WINTER SQUASH SOUP WITH FENNEL AND CORIANDER

FRIKADELLER: DANISH MEATBALLS

RØDGRØD MED FLØDE: DANISH COOKED RED BERRIES AND CREAM

OMA’S MAC AND CHEESE

GALLINA RIPIENA (CHICKEN STUFFED WITH BREAD, BORAGE, AND PARMESAN)

CHICKEN SOUP WITH POACHED EGGS AND HERBS

ARMIDA’S STICKY TOMATO FRITTATA

PIZZOCCHERI ALLA VALTELLINESE

CHARD-SESAME BALLS WITH RED ONION JAM

ROASTED LEEKS WITH EGGS AND OLIVES

PLUM ALMOND TART

GNOCCHI WITH TOMATO-BEEF RAGU

BEEF RAGU

Pastry bottom

1. Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F.
2. Grease a 9 inch springform cake pan with butter, and sprinkle it with a little flour to lightly coat the bottom and edges.
3. Mix together the flour, baking powder, salt, and lemon zest and place them in a mound on a clean surface. Cut the frozen butter first into thin slabs, then long rectangles, and finally into very small cubes, about 5 to 10 millimeters. It is easiest to do this if you coat the butter and knife with some of the flour; this prevents the knife from sticking too much. Once the butter has been cut, place in the freezer for 5–10 minutes to re-firm. Spread the chilled butter cubes around the periphery of the flour mound.
4. Make a well in the center of the flour. Add the sugar, egg, milk, and vanilla extract to the well. Scramble these together using a fork, then slowly incorporate the surrounding flour, using the fork to stir it in.
5. When the mixture becomes too thick for the fork, use a large knife to cut in the rest of the flour and butter. Continue cutting the dough together, remembering to scrape under and turn over the dough during this process. Do this for a couple of minutes, until the dough is in the form of large, crumbly lumps.
6. Wash and flour your hands. Briefly knead the dough until it is no longer sticking strongly to the board. If the dough is wet, sprinkle on a little extra flour. Do not overknead. You still want to see the little pieces of butter in the dough; this will produce a flaky crust.
7. Form the dough into a ball, wrap it in plastic, and place it in the fridge for 15 minutes. After its brief chill, flour your work surface and roll the dough out so that it is about 1½ inches larger than the cake pan. Transfer the dough to the pan and press on it lightly, so that it makes contact with the bottom and sides. Ideally, the border of the dough should come an inch up the sides of the cake pan. If the dough is not high enough, use a floured fork to gently pull it up to an inch in height. Using the tines of a fork, poke the bottom and sides of the dough a number of times, so that it can breathe while baking. Place the dough in the fridge to rest for 30 minutes, and prepare the plum filling.

GNOCCHI WITH TOMATO-BEEF RAGU

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The airy flesh of the ubiquitous russet potato makes it the perfect choice for gnocchi. To create light, pillowy gnocchi, make sure that your dough is neither too wet nor overworked. Armida uses the fine markings of the back of her cheese grater to mark the gnocchi; I recommend using the fine side of a box grater to do this, or forming the gnocchi and running them along a wire whisk to mark them. The gnocchi are wonderful with Armida’s easy, rich ragu. They are also delicious with a simpler dressing of melted butter and grated cheese.

Instructions

1. Begin by making the ragu. Warm the oil until shimmering in a heavy-bottomed pot set over medium-low heat. Add the onion, garlic, parsley, and bay leaf and cook until softened, 5 to 10 minutes. Turn the heat up to medium and add the beef, stirring until it is evenly browned, 5 to 10 minutes more. Add the remaining ragu ingredients, bring the mixture to a boil, then reduce the heat and simmer, uncovered, until the sauce has a medium-thick consistency, about 1 1/2 hours.
2. While the ragu is cooking, prepare the gnocchi. Wash the potatoes and place them in a large pot covered by cold water. Add a generous pinch of salt and bring the potatoes to a boil. Cook until tender, about 20 minutes.
3. Drain the cooked potatoes in a colander and let them cool enough in order to remove their skins. Peel the potatoes and then let them cool for at least 15 minutes more so that their remaining moisture evaporates in steam; this is important, as drier potatoes make for lighter gnocchi.

In 1962 my grandmother began stealing, every other day, from the cash register in my grandfather’s pharmacy. She hid the money in her bosom by day and in her prayer book by night. In 1963, she bought a washing machine outright, but when delivered, the washer never made it through the door. My grandfather stated: “I will not pay for that!” When he was told that the appliance was already paid for, he knew he had been robbed. “Take it away!” said he and slammed the door.” Uncle Riccardo offered his living room as a temporary solution. And so, in 1963, the year I was born, the washing machine sat conspicuously between the new couch and the armchairs in uncle Riccardo and aunt Renata’s living room for almost nine months.

It began in 1913, when my grandfather rode in a two-horse carriage to my grandmother’s summer mansion. He wore a medical lieutenant’s uniform. At twenty-one he was handsome and fearless. He bowed, clicking his heels twice, then kissed her hands. She spoke French to him. I wish to think that they were in love then. He came from a family of selfish scientists who once were shepherds, she belonged to the people with good blood and bad genes. During the first quarter of the twentieth century, they saw in one-another the best marriage arrangement they could find.

My grandfather was predictable, my grandmother was eccentric. He was reserved, she was theatrical. He loved chamber music, she adored Italian opera. He thought he could control her, she thought she could seduce him; as far as I can remember, my grandparents were not lovers.

Their political ideas were the same, their classes close in the social scale, but their values were opposite. In their marriage they lacked trust and intimacy, because they liked themselves a lot better than they liked each-other.

I tell my younger cousins that their great-grandfather was a chemist with strong morals and their great-grandmother was a cruel countess with a passion for food. My grandfather was beautiful but she was invincible. My grandfather saved money, my grandmother created debt that she never intended to pay. The town merchants often appeared at my grandfather’s pharmacy with overdue bills from my grandmother. He read over lists of exotic foods that should have never been purchased for a family of nine. He would pay and apologize, then go home and refuse to eat anything that my grandmother cooked. He lived on bread and eggs for days, making my grandmother furious, since she considered her cooking irresistible.

I don’t know how the washing machine got in the house at last. Maybe it was because of my birth, since a new baby in an era of non-disposable diapers might have seriously disturbed my grandfather’s need for hyper-cleanliness. In my first memories, the washing machine was used daily. Its hardest day was on Monday when the tablecloth and napkins from the Sunday lunch went through a four-hour cycle after being disfigured by the ragu con carne and red wine.

It takes a village.

Below you will find the donors, designers, writers, recipe testers, grandmothers, and other generous, talented people who have contributed to this website.  Explore their links where available, and please do spread the word about the wonderful work they are doing. A great big thank you to everyone listed here, and to my friends and family. This couldn’t have happened without you. ~Jessica xo

Websites don’t happen by themselves! 

This one exists thanks to the following talented people….

Website Design: Martin Celis & Claudia Jakobsen

Website Development: Martin Celis

Illustrations: Sunti Metternich

Donors

Donations make this work possible: give $1000 or more and we’ll thank you here (and forever more!)

Rosemary and David Adamson // Maggie Fieldsteel // Pam and Gordon Mitchard // Kathleen Shaw

Featured Writers, Photographers, Videographers, and Cooks 

Paola Ferrario is an internationally recognized artist and Guggenheim fellow who uses photography and other means of mechanical reproduction to re-define ordinary environments and subjects. She is the author of “19 Pictures 22 Recipes”, a meditation on food, photography and human capability. Currently she is the 2016-17 Harnish Visiting Artist at Smith College. Paola wrote and photographed the story on her grandmother, Ambrogina and contributed the wonderfully thought-provoking piece, The Honorary Nonna, for the journal.

Stu Fisher is a fabulous home cook, whose inspiration in the kitchen stems from his grandmothers. Jessica interviewed him for the piece on his Oma, Elizabeth Fisher; he additionally contributed recipes to accompany the story.

Paola Gianturco is an author/photographer who has documented women’s lives in 60 countries, had five books published—and is a grandmother. Her involvement with women’s issues is long standing: she has lectured about them internationally, spoken at UNESCO International Headquarters on International Women’ s Day 2008, co-developed and taught Executive Institutes on Women and Leadership at Stanford University, and served on the Board of the Association for Women’s Rights in Development (AWID). She was named one of “40 Women to Watch over 40” and one of “21 Leaders for the 21st Century”. Jessica interviewed her here about what she saw and learned working on her fifth book, Grandmother Power: A Global Phenomenon.

Sara Maamouri is the highly talented and incredibly patient video editor of the Cooking with Italian Grandmothers films. Additionally, she is quite the home cook and food writer, and will be creating a piece on her Tunisian aunt Esma for the site.

The Grandmother Gatherers and other Magic Makers

Find 5+ elders for the site and become an official Grandmother Gatherer

Courtney Allen, Sarah Fieldsteel, Maggie Fieldsteel, Michelle Fuerst, Emily Green, Matthew Perault,

Melissa Thompson, Martha Rose Shulman, Sarah Weiner

1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees
2. In a small bowl, scramble the egg and set aside. You will use this to create a sort of custard that will help set the macaroni as it bakes. When the water boils, add the macaroni and cook for about 8 minutes, or to taste.
3. While the macaroni is cooking, shred the cheese in a food processor (note: do not buy pre-shredded cheese; it has additives that you don’t need.). In a large bowl, add cayenne pepper, salt, black pepper and sour cream. You will add the cooked, strained macaroni to the bowl when it is ready.
4. Meanwhile, take some of the hot milk mixture and pour a small amount into the egg, whisking with your other hand. This is called tempering and it will bring the temperature of the egg up without scrambling it. Once you have poured about 1/2 cup of the hot milk mixture into the small bowl, you can then take the egg and milk mixture and pour it back into the saucepan. Be sure to whisk the mixture in the saucepan while you do this. Set the mixture aside, off the heat.
5. Strain the cooked macaroni and place into the large bowl. Take about 1/3 of the cheese and add it to the bowl. Mix with a wooden spoon until all the ingredients are well blended.
6. Butter a medium sized casserole dish and pour 1/2 of the mixed macaroni in. Take 1/2 of the remaining shredded cheese and pour a layer of it into the casserole. Pour the remaining macaroni on top. Take the milk mixture, give it a final whisk and pour it into the casserole slowly. Once you see the milk coming up the sides, stop. The milk mixture should not reach the top of the casserole or else it will bubble over. Sprinkle the remaining cheese on top and dot the top with small pieces of the cold butter. This will help the casserole to brown nicely.
7. Place in the middle of the preheated oven with a pan or foil on the shelf underneath it (in case it does bubble over) and cook until browned and bubbly, approximately 25-30 minutes. Remove and let sit for 10 minutes before serving.
8. Jessica’s Notes: You can easily convert this to a gluten free recipe by substituting gluten free macaroni elbows for the wheat ones. If you do this, you will need to lower the amount of time you boil the pasta for, as gluten free pasta cooks more quickly. Taste as you go, and strain when al dente.

KINDERGARTEN BREAD

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Making Kindergarten Bread is a great activity for families and classrooms; it’s foolproof, and can include all sorts of fun and meaningful stories and songs. Both Betty and her daughter, Anna, baked the bread weekly with their Kindergarten classes. The students got to experience the life cycle of wheat, and a connection to where their nourishment came from. They planted wheat in the spring, harvested and winnowed in the autumn, ground wheat berries for the bread in a hand grinder, and mixed, kneaded, and formed the dough into delightful shapes. Finally, they baked the bread and ate it together. The childrens’ favorite shape was a wheat sheaf with a mouse, so this recipe teaches you how to make bread that way. However, do feel free to experiment with your bread shapes; braids, alphabet letters, and favorite animals were all popular in the Kindergarten.

Instructions

1. In a large mixing bowl, combine the warm water, honey and baker’s yeast.
2. Set aside and allow the yeast to soften and bubble, 5-10 minutes. (Betty and Anna sung a little yeast song with the children, or took them for a short walk to pass this time.)
3. Add the 5 cups of whole wheat flour (1 cup of this could be freshly ground wheat berries, millet, or barley.) Beat by hand with a wooden spoon for at least 100 strokes. If the dough is not beaten sufficiently, the bread will be heavy.
4. Stir in 2-3 cups more flour– just enough to make a stiff but manageable dough.
5. Sprinkle ½-1 cup of flour over a bread board or other clean surface, and knead the dough until it is smooth and elastic. Sing about kneading as you go!
6. Separate into small balls, about 1/3 to 1/2 cup of dough each.
7. Roll the balls into long strands (each child and adult can do their own). Then cut the strands into the shape of wheat stalks, by making two or three diagonal snips downwards on each side of the top of the dough. To make a sheaf of wheat, place the stalks of wheat next to one another and then on top of one another on a baking sheet. You can wrap place a strand of dough crosswise around the middle to create the bundle effect. For fun, make the shape of small mouse, to put on top.
8. Set aside to rest for 10-15 minutes, and bake in an oven preheated to 350F for 50+ minutes, depending on the size and shape of dough you have formed.
9. Enjoy together!

VEGETARIAN Recipes

WINTER SQUASH SOUP WITH FENNEL AND CORIANDER

RØDGRØD MED FLØDE: DANISH COOKED RED BERRIES AND CREAM

OMA’S MAC AND CHEESE

ARMIDA’S STICKY TOMATO FRITTATA

PIZZOCCHERI ALLA VALTELLINESE

CHARD-SESAME BALLS WITH RED ONION JAM

ROASTED LEEKS WITH EGGS AND OLIVES

The ragù con carne over spaghetti alla chittarra is the dish that most reminds me of my grandparents’ relationship: it cooks for very long and when ready it takes on a particular color, somewhere between dark red and brown, that always makes me think of their dark bond.

This recipe changed as we let go of some of the traditions of the Abruzzi. It assumed a Neapolitan flare. In the beginning it was always made with mutton, then we switched to beef, even putting a little butter in it at the end. But the pasta was always made by hand in the morning and cut with the “guitar” (chitarra). If you don’t want to make pasta by hand, this sauce is excellent with paccheri or if you are gluten free you can use a gluten free pasta, or put it on polenta.

The other great virtue of this dish is that it provides both un primo e un secondo, since it requires a full roast cooked in sauce. In my mind this is the great difference between Northern and Southern  sauces: hamburger vs. whole roast. In the south of Italy, at weddings and for festive meals, it is important to look like signori (noble and rich), hence portions must be large, courses multiple and meat present. To do this with little money takes invention! In the 1950s, residents of a region like Emilia Romagna—rich in cheeses, cows, cured meats and produce—could express wealth by throwing two pounds of ground veal and pork in their pasta sauce and still have money left for a prosciutto appetizer, a roasted chicken and more. Most of the southern regions, however, were still strikingly poor. Remember that the original Neapolitan pizza had no cheese on it, just tomatoes and oregano.

Back to our dish. This ragù allows you to turn a tough piece of meat into a masterpiece through slow cooking and the power of fat (much in the same way that southern U.S. barbeque does). BY PAOLA FERRARIO

BEEF RAGU

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Instructions

1. 24-48 hours before cooking your ragu, wash, dry and then rub your chuck roast with the 2 1/4 teaspoons of salt. Return to the fridge. When you are ready to cook the recipe, proceed with the below steps.
2. Mince the carrots, onion and celery. Some people use a food processor but I prefer my half-moon knife because it allows me to keep the vegetables slightly larger than when they are minced in the processor.
3. In a heavy bottom pan (I prefer ceramic coated), begin to sauté the minced vegetables with oil and lard (or butter). Add some salt and paprika. On a slow flame cook and stir until the onion becomes translucent. Move the vegetables to one side. Pat the roast dry and add it to the pot. Brown each side, then add the tomatoes. Lower the heat to the lowest setting possible, to keep at a very low simmer; if necessary, use a heat diffuser. Add the whole glove of garlic and bay leaf, and sprinkle in a little more salt. Cook for about 8 hours, turning the roast every 2 hours. (You may use an electric slow cooker if you like.) I know that the dish is ready from the color and consistency of the sauce: dark red-brown with a golden circle of oil emerging at the top. But a simpler way to know is by dipping bread in it after about 6 hours and tasting it, adding further salt if needed.
4. Use part of the sauce for your pasta, I do not put cheese on it but if you’d like to use some I would opt for a young pecorino, not Parmesan. Slide the meat in quarter-inch-thick-pieces and lay on a platter with sauce beneath it and on top.

CHICKEN SOUP WITH POACHED EGGS AND HERBS

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After Armida had prepared her bone broth, she cooked with it to create a variety of different dishes. Her favorite way to consume the broth was simply, with only a small handful of tiny pasta simmered into it; she didn’t miss her absent teeth in her enjoyment of it. When Armida sent me home with a jarful of broth, a freshly laid egg, and a shoot of green garlic, I discovered my own favorite way to use the broth: I made a simple chicken soup by simmering the garlic, fresh herbs, and Armida’s orange-yolked egg right in the mineral-rich broth. Just as Armida described, I found the broth to be deeply restorative, and cooked in this way it seemed the perfect joining of chicken and egg.

Instructions

1. Bring the chicken broth to a boil and add the garlic. Reduce the heat and simmer, covered, for 10 minutes. Season to taste; if you used whole garlic cloves, remove them from the broth at this point. Crack the eggs into ramekins or small bowls, and while the broth is at a low simmer add 1 egg at a time to the pot. I find that stirring the broth gently between adding each egg helps to keep the yolk and white united.
2. Once all the eggs have been added, place the lid on just slightly ajar; be sure the flame is low, otherwise the broth could boil over, disrupting the eggs. If you prefer runny yolks, cook for 5-6 minutes total. If you like your egg yolks solid, cook for 5 to 6 minutes total.
3. To serve, spoon an egg into each bowl and ladle the broth over. Garnish with freshly chopped herbs, salt, and black pepper. There are a number of additions to this dish that are delicious; olive oil, grated cheese, and a scattering of sizzling bread crumbs are just a few examples.