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Authentic Southern Italian Cuisine
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Pompeii: A City Frozen in Time

July 20, 2013 Carlino's Restaurant no comments

Carlino's_Pompeii_Mount_VesuviusJust a short distance from Mount Vesuvius, Pompeii was once a thriving Roman village with thousands of residents, many of them wealthy. Like its neighbor, Herculaneum, it drew visitors to its pleasant climate and beautiful baths. When Vesuvius erupted in 79 A.D., blanketing the city under as much as 8 feet of ash in a matter of minutes, the historian Pliny the Younger witnessed the destruction. Although he didn’t know it, the author documented not only the cataclysmic end of Pompeii as a living city but the birth of one of the world’s most valuable archaeological resources. Since its rediscovery in the early 1600s, no site has been more closely scrutinized, yet Pompeii still holds mysteries that fascinate all who see or read about it.

The ash that flowed down Vesuvius’ slopes to engulf Pompeii was a tragedy in its time, but the blanket of debris preserved the city almost perfectly, freezing it in time and giving modern people an unprecedented look at Roman lives. Unlike other sites that offer only a few fragments or ruined buildings, Pompeii shows the evidence of how people truly lived – how they decorated their homes, what they liked to eat and even how they spent their leisure time.

Pompeii was probably a vacation spot or resort town for wealthy Romans, archaeologists believe. The town had a busy port, but it also had a big entertainment industry, much as vacation destinations do today. The city of 20,000 had an amphitheater, a gymnasium, multiple bath houses and a well-developed plumbing system that undoubtedly made life in Pompeii especially pleasant. With more entertainment venues than temples, Pompeii was apparently where people went to get away from the throngs in Rome and enjoy themselves.

To the Romans, baths were more than a way to stay clean and comfortable; they were a social event. Pompeii’s baths had running water, heated floors and alcoves for dining that suggested people spent much of their days in the bath house. One building, the Suburban Baths – so named because they’re farther from the large villas and closer to middle-class insulae – is particularly well preserved. The art on its walls was lively and, to modern standards, shocking, but the Romans and Pompeiians who went there probably didn’t find the nudity surprising. The placement of the frescoes suggests that the Pompeiians may have used the images to remember where they left their belongings; each locker-like area had a different ribald image.

Another major feature of the city was its large amphitheater. Romans loved live entertainment and plays, so archaeologists weren’t surprised to find a theater. The fact that the building held so many people, though, suggests plenty of tourists who wanted to catch a show while they were in town. During Pompeii’s last few years, the amphitheater may have been closed by the authorities because of a riot during a gladiatorial exhibition. Graffiti nearby shows a Campanian or Pompeiian fighter defeating a rival with the caption, “Campanians died too when they beat Nucerians.”

Graffiti is everywhere in Pompeii, and much of it still resonates with modern visitors. “Celadus makes all the girls sigh,” for example, doesn’t look too different from what might appear in a present-day locker room. Other graffiti statements preserved for all time include insults, declarations of love and friendship, and racy advertisements for brothels. One villa that historians dubbed the House of the Moralist for its virtuous graffiti, reminds visitors to “postpone your tiresome quarrels if you can, or leave and take them home with you.”

Some of the most eloquent images from Pompeii come not from what its citizens wrote but from how they lived. Pots of rouge still contain traces of red dyes used to make lips and cheeks rosy. Tiled hearths still had bread in ovens, giving bakers a glimpse of how the Romans ate. One baker’s household still has a portrait of a husband and wife on its walls, evidence of the pride the proprietors took in their work. He holds a scroll and she touches a stylus to her lips in the image.

Pompeii was once a pleasure garden for the wealthy and a home for the prosperous middle-class merchants who served them. Today, it’s a reminder that we aren’t far removed from the past.

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Sophia Loren’s Favorite Italian Dishes

July 13, 2013 Carlino's Restaurant no comments
Sophia_Loren

“Sophia Loren makes no secret of her love of Italian food “

As Italy’s most renowned actress and one of the world’s most beautiful women, Sophia Loren didn’t need to do anything else to secure her fame. That didn’t stop her from honoring the cuisine of her native land with a series of cookbooks with titles like “In the Kitchen with Love” and “Eat with Me.” She makes no secret of her love of Italian food and has even generously given it credit for her astonishing beauty: “Everything you see, I owe to spaghetti.”

Although she was born in Rome, the actress grew up near Naples in Pozzuoli. Born in 1934, she remembers having too little to eat during and after the war. Instead of feeling deprived, though, she developed a deeper appreciation for food in all its forms. From a humble bowl of seafood soup or pasta with fresh herbs to a full Italian feast with multiple courses, she enjoys it all and isn’t shy about showing it. While other actresses and style icons post blogs about vegan sprout sandwiches, Loren talks lovingly about ripe cheeses, homemade pasta and luscious sauces.

She’s no dilettante as an author, either; she speaks freely about her life, the movie industry and the concept of beauty in her books. Nowhere is she more eloquent than when she talks about her passion for cooking, eating and enjoying meals with loved ones. She accompanies her recipes for Neapolitan pizza, Tuscan ribollita soup and Bolognese sauce with personal anecdotes that bring her favorite foods to life and invite readers to enjoy the story as well as the dish.

It’s no surprise to find glimpses of the actress’ personal life interwoven with her favorite recipes. To her, as with many Italians, food is all about context – who grew it, where it came from, who prepared it and who sat next to you when it was served. Dining isn’t just a way to refuel; it’s a social occasion, an event, a cause for celebration. Her “piccoli secreti,” Italian for “little secrets,” add figurative spice to her descriptive recipes along with the fennel and sweet basil that make them special.

As a well-traveled Italian actress, Loren has dined at some of the world’s best tables, so she doesn’t have a single favorite dish. Based on her recipes, though, she considers pasta an essential component of any meal. In an interview with Daily Mail in 2009, she talked about her love of cooking for herself and her passion for pasta. She generally chooses tomato-based southern Italian sauces over creamy ones and notes that “if you stick to a healthy sauce, pasta is fine.” When she indulges in a rich fettuccine Alfredo, she shares the dish with others so everyone gets a taste.

If she doesn’t pick favorites in her extensive culinary repertoire, she does list a few of her sons’ favorite dishes. Carlo, Jr. and Edoardo are in their 40s today, but she still cooks their favorite dishes when they visit, according to a 2010 interview with Parade magazine. She lists pasta Bolognese with its richly meaty sauce, cheesy eggplant parmigiana and peas with bacon as a few of the family’s most beloved dishes. She also feeds their friends: “I always keep something in the freezer, because they show up with four, five, six friends, and it’s much easier to make them happy by having different foods on the table.”

At 78, Loren still has that passion for life that made her one of the world’s most beloved stars on and off the movie screen. Still effortlessly elegant and phenomenally beautiful, she enjoys Italian food as much as ever. If she truly owes everything to spaghetti, then her long and joyous life is a ringing endorsement of it.

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Making Lunchtime Special

July 2, 2013 Carlino's Restaurant no comments

"For many Italians, lunch is the most important meal of the day, and it's treated as a feast"

“For many Italians, lunch is the most important meal of the day, and it’s treated as a feast”

Lunch, or pranzo as it’s known in Italy, is far from the hastily eaten midday meals that some Americans tend to eat. For many Italians, it’s the most important meal of the day, and it’s treated as a feast.

Traditionally, Italian businesses closed for a few hours for lunch. The pausa pranzo was long enough to let workers go home to their families or get together with friends for a leisurely meal rather than a quick bite grabbed between stacks of paperwork. In rural villages and towns, long lunches are still common, but in Rome, Milan and Naples, the pace of business has made a two- or three-hour lunch break impractical.

That doesn’t mean Italians have given up the pleasure of delicious, fresh food, though. A typical lunch, even if it lasts only half an hour or so, still consists of two courses followed by fruit or coffee. Working lunches are rare; instead, people move out of the office and into local piazzas and parks to enjoy some fresh air with their food. Convivial groups of co-workers and friends make the meal a social event, a hold-over from the old-fashioned, hours-long pausa pranzo that Italians are rightly unwilling to sacrifice.

Although they don’t have time to get home for lunch unless they live nearby, many Italian workers still enjoy home-cooked food for their mid-day meals. Local pizzerias and cafes know that they have to offer outstanding food to compete with Mama’s homemade bolognese sauce or ravioli, so they prepare pizzas in wood-fired ovens, panini with delectable salumi and other delicacies to tempt the lunch crowd.

Eating Italian in New York

Your workload might preclude a leisurely three-hour lunch, but by taking your cue from Italian diners, you can still make lunchtime something special.

Sometimes, people are reluctant to spend a little time away from their desks because they feel that working through lunch is more efficient. The truth is that taking a real break and getting out of the office, even if it’s for just a few minutes, refreshes you and makes you more able to concentrate. Instead of eating at your desk, take your lunch at a nearby park or somewhere away from the office. You’ll feel refreshed and enjoy your food more when you’re in the moment, not immersed in work.

Everyone who has a day job feels the time crunch around lunchtime. Traffic, long lines at fast food places and the time it takes to prepare your lunch can compress an hour-long lunch period into a scant ten minutes or so of eating time. If time is short, delivery is a great option. You’ll spend more time enjoying a leisurely meal and less time driving or walking to get it. Calling or faxing your order and picking it up is another great option, especially if you’re close to the restaurant; you get a chance to get out of the office and don’t have to wait around for your food.

We tend to be solitary diners for lunch in this country, but in Italy, lunch is meant to be shared. Take a page from the Italian way of eating and invite a co-worker or three to go in with you on a lunch order. It’s a great way to ingratiate yourself in a new office or reaffirm ties of friendship when you’ve been with your company a while. Getting together with friends from outside your office can also be a good plan; if you have a friend who works nearby, why not make time to reconnect by getting together over a slice of pizza or a sandwich?

While finding time for a true Italian-style pranzo may not be practical during the work week, you can make any lunch a little more special when you treat it as a reason to celebrate. Make your next lunch an occasion with good food and good company by coming in to Carlino’s or enjoying a lunchtime delivery special.

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Low-Carb Italian Feasts

June 15, 2013 Carlino's Restaurant no comments
Carlino's-Salumi

“Go Italian and enjoy the excitement of Mediterranean dining”

Over the past few years, low-carb eating plans have soared in popularity. From athletes in training to health-conscious diners who want to stay trim, many people have embraced a diet rich in leafy vegetables, lean protein and healthy oils. Mediterranean meals are often naturally low in carbohydrates, so if you’re counting carbs, you can still enjoy an Italian feast.

Antipasti and Salads 

If you’re going low-carb, start with a great antipasto plate. “Antipasto” literally means “before the pasta,” but you can also think of it as the opposite of pasta – full of protein in salumi, pungent cheeses and ripe olives. Marinated asparagus spears, artichoke hearts or peppers add flavor without contributing carbohydrates. Hot or cold, antipasti are an excellent choice for a light low-carb lunch or to begin your dinner.

Low-carb eating plans sometimes skimp on the fiber, but not when you add a salad. Salads bring a healthful array of vitamins and minerals to the table, too. Ask for your salad wtihout croutons to cut the carbs; instead, get crunch from slivered nuts, radishes or matchstick carrots. Although root vegetables do have carbs, the amount in a light sprinkling of carrots is negligible even on a very low-carb plan. An insalata Caprese or tricolore salad is a phenomenal low-carb option. With vitamin C from fresh tomatoes, calcium in the house-made mozzarella and a boost of flavor from basil, it’s a great choice for summer dining.

 Low-Carb Entrees

Pasta dishes are wonderful, but they’re far from the only options available. Find low-carbohydrate options among the chicken, veal and seafood dishes on the menu. Anything cooked in wine is a good choice. Wine is relatively low in carbohydrates at about 5 grams per glass, and a dish cooked in wine is even lower in carbs per serving. Chicken marsala enlivened with mushrooms and herbs is a low-carb staple. Veal sorrentino’s layers of eggplant and mozzarella are another great choice. On the seafood menu, any grilled or broiled catch of the day fits a low-carb plan as long as it isn’t breaded. Clams posillipo is a local favorite that happens to be virtually carb-free.

Pair your entree with any sauteed green, leafy vegetable, and you have a feast. Broccoli rabe and spinach are essential for fiber and nutrients, but you won’t be thinking about that when you’re eating them; in the hands of a talented chef, they’re tasty enough to be a treat, not an obligation. If you’re dining with a crowd, order a few sides and pass them around family-style so everyone gets more variety on the plate.

Some plans that monitor carbs allow moderate whole grain portions. If you’re splurging with a few carbs in an otherwise low-carbohydrate plan, you might find what you’re looking for with a whole wheat pizza crust. Choose a thin crust to minimize carbs and max out on healthful, flavorful toppings. A grandma-style thicker crust also works if you’re stepping up or down from a more tightly controlled plan. Onions, peppers, extra cheese and any kind of meat will work well on a whole wheat crust.

One of the toughest parts of maintaining healthy eating habits is avoiding boredom. When you’re tired of low-carb wraps and bun-free burgers, go Italian and enjoy the excitement of Mediterranean dining.

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What’s The Difference Between Northern and Southern Italian Food?

May 4, 2013 Carlino's Restaurant no comments
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“Both north and south contribute to classic Italian cuisine, but each has its own distinct set of flavors”

Italy’s a compact country about the length of California, but the culinary differences between northern Italian food and southern Italian dishes are tremendous. While northern Italians love their rich cream sauces, polenta and stuffed meats, people in the south embrace flavors such as tangy tomato sauces, olive oil and fresh steamed seafood. Both north and south have contributed their share to classic Italian cuisine, but each region has its own distinct set of flavors.

Southern Italian Cuisine

Southern Italian cooking features the bright, lively Mediterranean taste that most people associate with Italian cuisine. From salad greens to seafood, freshness is paramount to southern Italian chefs. Peppers,  eggplant and tomatoes thrive in the warm southern Italian climate, and they form the basis for some of the region’s most-beloved dishes. Eggplant parmigiana, tangy marinara sauce and minestrone enlivened with fresh herbs are southern classics. The wealth of great tomatoes led to the invention of Italy’s most popular food worldwide: pizza.

The Neapolitan pizza margherita combines the best of southern Italy in one delicious dish. Fresh tomatoes, creamy mozzarella cheese and a few leaves of peppery sweet basil turn a simply prepared crust into a feast. Purists can opt for the traditional pizza or choose some of the region’s other delicacies as toppings. Anchovies, freshly made sweet sausage, diced peppers and onions are practically made to go with pizza.

While northern Italy runs on butter, southern Italy makes the most of its abundance of olive oils. Olives grow beautifully in warm Mediterranean climates, but nowhere has olive oil become a greater culinary art form than in Italy. From deep green oils meant for salads to light yellow oils perfect for putting a golden crust on a piece of pan-seared fresh fish, olive oil is a southern Italian icon. You’ll find it in the kitchen and on the table as a dipping medium for the region’s crusty, open-textured breads.

Northern Italian Fare

Thanks to its mountainous terrain and its proximity to Switzerland, Austria and France, northern Italy loves the land. The Piemonte and Lombardia regions of northern Italy are prime cattle country, and their cuisine shows it. Butter-based sauces rich with cream grace northern Italian tables just as they do in France, but Italian chefs put their own delicious spin on them with fresh herbs and garlic. Stews and soups with the beef so abundant in the area are popular in the winter, but spring is for succulent veal. Thin breaded veal cutlets are as popular in Italy as they are in nearby Austria.

Hard sausages of every description helped northern Italians weather winters that came early to mountain valleys. Salami and other salted, preserved meats such as prosciutto are northern Italian delicacies that have gone worldwide. The Emilia-Romagna region of central northern Italy is home to prosciutto di Parma and another product synonymous with great Italian food: Parmesan cheese.

The mountainous terrain at the foot of the Italian Alps lends itself to pastures rather than fields, so cheese has been a staple for centuries. The sheep, goats and cows that graze there produce the milk that goes into Parmigiano-Reggiano, pecorino, asiago and gorgonzola cheeses. With their variety of textures and tastes, northern Italian cheeses complement northern and southern dishes alike.

Whether you prefer a dish inspired by northern Italian cooking such as fettuccine Alfredo or a southern delight such as a Neapolitan pizza, you’ll find the same commitment to bold yet balanced flavor common to all great Italian cooking.

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What Did Joe DiMaggio Eat?

April 10, 2013 Carlino's Restaurant no comments
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“Joe’s life was a rags-to-riches story in the greatest American tradition”

One of the greatest baseball players in history and a cultural icon off the field as well, “Joltin’ Joe” DiMaggio was an American legend with Italian roots. Born Giuseppe Paolo DiMaggio, he eventually Anglicized his name, but he never lost his appreciation for the home-cooked Italian food he ate as a child. His reputation for staying close to his fans meant he often visited the same restaurants and sidewalk food stands they enjoyed, a fact that must have stunned other diners who recognized the handsome athlete at a neighboring table.

Joe’s early life as the eighth son of first-generation Italian-American parents meant he grew up on a combination of traditional southern Italian fare and classic early 20th-century American dishes. During the first World War when he was still a toddler, his family observed the same “meatless Mondays” that most families did to conserve resources for the war effort. The colorful Sicilian and southern Italian meals his mother made kept meatless Mondays from becoming dull and helped the young DiMaggio grow into the promising young athlete he would become.

Today, professional athletes depend on a team of nutritionists and dietitians to counsel their eating habits, but Joe came from a different era. The previous baseball great, Babe Ruth, was famous for his dietary indulgences, but DiMaggio ate a training diet that plenty of present-day athletes would find fairly familiar. With plenty of meat and eggs for protein and pasta or other carbohydrates for fuel, Joe’s usual menu during his career wasn’t too far off from the training tables in today’s MBA or NFL facilities, albeit with more red meat and dairy foods. He also appreciated an all-American New York hot dog or three.

Despite his fame as one of the best athletes ever to play the game, DiMaggio wasn’t content to be a hero on the baseball diamond. In 1943, he enlisted in the Air Force. Although he didn’t see combat duty and mostly participated in exhibition games and morale-boosting events, he still played a key role in the war effort and sought to do more. When he realized his relatively soft life had actually put ten pounds on his lanky frame instead of whipping him into shape, he requested a combat rotation but was declined. Just before the war’s end in 1945, DiMaggio was discharged for stomach ulcers, a problem for which doctors of the time recommended drinking plenty of milk and forgoing spicy foods.

If the Yankee Clipper was famous for his incredible performance on the field, especially his still-unbeaten 56-game hitting streak, he later married someone else at least as famous for her performances on the silver screen: Marilyn Monroe. She was initially reluctant to meet him, but when they met in 1954, her reservations about his being a typical athlete melted away; he was gracious, humble and gentlemanly. Their marriage lasted less than a year, but despite their incredibly high-profile personas, they tried to lead a normal married life, often cooking dinner together when their schedules permitted. One of their favorite foods was a simple broiled steak with a salad or some carrots on the side.

All of Joe’s life was a rags-to-riches story in the greatest American tradition, but he never lost the humility that kept him grounded. He frequented the meat-and-potatoes men’s club Toots Shor’s rather than Sardi’s and purportedly preferred a hot dog from a street vendor or a plate of garlicky spaghetti to the overly refined fare that was considered stylish in the 1950s and ’60s. After he ate, he’d often give interviews or sign autographs, never tiring of his fans; in turn, they respected the great man enough to let him eat his chops or meatballs in peace.

With his natural grace and quiet humility, DiMaggio was an American legend, but his Italian heritage helped endear him to the Italian-American community.

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Easter in Italy and Around the World

March 24, 2013 Carlino's Restaurant no comments
carlinos-easter
“Easter Sunday brings thoughts of egg hunts, Easter bonnets and chocolate bunnies”

For us, Easter Sunday might bring thoughts of egg hunts, Easter bonnets and chocolate bunnies, but the holiday has a different feel in other parts of the world. Marked with the solemnity of its religious origins and the lightheartedness of spring’s rebirth, Easter has a long and colorful history that even retains elements of ancient Roman festivals.

Russia and Eastern Europe

Russian and Eastern European countries’ Easter celebrations are most famous for their incredibly detailed decorated eggs. These aren’t the simple hard-boiled and dyed eggs most of us know for Easter; these works of art are often meant to be displayed for years. The eggs are a hold-over from the earliest celebrations of spring’s renewal. They represented new beginnings and fertility, and adorning them with festive decorations is a practice that predates not only Christianity but also recorded history; no one’s quite sure when the practice began. However, the Romans almost certainly contributed to the custom, carrying it to all corners of the far-flung Roman Empire.

While Easter Sunday is solemn, the Monday afterward is celebratory throughout Eastern Europe. It’s tradition to spank others with decorated willow switches – think of the friendly swats you might get on your birthday or the affectionate pinch you’d get if you forgot to wear green on St. Patrick’s Day. Water-fights are also common, especially in Poland.

The dinner table almost always includes a ham, eggs and bread, often marked in the shape of a cross to honor the religious roots of the celebration. Some traditions also include cracking boiled eggs with a nail to symbolize Christ’s suffering.

Greece

Greek Orthodox traditions start with celebrations on Great Thursday with eggs dyed red and placed on altars or ikons. Easter is a more solemn holiday than it is elsewhere; traditional and devout households consider the next few days a period of mourning. On Holy Friday, church bells toll in funereal tones and flags fly at half-mast. Saturday’s observances have a distinctly modern twist; the Eternal Flame travels to Greece from Jerusalem by jet, a trip that used to be considerably longer. Each church gets its own flame that remains lit throughout the remainder of the week.

On Easter Sunday, the somber tone of the holy week is transformed to a joyful celebration. Whole spit-roasted lamb is a traditional centerpiece to an Easter feast, but any kind of lamb dish can work for those who don’t have time or space for a whole lamb. Heaps of delicacies grace every table, and the retsina and ouzo flow freely throughout the day. It’s no wonder, then, that Easter Monday is a time of restful contemplation in the Greek tradition.

Italy

The home of the Roman Catholic Church and of pre-Christian Roman celebrations of spring naturally has its own rich Easter traditions. It’s second only to Christmas in its importance socially, and for many devout Italians, it’s the most solemn feast in the liturgical calendar. Good Friday is filled with more solemn observances, including blessings from parish priests and meatless Lenten meals, but Sunday is a day for celebration.

Easter Sunday is for feasting on pork, lamb and veal as well as sweet treats in the shape of eggs. Chocolate eggs are as beloved in Italy as they are here for Easter, and the Italians have turned decorating the candies into an art form. Bakeries try to outdo each other with lavish confections and iced cakes. The colomba pasquale, or Easter dove, is a special sweetened, yeast-leavened Easter bread that is Easter’s counterpart to the traditional Christmas panettone.

Florence has a unique tradition, the Scoppio del Carro, loosely translated as the Bursting of the Cart. A cart filled with fireworks is paraded through the streets and set alight with flints from the Holy Sepulchre, bringing together a religious tradition with one that predates Christianity in a unique event that celebrates spring with a bang.

Whether you celebrate Easter as a traditional Christian holiday or as a celebration of spring’s arrival, Carlino’s wishes you Buona Pasqua!

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Meatless Feasts for a Delicious Lenten Season

February 9, 2013 Carlino's Restaurant one comment

 

Carlinos-lent
“Seafood of any sort has long been a staple for Lent”

With the beginning of Lent on February 13, Roman Catholics throughout the world observe the season by forgoing meat. Some say goodbye to red meat altogether while others skip it only on Fridays, but giving something up for Lent is part of a centuries-old tradition. For observant Catholics, vegetarians and lovers of Italian food, many meatless meals may feel more like an indulgence than abstinence.

Salads are an excellent way to start a lunch or dinner at any time of year, and they fit beautifully with Lenten observations or vegetarian dining. The key to a perfect salad is combining the right flavors and textures. The best salads incorporate tangy, rich, crunchy, salty and sweet flavors and textures in the right proportions. Carlino’s fruit salad is a great example; with sweet fruit, crisp mesclun greens, rich and salty Romano cheese and tangy balsamic dressing, it hits all the high points. Without the cheese, the salad goes from vegetarian to vegan.

Pasta is a perfect base for meatless dining. Topped with shrimp or clams, it’s a Lenten classic; with vegetables and a delicate cream sauce, it’s a taste of spring in any season. Meatless marinara sauce rich with garlic, basil and olive oil is all a great plate of pasta needs sometimes. Who says Lenten meals have to be dull? No one who’s ever tried pasta puttanesca, certainly. With its briny capers and pungent anchovies, this luscious dish packs enough flavor to keep anyone from missing meat.

During Lent, consider making vegetables the star of the show instead of a side dish. Eggplant, broccoli rabe and portobello mushrooms get regal treatment from Italian cuisine and deserve their share of the spotlight. Try an eggplant parmigiano sandwich for lunch or an eggplant rollatine bursting with flavorful mozzarella for dinner and discover how versatile the vegetable can be. Carlino’s has a wide variety of sandwiches that are perfect during Lent or at any time of the year.

Pizza, America’s favorite food, is also a great Lenten meal if you choose the right toppings. Skip the sausage and go heavy on the vegetables for a healthy, flavorful pizza. Anchovies and shrimp are also fine for those observing Lent and for pescetarians. All of Carlino’s pizzas are made to order, so let us know if you have special requests for toppings.

Seafood of any sort has long been a staple for Lent. Finding flavorful fish, shrimp and clams may be a challenge in some parts of the country, but New Yorkers don’t have to suffer through their seafood dishes. Clams Posillipo, tender mussels and buttery shrimp scampi are at their best near the coast. Spicy shrimp fra diavolo may have a wicked-sounding name, but the piquant dish is as virtuous as any Lenten meal. Lobster, one of the most luxurious foods you can enjoy, is also welcome on the table for Lent.

The beauty of Italian food is its inclusiveness. No matter what you eat or how you eat it, you’ll find something to please your palate. It’s the perfect solution for large parties because everyone can enjoy something on the menu. With hundreds of years of experience creating phenomenal feasts for Lent, Italian food is excellent for vegetarian and vegan diners as well as observant Catholics. Those who like to indulge in a sausage pizza or spaghetti with meatballs will find all these favorites on the menu, too.

Let our meatless, vegetarian and vegan choices surprise and delight you by dining in with us or ordering for delivery.

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How To Live to 100, Lessons from Sardinia

January 11, 2013 Carlino's Restaurant no comments
Carlino's-Restaurant-Mineola

“Spend an evening with friends, a bottle of good red wine and a plate of clams Posillipo; and perhaps you too will live for 100 years!”

Some of the longest-lived people in the world come from the mountains of Sardinia. Just 250 miles off the Italian coast, Sardinia shares much of its culinary heritage with Naples. Its hundreds of miles of shoreline and hilly interior enjoy the same sunny Mediterranean climate that makes southern Italy a favorite vacation destination. It also boasts more people over the age of 100 than almost anywhere else in the world.

Molecular biologist Dr. Gianni Pes of Italy’s University of Sassari noticed this remarkable longevity and decided to identify the places where people lived the longest. These regions became known as blue zones, areas of longevity far beyond the average. Sardinia contains one blue zone, but so do Loma Linda, California; Okinawa, Japan; and another Mediterranean island locale, Ikaria, Greece.

People in Sardinia, Loma Linda and Okinawa eat vastly different diets, but the proportions of what they eat are similar. In all the blue zones, people eat plenty of whole grains, beans, fruits and vegetables with their meals. Fresh salads and greens dressed with olive oil are popular in the Mediterranean blue zones, but they’re also a favorite in California’s longest-lived population.

In Ikaria and Sardinia, tomatoes are a staple and appear with every meal of the day. Tomatoes are rich in antioxidants such as lycopene and high in vitamins A and C, but that isn’t why they’re so beloved in Sardinia; they’re a favorite because they taste delicious fresh or simmered into a savory marinara sauce. Red wine is a perfect foil for tangy sauces and is almost always on the table for dinner. Sardinians also accompany their meals with pecorino cheese from the sheep that graze in the hill country.

People in blue zones also enjoyed seafood. It’s no accident that so many blue zones are in or near coastal communities; seafood’s typically high in omega-3 fatty acids and protein but low in fat. Just as important, though, is that it’s high in flavor, which is why blue-zoners eat it five times a week or more. Mussels, clams, squid and whitefish keep the menu varied for people in blue zones.

For people who’d spent a century or more living in these blue zones, it wasn’t just what was on the plate that mattered. They shared another common bond: They enjoy life with family and friends. Meals are occasions to celebrate and connect with loved ones. Their community sustains them as much as the food they eat and laughter is as important a part of a meal as the wine served with it.

No one can promise that great Italian food, lively company and laughter will help you live longer, but it’s a great way to make sure you enjoy life more. Spend an evening with friends, a bottle of good red wine and a plate of clams Posillipo; and perhaps you too will live for 100 years!

Sincerely,

Carlo, Wali and your friends at Carlino’s

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Italian Food His Way: Frank Sinatra’s Favorites

January 4, 2013 Carlino's Restaurant no comments
Frank_Sinatra

“Sinatra appreciated his father’s skill in the kitchen”

When looking at what famous Italians have eaten throughout history, it’s impossible to overlook Italian-American cuisine, and few people appreciated it as much as Frank Sinatra. One of the century’s greatest entertainers, the Chairman of the Board stayed in touch with his Italian heritage by ordering his favorite dishes no matter where he traveled.

Marinara sauce was one of Sinatra’s culinary passions. He published the recipe for his mother’s tomato sauce in a cookbook and even launched his own line of bottled sauce in the late 1980s. His recipe called for ripe roma tomatoes, olive oil, not too much onion and plenty of garlic. His daughter, Nancy, recalled in her memoirs that her father told her to order spaghetti in marinara sauce as a first course in an Italian restaurant, asserting that if they got the sauce just right, they’d do the rest of the food justice.

Another way Sinatra loved a rich tomato sauce was with eggplant Parmigiana. Following his mother’s recipe once again, his favorite version calls for dredging and crisping the eggplant in a pan before layering it in a dish and baking it with Parmesan and mozzarella cheese. Quickly pan-frying the eggplant before it goes in the baking dish turns it lusciously soft and tender by the time it leaves the oven. The combination of crisp and creamy textures is just as irresistible to other fans of this Italian favorite as it was to Ol’ Blue Eyes.

Clams Posillipo takes its name from a Neapolitan neighborhood, but like Frank Sinatra, it’s an Italian-American classic. Littleneck clams with a light tomato sauce enriched with olive oil and a splash of the flavorful broth in which the clams were cooked was a delicious and economical Friday meal in the Sinatra household, and Frank never lost his taste for the dish and swore the West Coast versions just weren’t the same as the clams he remembered in New York.

Although he loved his mother’s recipes, Sinatra also appreciated his father’s skill in the kitchen. One of his favorite dishes to make was veal Milanese, a simple dish of veal pounded thin and rolled in breadcrumbs before pan-frying. A little grated Parmigiano-Reggiano in the breadcrumbs and a twist of lemon at the end were his secret ingredients to a perfect veal Milanese. Carlino’s version also features the lemon wedge that adds just the right tartness to set off the mild, crisp veal.

Sinatra enjoyed Italian wines, but he occasionally enjoyed something a little stronger before or after dinner. Although he liked martinis, the classic Manhattan was always a favorite, especially with a good blended whiskey in place of the standard rye. He also favored two fingers of Jack Daniel’s on ice with just enough water to cover the ice – not too much ice, though, or he’d admonish the waiter that he “wanted to drink it, not skate on it.”

Frank Sinatra was a legendary entertainer on stage or on film, but to his friends and family, he was just as skilled at throwing a lavish party with outstanding food and drinks. As an ambassador for Italian-American dining, he helped shape what America ate, bringing once-exotic foods to the rest of the country along with his incomparable velvet voice.

Sincerely,

Carlo, Wali and your friends at Carlino’s

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