An Introduction to the Nardecchia Family

Trying to come up with a great pine nut recipe, I asked my mom for some help. Little did I think that in about 15 seconds, I would have a recipe and a post sent to my e-mail! (She must have been planning this...) So, without further ado, here's Joy recounting a great recipe for stuffed peppers and the first time she met my father's family.

Nardick's Grocery Store, Main Street, Fonda, NY, May 1980

I walked into an old, dark store. There weren't many groceries on the shelves and not hardly as many people as I had anticipated to be there. That was until I walked past the cash register into "il ristorante" and "la cucina." There they all were...the matriarch, Aunt Fanny, the chef, Aunt Liz, and the baby, Aunt Millie and their respective families.

The aroma was amazing. The sauce simmering on the stove, the smell of freshly baked rolls, and the heavenly aroma of Italian stuffed peppers. Here is the family recipe.

12 long green Italian frying peppers (bell peppers work fine too)

2 cups flavored breadcrumbs

4 cloves garlic, minced

1/4 cup olive oil

1/2 cup Pecorino Romano cheese, grated

1 cup golden raisins, plumped in water

1 1/2 cup pinoli (pine nuts)

1 can petite diced tomatoes or 1 1/2 cups fresh diced tomatoes with juice

salt, pepper

Split peppers and clean the insides. Mix the rest of the ingredients together well. (More olive oil can be added at this point if the mixture seems too dry.) Fill the pepper halves with the mixture and place in a baking dish coated in olive oil. Sprinkle with a few pieces of diced tomatoes, some more cheese and oil.

Bake at 350 degrees for 20-30 minutes.