by the star of the show, Sunday Sauce. Aunt Fran or Aunt Helen usually make the Sauce (Gravy), which is the most supreme dish of all. It’s a long simmered tomato sauce laden with special meat treats, that include: Sausages, Meatballs, and Braciole. We eat it with short maccheroni, usually rigatoni. “It’s the Best Thing ever,” we all just love it, and who wouldn’t, it’s so damn tasty, it is.

After the Sunday Sauce, it’s on to dessert and coffee, which is a 3 or 4 hour affair, as the grownups sit around the table drinking Espresso (with Anisette) and eating all the tasty desserts that’s made of a whole array of sweet treats, like: Aunt Fran’s Ricotta Cookies, Cannoli, Sfogliatelle, and whatever sweets that other visitors might bring. And there’s a whole lot of talking about this that and every other thing: sports, politics, gossip and what not, all as Frank Sinatra records play softly in the background. Always. Aunt Wanda loves Jerry Vale, and Dino has his turn too. Those were warm and wonderful days spent with loved ones, and sadly all of the older generation is gone, and we miss them dearly. But me, I think of them often, and especially when it comes to Sundays, eating all day long, cahtting and having fun, eating maccheroni, sausage, Meatballs, and Braciole, listening to Sinatra, and loving it all. My cousins Joe, Tony, and I keep it going. We try to organize as many get-together s as we can, always centered around food, whatever it may be: fresh fish, pasta, Steak, and our all-time favorite Sunday Sauce. And don’t forget Sinatra, Francis Albert that is. Or just simply Frank. 

Basta !








SINATRA SAUCE

The COOKBOOK

COOK & EAT LIKE FRANK

His FAVORITE ITALIAN RECIPES
AMAZON.com





Frank Sinatra

The SUMMER WIND





A Pot of SUNDAY SAUCE

“GRAVY”
RECIPES
FRANK and FRIENDS

At GILLY’S

NEW YORK
.

Sinatra Sauce is FREE – If You Have Kindle-Unlimited

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 “SINATRA SAUCE is FREE” !!!

If You Have KindleUnlimited

FREE on AMAZON

SINATRA SAUCE

The COOKBOOK

In PAPERBACK & KINDLE EDITIONS
AMAZON.com


SINATRA SAUCE “Music Meatballs & Merriment”

Daniel Bellino Zwicke


Sinatra Sauce “Music Metaballs & Merriment” and Living The Good Life. “Like Frank” .. Yes, it’s about Frank. That is one Francis Albert Sinatra, the Greatest Singer of The 20th Century, and Icon of American, especially of the Italian-American Enclave in America. Frank Sinatra was many things, first and foremost a Great Italian-American singer, Love & Adored by Millions. Mr. Sinatra was also an actor, citizen, and Entertainer Par Excellence. Yes this book is about those things, Frank Sinatra : the incomparable singer, actor, recording artist, Teen Idol of the 1940s, philanthropist, and Las Vegas & Nightclub Entertainer. He was like no other, Sinatra was one-of-a- kind, and he had a lust for life, “Hanging with Friends,” – sipping cocktails, with good food, and making good times. That’s what this book is about, Frank Sinatra, eating (Italian Food), enjoying a cocktail or two, and the company of family and friends. Yes, Frank Sinatra lived life to its fullest. He wouldn’t have it any other way, but “His Way.” 

This book “Inspires” and gives you the tools to live out your Sinatra Dreams. You can make it reality, with recipes of Frank’s Favorite Italian Foods, Pasta, Meatballs, Posillipo, Eggplant Parm and more. Eating, drinking, and having good times, all the time as Frank did. Meals with friends and family. Meals you can cook, with recipes in this book. The info and recipes are all here in Sinatra Sauce. Read it, put on some Sinatra (music), cook, eat, and create memorable times at the table, just like Frank. That’s what this book is about: Sinatra, Family, Friends, and Good Times. “The Best is Yet to Come”


Visit SINATRA SAUCE – The Website @ SinatraSauce.com

Author Daniel Bellino Zwicke is a lifelong Sinatra fan. He is a Best Selling author, who lives and writes in New York’s Greenwich Village. Daniel is currently working on several other projects. He has authored : Sunday Sauce, La Tavola, Mangia Italiano, Grandma Bellino’s Cookbook, Segreto Italiano, and Positano The Amalfi Coast – Travel Guide / Cookbook.


DO YOU HAVE KindleUnlimited ?

The SINATRA SAUCE COOKBOOK –  FREE

On KINDLE UNLIMITED







Daniel Bellino Zwicke – “In CAPRI”
Author Page – AMAZON.com


Frank and Jilly – Sinatra and Rizzo

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JILLY & FRANK

“RIZZO & SINATRA”







FRANK & FRIENDS at “JILLY’S”

With Daughters NANCY & TINA SINATRA

“JILLY’S” NIGHT CLUB in NEW YORK

Get a FINE ART PRINT of This AWESOME IMMAGE

Of FRANK SINATRA & FRIENDS

From  FineArtAMERICA

FRANK SINATRA & JILLY RIZZO



FRANK & JILLY









SINATRA SAUCE

The COOKBOOK 

COOK & EAT LIKE FRANK
AMAZON.com
“JILLY’S WEST”

PALM SPRINGS


FRANK with JILLY & Another FRIEND

MONTE CARLO

1971


Frank and Jack – Kennedy and Sinatra

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FRANK & JACK

Kennedy & Sinatra



Frank Sinatra and John F. Kennedy were good friends. They both liked each other. 
Frank Sinatra was a Major Force in getting JFK Elected as President of The United States.

When John Kennedy was President, he was going to California, and staying in Palm Springs. It was first planned that he would stay at Frank Sinatra’s home in Palm Springs. Frank was thrilled and quite happy, and homered to be Hosting The President of The United States (JFK) at his home. Sinatra even had a Helicopter Pad built on his compound for Marine 1 Presidential Helicopter to be able to land on his estate.

John Kennedy’s brother Robert Kennedy who was The Attorney General of The United States advised his brother, the President that he shouldn’t stay at Frank Sinatra’s House, because of his Mafia Ties, and Chicago Mob Boss – Sam Giancona, who actually helped Kennedy get elected as well. Actually Bobby told JFK not to stay at Sinatra’s home. 

Peter Lawford who was The Presidents brother-in-law was the person chosen by the Kennedy’s to break the news to Sinatra, and he did. After Frank got the news he was livid. He got a Sledge Hammer and went out to the Helicopter Pad and smashed it with his hammer. Sinatra never spoke to Peter Lawford again.







SINATRA SAUCE

The COOKBOOK



SINATRA SAUCE

COOK & EAT LIKE FRANK

His FAVORITE ITALIAN RECIPES
AMAZON.com




Eat Like Sinatra – Franks Favorite Restaurants Pasta and Italian Recipes – Frank Sinatra Cookbook

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“FRANK”

Francis Albert Sinatra
“SINATRA SAUCE” !!!
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A Young Frank Sinatra  ….  Hoboken, New Jersey


“SINATRA SAUCE” !!!




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Frank Sinatra

“Come Fly with Me” !!!


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PATSY’S  “Franks Favorite Restaurant”

 

 

Frank’s Favorite Restaurant in The World, was Patsy’s on West 56th Street in New York, in The Theater District near Times Square .. Frank’s Favorites were; Calms Posillipo, Spaghetti Pomodoro,  Veal Milanes (extra Thin & Crispy) and Spaghetti & Meatballs of which patsy’s makes The Best in The City ..

PATSY’S is by far the restaurant most associated with SINATRA — on its website, the restaurant notes that it “has been known for years as the restaurant Frank Sinatra made famous.” You can still order up old-school Italian there, but you might not have the exact same experience as Sinatra, who was said to have entered through a special door to sit at a reserved table on the second floor. Sinatra became especially loyal to the restaurant after making a solo Thanksgiving reservation one year, not realizing the restaurant was slated to be closed that day. Patsy Scognamillo didn’t want to turn Sinatra away, so he allowed the reservation. He also didn’t want Sinatra to know the restaurant was opened just for him — so he had the entire staff bring their families to fill the place up, something Sinatra didn’t learn until years later, according to Patsy’s lore. The restaurant still celebrates its connection to Sinatra: At right, in 2002, Joe Scognamillo served actor Bill Boggs, who had dressed up as Sinatra . (236 West 56th St.)

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FRANK & AVA GARDNER Mangia Bene !!! 

FRANK & AVA

“MANGIA BENE”






SINATRA SAUCE

COOK & EAT LIKE FRANK

His FAVORITE ITALIAN RECIPES
AMAZON.com




 FRANK & DINO     
FRANK & DINO

Screen Shot 2017-11-24 at 2.38.58 PM.png

PJ CLARKE’S

3rd AVENUE, Midtown MANHATTAN

SINATRA ‘S ALL-TIME FAVORITE BAR / SALOON

.FRANK'S FAVORITE ITALIAN BREAD ... PARISI on MOTT STREET, LITTLE ITALY, New York, NY

FRANK’S FAVORITE ITALIAN BREAD

PARISI BAKERY MOTT STREET

LITTLE ITALY, NY NY

.

FRANK'S FAVORITE PIZZA

FRANKS FAVORITE PIZZA

PATSY’S in EAST HARLEM

No Relation to PATSY’S on 56th STREET



PASTY'S PIZZERIA
PATSY’S PIZZERIA

EAST HARLEM

“FRANK’S FAVORITE PIZZA
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SINATRA at JILLY’S New York with Friends and Daughters NANCY and TINA

Frank loved going to his close Pal JILLY RIZZO’S New York Restaurant JILLY’S where Frank would eat Chinese Food, tell stories, and drink JACK DANIEL’S to the Wee Hours of the morning. 




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a8050-screen2bshot2b2015-06-172bat2b3-11-012bpm

SUNDAY SAUCE

WHEN ITALIAN-AMERICANS COOK

AMAZON.com 

screen-shot-2016-10-23-at-1-27-19-pm

Dean Martin looks on as Sammy Davis Jr. pours Frank a Jack Daniels



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Jack Daniel’s and Frank Sinatra

GET “SINATRA SAUCE” !!! 

screen-shot-2016-10-23-at-1-27-40-pm

FRANK SINATRA with Cigarette & JACK DANIELS





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Dom of DOM’S BAKERY Hoboken , New Jersey

FRANK SINATRA had DOM Send him BREAD to Palm Springs , California





Screen Shot 2017-11-24 at 12.34.25 PM

FOCCACIA From DOM’S BAKERY



cc352-screen2bshot2b2016-09-032bat2b3-22-552bpm

GRANDMA BELLINO’S COOKBOOK

“RECIPES FROM MY SICILIAN NONNA”

by Daniel Bellino “Z”


Author Daniel Bellino “Z” has the same ancestral Sicilian Roots as Frank Sinatra and one Charles “Lucky” Luciano who was born in LERCARA FRIDDI SICILY , as was Frank SInatra ‘s father Martino Severino Sinatra and Bellino ‘s maternal grandparents Giussepina Salemi and Fillipo Bellino who both immigrated from Lercara Friddi to New York through Ellis Island in 1904 . In 1906 Luciano ‘s parents immigrated and settled on the Lower East Side of New York when young Charlie (Salvatore ) was 9 years old.




Screen Shot 2017-11-24 at 1.49.14 PM.png

Charles “Lucky” Luciano

Born in Lercara Friddi

Lucina




Screen Shot 2017-11-24 at 2.02.02 PM.png

SINATRA’S Favorite PIZZA !!!

PATSY’S in Eats Harlem , New York NY

2287 1st Avenue neat 117th Street

Opened in 1933 by Patsy Lancieri




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The 21 CLUB

A Favorite SINATRA Haunt For Years





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SINATRA arrives at The 21 CLUB with Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis

Good Friend and Bodyguard JILLY RIZZO and a U.S. SECRET SERVICE AGENT




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The 21 BURGER

LEARN HOW to MAKE IT !!!

Click for RECIPE

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Sicilian Pasta with Meatballs Recipe

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ANGELINA – SERVING Up The MEAL

ANGELINA’S PASTA With MEATBALLS





La FAMIGLIA
“MANGIA BENE” !!!

La PASTA

Con POLPETTINI 


NONNA BELLINO’S COOKBOOK

RECIPES From MY SICILIAN NONNA

“MANGIA BENE” !!!
AMAZON.com

SICILIAN PASTA with MEATBALLS SICILIANA

For the Dough:


10 ounces Semolina Flour (durum wheat)
A pinch of Salt
2 large Eggs

Mix all above together to form a dough. Knead for a few minutes.

Cover the dough and let rest for at least 45 minutes before using.

Roll pasta dough into thin sheets. Roll the sheets up, and cut to 1/8tj inch thickness.

For the Meatballs:


12 ounces Ground Beef
2 tablespoons fresh Parsley, finely chopped
3 ounces grated Caciocavallo Cheese (or Pecorino, if unavailable)
1/4 cup breadcrumbs
Salt, to taste
Freshly ground Black Pepper, to taste
1 large egg


Mix all above ingredients together. Form into small Meatballs (Polpettini)


For the Broth:


2 tablespoons fresh Parsley, chopped
A handful of Celery leaves
1 medium Carrot, peeled and roughly chopped
1 tablespoon Tomato Paste
½ medium onion, peeled and halved
1 medium Potato
Salt, to taste

1 pound Beef, Veal, or Chicken Bones

Place all above ingredients in a large pot and simmer for 90 minutes

to make the broth. Strain broth, and discard the bones.


To Serve the PASTA with MEATBALLS.


Place Meatballs in broth, and cook at a low simmer for 5 minutes.

Cook the Pasta in boiling Salted water for about 2 minutes.

Drain the pasta in a Colander.

Add the cooked pasta to pot with the Broth & Meatballs. Cook at a low

simmer for 4 minutes.

Serve the Pasta and Meatballs. Remove some pasta and Meatballs and place on a plate, with very little broth, but you do want a bit of broth in each portion.


Serve your guests, with grated Pecorino Cheese on the side to sprinkle over the pasta.

Enjoy !







Frank Sinatra Favorite Italian Cookies – Sicilian Regina Cookies from Venieros

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VENIERO’S

ITALIAN PASTRIES

Since 1894



On September 23, 1894, one of the East Village’s longest-running businesses, Veniero’s Pasticceria, opened its doors. This venerable local institution has been serving confections, cakes, and pastries to New Yorkers and visitors ever since from its home at 342 East 11th Street, between 1st and 2nd Avenues, in the heart of what was once the East Village’s own Little Italy, and remains one of the few surviving businesses from that once-thriving community. Located just down the block from our offices, we have a special love for Veniero’s — from which we have been known to indulge in a treat from time to time (or more) — and a special insight into the beloved business’ rich history, thanks to an oral history that Veniero’s current co-owner Robert Zerilli, grand nephew of Veniero’s original founder, conducted with us in 2014. 

Antonio Veniero immigrated to New York from Italy in 1885, in the period following Italian unification when poor Italians, especially southern Italians, began to leave the country en masse, seeking better lives and opportunities. At 15 years old, Antonio began working in a candy factory downtown. By 1894, he bought today’s 342 East 11th Street, a pre-old-law tenement built in 1865-66. Originally the business, then called Antonio Veniero Confections, was founded as a social club, complete with pool tables. Antonio sold homemade candy and espresso, the beans of which were roasted in the backyard. Veniero hired other Italian immigrants also skilled in confectionery. This part of the East Village was well populated with Italian immigrants, mostly Sicilian, although Antonio was from Naples. No. 342, which had residences above the ground floor, housed 13 families, all Italian immigrants or of Italian descent, according to the 1900 Federal census. 






VENIERO’S PASTICCERIA

ITALIAN PASTRIES

East 11th Street, NY NY





The same census and 1900-1901 New York City directory show Antonio living with his wife and children across the street at No. 345, a no longer extant building. In his oral history, Robert Zerilliexplains that the business evolved from Antonio’s founding to serve baked goods such as biscotti and cakes, later renaming itself Veniero’s Pasticceri. Following Antonio’s death in 1931, the business would continue to be run by members of the family. In 1970, Frank Zerilli, Robert’s father and a cousin of the Venieros, bought the business. As a teenager, Frank Zerilli had worked in the bakery and learned a great deal working under Antonio.

Zerilli shares great stories of both the family and the neighborhood connected to Veniero’s, including Antonio’s managing to avoid firebombing by the Black Hand, (Mano Nero gang — a mafia extortion racket), neighborhood quarrels with other bakers and pushcart sellers, and a legal fight over the ownership of a coffee-sipping parrot. 

Zerilli was born in 1962 and by that time his family lived in New Jersey. He would sometimes join his father for the workday in the East Village, and in his interview, Zerilli shared the sights, smells, and sounds of the East Village in his early years through the eyes of a child. One of the sounds that dominate his memories was the constant mix of English and Italian throughout the streets and small businesses in the area. As a teenager, he would work at Veniero’s, and lived in one of the apartments in the upper floors at No. 342, rent-free.

The neighborhood has changed quite a bit over the course of Zerilli’s tenure, and he talks about gentrification, as well as changing ethnicities and business and building ownership. On a side note, he mentions the East Village’s punk rock scene, and Joey Ramone coming to Veniero’s to buy a cake. Veniero’s itself has changed over the years too, adding items like red velvet cupcakes, which Zerilli discusses his reluctance to include. One of the many things that hasn’t changed, though, is that Veniero’s is still very much a family-run business, with Robert and his three sisters at the helm as co-owners.





ITALIAN PASTRIES



CANNOLI – RHUM BABA – ECLAIRS

At VENEIRO’S




FRANK SINATRA’S FAVORITE COOKIES


SICILIAN REGINA COOKIES

VENIERO’S




FRANK SINATRA & FRANK ZERILLI

At VENIERO’S

1979

NEW YORK CITY





SINATRA SAUCE

The COOKBOOK

SINATRA STORIES & RECIPES

COOK & EAT LIKE FRANK

His FAVORITE ITALIAN RECIPES
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