Pastene congratulates 'Emeril Live Show' Recipe Winner
Recipe winner goes 'Live' with Emeril

Medford resident Frank Imbergamo recently put his cooking skills to the test after entering a contest on Food Network's "Emeril Live Show."

Imbergamo got the idea after seeing the show was holding an Italian recipe contest. Imbergamo entered his gravy and meatball recipe, but thought nothing more about it until a month later when he recieved a call from the network, telling him they had chosen four winners out of 1,500 entries and his was one of the winners.

A producer and crew of three from the Emeril show arrived in Boston to film Imbergamo in the north End, where he grew up. They also came to his Medfort home to film him making his award-winning recipe, "Frankie's Gravy and meatballs."

A week later, Imbergamo was flown to New York with his wife to appear, along with the other winners and their spouses, on the "Emeril Live Show", wher host Emeril LaGasse recreated the four winning recipes.

 

Frankie's Gravy and Meatballs
Meatballs:   2lb. ground beef 4 eggs 1-1/2 cup plain bread crumbs 3/4 cup grated Pecorino     Romano cheese 2 garlic cloves, chopped 1/2 tsp. salt 1 tsp. ground black pepper 1 Tbsp. fresh parsley chopped	Gravy (sauce):   1/2 cup olive oil 1 garlic clove chopped 1 medium onion, chopped 1 (6 oz.) can tomato paste     (Flotta or Pastene) 1 (6 oz.) can water (use empty tomato paste can) 2 (28 o90z.) cans Pastene     Kitchen Ready tomatoes 3/4 can water (21 oz. use     empty Kitchen Ready can) 1/4 tsp. salt 1/4 tsp. ground black pepper 1 tsp. fresh parsley, chopped
DIRECTIONS: In a bowl, mix all ingredients for meatballs with hands for about 5 minutes, until well mixed. Form about 16 meatballs and place on a platter. In a frying pan, add olive oil and when hot, add meatballs and cook on medium heat until browned. Repeat until all meatballs are browned. Place meatballs on a new platter. Do not discard the oil. Sauté chopped onion and chopped garlic in the oil for approximately 2 minutes. Add tomato paste and cook on medium heat for 3 minutes, stirring all the while. Add can of water (tomato paste can) and cook and stir for 1 minute. Take off heat and set aside. In an 8-quart pan, add tomatoes and cook on medium heat for 5 minutes. Add 3/4 can water (Kitchen Ready can), tomato paste mixture from fry pan, and browned meatballs. Mix thoroughly, stirring carefully with wooden spoon as not to break meatballs. Add salt, ground pepper, and parsely and cook on medium heat for the first 15 minutes, then cover and cook on low heat for 2-1/2 hours, stirring every 15 minutes to prevent sticking and burning on bottom of pan, until done. Serve over al dente pasta and sprinkle with some grated Pecorino Romano cheese, along with crusty Italian bread and a good bottle of red wine.

 

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