All these recipes are verbatim from the yearbook created by the Coldigioco class of 1993. All portions are rather large.
Pasta with Pesto, Onion, and Mushroom (Pasta con pesto, cipolle e funghi)
9/5/93. 10/2/93. Be careful not to use too much raw garlic, if you use garlic. Boy what a surprise that was, and on Bice’s birthday yet. Want to talk endurance? Try having 25 stinky-breathed people standing around you singing ‘Happy Birthday’. Wow, what fortitude on Bice’s part, I must say.
Sauté the squeezed garlic and finely chopped onions and mushrooms in olive oil (this is where you’d add the zucchini or chicken or turkey if you wanted) until it is nicely cooked (cooked good in Minnesota/Julie speak). Then add the cream and pesto, and maybe white wine if you need more fluid. A nice piece of gorgonzola melted in at this point would be another good variation. Once you’ve got everything heated and blended together, mix with the pasta this sauce doesn’t need to simmer for long.
10/3/93. Saw the forest made into the shape of Italy. Everybody almost ran out of gas – it was BUM cold. What else is new? We were the Car of Rebellion and I gots the Motts. 11/1/93.
Chop the peperoncino-grate it if possible. Chop the onions, olives, capers and smoosh the garlic. Toss it all into a pan of olive oil and fry it until the onions are translucent. Add the tomatoes (smashing them if you can’t get a hold of a Cuisinart or blender is a good idea) and the anchovy paste (if you must, and you should). The longer the mixture simmers, the more flavors get to know each other and the tastier it is. Add to pasta along with some diced fresh parsley – et viola! This is good with some grilled shrimp, added to the pasta at the same time as the sauce.
Pasta with Peppers (Pasta con pepperoni)
9/8/93. 9/23/93. Peas were added that day. Stupid human trick: Ofori had carrots in his ears. 10/26/93.
Finely slice the peppers and eggplant and onions into thin strips, with garlic in olive oil until peppers get real soft. Then turn the heat way down, add the cheese and white wine, adjusting the fluidity, toss in some black pepper, salt to taste, and mix with the pasta and finely chopped fresh basil, and maybe even some parmigano.
9/25/93. Dance party tonight in Margolis. Ruth officially dubbed "Miss shake Her Booty All Night." (rapare translates to shave one’s head. I don’t think the recipe calls for this.)
Boil the beets for a long time, until you can easily push a fork into them, then take them out and allow them to cool before removing the skin, being sure to save a little of the water. Chop them up very finely, or better yet, dump them in the Cuisinart or similar thing and practically make a paste out of them. Slice the onions paper-thin and sauté them slowly in a ton of butter and salt to taste. Then add the beet mixture to the onions, add some combination of the beet water and red wine to get the right fluidity—Keep it on the runny side because you want to add quite a bit of grated parmigano to this as you mix it with the pasta. Before mixing with the pasta, add the green stuff. If you use chives, which are best, just chop them up finely; if you use the beet greens, chop them into thin strips and then briefly sauté them before adding them to the pasta. Ideally, you want enough green stuff to make this seem like a Christmas dish or a hunk of eclogite. (Ghad, geologists are geologist even when they’re cooking.)
10/22/93.
Serve with insalata caprese and potato and cauliflower dishes.
Zuppa colla roba del mondo vegetale (Glue stuff with mondo vegetables soup or Minestrone)
10/1/93. It rained. People went to see Jurassic Park. 10/23/93. It rained. 11/2/93. It rained more. So what else is new?
Boil beans a long bit beforehand, because they’re tougher than old toes. Fry up all the vegetables, throw in the water and then the beans and simmer. The pasta will get all big and fat and mushy and thicken the soup, so they are a nice thing to add. Sandro begins his minestrone in a similar manner, only he fries some bacon with the onions and oil and then tosses all the vegetables in to form the base. He’s also a little less patient when it comes to bean soaking.