Author: Daniel Bellino

Daniel Bellinohttp://thedannyreportdotcom.wordpress.comHello All ! I'm Daniel Bellino "Z" Best Selling Italian Cookbook Author and Publisher of Positano The Amalfi Coast ... I have traveled the World extensively and have been going to: Napoli, Capri, Positano, and The Amalfi Coast of Italy Since 1985 ... I live and write in New York's Greenwich Village. I am the Best Selling author of such Books as : SUNDAY SAUCE , The RAGU BOLOGNESE COOKOOK, The FEAST of The 7 FISH, and the soon to be released POSITANO - Capri The Amalfi Coast , a book that tells stories of Napoli, Capri and Psoitano, and is part Cookbook of Regional Dishes of the area, as well as being a Guide Book of this region of Italy. I have been a Restaurant and Wine Professional for more than 30 Years, and I Created America's 1st Ever Venetian Wine Bar (Bacaro) in 1997, in Bar Cichetti, where I was the Head Chef / Wine Director and Managing Partner.

How to Make a Gabagool

Gabagool !!!

Mob Guy # 1: “Hey Paulie, I got some Gabagool !!!

Paulie : “Hey you STUPID JERK !”

Gabagool

This is part of a scene in Francis Ford Coppola’s famed Italian-American mob-movie The Godfather. The scene is during Connie Corleone’s Wedding to Carlo. Paulie and Mob Guy-1 are assigned by Sonny to be guarding the outside of the Corleone Compound from any unwanted intruders (FBI, rival gangs, anybody).

Mob Guy # 1 got a couple of Gabagool Sandwiches from one of the cooks preparing the Wedding Banquet for Connie and Don Corleone’s guests at Connie’s Wedding. Paulie and Guy # 1 can’t eat with the guest, but they are hungry. “Hey they’re Italian-American!” And Gabagool will definitely fit the bill. Gabagool, aka Gabagul, or similar, is an Italian Salumi pork-product made from the neck-meat of a pig. There are several variations of the name, including; Capicola (most common), Ham Capicola, Coppa, Capocollo, and Capicollo.

“Gabagool” is slang for Capicola? It is not “slang” but Neapolitan dialect that many Italian-Americans use for Capicola, including Tony Sopranos and those real-life guys who don Big Pinky Rings.

A Gabagool Sandwich

So you wanna make a Gabagool. The preferred sandwich is on Italian Bread or a hero-roll from a great Bread Baker like, Parisi Bakers in New York’s Little Italy. Then you gotta get the Gabagool! You get yourself top-quality Capicola from your favorite Pork Store, Satriale’s if you’re in North Jersey, at Di Palo’s in Little Italy, or Faicco’s if you’re downtown New York and Greenwich Village or at their Brooklyn outpost. You’re gonna want Provolone or Mozz, I prefer Provolone. Get some peppers, Hot Cherry Peppers like Tony, Paulie, and Silvio, or as others like myself, with Roast Sweet Peppers. That’s all you need. To make a Gabagool Sub, you need a good sub roll or crusty Italian-Bread, and Gabagool (Capicola) of course, thin sliced Provolone, and either, Genoa Salami, Mortadella, Prosciutto (Proshoot), or Sopressata if you like. Put the Gabagool, Provolone and any other if any Salumi product on the bottom half of your bread, top with shredded Iceberg Lettuce, add a slice of ripe Tomato, then thin sliced Red Onion, and sprinkle on Salt, Black Pepper, Oregano, Olive Oil, and Red Wine Vinegar and “you’re set!” Set if you don’t want it “Hot.” If you do? Then again, get yourself some Hot Italian Cherry Peppers and throw them. That’s a Gabagool Sub.

If you want just a Gabagool and not a Sub, get a nice smaller roll, some roast red sweet peppers (or Hot), the Capicola, and sliced Provolone. Pile everything on between the bread, and Voila, you’ve got a Gabagool, just like Tony.

Excerpted From SUNDAY SAUCE by Daniel Bellino Zwicke … Available on AMAZON.com

PS … For a great Gabagool Sandwich in New York, go to either Parisi’s Italian Deli in Little Italy, or Faicco’s Italian Specialties (Pork Store) on Bleecker Street in Greenwich Village, for the best Italian Sandwiches on God’s Good Earth!

The LATE GREAT James GANDOLFINI

aka TONY SOPRANO

R.I.P.

Parisi Deli Bakery”GET a GABAGOOL”

GET A GABAGOOL !!!

Learn How to Make a GABAGOOL

in SUNDAY SAUCE

by Daniel Bellino-Zwicke

SUNDAY SAUCE

When Italian-Americanc Cook

SEGRETO ITALIANO

Secret Italian Recipes

Dom DeMarco & DiFara Pizza Brooklyn

DiFara Pizza

Dom DeMarco

The MASTER

“Yes,” Eating Pizza Made by The Maestro DOM DeMARCO

Is a Religious Experience !!!

Much has been said of the now famed Pizzeria (DiFarra Pizza) on Avenue J in Brooklyn, New York the Capital of Thee Best Pizza in the whole United States of America, bar-none, even Manhattan. Brooklyn lays claim to the Top two Pizzerias in the country, the top of the list 1 and 2, number 1, The Best and number 2, the second best. Well no, I don’t know if I should put it that way, as it sound s as one is better than the other, which is not ht e case, as they are both equally good, equally Great and equally the Best Pizza and the Best Pizzerias in the United States, though they are are little different than one another. The Pizza at both Totonno’s on Neptune Avenue in Coney Island, Brooklyn, New York and Di Farra Pizza on Avenue J in Brooklyn are both otherworldly specimens of some the Finest Pizza on other and the Undisputed Best Pizza in America.

Wow, got off on a tangent about both Di Farra and Totonno’s when I just intended to talk about Di Farra Pizza, Dom DeMarco the Maestro of Di Farra’s and the Religious experience that it is to go there, watch Dominic masterfully make Pizza after glorious Pizza (without the help of anyone else), to watch in awe and anticipation and Salivation til you finally get yours (after about a hour or hour and a half wait), you hold it in your hand like a precious baby, and then to sink your teeth into it, savoring each wondrous bite after the other. “Yes,” it is truly a religious experience, that is, if you are a great lover of this wonderful invention, created in Napoli, spread throughout the the Italian Peninsular and then across the Atlantic to America from Italian Immigrants where Gennaro Lombardi opened the First Pizzeria in America on Prince Street in New York City some 100 years ago or so.

Back to Di Farra and Pizzaiolo Extraordinaire, Mr. Dominic DeMarco. It is Dominic that makes Di Farra what it is, it certainly isn’t the Pizzeria itself which is ultra plain and even appalling to some. Mr. DeMarco’s pizzas are just about as close to absolute perfection in the Pizza Making World, a world in which New York City excels and has only one rival in Naples, Italy and the whole of Italy itself. Mr. De Marco has the magic touch, with perfect dough, the perfect balance of ingredients, tomato and other ingredient ratio to cheese, and this include Mr. Demarcos judicious use of Olive Oil which is right-on and a little magic touch that whoever complains about it, just does not know there Pizza and Italian Food on a whole. We Italians love our olive oil. And those who complain are unaware that it is a condiment that adds the final last touch to many dishes before they are eaten. Dominic knows this and should not be discourage against his generous use of it by those who do not understand the proper essence of the Italian Table. So please, keep your traps shut, if you don’t like it don’t eat it, this countries finest examples of the Pizza Art.

And on to the religious experience of Di Farra, Dom DeMarco and the mans artistry with Pizza. There is nothing quite like it in the entire Pizza World. There does not exist, to my knowledge any place in the world that has an elderly man making a hundred plus Pizzas a day in a place that has endless lines, day and night. Pizza that are so perfect, words can not describe People line up for greatness and artistry, and for a couple of slices of the most marvelous pizza this side of Naples, and to watch this passionate little old man work his heart out, not getting, not allowing anyone else to make a pie at his beloved Pizzeria. The man is elderly. He’s worked his whole life. He makes such a magical thing that people line up each and every day to see him and eat one of his many masterpieces. With business like this, he could hire to other Pizzaiolos to help him, doubling or tripling his business and and financial intake. He could hire two guys and make pizza aloing with them, or sit back and get three guys to do it. At his age, he’s entitled to. But know, Dom DeMarco loves what he does, he loves his Pizza, each and every one that passes that counter and into thousands of appreciative hands. The man feels that no one else can make a Pizza the way he does and wants to serve to his customers. No one else who has his skills, his passion and love for the Pizza, thus he does it all himself. And this my friends is the reason that going to Di Farra’s to watch Dominic the maestro in action, all by himself while hundreds of people line up every day, waiting an hour and a half to two hours just to get a Pizza (not just any old Pizza mind you). “It’s a Religious Experience.” Truly! A show and there is nothing like it in the World, Dom DeMarco, a man and his Pizza, America’s Best, and something to rival that other World Pizza Capital, Napoli.

by Daniel Bellino Zwicke

Where Has The PANNINI NAZI Gone ???

ALIDORO on Sullivan Street Soho

Formerly “MELEMPO” and Home of Alessandro

The Panini Nazi

aka Sandwich Nazi

Where has The Panini Nazi Gone? This is a question, some of the age of 35 and over in New York’s Southern Greenwich Village and Soho might ask. Others too, in other New York neighborhoods who made it over to a great little sandwich shop called Melampo. Melemapo is now diseased No longer in business. The owner, one Alessandro Gualandi, also-known-as “The Panni Nazi” ran his little sandwich shop on Sullivan Street between Spring and Prince Streets in what is now known as Soho, but for me and many “like” me, this is still known as The Village. Alessandro came to New York from Florence Italy. He used to work as a waiter at the famed Florentine Restaurant in New York “Da Silvano” owned by fellow Florentine Silvano Marchetto .. Alessandro was a hard worker who established himself in New York, saved up some money, then opened his own little heaven, one Melampo Sandwich Shop in South Greenwich Village (Soho) New York …

Alessandro was a passionate man, especially about food as any self-respecting Italian would be. He created his little shop of Hand-Crafted Italian Sandwiches (Panini) .. He made a menu, whereby all the Panini had their own names. Names like; Geppetto, Julia, and such. I can’t really remember all the names. The thing is, Alessandro had rules, and you better abide by them. He was an artist after all. You ordered a Panino (Sandwich) by name, and that was it. What it said on the menu describing the sandwich and the ingredients in any particular one was what you got. If the name was Marcello (named for the late great Italian actor Marcello Mastrianni) and the menu said the sandwich was made of Prosciutto, Mortadella, and Provolone, then that’s what you got. You couldn’t ask Alessandro to leave something off or add something to a particular sandwich. He would not have it. He was a temperamental artist, and you’re not going to ruin the balance of one of his masterful creations by altering it. If you, din’t like it you could leave, “and believe Me many did.” Alessandro could care less, he was an artist. Thus the moniker “Panini Nazi” there was no other. And not everyone knew his name, real or nickname.

Alessandro was a character yes, and many (including myself) loved that about him. Alessandro is still alive. He’s retired. I seeing walking the streets of Soho and going for his morning coffee.

Alessandro and his little sandwich shop “Melampo” became famous. he made great sandwiches and sometimes the line would go out the door. And if you were in line, don’t make any comments for Alessandro to hurry up, he took his time. He was an artist, a master sandwich maker, and you better not say anything to upset him.

Yes we miss him, Alessandro and his little sandwich shop Melampo. the shop is still there. It’s now called Alidoro and run by someone else. It’s much the same, they make good sandwiches, but Alessandro is gone, and so are all the “Rules” and quirkiness. We miss that …

Daniel Bellino-Zwicke

The SOUP NAZI

NOT THE SANDWICH PANINI NAZI ALESSANDRO

BUT MY FRIEND in HAVANA

“DON DANIELE”

No Known Pictures Are Known of

Alessandro The PNANI NAZI

New DANTE Not Really Italian

What is It ???

SMALL PLATES ECLECTIC MENU

Non-Driven Italian Wine List

Old Patrons Probably Won’t Like It

The New Dante

South Room Bar

Linden Pride

Caffe Dante’s New Owner

DANTE The new owners, including Linden Pride, formerly of AvroKO, have spruced up the 100-year-old cafe with green leather banquettes, but the space retains a vintage Italian Greenwich Village look with its pressed tin ceiling. The menu is now mostly small plates: beef tartare, burrata, flatbread and cold pasta salad. Italian aperitifs dominate the cocktail list: 79-81 Macdougal Street (Bleecker Street), 212-982-5275

A Picture of Former Caffe Dante Owner

Mari Flotta on the Homepage of The New Dante

The new Dante on Macdougal Street in Greenwich Village is

absolutely nothing like the former beloved Caffe Dante, a caffe

that was a fixture of Greenwich Village for exactly 100 years

before closing earlier this year, when former owner

Mario Flotta sold Caffe Dante to Linden Pride who has been

quoted as saying the new Dante will be very much like the old

one with some changes. “Not” !!! The new Dante looks very nice

although quite different from the former caffe .. The entire concept

of the new Dante pretty much has nothing to do with the old one.

The New Dante has been billed as a Small Plates / Apertivo Bar

that has little resemblance to anything remotely Italian .. It’s billed

as an Italian Apertivo Bar, yet the Wine list has barely 20%

Italian Wines in its makeup an the food apart from a few

Italian items, seems anything but Italian.

Although the new owner (s) has stated that the New Dante

will be very much like and in the spirit of the former Caffe Dante,

it seems doubtful that writers & students would be able to go into

the place, get a Cappuccino and sit writing for an hour or two.

The former Caffe Dante was a Greenwich Village Italian Caffe where

people could go just for a Cappuccino or Espresso and maybe a

pastry if they liked, hang out with friends or be there on there own just

relaxing, reading, writing, whatever ..

There was a rumor that the new Dante would be serving dinner and drinks

at night and that is what customers would be expected to order, and

spend probably a minimum of $30 and upwards, but during the day

people would be able to just go in for a Cappuccino or Espresso. it seems

doubtful that this will be possible, but time will tell. Time will tell what the

New Dante is, if its successful or not and if it stays the same as the owners

now intend or if it will morf into something else.

The New DANTE

North Side Dining Room

APEROL SPRITZ

On The Menu

JG MELON OPENS in GREENWICH VILLAGE with CAFFE DANTE on The Block

BIG NEWS on MACDOUGAL STREET

Caffe Dante

The beloved Greenwich Village institution for 100 years,

the new CAFFE DANTE is open to open its doors on

Macdougal Street in New York’s Greenwich Village where it

operated for exactly 100 years before owner (44years)

Mario Flotta called it quits in April 2015 and sold the

legendary caffe to new owners.

I just poped my head in there before and they look like they

ready to open any day now. Only thing is, although the place looks quite nice, it doesn’t look like it will be anything like it was for some

100 years, which is a true and classic Italian Caffe that served

New York’s best cup of Espresso along with Cappuccino and

Italian Pastries, Sandwiches, and homemade Gelato.

The new place looks like a cool new Italian Bar, or Wine Bar

and not the type of place where a writer can go and linger

over a cappuccino for an hour while he bangs out his lates

novela.

Well, I’ll find out soon when I go and chcek it out.

A CLASSIC JG MELON BURGER

Up Macdougal Street less than 100 feet from Caffe Dante comes

a big new suprise for New York and Greenwich Village as an

offshoot of the famed Upper East Side ‘s famed JG MELON

bar and Burger Joint will be opening shortly on the corner

of Macdougal & bleecker Streets. Yhis guy for one is huge fan

of JG Melon and their awesome Burgers and am looking forward

to a great classic on a corner that has one mediocre food

establsihment after te other for the past 30 years. JG Melon

with their great burgers and cool laid back ambiance will be

a welcome new neighbor.

And by the way, for this guy, JG Melon makes one of

New York’s Top Two Burgers along with The

Shake Shack, JG Melon and Shake Shack get my

# 1 and # 2 Votes …

The BIG LEBOWSKI COOKBOOK

JG MELON BURGERS Are GREAT !

But The DUDE Prefers His

IN N OUT BURGERS

Learn How to Make Them

THE DUDES BIG LEBOWSKI COOKBOOK

“GOT ANY KAHLUA” ???

A Shuttered CAFFE DANTE

Ready to Spring into a New Chapter of Its Life

What Will It Be?

JG MELON

The ORIGINAL

3rd Avenue at 72nd Stret, NEW YORK, NY

Danny Abrahms of The Mermaid & Red Cat

has partenered with longtime JG MELON Manager

Shaun Young to open a Greenwich Village outpost

of the famed JG MELON …

If all goes well, this Greenwich Village JG Melon offshoot

promises to be the 1st of many others. Maybe a bad thing?

Vino Vongole & Lemonade in Positani Capri & Amalfi

CAPRI

View From The TOp of Monte Solario, Capri, Italy

with Faroglionni Rocks below …

My Favorite Lemonade Stand in Italy

Behind the famed Quississana Hotel

Across From CAESAR AUSUSTUS GARDENS, CAPRI

Also right by a Wonderful Little Hotel I Used to Stay At,

La TOSCA, a lovely little Hotel with the most Spectacular Views

of Capri and The Faralognni Rocks (most Iconic Symbol of Capri)

The Hotel is lovely and very affordle. I stayed ther in 1988, but stayed

in Anacapri this time at The Hotel Carmencita

Me at My Favorite Restorante in Positano

Da VINCENZO

With My ANtipasto of Polpo al Griglia e Carciofi Fritte

and a Nice Glass of Greco di Tufo local wine …

SPAGHETTI VONGOLE

al Solotaria, Anacapri

SUNDAY SAUCE

When Italian-americans Cook

by Daniel Bellino Zwicke

Back to Italy Naples Sicily Amalfi Coast

First Stop NAPOLI

and

PIZZA !!!

la PIZZA

e PIZZAIOLO

la BELLA NAPOLI

Old Postcard of Naples

AMALFI COAST

RAVELLO

View From The Top

POSITANO

MINORI

The Amalfi Coast

aka

Costa di Amalfitana

VILLA MARIA

Lemon Grove Farm Agroturismo

Minori

This is Where I’ll Be Staying for Three Glorious Days

(Maybe More)

On The AMALFI COAST

One of The Most Beautiful Spots on Earth “Bar None”

This is The View From AGROTURISMO VILLA MARIA

MINORI, ITALY

This is One of The Many Gorgeous Views From The Property

Looking Down Onto the Lovely Town of Minori and Out On To The Sea

The Tyrrhenian Sea

This is My Back Porch Terrace of My Room

VILLA MARIA

Lemon Trees at Villa Maria

AMAZON.com

On to SICILY

Taormina

The GREEK THEATER

at TAORMINA

with

Mt ETNA

SICILY TRAVEL INFO

Piazza del Duomo

TAORMINA SICILY

on to PALERMO

WHAT to DO in SICLY ?

GET YOUR GUIDE !

A View of PALERMO

Mondello

Mondello is a Lovely Beach on The Outskirts of Palermo

Then on To My Friends at Villa TASCA

Villa Tasca

VINEYARDS at VILLA TASCA

Me & Conti Ciuseppe Tasca

with a Bottle of Giuseppe’s Famed Rosso del Conti

On to My Grandparents Home Town

My Maternal Grandparents

PHILIPO & JOSEPHINA BELLINO

with My Mother LUCIA

UNCLE TONY

Lodi, New Jersey

about 1940

I Will Go to The City Hall in Lercara Friddi and get any pertinent records

of my Grandparenst Philipo & Josephine. I will also go to the church they were

baptized in as well as being married there ..

Note : Our family Name was Bellina, spelled with an “a” not an “o” but like

many immigrants passing through Ellis Island back at the turn of the Century (1900), the

correct spelling of my Grandparents was changed slightly from Bellina to Bellino. Since that was the spelling of their name on the very important document of them passing through Ellis Island, New York in 1904, it was the spelling they stuck with and used.

The Chairman of The Board

Francis Alber Sinatra

aka FRANK

aka

FRANK SINATRA

Ancestry of Lercara Friddi, (Sicilia) Italy

My Grandparents who came from Lercara Friddi, the same town as Frank Sinatra and

Lucky Luciano, immigrated to America and settled on the Upper East Side of Manhattan in Yorkville, and lived there for a few years before moving to the town of Lodi in New Jersey, which was at the time inhabited sole of Italian-American Immigrants, of which 90% of them were from Sicily …

My Grandfather Philipo was a Shoemaker in Lercara Friddi as was Frank Sinatra’s

grandfather. It’s most likely they knew each other being from a small town in the 1880’s, 90s, and early 1900 Hundreds .. We may even be related which I will try to find out at the city hall in Lercara Friddi. “Wouldn’t that be Cool?”

On to See My Friend FRANCISCO PLANETA

PLANETA WINES

PLANETA VINEYARDS

Sambuca, Sicily

CORLEONE

AL PACINO

aka

Michael Corleone

OFF to MARSALA

to Visit My Friends Jose & Antonio Rallo

Their Family Wine Estate DONNAFUGATA

View of MARSALA

SICILIA

ITALY

DONNAFUGATA

MARSALA, ITALY

Brother & Sister

JOSE & ANTONIO RALLO

DONNA FUGATA VINEYARDS

MARSALA

Me & My FRIENDS WINES

CAMPACIO, VENICA SAUVIGNON

DONNAFUGATA “MILLE UNA NOTTE”

BARBI BRUNELLO

PLANETA CERASUALO Di VITTORIA

SUNDAY SAUCE

by Daniel Bellino Z

GRANDMA BELLINO’S ITALIAN COOKBOOK

RECIPES From MY SICILIAN NONNA

by DANIEL BELLINO-ZWICKE

COMING JULY 2015

Recipes From Josephina Bellino Her Children & Grandchildren

Zuppa di Cucuzza

ZUPPA di CUCUZZA

“THATS a GAGOOTZA” !!!

RECIPES FROM MY SICILIAN NONNA

AMAZON.com

by Daniel Bellino “Z”

ZUPPA di CUCUZZA

“Gagootz” !!!!

This is a soup that mymother used to make every now and then. Usually when

her friend Mary Santangelo gave her a couple big Cucuzza, from their backyard garden

in Garfield. Mymother Lucia learned this recipe from her mother who used to make it back in
Sicily, and she learned how to make it from her mother, my Great Grandmother Salemi.

This dish is one of the quintessential recipes of this book, and also of both the Italian-American

and Sicilian-American table as a whole, and ofcourse of Sicilians in Sicily, especially in the years

of the first 70 years ofthe 20^th Century from around 1900 to 1970’s or so. The soup is easy
to make and quite economical, feeding about 15 or 16 portions of which you can
serve over a 3 – 4 day time. Cucuzza are not always available in every store,
however more and more super markets are carrying them during their growing season,
and you can always get them at any produce store that specializes in Italian
foods.

This soup is a soup ofcourse, but almost a pasta dish as well, and you can vary the amount of pasta you like. Cooking pasta separately on the side and when you are serving it,
you will use double the amount of pasta or more, with less liquid in the soup
and using the soup actually as a sauce. I always do this, as there are always
leftovers when making a pot of it, and serving it as a pasta is a nice welcome
alternative to give one variety from the same dish. I do the same with Lentil
Soup to make Pasta Lenticchie, a pasta dish. In addition, if you like, you can
sauté one link of Italian Sweet or Hot Sausage, serve up the soup as either
pasta or soup and add a link of sausage or two to each plate. You will love it
any way you do, as do the Bellino’s and millions of other Italian’s have over
the years.

So make it, and enjoy, and always Mangia Bene Amici!

GAGOOTZ

ZUPPA di CUCUZZA

RECIPE :

1 large Cucuzza ak.a.
Gagootz

1 large onion, peeled and
diced

6 Garlic Cloves, peeled
and sliced thin

8 tablespoons Olive Oil

½ teaspoon Red Pepper
Flakes

1 teaspoon Sea Salt

½ tsp. Black Pepper

6 Plum Tomatoes, chopped

1 pound fresh cooked
Fava Beans, or frozen Baby Lima Beans (or canned lima beans)

1 pound imported Italian
Ditalini (or Ronzoni)

Cut off ends of theCucuzza and peel it with a vegetable peeler. Cut the Cucuzza in half
lengthwise.

Scoop out seeds and discard. Cut into 1 ½ inch cubes.

Put olive oil and cucuzza in a large 6-quart pot.

Cook on medium heat for 5 minutes, occasionally stirring with a wooden spoon.

Add onion and cook for 4 minutes more.

Add garlic and cook for 3 minutes.

Add red pepper, and cook for 2 minutes.

Add tomatoes and cook on high heat for 5 minutes.

Add water and cook on medium-low heat for 12 minutes.

Add Fava Beans (or Lima Beans) and cook on low heat for 6 minutes.

Cook Ditalini accordingto directions on package.

When finished cooking, drain in a colander,

making sure to reserve 2 – 3 cups of water to add to soup.

Add all the pasta to the soup.

Add salt 7 Black Pepper and stir.

Add water little by little to the soup until you reach the consistency that you like.

The soup should be fairly thick, yet slightly watery.

Ladle soup into bowls.

Drizzle a bit of olive oil over the top of each bow of soup and pass grated
cheese

for your guest to put in their soup.

Save any remaining soup
in a closed container to enjoy anytime for lunch, dinner,

or anytime
in-between.

ZUPPA di CUCUZZA

Mangia Bene !!!

RECIPES

in GRANDMA BELLINO’S ITALIAN COOKBOOK

AMAZON.com

ALSO by DANIEL

SUNDAY SAUCE

WHEN ITALIAN-AMERICANS COOK

on AMAZON.com

AL PACINO & AGLIO OLIO

AL PACINO

and AGLIO OLIO

“SPAGHETTI THAT IS” !!!

SPAGHETTI AGLIO OLIO

alla AL

AL PACINO & AGLIO OLIO

Al Pacino and Aglio Olio you ask? What about it? Well it’s just that Spaghetti Aglio Olio always reminds
me of that great fellow New Yorker Sicilian American, the one-and-only Al Pacino from da Bronx. It’s not a big deal, just a wonderful little memory for me. When I was the Wine Director at the famed Barbetta Restorante on Restaurant Row in New York’s Theater District (where Al often performs on stage), Al Pacino used to come and eat there every now and then. He never wanted anything to fancy, but something that just about all true blooded Italian-American wants, and that dish is Spaghetti Aglio Olio, plain and simple, yet it’s in our blood. That’s what Al wanted and that’s what we gave him, and Al loved it and you will too.

Recipe Excerpted

from

Grandma Bellino’s Cookbook

RECIPE

Spaghetti Aglio Olio

the Way AL Likes It !!!

“Al Pacino That Is”

Recipe Excerpted From Daniel Bellino’s Grandma Bellino’s Italian Cookbook

Note : Note, the recipe for Spaghetti Aglio Olio as Al Pacino likes it and as it’s written in Daniel Bellino’s Grandma Bellino’s Cookbook, encompasses Two-Recipes-In-One .. You have the Recipe for Spaghetti w/ Garlic Oil & Anchovies, and to make Spaghetti Aglio Olio the way AL Likes It, is by making this recipe, but omitting the ANchovies to end up with Spaghetti Aglio Olio, just the way the Great Al Pacino likes it. Mangia Bene!

INGREDIENTS :

¼ cup best quality
Italian Olive Oil

6 cloves of Garlic,
peeled and minced

½ teaspoon
Red Pepper Flakes

6 Anchovy
Filets minced fine

1 pound
imported Italian Spaghetti

¼ cup
Italian Parsley

Put a large pot with 4
quarts of water on the stove. Add 2 tablespoons salt and bring to the boil.

Place Olive Oil and
Anchovies in a large frying pan and cook on medium heat for 2 minutes.

Add garlic and cook on medium heat for 2 minutes. Add red pepper and continue cooking on low heat until the garlic begins to turn slightly brown. Turn heat off and let rest.

Add spaghetti to the boiling salted water. Cook spaghetti according to directions on package. Two
minutes before the cooking time on package start testing the doneness of the
spaghetti by taking a strand out of the water and biting into it to see how far
cooked it. By doing this you’ll be able to determine if it needs to cook a bit
longer or if it’s ready.

Once the past is finished cooking, quickly remove it from the heat and drain into a colander,
reserving about 4 tablespoons of the pasta cooking water to add to pasta sauce.

Add spaghetti back to the pot it cooked in and drizzle on a little olive oil and mix. Pour the garlic
anchovy sauce and the reserved pasta water over the spaghetti with half the chopped Parsley and mix well.

Divide the spaghetti among four pasta plates or bowls. Sprinkle the top of each plate of Spaghetti
with some chopped parsley and serve.

The GODFATHER

Micahel Corleone (Al Pacino), Captain McCloskey (Sterling Hayden),

and Sollozzo (Al Lettieri)

“GET THE VEAL. IT’S THE BEST in THE CITY”

MICHAEL NEVER ATE HIS SPAGHETTI AGLIO OLIO

BUT SOLLOZZO GOT HIS

MICHAEL GETS HIS REVENGE

GET THIS RECIPE AND MUCH MORE

GRANDMA BELLINO’S ITALIAN COOKBOOK

RECIPES FROM MY SICILIAN GRANDMOTHER

by Daniel Bellino “Z”

ONE LAST PICTURE of AL

Al Pacino

Bobby Deerfield

1977

HE’S a HANDSOME FRIGGIN DEVIL

ISN’T HE ???

ALSO by DANIEL

His # BEST SELLING

SUNDAY SAUCE

GNOCHHI POMODORO

Notice AL PACINO on COVER

of Daniel Bellino Z’s SUNDAY SAUCE

WHEN ITALIAN-AMERICANS COOK

Author Daniel Bellino “Z”

MAKING SAUCE

aka GRAVY

Caffe Dante Closed After 100 Years

CAFFE DANTE Has Offfically Closed …. Sunday, March 22, 2015

Well, it’s Offical. Caffe Dante is closed .. It’s 11:55 PM Sunday March 22, 2015 … I just left Caffe Dante for the last time under the ownership of Mr. Mario Flotta .. I had to hold back a few tears saying goodbye to Mario and his two sons; Anthony & Mario Jr. .. I kid you not. Caffe Dante was like a 2nd home to me .. This is not a cliche, but a fact … I ifrst started going to Caffe Dante in July of 1985, shortly after my first trip to Italy .. I went because my friend John who had been going to Dante for a few years, told me that Caffe Dante was New York’s most authentically Italian Caffe bar none, and that being so, they served a perfect Espresso, “The Best in Town.” That’s all I had to hear and I was there .. Going on that first trip to Italy hooked me on perfect Espresso, Gelato, and anything authentically Italian, and Caffe Dante was the real deal .. Now I was hooked on something else, Caffe Dante … Ever since that day in the Summer of 85, I have had Espresso or Cappuccino at Caffe Dante almost every day fo my life since then. Everyday that I was in New York and not traveling somewhere around the World, which is about 340 days a year for 30 years.

Yes, I went to Caffe everyday, and some days two or three times in a day, in the morning, later in the afternoon and then again at the end of the night .. Caffe Dant was a place where I could go have a coffe, relax, read, write, and meet friends, and there was always someone there that I always knew, there were the waitresses some of whome became good friends, and of course there was always Mario. Mario would come in every day around noon and stay til closing about 1 AM in the morning. It was always a joy having a little chat with Mario ..

Caffe Dante just closed a little while ago. I almost cried, watching Mario take down the pictures of himself with many Celebrites who came to Caffe Dante over the years. People like; Al Pacino, Ann Bancrosft, Mel Brooks, Woody Harelson, Matt Dillon, Jerry Seinfeld, Alec Baldwin, Bob Dylan, John Tarturro, Stanley Tucci, Lilly Taylor, Michael Imperioli, Joe Panteleone, James, Gandolfini, Vinct Schiavelli, Colin Farell, and on and on …

Mario Flotta who became a partner in Caffe Dante back in 1971 .. A few years after that his partner passed away and Mario became the sole owner. So, selling the place today that was 44 years that Mario was there, 56 years of Caffe Dante’s 100 year history. Caffe Dante will still be there. Mario sold the place to Victoria Coffee of Australia. He told me, it’s still going to be a caffe, and it’s still going to be called Caffe Dante .. Yes, Mario told me this, but I know that Caffe Dante without by buddy Mario is not the same .. Mario Flotta was Caffe Dante, and a Caffe Dante without Mario could never be the same, all the regulars know that …

to be continued … Daniel Bellino Zwicke