Welcome to our December Cookbook of the Month. We will be cooking from CARMINE’S FAMILY STYLE COOKBOOK. Use this thread for reporting on your results. Please put the recipe name in ALL CAPS, and give the page number if you are have it. If you are the first to report on a recipe, make your report a comment on this post. If someone else has already reported, post your report as a reply to their comment.
For a list of our previous selections, check out the COTM Archive.
Thank you. I just joined!
No ebook in my library.
Welcome to the clubhouse. 
CARMINE’S SALAD (p.59)
This one has been a party and family favorite for many years. I just made it 2 weeks ago for a dinner with neighbors and had plenty of leftovers for jar salads for the next work week. Interestingly it is somewhat different from the version served in the restaurants. That version contains carrots and celery and doesn’t have salami or radishes. Both are great!
The greens include iceberg lettuce, radicchio, and arugula. The diced cheese is provolone. The meats include diced mortadella and diced salami. The veg includes thinly sliced red onion, thinly sliced radishes, diced cucumber, and tomato wedges. You also add pepperoncinis, green olives, black olives, dried oregano, and you make the lemon vinaigrette for the dressing.
I don’t use mortadella and instead sub diced fresh mozzarella. (yes I know those are 2 entirely different things) I omit the arugula (don’t like) and use more tomatoes to ring the platter. Oh and I use medium provolone as I find the sharp to be just too much.
This one is always a hit. Personally for me I eat around the olives, pepperoncini, and salami but it really is delicious.
My library also has neither the ebook or hardcopy. I want to participate, so I’m going to buy the ebook. Not thrilled about it, because it’s almost as expensive as the hardcover, and I don’t think it’s a very veg-friendly book that I’ll get a lot of use out of. This is definitely one where I was hoping for a library copy.
I often get used books and they are in excellent condition if not brand new. My Union Square Cafe cost me like $3 and was autographed by both authors/chefs.
I’m not going to buy a hard copy. I have too many books and not enough shelf space to get a book that would have minimal use. I bought the ebook so I wouldn’t have to give it shelf space. For anyone thinking of getting the ebook, be warned that it is one of those where the bookmarks don’t really work. You bookmark a recipe, and then when you look at the list of bookmarks, you see only the chapter title and not the name of the recipe. Very annoying. So I can’t really recommend the ebook.
I’ve been there for several years now. Hence ebooks - though I have to give a shout out to purchasing used books. I’ve gotten several gems.
I have Carmine’s as an ebook. It’s not the easiest to use.
I’m up to about 2000 books. I’ve been there for many years, but I do cull them now and again to keep it from growing much more. And hundreds of ebooks on top of that. I really just don’t have a place in my house to put additional shelves, so I’m forced to keep the collection of hard copy books under check.
I’ve built them in everywhere I can. There isn’t an inch left. I’m a casualty of over-education. Ask me about the middle-grand piano, too …. And the artwork. I do not own a BIG SCREEN tv. No place to put one …
PASTA POMODORO (p. 113)
This is an easy one. You saute sliced garlic in EVOO until it is golden brown. You then add thinly sliced proscuitto, sliced fresh basil, a bay leaf, and chopped fresh flat-leaf parsley. After about 30 seconds you add white wine and cook for like 10 seconds. You then add a can of drained plum tomatoes, break them up, and bring to a boil. You then let it reduce by half and season with salt and pepper. Serve over al dente pasta.
This is a go-to quick pasta sauce for me when I have proscuitto on hand. I use crushed tomatoes most of the time because that is what I usually have on hand. I’ve served it at parties and everyone enjoys it.
MANICOTTI (p.121)
The ricotta filling contains grated mozzarella, grated smoked mozzarella, grated romano cheese, fresh basil, fresh parsley, salt, pepper, and an egg. They use savory crepes rather than pasta tubes. I’ve never agreed with their recipe for the crepes. It calls for 2 eggs, 1/2 cup of flour, and just 1/4 cup of milk along with snipped chives and salt. That isn’t nearly enough milk IMO so I always add a lot more. You assemble the manicotti and then finish with Carmine’s marinara sauce.
I do enjoy these but I omit the smoked mozzarella and just double the regular mozz.
I just picked up this book from the library. While looking at the recipes, I came across Eggplant Parmigiana on page 241. At the top of the page is stamed “OFFICIALLY NOTED.” Do you think that means there’s an error on that page? Does anyone know where the book’s errors might be listed? TIA.
COUNTRY STYLE RIGATONI (e-book)
This sounded homey, and fairly similar to the rigatoni with (turkey) sausage and broccoli that is in rotation around here, but a little more exotic. It has beans, which Lulu and I love (but LLD does not). This is actually much richer than that dish, and was a hit, even with LLD. You saute garlic, then sliced onion, then add sausage to brown. Next add herbs (basil and parsley) which I didn’t have, so skipped, white beans, chicken broth, and butter and let this simmer until it cooks down a bit. Meanwhile cook your rigatoni, adding the broccoli when the pasta has about 4 minutes left. Drain the pasta/broccoli mix and add to the sauce. Delicious. That butter and chicken broth really adds a lot of flavor and oomph, and I’m always happy to have beans. I’ll definitely make this again. No picture - I was ready to dig in.
This was the recipe I chose to make first. Glad you liked it.
PENNE ALLA VODKA (p. 118)
This is an easy recipe. You saute thinly-sliced onion in EVOO and let them cook for a couple of minutes until they start to soften. Then add chopped garlic and cook until golden but not burned. (Carmine’s tends to like garlic pretty brown) You then add chopped basil, parsley, and red pepper flakes and cook for 30 seconds. After that you add 1/4 cup vodka and flame it (if desired). You then add marinara sauce and simmer for a few minutes and then add heavy cream and bring it to a boil. Let it boil until it thickens. At the same time you cook the penne until al dente. Drain pasta. Add grated romano cheese, stir, and season with salt and pepper to taste. Ladle sauce over pasta and serve with additional grated cheese.
The recipe calls for using 1/4 cup of EVOO. I very rarely write in my cookbooks but I did write “use less oil” after I made this recipe for the first time. I also seem to recall the 1/2 teaspoon of red pepper flakes being too much but that was years ago when I made it for the first time. Now it doesn’t seem so crazy.
I make this at least once every other week. I made it 2 weeks ago for a dinner with neighbors. It is easy and delicious.
COUNTRY-STYLE RIGATONI (ebook)
This was easy to veganize, with the simple subtitutions of a Beyond hot Italian sausage, a vegan “chicken” broth, and vegan butter. I added some sun-dried tomatoes to replace the prosciutto. LLM has described the process. I made as written (including the herbs), except for the subs to make it vegan. I did add the chicken broth in stages, because it seemed like a lot, and I ended up using just a bit less than called for. The sauce does thicken (bean starch + evaporation will do that for you), but Mr. MM felt it was a bit more liquid-y than he wanted (I thought it was fine). I did let it simmer longer than called for to thicken. This is my second recipe from the book, so it may be early to announce a theme, but with both recipes I felt like the simmering times given were too short and/or the liquid added was too much. Mostly the former. Minor qualms. The end result with this dish was delicious. The 1/4 cup of oil plus 1/4 cup of butter , plus the fat in the sausage, mean it’s a rich dish. I might reduce those quantities in the future. But I will definitely make this again.
