Tag Archives: Italian

Recipe: Restaurant-Style Italian Dressing from scratch

There’s a reason your home-made Italian dressing is not as good as the savory stuff in your favorite red sauce place. Restaurant-style Italian dressing has two secrets, one in the ingredients and the other in the technique, and we reveal … Continue reading

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Recipe: Polpette (Big Italian Meatballs)

Polpette are the big nicely-spiced meatballs found in Italian-American pasta dishes (they are apparently not found in Italy itself, where the meatballs are much smaller) and in meatball subs. When researching this polpette recipe we came across the wonderful Nonna’s … Continue reading

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Recipe: Italian Seafood Salad

This Italian Seafood Salad, or Insalata di Mare, was inspired by Philip Nicolas on the  Cook’s Cooks Community Forum on Facebook. It’s great if you have fresh seafood, but it’s nearly as good made with frozen because of the other … Continue reading

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Recipe: Utica-Style Tomato Pie

Utica-Style Tomato Pie is a gooey, unctuous treat made with lots of tomatoes and very little cheese; it is traditionally served at room temperature. We started with the Sal Detraglia recipe but did a lot of tinkering to get the … Continue reading

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Recipe: Garlic Bread

Our garlic bread is Texan, not Upstate Italian, in provenance. It’s what our mother made to serve with spaghetti or maybe a chicken in tomato sauce. It’s super easy and uses materials you probably have on hand… just what’s needed … Continue reading

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“Renouncing foreign princes” in Utica, NY

Last Saturday, June 22, was a glorious day to visit Utica NY with a blue sky, ideal temperatures and light puffy clouds. We were there for the World Refugee Day Celebration and planned to celebrate by eating as wide a variety of … Continue reading

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Recipe: Grilled Artichokes

I dislike the experience of dipping cold, tasteless artichoke leaves in mayo or butter, just to get the nugget of meat at the end. This grilled artichokes recipe is a vast improvement. Every inch is soaked in flavor so you’ll … Continue reading

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Let’s just put oregano on everything!

If you order the magnificent Italian Mix sub at Roma Imports in Saratoga Springs, the last thing they’ll do is shake on some dried oregano. Likewise with the surprisingly good #2 regular ordered “Mike’s Way” at the Jersey Mike’s chain. … Continue reading

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New Years Taste Test: Tomato Pie

We have long wanted to do a recipe test for Utica-style tomato pie. With New Years upon us, we realized a suitable competitor to Utica pie would be Sfincione, a Sicilian street food that is especially popular when the calendar … Continue reading

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Recipe: Utica Long Hots

Another in the pantheon of Utica Italian specialties, along with Chicken Riggies and Utica Greens. Utica Long Hots couldn’t be easier to make, or more challenging to eat: the peppers range from mild to Jalapeño-hot, and you don’t know what … Continue reading

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