The wiseguy cookbook - Henry Hill

Now, in his inimitable style, Henry Hill tells some spicy stories of his life in the Mob and shows you how to whip up his favorite dishes, Sicilian style-even when you're cooking on the run. Learndelicious recipesthatmake even the toughest tough guy beg for more

Henry Hill was a born wiseguy. At the pizzeria where he worked as a kid, he learned to substitute pork for veal in cutlets-which came in handy later when the bankroll was low. At thirteen, he got his first percentage from a local deli-that lost business when he started supplying the neighborhood wiseguys with his own heroes. And what great heroes they were.

Once he entered Witness Protection, though, Hill found himself in places where prosciutto was impossible to get and gravy was something you put on mashed potatoes. So he learned to fake it when necessary (for example, Romano with white pepper took the place of real pecorino-siciliano cheese), and wherever he found himself, Hill managed to keep good Italian food on the table. He still brings this flair for improvisation to his cooking. No recipe is set in stone. And substitutions are listed in case you need them for these recipes and many more:

Mom's Antipasto
Sunday Gravy (Meat Sauce)
Cheater's Chicken Stock
Striped Bass for Paulie
Fat Larry's Pizza Dough
Henry's Kickback Antipasti Hero
Sicilian Easter Bread with Colored Eggs
Clams Casino
Osso Buco
Oven Penitentiary Sauce with Sausage
Michael's Favorite Ziti with Meat Sauce