I am so lucky to have this as the first recipe of the project. I have been dreading this blogging idea because I may be a pretty fair cook, but I don’t consider myself a good writer. So, I ask your sufferance with my style and understand that the point is just the food.
I haven’t posted my bio yet, so I thought I would give you a little background. My husband and I have been married 22 years and for the first 15 people were always telling us that we should open a restaurant. We finally did. It is a unique place for our area. We have a deli, Italian grocery, and a café. We also do a lot of catering. There are 3 owners, Michael, Becky and myself. Michael, my husband, is the people person. He is the one everyone comes to see. Becky, my sister, handles all of the financials and most of the management pieces. I am responsible for all of the recipes and a lot of the computer work. We all have our strengths and weaknesses, but we balance out pretty well.
With this recipe the hardest part was not changing anything. When I am creating a recipe for the store, I always start with 4 or 5 that sound promising and then I combine the parts until I end up with something that I really like. When I first read the recipe, I saw that it called for 8 anchovies. I started to cut it back, but realized that I had to be true to Marcella’s recipe, so I followed it exactly. We have a new brand of anchovies that we just started carrying at the store. The brand is Agostino Recca. I am so glad that I had these. They are so mellow compared to other brands that I have used. When I combined all of the ingredients I was amazed at how good it tasted. The ingredients are simple, ricotta, butter, anchovies, EVOO, and freshly ground black pepper. The quality of the ingredients really shine in this recipe. I toasted the bread (Fazio’s Italian sliced bread, for those of you in the St. Louis area). I then sliced off the crusts, cut the slices in half and then half again, and then covered them with the ricotta mixture. My only regret when making these was that we didn’t have any company over to eat them.
Okay, so this wasn’t so hard, maybe I will get used to it!
Comments (12)
Brava! Brava! You have broken the ice for us, with a great post.
ahhmmm..If you needed a taste tester... well, ahhmm...
Posted by Deborah | March 28, 2010 4:24 AM
Posted on March 28, 2010 04:24
They sound wonderful. Great first post!
Posted by Cindy Ruth | March 28, 2010 6:06 AM
Posted on March 28, 2010 06:06
Great job.
I know exactly what you mean when you write about wanting to change the recipe up a bit . . . I'm like that with just about everything I cook (except cakes). That is going to be a HUGE challenge.
Posted by Jerry | March 28, 2010 11:20 AM
Posted on March 28, 2010 11:20
You've made me want to make these!
Posted by amy | March 28, 2010 11:58 AM
Posted on March 28, 2010 11:58
Beth, who are you kidding - you write well (or is that good - I never could get grammar down). Either way, this sounds great and I'm so excited to follow your project, great start.
BTW what's the name of your place? If the others agree, and you have a website, let's get a link in the sidebar.
Posted by Kim | March 28, 2010 2:27 PM
Posted on March 28, 2010 14:27
Great job!
I was thinking the same thing--about not changing the recipes at all. Maybe that's part of the challenge.
Thanks for getting the ball rolling.
jan
Posted by jgk | March 28, 2010 2:49 PM
Posted on March 28, 2010 14:49
What a wonderful post! I'm not much of a cook, but am practically inspired to get into the kitchen. Could you give me some information about your restaurant/grocery? I have a friend in St. Louis who is an amazing cook and I'm sure that he'd love to know about it. Thanks.
Posted by Ray Anne | March 28, 2010 5:17 PM
Posted on March 28, 2010 17:17
I will have to have Deborah's help to post a link. I am not that computer savvy, but the website is vivianosmarket.com. We have 2 stores one in Fenton and one in Chesterfield. The name is Viviano's Festa Italiano.
Thanks for all of the wonderful comments! I will not be so afraid next time!
Posted by Beth | March 28, 2010 5:52 PM
Posted on March 28, 2010 17:52
Beth,
Great post and a wonderful recipe. Kudos for starting the group off..
Posted by Candi | March 28, 2010 6:57 PM
Posted on March 28, 2010 18:57
How exciting. Congrats on a great kickoff post, and a really good looking recipe!
Posted by Terry (teaberry) | March 29, 2010 2:20 AM
Posted on March 29, 2010 02:20
Beth, they sound delicious and look just wonderful!
Posted by sheri | March 29, 2010 2:29 AM
Posted on March 29, 2010 02:29
Beth, great first blog post. I think you are a great writer! And a great food photographer too. I'm so excited for all of you who are participating in this wonderful project. I'm cheering you on!! RAH RAH RAH!!!
Posted by Mindy | March 29, 2010 5:40 PM
Posted on March 29, 2010 17:40