Three-quarters of a pound of beef
Two ounces of ham
One tablespoon of butter (or one-half tablespoon of lard)
Some bread
Some parsley
A piece of onion
Salt, pepper and a dash of nutmeg
Bread crumbs

"Take three-quarters of a pound of beef, two ounces of ham, one tablespoon of butter (or one-half tablespoon of lard), some bread, some parsley, and a piece of onion. Chop up the onion fine and put it in a saucepan with the butter (or lard). When it is colored, put in the parsley and the ham cut up into little pieces, at the same time add the bread cut up into three or four small dice, salt, pepper, and a dash of nutmeg. Mix all together well. Cut the meat into six slices, pound them to flatten out; salt slightly, and when the other ingredients are cooked, put a portion on each slice of meat. Then roll up the meat like sausages,

put them on skewers, alternating with a piece of fried

bread of the same size. Butter well, roll in fresh bread crumbs, and broil on the gridiron over a slow fire. These are nice served with salad."

This recipe was taken from "Simple Italian Cookery" written by Antonia Isola (pen name for Mabel Earl McGinnis). It was published in the United States by Harper and Brothers in 1912. It is believed to be the first American cookbook that contains Italian recipes. For the complete copyright-free cookbook see www.archive.org. A variety of recipes from this cookbook can also be found on this website.... Photo: Mary Melfi.

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