Ginos Secret Sauce Recipe

SECRET SAUCE 

“SEGRETO”

    Tagliolini with Salsa Segreto. Secret Sauce? Shhhh!!! We lost our beloved Old-School Italian Red-Sauce Joint Gino’s of Lexington Avenue a couple years back. Gino’s opened in 1945 by Neapolitan Immigrant Gino Circicello, was a Gem of a Restaurant loved by its many loyal customers who kept the place packed and vibrant night-after-night, year-after-year. The place was perfect; Great Food and good wine at reasonable prices coupled with excellent service by friendly attentive waiters inside a homey comfy dining-room that everyone loved, from its cozy little Bar at the front of the restaurant, its Phone Booth (one of the last surviving in New York), and the famed Scalamandre Zebra Wallpaper that is as much a part of Gino’s as the tenured old waiters, the Phone Booth, and the popular Chicken Parmigiano.

    Among all the tasty pasta dishes, the Pasta with Salsa Segreta, (Segreto) “The Secret Sauce,” was a perennial favorite at Gino’s. All of Gino’s legendary clientele loved it. Some of the clients just happened to be, people like; Frank Sinatra, Tony Bennett, and Joe DiMaggio, to name a few of a large string of luminaries to grace Gino’s over the years. Gino’s had many wonderful dishes that were soul satisfy, unpretentious, and tasty as heck. They were all the usual suspects of Italian Red-Sauce Joints everywhere; from Baked Clams Areganata, to Shrimp Cocktail, to Spaghetti With Clam Sauce, Lasagna, the famed Veal Pamigiano, “the entire menu.”     I used to go to Gino’s with my cousin Joe quite a bit. My sister Barbara came a couple times, as did my brother Michael. But it was usually me and Cousin Joe, and if anyone else was tagging along as well. Now I love my pasta as all good Italian-Americans do, but my cousin Joe? He had me beat. The guy loves his pasta, and wanted it practically every day. I believe we tried the Salsa Segreta (Secret Sauce) on our first trip there. I think with Tagliolini, but you can have it with Spaghetti, Rigatoni or whichever pasta you like. Well we loved it from the very first, and would get it every time we went. Often we’d get Baked Clams and Shrimp Cocktail to start, followed by a Half Portion each of Tagliolini with Salsa Segreto, and as our main we might split a Veal Milanese with a “Nice Bottle of Chianti.” We’d finish the meal with Espresso and a couple of Desserts, maybe a Tiramisu and a Chocolate Tartufo.

    So the Secret Sauce, what’s in it, you want to know? Yes I identified the Secret ingredients one day, I made it, and it tastes exactly the same, and that’s as tasty as can possibly be, a 10 out of 10, you can’t get any better. It’s quite simple and you’d be amazed, but that’s the essence of all Italian Cooking, simply tasty. The Secret of The Secret Sauce is, “I shouldn’t tell you but I will.” I should be charging you $100 just for this one recipe but I won’t. “I hope you know what a bargain you people are all getting; my Sunday Sauce, Clemenza’s Sunday Sauce, my Lentil Soup recipe, Marinara Sauce, my famed Bolognese and more. I’m getting robbed here!” But here you go, The Secret-Ingredients in the Secret Sauce from the former Gino’s Restaurant on Lexington Avenue across from Bloomingdales are  _ _ _ _ _ _ _  and  _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _  added to a simple tomato sauce. That’s it! Basta ! The Cat is out of the Bag. Enjoy! Are you Happy? “You better be!”

Excerpted from SUNDAY SAUCE by Daniel Bellino-Zwicke

The RECIPE and "SECRET INGREDIENTS" 

For SALSA SEGRETA "GINO'S SECRET SAUCE 

are in SUNDAY SAUCE

by Daniel Bellino-Zwicke

GINO'S SECRET SAUCE RECIPE

SALSA SEGRETA

Amazon.com

The FORMER GINO'S

On Lexington Avenue, New York, NY

NOW SADLY CLOSED

The Recipe for The SALSA SEGRETA LIVES ON

In

SUNDAY SAUCE

Kindle Edition

CLICK HERE !

GINO'S Was A FAVORITE 

of

FRANK SINATRA 

READ about GINO'S in The NEW YORK

The NY OBSERVER on GINO'S

The NY POST on GINO'S

FOOD & WINE MAGAZINE on GINO'S

The NY ITALIAN FOOD & WINE GUY on GINO'S

The NY TIMES on GINO'S

The RECIPE for GINO'S SECRET SAUCE "SALSA SEGRETA"

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Rocco's Is Carbone

ROCCO'S IS CARBONE ?

ROCCO'S IS CARBONE !

The former Greenwich Village Old-Schhol Red-Sauce Italian Joint, Rocco's a beloved little neighborhood trattoria closed two years ago as most people know. Squeezed out by a greedy lanlord and the so-called Torrisi Boys; Mario Carbone, Rich Torrisi, and Jeff Zalaznick ... Some hard-core old-school Italians were really miffed and the final straw some said was when the ne-owners superimposed the name "Carbone" right over the Old Rocco Neon Sign .. They said the Torrisi Boys add "Insult to Injury" with that one, not to mention prices like $52 Veal Parmigiano and sky-high prices across the board on; cocktails, food, and wine ...

The NEGRONI COCKTAIL

THE NEGRONI

    The Negroni? A question? A question to some? Most of America probably. Many so-called sophisticates have been drinking this “The Negroni” quite a bit in the past 4 years or so. The truly sophisticated, worldly folks have known about them far longer. Me? I’ve been drinking this great Italian-Cocktail for some 28 years now. Yes, I’ve been drinking Negroni’s ever since my first at a Bar in la Bella Roma back in the Summer of 1985. Rome, “The Eternal City” is where I had my first, on that marvelous first trip to Bella Italia. I was quite a young man, and that trip was completely magical, discovering real Italian “Italian Food” for the very first time, I had my first true Bolognese, Spaghetti Carbonara, Coda di Vacinara, Bucatini Amatriciana, Gelato, and a true Italian Espresso, “Oh Bliss!” Yes it was. I saw The Sistine Chapel, Michelangelo’s Moses at San Pietro en Vincole (Saint Peter in Chains), I saw the Coliseum, The Roman Forum, The Duomo in Florence, Venice and The Grand Canal, Positano, Capri, Napoli, and so much more. Yes the trip was magical. It was magical hanging out at a Bar in the Piazza Popolo drinking my first Campari, and that first of a thousand Negroni’s, or more. Many American’s are just discov-ering its charms, “me and the Negroni,” we go way back; in Rome, Venice, Capri, Positano, Capri, Verona, Bologna, I’ve had Negroni’s all over. And many in New York in restaurants and bars all over Manhattan, and Staten Island where I drink some of the best Negroni’s I’ve ever had, certainly in New York, at my buddy Pat Parotta’s house in Staten Island. Pat pours an awesome Negroni, better than any bartender in the city. He makes them with love and when I go to one of his wonderful little dinner parties, that’s the first thing I have. It’s tradition for us now. Leaving my house in Greenwich Village, I hop on the 1 Train and take it down to the Battery to the Staten Island Ferry Terminal. I hop on the ferry, ride across New York Harbor, passing the gorgeous Lady Liberty (The Statue of Liberty) along the way.  I get off the ferry. Pat picks me up at the terminal on the Staten Island side. We go to house, and I’m not through the door two minutes and he’s mixing up a nice one. A Negroni that is! Well 2 that is, one for me, and a Negroni for himself. We drink great Italian Wine at those dinner parties, and some of Pat’s tasty food. But we always start it off with our ritualistic Negroni’s alla Patty “P” and you should too.

THE NEGRONI

Basic Recipe:

1 ounce Campari

1 ounce Sweet Vermouth

1 ounce Gin

Ice

Orange

1. Fill a Rocks-Glass or Highball Glass with Ice.

2)  Add Campari, Sweet Vermouth, and Gin.

3) Stir ingredients. Garnish with a piece of Orange Peel or slice of Orange.

Note: Orsen Wells after discovering the Negroni while writing a screenplay in Rome, wrote in a correspon-dence back home that he had discovered a delightful Italian Cocktail, “The Negroni.” Welles stated, “It is made of Bitter Campari which is good for the liver, and of Gin which is bad. The two balance each other out.”

photo Daniel Bellino-Zwicke

 THE BELLINO NEGRONI

    For me, this is the Perfect Negroni. The basic Negroni recipe calls for 3 equal parts(1 oz.) each of Camapari, Sweet Vermouth, and Gin in a glass filled with ice, and garnished with an Orange Peel.

    For the most perfectly balanced Negroni, I put in slightly less Campari  (3/4 oz.),  ¾ ounce of Gin, a little more Sweet Vermouth with 1 ¼ ounces, over Ice,  add  a tiny spalsh of Club Soda and Garnish with a good  size  piece of Orange. Voila! The Perfect Negroni. Enjoy!

THE NEGRONI is Excerpted From Daniel Bellino-Zwicke 's  SUNDAY SAUCE

CLICK HERE !

SUNDAY SAUCE GRAVY alla SINATRA

FRANK SINATRA

SUNDAY GRAVY alla SINATRA

    As a boy and young man, Dolly Sinatra would often make Frankie Spaghetti & Meatballs, which Frank loved all his life, from his Mom and at his favorite restaurant “Patsy’s” on West 56^th Street in New York.

    Frank also liked Maccheroni with Sausage & Meatballs, otherwise known as Sunday Sauce or simply “Gravy” with Sausage & Meatballs.

MAKING SUNDAY GRAVY alla SINATRA

To make “Sunday Gravy alla Sinatra,” simply make the above recipe for Spaghetti & Meatballs. Cook and brown 1 ½ pounds of Italian Sweet Sausages, and after you have completed step # 5 in previous recipe, add the browned Sausages and continue cooking and following the above recipe. After you have simmered the tomatoes and sausages for 1 - 1/4 hours, you will brown the meatballs and add to “Sauce.” Continue cooking another 35 minutes, on the lowest simmer, and “Voila,” you’ll end up with Sunday Sauce Gravy alla Sinatra, “Just the way Frank liked it!”

PS .. For the most authentic version of the way Frank ate Sunday Sauce Gravy, use Ronzoni brand Spaghetti or Rigatoni pasta, and don’t forget to have some Frank Sinatra records playing as you make the Meatballs & Gravy and when you are eating as well. And it is definitely appropriate to have Dean Martin, Tony Bennett and Jerry Vale playing as well, but Sinatra is a must. Bon Appetito!

EXCERPTED From SUNDAY SAUCE by Daniel Bellino-Zwicke

See SUNDAY SAUCE For Complete Recipe ... SUNDAY SAUCE - When Italian-Americans Cook

is Available in Paperback & Kindle on AMAZON.com

Click Here !

Frank Sinatra & Ava Gardner

MANGIA BENE !