Line your dinner table with an Italian feast of fried calamari, fresh pasta and tiramisu. Nunziata Pisani, better known as Mamma, is sharing culinary secrets with her new cookbook, Cookin with Mamma.
The eighth of nine children, Pisani grew up in a small village outside Naples, Italy, called Contursi. She helped her family on a dairy farm without electricity or running water, sometimes waking up as early as 5 a.m. The family had its own garden and regularly made mozzarella, bread and pasta by hand.
When Pisani was 16, Felice D’Elia came from America to visit his family in town, and after a year, the two were married and off to the Big Apple. The couple settled in Brooklyn, where Felice worked in a deli. Later, they opened their own restaurant in Patchogue, New York. Pisani quickly jumped in, bringing some of her Old Country skills to the forefront.
Eventually, warmer weather in Florida, where Pisani and her family often visited on vacation, lured them to Clearwater for good. The pair opened Felice Italian Pork Store and Deli there, and A & N Italian Deli (a past BOTB winner) soon after. Customers stop into the shops for an assortment of Italian delicacies, including cheeses and homemade sausages, or sit down for a meal. The two delis have been booming for 35 years.
“Mamma has become an extension of the business because of her great cuisine and personality,” says her godson and head of marketing, Mario Pierluca.
A year in the making, the cookbook is meant to showcase Pisani's expertise.
“People always coming in saying, ‘Oh, Mamma, you make this, you make that,’” she says cheerfully, “so I figure I write down a couple recipes and share my secrets.”
Cooking is a family affair for Italians, and the book is no different.
It begins with a brief biography of Mamma and pictures of her loved ones, followed by around 100 homestyle recipes divided into appetizers and soups, pasta dishes and sauces, main dishes, and sweet desserts. Everything from lasagna to chocolate cake is featured, and for the eager but inexperienced home cook, each section begins with helpful hints.
The cookbook, bound in a small three-ring binder, can be purchased for about $16 at either deli. But Mamma, set to appear on a local morning show for a seventh time next month, isn’t done yet. Her godson envisions a national spotlight; the big dream is to land Mamma her own cooking show.
For now, though, they just want to share the book and encourage more people to try her dishes.
Mangia!
Mamma’s Stuffed Artichokes
Serves 6
Ingredients
6 large artichokes
For Stuffing:
1 pound plain breadcrumbs
1/4 pound pecorino Romano cheese, grated
1/4 pound Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese, grated
1/4 green olives, chopped
4 garlic cloves, chopped
3 eggs
1 cup chicken broth
1 tablespoon fresh parsley, chopped
2 tablespoons pine nuts, chopped roughly
Salt to taste
For Broth:
1/2 cup extra virgin olive oil
4 cups chicken broth
Directions
Prepare artichokes by trimming off the stem at the bottom so they will sit flat in a 9×13 inch baking dish. Trim off 3/4 inch at the top. Also, snip off prickly tips of leaves. Loosen the leaves of the artichoke by hand so that the stuffing can be pressed between them. Work quickly to make the stuffing or the artichokes will brown. (To prevent this, squeeze lemon juice over them.)
Mix all stuffing ingredients.
Place artichoke in pan and pack 1/6 of break crumb mixture into each one.
Preheat oven to 375 degrees.
While oven is heating, prepare broth by sautéing onions and garlic in olive oil. Add chicken broth and pour mixture over artichokes.
Cover with aluminum foil and bake for 90 minutes or until artichokes are tender.
This article appears in Nov 5-11, 2015.