Hazan Family Dinners by Giuliano Hazan

Book blurb:

As a child in America, Giuliano Hazan’s mother, Marcella, packed him meatballs with potatoes and peas, veal stew with mushrooms, and other homemade dishes for lunch—dishes that in no way resembled the peanut butter sandwiches his classmates enjoyed. And so began his appreciation of great food. Hazan Family Favorites celebrates delicious recipes from the Hazan family, prepared just as Giuliano prepares them for his own family today. Here are 85 recipes for every course in the Italian meal, including Appetizers, Soups, Pastas and Rice, Meats and Seafood, and Sides and Desserts. With recipes from Swiss Chard Tortelloni to Strawberry Gelato to everything in between, Hazan Family Favorites offers an intimate look at this iconic family and their most beloved recipes.

This is a tasty book filled with family-friendly recipes (meaning everyone in the family will eat them). Much like his other cookbook, Giuliano Hazan’s Thirty Minute Pasta, this one contains nothing but classic recipe that incorporate well into any weekday family menu. The recipes are wonderfully simple – but in a very inviting way: it invites all members to get involved in family cooking and encourages simple cooking without a long list of ingredients.

The Bolognese sauce below is representative of the other recipes: classic Italian dishes that have little resemblance to the quick and easy processed versions you’ll find at the market on a shelf. This sauce is thick and, as Hazan states, is not suited to spaghetti which doesn’t catch the sauce.

This makes enough for 1 pound of pasta.

Bolognese Meat Sauce

• 1/2 medium onion, finely chopped
• 1 medium carrot, 1/4 inch dice
• 1 stalk celery, 1/4 inch dice
• 3 tablespoons butter
• 2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
• 12 ounces ground beef chuck
• 1/2 cup dry white wine
• 1/2 cup whole milk
• 1/8 teaspoon nutmeg
• 2 cups canned whole peeled tomatoes with juice
• 1 1/4 teaspoons salt

1. Saute the onion, carrot and celery in a heavy saucepot until light brown with the olive oil.
2. Add the beef, and break it up with a wooden spoon. Add in the wine, and stir until the liquid has been evaporated by about half. Add the milk and nutmeg and reduce by half.
3. Chop the tomatoes coarsely and add them with their juice to the pot. Add in the salt, and once the mixture begins to bubble, reduce heat to very low, and cook uncovered for about 3 1/2 hours stirring frequently. If all the liquid evaporates before the cooking time is up, add in additional water in 1/2 cup increments, only as needed. Make sure all liquid has evaporated before removing the sauce from the heat source.

Book Information:

• Abrams; 2012
• ISBN13: 9781453286333

This book was provided by the publisher and any opinions are my own.

Enjoy,
Renee Shelton
The Cookbook Papers
🙂