Minestra Maritata

Minsestra Maritata. Or the closest to my Mother's recipe that I could find.The recipe is from Cooking with Guiseppe. A perfect soup for a cold January night. This is a meal I grew up eating. My Mom would add beans to this but I decided not to. I used Kielbasa, Pork Ribs, Short Ribs, and Chicken. Instead of water for the broth, I used homemade chicken stock. If you make this recipe do not forget the most important thing. You have to serve it with a lot of Italian Bread!

Bistecchina alla Napoletana

First Friday night after Easter means it's meat for dinner!
I found this recipe on a favorite blog of mine, Cooking with Guiseppe. Cooking with Guiseppe is were I can find recipes that look just like what a ate as a child. And I knew as soon as I saw the recipe that Chris would like this. And he did. We both did. As you can see by the photos I did not use mushrooms. One of us does not like mushrooms... no I will not name names. So I added zucchini in its place.

I went to the wine store and I was looking for a wine from Naples. Not easy to do. But at least the owner knew what I was looking for and would order some. I ended up getting a bottle of Fattoria di Basciano Chianti Rufina 2009 for $12. I know that Jacques Pepin said you don't need to spend over $10 for a good bottle of wine but what the heck it has been a long week.

And seeing it was Friday I made some Roasted Chickpeas. Perfect with that Vodka Gimlet.