Mrs. Ezio Pinza’s Spaghetti with Chicken

When I was asked to make a pasta dish in support of San Giorgio’s #PastaForGood campaign, I had to go retro. I mean, it’s my schtick.

So I took to the interwebs and, on the Curly Wurly blog, found images from a 1950s cookbook published by San Giorgio back in the 1950’s called Try It This Way  by Mrs. Ezio Pinza.

I had no idea who Ezio Pinza is. I had to look him up. I first thought of the other Italian opera singer, Mario Lanza. But to be honest, I only know who he is because of the film Heavenly Creatures (which, if you haven’t seen, you need to–especially if you like true crime, Kate Winslet,  Peter Jackson, and/or New Zealand). 

I feel bad for Mrs. Ezio Pinza. Although she is, according to the cover, a noted hostess, this is just like all those old church cookbooks that I have; none of the women get a first name–they’re all Mrs. So-and-So.

Well, I hope she at least got paid for them to use her face.

As you can see, there were a lot of recipes in this booklet. AND so many types of pasta that I have never seen in the store. I want some of that Genova Style twirly noodle that looks like Whitney Houston’s I Wanna Dance With Somebody hair.

But anyhoo, from Mrs. Pinza’s 58 recipes, I had to choose just one to make.

I seriously considered making the amazing Spaghetti With Clams molded ringy thing (illustrated above); but that made 6 servings, and I wanted to cook a dish that I would actually eat the rest of the week. So I chose Mrs. Ezio Pinza’s Spaghetti with Chicken:

I also chose the Spaghetti with Chicken because chicken thighs and drumsticks were BOGO at my grocery store.

Dude, Mrs. Ezio Pinza was right: these recipes are economical!

Furthermore, San Giorgio was nice enough to send me some of their products.

The recipe calls for a can of San Giorgio Spaghetti Sauce, which I did not have (nor do I know whether or not is still in production), So I took the Pomi tomatoes and threw together a little concoction of my own that was basically strained tomatoes, olive oil, dried Italian seasonings, fresh parsley, garlic powder, and a lot of Parmesan cheese.

I lightly browned the drumsticks and then covered them with my  Macgyver’d sauce. I stirred in the water, some salt and pepper, and minced parsely (although I used much more than the 1 tbsp that Mrs. Pinza recommended).

I covered the chicken and simmered it for around 90 minutes.

Here is the result!

This was tasty. Simple. And, like Mrs. Pinza said, economical. I don’t believe the recipe states how many people this dish should feed, but so far I’ve gotten 2 dinners and 1 lunch from it and there’s still some left.

NOW! I behoove you to go to the San Giorgio Facebook page HERE and post a “pasta moment” with the hashtag #PastaForGood. Why? Because for each pasta moment, a box of San Giorgio pasta will be donated to a food bank in Pittsburgh, Harrisburg, Philadelphia, Washington D.C. and Baltimore.

That is a super-easy way to help some of our neighbors in need.

What is a “pasta moment”? It can be at home, at a restaurant, with friends–just share a picture with the hashtag #PastaForGood. It’s that simple. Hell, you read this post. That’s a pasta moment! Go! Post a photo–it’s for a damn good cause.

For more details visit pastaforgood.com and sangiorgio.com

The campaign ends on January 15, so move your butts, kittens!