Mother Sauce: Italian American Family Recipes and the Story of the Women Who Created Them

Publisher Marketing: "While there may be other cookbooks preserving Italian-American cooking, no one gets to the heart of this storied cuisine with more passion and perspective than Lucinda Scala Quinn. Using her own very personal family history, spanning five generations, countless relatives and dishes, she puts into focus the creation and evolution of our country's most beloved recipes. MOTHER SAUCE honors the hard-working, often unrecognized, immigrant women whose grit and gumption paved the way for every delicious swirl of pasta in Sunday gravy, meatball sub and cacciatore we have come to know and adore. With Lucinda's expert guidance and generous approach in the kitchen, these classics are sure to be passed down again and again."-- Gail Simmons, Food Expert, TV Host and Author of BRINGING IT HOME Review Quotes : "Lucinda has a mastery of her craft and is a true custodian of tradition in the American foodways, one deliciously made its own by Italian women."-- Camille Becerra, author of Bright Cooking Review Quotes : "Lucinda pays loving tribute to the Italian women who stubbornly kept the food traditions of the old country alive in American kitchens. An indispensable collection of Italian American classics."-- Giada De Laurentiis Review Quotes : " Mother Sauce is a superb, inspiring cookbook drawn from generations of family wisdom. . . . These recipes come from the heart and will find their way into your own repertoire."-- Jody Williams, chef and coauthor of Via Carota Review Quotes : "Lucinda Scala Quinn is a legend in the culinary field, and I have been inspired by her work for years. I am thrilled and tantalized yet again by her newest offering of heartfelt, straightforward, family recipes."-- Nicole Rucker, chef and author of Fat + Flour Biographical Note : Lucinda Scala Quinn is the author of eight cookbooks, including the best-selling Mad Hungry trilogy. Her mantra is, "cook for the ones you love, teach them to cook for themselves and they will pass it on." Her passion for cooking took root growing up in an Italian American family, which inspired her to begin cooking professionally at age sixteen. As a late-blooming entrepreneur, she founded the Mad Hungry kitchenware brand which makes multi-use tools for the home cook. For over a decade she oversaw all food content for Martha Stewart Living OmniMedia. She was the host of the television show Mad Hungry: Bringing Back the Family Meal and cohost of Everyday Food on PBS. Her radio show EatDrink on Sirius FM was an innovative precursor to podcasts. She lives in New York City and can be followed @madhungry. Table of Contents : Preface: Aquilina's Daughters Introduction: A Foodway by Our Italian Immigrant Grandmothers, Mothers, and Daughters Mamma Knew: Frugal Ways to Cook in Your Kitchen Provisions to Have on Hand Simmered on the Stovetop: Saucy Meats and Hearty Soups Sunday Sauce Essay: Sunday Dinner Menu Meatballs in Tomato Sauce Breadcrumbs Beef Braciola Meat Sauce (Ragù) Sausage Ragù Tomato Sauce (Sugo) Chicken Parm Meatballs Italian Wedding Soup Cannellini Bean Soup Green Minestrone Between-Meal Snacks: Breads, Pickles, and Tidbits Tomato Pie Prosciutto Bread Essay: The Antipasti Platter Mini Meatball Sandwiches Fresh Ricotta Roasted Sweet Red Peppers Sidebar: Garlic Herb Bread Essay: Peppers Marinated Stuffed Hot Red Cherry Peppers Hot Red Cherry Peppers in Brine Caponata Giardiniera Marinated Mushrooms Italian Tuna Dip Mussels Oreganata Clams Casino Roasted Chestnuts Sauced and Tossed Pasta: Macaroni Dishes Finished in a Saucepan Penne alla Vodka Sidebar: Preserved Tomatoes Utica Riggies Orecchiette with Broccoli Rabe and Sausage Pasta alla Norma Pasta Ceci Bucatini Puttanesca Spaghetti Amatriciana Fettuccine Alfredo with Chicken Turkey Tetrazzini Spaghetti Carbonara Creamy Lemon Spaghetti Garlic-and-Oil Spaghetti Fried Spaghetti Basic Pasta Dough Sidebar: Using Fresh Pasta Dough Cheese and Spinach Ravioli Layered and Baked: Savory Oven-Cooked One-Pan Meals Lasagna with Mini Meatballs Baked Ziti Eggplant Romana Carolina Eggplant Rollatini Essay: Eggplant Chicken Parmesan Steak Pizzaiola Boneless Pork Roast Brother Jim's Easter Lamb Savory Easter Pie Baked Artichoke Casserole Italian Oven Fries Cooked in a Skillet: Seared, Sauced, and Cooked in a Big Pan Chicken Marsala Chicken Oreganata Sidebar: Chicken Broth Chicken Francese Chicken Cacciatore Sidebar: An Easy Way to Butcher a Chicken Chicken Vesuvio Chicken Scarpariello Turkey Piccata Veal Birdies Pork Chops with Vinegar Peppers Feasting on Fish: Seafood Dishes for Everyday and for Celebrations Seven Fishes Seafood Stew (Cioppino) Essay: Feast of Seven Fishes Lobster Fra Diavolo Spaghetti with Clam Sauce Shrimp Scampi Meatballs with Pasta Shrimp Francese White Wine Lemon Sauce Shrimp Rice Balls (Arancini) Seafood-Stuffed Shells Poached Fish Fillets (Aqua Pazza) Haddock Italiano Tuna or Swordfish Kebabs with Salsa Verde Stuffed Squid in Tomato Sauce Garden and Greens: Side Dishes Made from Beloved Italian Produce Sautéed Escarole Sidebar: The Italian Garden Utica Greens Greens and Beans Garlicky Broccoli Rabe Lemony Pole Beans Jambot (Vegetable Stew) Stuffed Artichokes Braised Fennel Fennel and Orange Salad Tomato Salad Put-Up Tomatoes Italian Vinaigrette Eats from the Streets: Sandwiches and Sweets Inspired by Festival Foods Sausage and Pepper Hoagies Sidebar: Festivals Sausage and Broccoli Rabe Hoagies Stromboli Steak Sandwich, aka Philly Cheesesteak Chicago Beef Muffuletta Sandwich Beef Rice Balls (Arancini) Lemon Ice Espresso Granita Sweets: Traditional Pastries, Cakes, and Cookies Italian Sponge Cake Tiramisu Nonny's Cannoli Half-Pound Cake Cassata Siciliana Orange Olive Oil Cake with Whipped Ricotta Frosting Lena Strozzi's Chocolate Roll Ricotta Pie Pasta Frolla Sherbet-Stuffed Frozen Lemons Essay: The Italian Cookie Tray Sweet Wine Taralli Tarralluci (Glazed Lemon Knots) Biscotti Barricelli Chocolate Toto Cookies Chickie's Cherry Cookies Pistachio Drops Nana's Pizzelles Afterword Further Reading Shopping Resources Acknowledgments Index Brief Description : "In America today, nonna's cooking is everyone's favorite food with spaghetti, lasagna, and pizza some of the most popular dishes. Yet this is a cuisine that is only a century old. When Italian families first arrived in the U.S. in the first part of the twentieth century, mammas brought with them the skills and ingredient know-how to fashion a whole new foodway in spite of living in poverty and their ostracization from their newly adopted country. These remarkable women gave birth to a cuisine that their fathers, husbands, and sons then monetized outside the home. Red sauce joints thrive around the U.S., but rarely are these women actually credited as the true founders of the Italian-American cuisine. In her latest book, home cook and author Lucinda Scala Quinn cooks 100 iconic Italian-American recipes. Along the way, she shares the origins of the recipes and gives credit to the incredible women who developed our cherished Italian dishes. Home cooks and food lovers alike will delight in this masterful collection of America's favorite comfort foods, from Baked Ziti and Sausage and Pepper Hoagies to Chicken Marsala and Cannolis. With gorgeous recipe shots, archival photos, ingredient sidebars, and cultural essays, Mother Sauce brings nonna's cooking to kitchens everywhere"-- Review Quotes : "Recognizable, unelaborated Italian American classics with easily sourced ingredients and uncomplicated preparation. . . . True comfort food." -- Publishers Weekly Review Quotes : "The best elements of Italian cooking blended with American ideas and transmuted into culinary creations of their own. . . . The book has the basics covered, from Sunday's spaghetti and meatballs to stromboli, penne alla vodka, and fettuccine alfredo. Readers will also find dishes not seen in other collections, like creamy lemon spaghetti, mini meatball sandwiches, or Quinn's brother's Easter lamb, covered and marinated in a garlicky, herbaceous honey-vinegar blend. Italian classics have a place here too, for those looking for variations on carbonara and amatriciana. Quinn's irresistible cookbook concludes with an array of desserts, ranging from light to luscious, from granita and sweet taralli to orange olive-oil cake with ricotta frosting and tiramisu."-- Booklist Publisher Marketing : From home cook and author Lucinda Scala Quinn, a cookbook containing 100 iconic and beloved Italian-American recipes from the last century. Named a Best Cookbook of 2025 by The Strategist In America today, everyone loves nonna's cooking--think spaghetti, lasagna, and pizza. Italian families arrived in the U.S at the beginning of the twentieth century, and mammas brought with them the skills and ingredient know-how to fashion a whole new cuisine in spite of living in poverty and ostracization from their new country. Their fathers, husbands, and sons then monetized these dishes outside the home in the form of Red sauce joints. Rarely are these women actually credited as the true founders of the Italian-American cuisine. In her latest book, Lucinda Scala Quinn cooks classic Italian-American recipes, and along the way shares their origin and gives credit to the incredible women who developed our cherished Italian dishes. Home cooks and food lovers alike will delight in this masterful collection of America's favorite comfort foods, from Baked Ziti and Sausage and Pepper Hoagies to Chicken Marsala and Cannolis. With gorgeous recipe shots, archival photos, ingredient sidebars, and cultural essays, Mother Sauce brings nonna's cooking to kitchens everywhere. Review Citations: Library Journal 02/01/2025 pg. 89 (EAN 9781648292019, Hardcover) - *Starred Review Booklist 02/01/2025 pg. 8 (EAN 9781648292019, Hardcover) Publishers Weekly 03/17/2025 (EAN 9781648292019, Hardcover)

Format: Hardcover | Pages: 320 | Publication Date: 2025-03-11