Nonna's Pizza

I am still thrilled that Eva sent me this recipe, even though it has been over a year ago.  The post I did on latent chestnut best describes what this pizza means to me, and there is not much left for me to say.  One thing I didn't do was share the recipe on latent chestnut and I am more than happy to do it here on Family Tree-Eats.  I absolutely love this recipe, and I have made it many times for family and friends over the last 12 months. 

If anyone has any memories or stories they would like to share about Nonna's pizza, I would love to hear them.  Please feel free to leave them in the comments section, or just e-mail me!

Nonna's Pizza

Printable Recipe

Ingredients

2 cups lukewarm water

2 1/2 tablespoons baking yeast

1/2 teaspoon onion powder or garlic salt

4 1/2 cups flour

Directions

Preheat oven to 400 degrees.  In a large mixing bowl, combine water, yeast, onion powder/garlic salt, and flour, and stir until combined.  Flour board and knead dough.  Put olive oil in bottom of new bowl, put in kneaded dough.  Seran wrap it and then put a towel on top of that.  Leave until doubled in size.  Then, knead dough again and cut in half.

Spread dough into two 14x2 inch round pizza tins.  Add cheese on top of dough, then sauce.  Put grated parmesan on top.  Put on toppings and bake for 25 minutes.

*Note*

I remember Nonna's pizza had a whole wheat crust and Aunt Mare told me she used a mixture of whole wheat and all purpose flour.  I do not know what ratio she used, but I find that 3 cups of all purpose flour and 1 1/2 cups of whole wheat flour makes a delicious crust. 

Liver and Mushroom Kabob

In February, Aunt Sue emailed Eva and I a list of dates in which Nonna had recipes printed in the Kokomo Tribune.  So, I loaded the family into the car and headed to the library to do some research.  We made our way down to the Genealogy department where a librarian showed us to the microfilm machine.  She asked me if I was looking for an obituary; I politely told her no, I was looking for recipes.  She smiled and led us to the machine.

As it turnes out, The Kokomo Tribune held an annual recipe contest in autumn, and there was a section of prize-winning recipes in several categories.  I was able to find five recipes that were submitted by Nonna.  I may have missed some in the first year that I checked because I didn't realize the format, and I didn't want to bother the librarian to get the film out again.

One recipe caught my eye right off the bat, Liver and Mushroom Kabob.  It was the third prize winner in the 'Lazy Daizies' category.  The recipe was published in the September 22, 1968 Kokomo Tribune.  I am a fan of liver, though I had never prepared it, myself.  Valerie was a bit more tentative, so we decided to make it on a Friday night with Ang and Michael and also prepare some kabobs with chicken instead of liver. 

The kabobs were easy to assemble and tasted great!  I preferred them over the chicken kabobs.  The liver and the onions were a perfect combination, as the onions gave off a hint of sweetness.  The mushrooms were firm and juicy which provided a nice contrast in texture.  In the future, I would like to prepare a sauce to accompany them, because they were a bit on the dry side.  Nevertheless, a prize-winning recipe, to be certain. 

Liver and Mushroom Kabob

Printable Recipe

1 pound calves liver

4 tablespoons olive oil

1 sliced onion

1/2 pound mushrooms

1 teaspoon fresh mint, chopped

2 tablespoons wine vinegar

Salt and pepper

Have liver sliced 1-inch thick.  Cut into 2-inch squares.  Clean and remove stems from mushrooms.

Alternate a piece of liver, a mushroom cap, and a slice of onion on 8 skewers until all the ingredients are used.

Mix oil, vinegar and mint thoroughly.  Brush over liver and mushrooms on both sides.  Place on broiler rack about 5 inches below flame.  Broil 3 minutes on each side or until light brown.  Salt and pepper to taste.  Brush with remaining liquid.  Broil 1 minute longer and remove from skewers or serve on skewers.  Serve sizzling hot.  Serves 4.

Alphabet Soup

I can still picture Nonna stirring a pot of alphabet soup on the stove as I anxiously waited for it to be ready.  As I watched her ladle the hot soup into a Corelle bowl, I could not wait to dig in.  She took the bowl to the counter, added a pat of butter, and served it to us piping hot.  She always told us to eat from around the edges of the bowl first because it would be cooler.  I never learned, though; as I almost always burnt my tongue.

Alphabet soup is a food memory I wanted to try to recreate for my kids, as well as take me back to my childhood.  I didn't have a recipe, and I don't know if Nonna did either, but I it seemed simple enough to make, and it actually is.  I think Nonna used a chicken bouillon cube to flavor the soup, and I use chicken stock, preferably homemade.  The kids love it as much as I did, but they are smart enough to let it cool before they eat it.  In fact, Ari usually eats more than I do, and still asks for more.  Here is my recipe; I only hope it would make Nonna proud.

Alphabet Soup
Printable Recipe

Ingredients
4 cups good quality chicken stock
2 cups water
Salt to taste
8 oz. alphabet noodles
Butter

Directions
In a large saucepan, combine the water and chicken stock and bring to a simmer.  Add salt to taste until the broth reaches your desired flavor.  Add alphabet noodles and cook until tender, about 7 minutes.  Once noodles are ready, immediately ladle into bowls and add a small pat of butter.  The soup can also be served with some freshly grated Parmesan cheese.

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