It felt very fitting to be eating a big bowl of pasta as Tony sat down with his family to do likewise. Of course, we had not just pulled out a sawed-off shotgun from our center console or poured sulfuric acid on a kid’s toes, but we could enjoy a meal fit for the Sopranos—homemade, hearty, and delicious—nonetheless. Our gang of Sopranos aficionado’s may not be the mafia, but the food sure fooled me.
Episode V Menu
Roasted Breaded Mussels
2 pounds medium mussels, scrubbed and debearded
3 tablespoons marsala or dry white wine
2 tablespoons garlic, minced
3 tablespoons Italian parsley, chopped
1/2 teaspoon dried oregano
2 tablespoons grated parmesan
1/4 cup bread crumbs
1 teaspoon lemon zest
1 teaspoon red pepper flakes
1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil
Directions:
Preheat oven to 425° F.
Place mussels in a pan with white wine and cook over medium-high heat, stirring frequently, until mussels just open. Strain mussels and reserve liquid. Remove mussels from their shells and discard half of shells. Set the other half on a baking sheet and place mussels inside.
In a bowl, combine remaining ingredients, except oil. Sprinkle mixture over mussels. Drizzle oil and cooking liquid over mussels. Bake for ten minutes until tops are brown and crisp. Serve warm.
Chicken Pate with Crispy Pizza Dough Crackers
Chicken Pate
1 tablespoon butter
1/2 cup onion, chopped
1 pound chicken liver
2 tablespoons Madera
1/4 cup cream
1/4 cup pine nuts, toasted
3 tablespoons currants, soaked for half hour in hot water
Directions:
Melt butter in saucepan. Sauté onion in butter until caramelized. Add chicken livers and cook until soft. Deglaze pan with Madera and put contents in food processor. Add cream and puree until smooth. Mix in pine nuts. Salt and pepper to taste and top with currants. Serve with crackers (below).
Pizza Dough Crackers
1-1/3 cup hot water
1 packet of yeast
1 tablespoon sea salt, more for topping
1 tablespoon sugar
4 tablespoons olive oil
3 1/2 cup flour
Directions:
Dissolve yeast and sugar in hot water for five minutes. Add salt. Add flour and mix well. Knead for about five minutes and let rise until doubled, about two hours. Punch down and roll thin on a baking sheet. Brush twice with olive oil and top with coarse sea salt. Bake at 400º F until crisp and brown, about half an hour.
Filo Dough with Goat Cheese and Caramelized Onions
One onion, chopped thin
One tub of goat cheese
2 tablespoons cream
1/2 package filo dough
2 tablespoons butter
Directions:
Heat oven to 400º F.
Cook onion over medium-high heat, without stirring, until caramelized. Transfer to bowl and let cool. Add goat cheese and cream, stirring well. Let refrigerate for half an hour.
Make filo “cups” by lining cupcake tin with filo dough. Tear a round in the dough and mold into cups; dough should be lining sides and spilling out the top. Brush layer with butter and repeat, until each cup has three or four layers of filo dough. Bake for five minutes, or until edges of dough are browned. Place a spoonful of cheese mix in each cup and bake for five minutes. Serve warm.
Pasta with Bolognese Sauce
This recipe comes from Lindsay’s mom.
1 cup dry red wine
1 ounce dried cepes or porcini mushrooms
1 tablespoon olive oil
1 pound ground beef
3 tablespoons unsalted butter
1 cup onion, chopped
1/2 cup each: celery, carrot, green bell pepper, chopped
8 ounces proscuitto, julienned
Four cloves garlic
1 tablespoon all-purpose flour
1/2 cup beef stock
1 tablespoon each: dried marjoram, oregano, basil
1/4 teaspoon nutmeg
48-ounce can plum tomatoes with juice
3 tablespoons tomato paste
2 tablespoon minced garlic
1/2 cup chopped fresh Italian parsley
1/2 cup slivered fresh basil
Directions:
Bring wine to boil in small saucepan. Add mushrooms, remove from heat, and set aside. Heat olive oil in a flameproof casserole dish. Add the beef, breaking into small pieces. Brown meat over medium-high heat, remove and set aside. Melt butter and add onion and vegetables. Sauté over low heat, ten to fifteen minutes. Add proscuitto and garlic cloves, sprinkle with flour, stir and cook another five minutes. Drain the cepes (reserving the wine) and coarsely chop them. Add to vegetable mixture. Stir in beef, beef stock, dried herbs, tomatoes, juice, and red wine. Salt and pepper to taste. Partially cover and simmer, stirring occasionally, for two hours. Then add tomato paste and cook for an additional fifteen minutes. Add garlic, parsley, and basil and simmer for an additional fifteen minutes.
Boil spaghetti according to package directions. Drain and top with Bolognese sauce and freshly grated parmesan cheese.
The Sopranos with Lindsay is a weekly cooking column that will run for eight episodes, or until Tony is killed. Get your menu here and watch the show on HBO, Sundays at 9 p.m. See last week’s recipes here.
