566 South Clinton Street
Recipes and Memories of Growing Up Italian
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Sicilian Marinara Sauce Nanny made this sauce for just about everything from pizza to pasta. Of course she never used canned tomatoes. She used her mason jar of plum tomatoes from the cold cellar…we use canned. Ingredients: 1 28 ounce can peeled Italian Plum tomatoes 2 T olive oil 1 T chopped onion (optional) 2 cloves garlic, chopped 2-3 leaves fresh basil Salt and pepper to taste 2 shakes of hot red pepper flakes ¼ C grated Romano cheese Directions: • Sauté onions in olive oil until limp. Add garlic and cook 1 minute. • Add can of tomatoes breaking tomatoes with the back of the spoon so that they are mashed. • Simmer 20 minutes. • Add basil and grated cheese. Add seasonings. Cook another 5 minutes. Sauce is ready. Nanny would start with this sauce and then add just about anything she wanted. She would drop eggs into it and poach them in the sauce, throw in chicken for cacciatore or vegetables from the garden. Everything was served over homemade noodles. My favorite was eggplant. If you want to add veggies, you can use raw zucchini sliced into circles, raw eggplant that has been cut into sticks or asparagus cut into 2” pieces (or pretty much any veggies you like) and continue simmering the sauce another 10-15 minutes. Serve over your favorite pasta.
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About the Book
566 South Clinton Street is a family cookbook filled with authentic Italian recipes from the Stellas, the Lipumas, and the Melillos. Most recipes come with a story or a memory attached! Never before have these family recipes been printed. The author gives great descriptions, precise directions, and suggestions to make cooking and entertaining an enjoyable and easy task. From complicated desserts like homemade cannoli to easy pasta dishes like penne con vodka, even the least-experienced cook can accomplish great things in the kitchen if you follow the step-by-step instructions.
About the Author
Dr. Judith A. Melillo, PhD, is a retired professor from Kent State University in Ohio. Judith is the mother of five children—Jason, Thomas, Jamie, Janna, and Mia—and has fifteen grandchildren. She was married for forty-six years to the love of her life, Dr. Thomas V. Melillo, who passed away in 2013. Judith grew up in East Orange, New Jersey, where she graduated from Saint Joseph’s Elementary School, East Orange Catholic High School, and Montclair State University. In 1967, she married Tom, taught high school mathematics in Collingswood, New Jersey, lived in the Bay Area, and taught at Castro Valley Middle School and Novato High School. From San Francisco, the Melillos moved to the Cleveland, Ohio, area, and she received her PhD and taught at Kent State University in the College of Education. She currently lives in Arizona and is a passionate gourmet home cook. The recipes in this book are simple foods, mostly from her childhood as well as recipes she has altered or created. The majority of the Italian recipes are from her mother, her aunt, and her grandmother. Steeped in Italian tradition and accented with wonderful stories and memories, the book began as a way to preserve family history and the rich Italian traditions for her children, grandchildren, and nieces and nephews. As her circle of friends grew and her talent for entertaining blossomed, more and more of her friends wanted copies of the family recipes. This cookbook is the result of much support, encouragement, and love from her husband Tom, her mother, her sisters, and her friends.