Family recipes, handed down from generation to generation, connect St. Louisans with loved ones long gone and foreign lands our families used to call home. Two locals share their favorites:
[a taste of home]
Concetta Sanfilippo’s pasta con sarde
Joe Sanfilippo, owner of J.F. Sanfilippo’s downtown and Filippo’s in Chesterfield, was born in Palermo, a Sicilian city by the Tyrrhenian Sea. Although his family has lived in the U.S. since 1967, he hasn’t lost a taste for his mother’s pasta con sarde, a Sicilian dish made with tomatoes, fennel, raisins, sardines and pine nuts that is topped with toasted breadcrumbs.
Sanfilippo’s mother, Concetta, is the second oldest of six children. She married Franco Sanfilippo in 1956 and together they had three children: Paul, Connie and Joe. “By 1967, all of my mother’s siblings and parents had left Italy to make the trip to the U.S., and she was lonely without her immediate family, so my parents decided to come to the U.S.,” Sanfilippo explains. “We came via the Michelangelo ship to New York and settled in St. Louis.”
Although pasta con sarde is enjoyed year-round, it is a particular favorite during holidays, especially on the March 19 feast day of St. Joseph. The breadcrumbs topping the dish are meant to symbolize sawdust as a reminder of Joseph’s occupation as a carpenter. “In Italy, this is a big holiday for the fishermen and the poor,” Sanfilippo says. “To celebrate, my mom bakes bread in the shape of St. Joseph’s cane and a cross. These we have blessed by local priests and we share this blessed bread with close family and friends.”
sardines, canned in olive oil (Pensabene brand recommended)
1/4 c. pine nuts, slightly toasted
1/4 c. olive oil
1/4 c. raisins
1/2 c. red wine
4 cloves garlic, minced
1 (28 oz.) can peeled tomatoes packed in juice, undrained
3 T. tomato paste
1 t. crushed fennel seeds
2 t. sugar
Salt and pepper to taste
1 T. chopped fresh parsley
1 pound papardelle or bucatini pasta
1. Saute garlic in oil for 2 minutes in large pot over medium heat. Add undrained tomatoes and tomato paste and stir to break up tomatoes. Let cook for 10 minutes.
2. Add raisins, wine, pine nuts, sardines, fennel seeds, sugar, salt and pepper. Cook 30 minutes over low heat. Add oregano and parsley and simmer an additional 10 minutes.
3.In a separate pan over low heat, toast breadcrumbs in olive oil, stirring constantly. Remove from heat and add sugar.
4.Cook pasta according to package directions. Drain and toss pasta with sauce. Sprinkle with bread crumbs and serve immediately.
[sweet memories]
Grandma Minnie’s poppy seed cookies
Every year before the Jewish high holidays, Ellen Langston can be found in the kitchen making poppy seed cookies. The sweet treats serve more than a festive function: they are a cherished family recipe, passed down multiple generations.
The recipe comes from Langston’s Grandma Minnie Sandler, who was born in Eastern Europe, likely in Minsk (currently in Belarus) and immigrated to St. Louis when she was 4. Minnie passed the recipe to her daughter, Beverly Holtzman, who passed it to Langston, who is now teaching it to her own grandchildren. “My grandkids come over to help me make them, and they love it,” she says.
Minnie’s poppy seed cookies play a central role in Langston’s childhood holiday memories. “We always looked forward to them on Rosh Hashanah. My grandmother was a wonderful cook, but the best was at the end, when we got her cookies. She would make enough for the children and grandchildren to take home, and now I try to do the same thing.”
Because Minnie refused to write the recipe down, it was almost lost. “You could never truly replicate the way she made it, because she didn’t use measuring utensils, she just knew how much flour her hand held,” Langston says. “That’s how they did things those days—you add a little bit of this and a little bit of that. She never would write it down, but one day as my grandma was measuring with her hands and fingers, my mom made her pour it into a measuring cup so she could record the recipe.”
As Langston rolls out the poppy seed cookies, there is something else to remind her of her grandma. “I use Grandma Minnie’s rolling pin,” she says. “It makes me feel like she’s in my kitchen with me, perhaps telling me to roll the dough a little thinner.”
1/2 t. salt
1 t. baking soda
1 t. baking powder
1 c. vegetable oil
1 1/2 c. sugar
3 eggs
1 t. vanilla
Juice of 1 lemon
2/3 jar poppy seeds (about 1 .5 oz)
1. Combine dry ingredients and set aside.
2. Place sugar in mixing bowl and mix in eggs one at a time. Beat well. Beat in oil, vanilla and lemon juice.
3. Whisk poppy seeds into dry ingredients to distribute evenly. Add dry ingredients to the wet a little at a time, until the mixture forms a ball.
4. Knead on floured board, adding flour as necessary until it’s easy to work with and not sticky. Divide dough into four equal balls and cover with dish towel until you begin rolling.
5. Roll to about 3/8 inch thick and cut with cookie cutters. Place cookies on parchment paper-lined sheets. Bake at 350 F for 10 minutes, or until edges just start to brown.
By Stephanie Zeilenga
Photos by Bill Barrett
Pictured: Grandma Minnie’s poppy seed cookies
