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Post by kit on Feb 15, 2018 11:06:53 GMT -5
I have the recipe for "Utica Tomato Pie" and make it from time-to-time. I'd like to have some suggestions for items to add that will make it more flavorful without turning it into "Pizza". I like to eat it at room temperature, cut into little rectangles, so any additional items would have to be able to remain at that temperature without spoiling. Any ideas?
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Post by Clipper on Feb 15, 2018 14:53:17 GMT -5
I can't think of much that could safely be added other than mozzarella cheese, and possibly onion or green pepper. When I was single and lived by myself, a did on a couple of occasions buy a tomato pie and add sausage, more sauce, cheese and other toppings and heat it in the oven to melt the cheese, but I would not leave such a variation out at room temperature.
How about anchovies? Do you like anchovies? You can't even find them offered on a pizza anywhere around here. I think anchovies would be preserved enough with the salt to be shelf stable on a pizza at room temperature.
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Post by clarencebunsen on Feb 15, 2018 16:30:07 GMT -5
Black olives.
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Post by Deleted on Feb 15, 2018 16:56:18 GMT -5
Sacrilege! Tomato Pie is ONLY crushed tomatoes with garlic topped with Pecorino Romano Cheese. Anything else is Pizza. What a dumb Americano question.
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Post by clarencebunsen on Feb 15, 2018 19:29:51 GMT -5
Will, glad to hear from you!
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Post by Deleted on Feb 15, 2018 20:04:50 GMT -5
Will, glad to hear from you! Won't be for long. Just a couple weeks left. Distancing myself from web activity but couldn't resist this attempt to overhaul Tomato Pie. |
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Post by Clipper on Feb 15, 2018 22:24:05 GMT -5
LOL! It is good to hear that you are still alive and kicking Will. We have been worried about you since you last posting on the fifth of February. I hope you don't distance yourself too far from the web. We all enjoy interacting with you and would miss you if you simply quit signing onto the forum once in a while.
I guess Kit has a desire to adulterate the great Utica creation called tomato pie as I wanted to screw with the recipe for "Utica Greens." I have to admit that I have thrown foreign toppings on a tomato pie to fortify it with a little more substance to make it a meal rather than a snack item. My bad, haha. It was a quick and cheap meal when I was single. When I lived in Minnesota I even ate home made sopressata made by an older Italian gentleman neighbor with venison rather than pork. Same recipe but with venison substituted for the pork. It was good, but needless to say it had a much different flavor. ( Made with the venison, it also created some pretty potent flatulence, not conducive to life in an ice fishing shack with several men eating it) Modern day chefs call it "fusion" cooking. I love all the traditional recipes, but I do enjoy the variations also. It seems that our favorite Italian dishes are subject to modification. Cincinnati pours chili over their spaghetti, and here in the South they make spaghetti with BBQ sauce instead of Marinara at BBQ restaurants.
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Post by kit on Feb 16, 2018 8:12:35 GMT -5
I hear ya, Will. I'd never try an addition and call it Utica Tomato Pie. I'm just looking to add a little extra flavor. I like CB's suggestion of black olives. Any others?
Clipper...I'm not really big on anchovies, except for anchovy paste in Caesar Salad. Besides, if my doctor ever found out I was ingesting all that salt, she'd have a fit. Living in the Utica area with all the Italian foods, although it's difficult for me to imagine spaghetti with chili or BBQ sauce, I suppose they're just variations that someone tried and liked. But around here, that would be a no-no.
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Post by Clipper on Feb 16, 2018 9:30:37 GMT -5
I agree Kit. Having lived in the Utica area and the Northeast, I am used to great Italian foods, and the wonderful family operated Italian restaurants. A little variation in Italian based recipes may be an insult to the true and old fashioned Italian person, but in my opinion, experimentation in cooking is nothing short of an "epicurean adventure."
I have never had the Cincinnati style spaghetti smothered in chili, but I have had chili mac made with elbow macaroni. It is actually quite good. It is actually a dish that I first enjoyed at a buffet at a casino in Tunica Mississippi. As for BBQ spaghetti, I simply don't think I would care for that much BBQ sauce and the smoky and spicy flavors mixed with pasta. I would most likely have heartburn for a week afterward, but some southern folks are totally enamored with the idea of smothering a plate of spaghetti with a half of a bottle of Sweet Baby Ray's. Sounds like an all out assault on the well being of the average diabetic. A heaping plate of carbohydrates, smothered with an additional half of a pint or so of sugar, corn syrup and molasses.
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Post by clarencebunsen on Feb 16, 2018 10:26:52 GMT -5
Babes on N Genny has Cincinnati style spaghetti on their menu. Never tried it though.
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Post by Clipper on Feb 16, 2018 12:12:23 GMT -5
Is Babe's really a player in a town so noted for it's great Italian restaurants. I have only been there once or twice and was not all that impressed with the food. I noticed in the past that they are a popular bar destination though. I am living in an area where we usually are dying for a GOOD Italian dinner and pretty much all we have available is Olive Garden and a place called Fazoli's that serves fast food Italian on plastic throw away plates with plastic flatware. We did find ONE restaurant here however that serves authentic Italian food such as what we are used to eating back home in CNY. Unfortunately it is not a place where one can afford to eat frequently. The last time we went there we had a rather mediocre antipasto for two that cost $12, and each of us had seafood fettuccini Alfredo. The food was very good, but $22 for a medium sized portion of fettuccini with 4 scallops and 4 shrimp was a bit much, Add $3 apiece for our beverage (sweet tea) and the check was $62 +tax and tip. It was over $70 bucks for a Italian dinner. We enjoyed it only because we were starved for a true and authentic Italian dinner, but a bit pricey for a two plates of pasta, a salad, and two glasses of iced tea.
When we first moved here there was a restaurant called The Vineyard. It belonged to a couple from Syracuse NY and they had all their supplies shipped in from Casa Imports, just as they did when they had a restaurant in Syracuse. Unfortunately in an area where pulled pork BBQ, Mexican food, and fried catfish restaurants are the order of the day, they failed and closed soon after we came here.
We pretty much cook Italian at home since moving here. Thankfully Kathy makes excellent sauce from fresh roma tomatoes, canned puree, and a great blend of spices and herbs. She also makes a great Alfredo sauce and I buy shrimp and large ocean scallops at Aldi's for about $8 for a 12oz bag. I used to make home made Italian sausage but I have not made any for quite some time. It is a lot of work and I have found that our Food City store brand is reasonably good. Not Chanatry's but acceptable.
Sadly our favorite neighborhood Italian restaurants in Utica closed. We always loved Pescatore's on Albany Street and Tony Sparagna's on Lenox Ave. We now resort to eating in Rome for good Italian fare at Aquino's or the Franklin Hotel.
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Post by Deleted on Feb 16, 2018 17:01:56 GMT -5
Clipper when I lived in St Louis MO back in the 60's and 70's there was this fantastic Italian Restaurant located down by the Arch. That area is totally changed now and from photos I see I can recognise anything in the area. PROGRESS. Anyway the place had booth or long tables to eat at which could be seperated for those who wanted intimacy I guess. Tables were covered with typical oilcloth in green , white and red squares. A platter of pasta with a glass of Italian Red cost $1.00 with a meatball add 50 cents or Italian sausage add 75 cents. Got big basket of homemade Italian bread. Salad was extra if I remember another $1.00 . Loved that place. Afterward we would walk down to the Arch and to the Mississippi River. I remember one spring flood that deposited ankle deep water in the parking lot. No one cared we all just took off our shoes. I do not eat pasta or any Italian food when I used to go out to eat nowadays. Actually I haven't been to a restaurant since the 90's.
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Post by clarencebunsen on Feb 16, 2018 21:58:17 GMT -5
Barb & I don't really care for Babe's. but we have some friends who like it so we occasionally go there for the company rather than the food.
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Post by Clipper on Feb 16, 2018 23:08:50 GMT -5
"Tables were covered with typical oilcloth in green , white and red squares."
Will, I wonder if one can even purchase oil cloth anymore. My grandmother always had her kitchen table covered with red and white checkered oil cloth. I still can remember the smells that wafted from that kitchen and I can remember the smell of the oil cloth table cover when it was new. She used to buy Blue Bonnet margarine in plastic bags and I always love sitting at that kitchen table kneading the bag to distribute the color bead through the margarine. My favorite bedtime snack when I stayed overnight with them was toast slathered with that "oleo" and cinnamon sugar, washed down with a glass of milk from Hameline's dairy on the highlands. Sometimes if we were out playing when he delivered he would give us a half pint bottle of dairy orange drink.
The place in St. Louis reminds me of Pelletieri Joe's on Jay Street. I always loved going there for lunch back in the day. Wonderful bread, a plate of sweet peppers, a plate of hot peppers and a bucket of beer back when I still drank beer. I also liked the mushroom stew over spaghetti. My other lunch spot back in those days was Tiny's when the original owners had it. Kielbasa sandwich with Italian long hots was my favorite.
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Post by clarencebunsen on Feb 17, 2018 13:16:38 GMT -5
Just did a quick search on Amazon. Found the familiar red & white checked oil cloth, no green but I only searched for a minute.
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