Here’s To A Tasty Celebration Of Mobster Meals!
I am living the bachelor life for a few days. So what to make for dinner? Well, a classic “dinner and a movie” is on my menu!
Time to bite into the greatest film ever made, Francis Ford Coppola’s “The Godfather”…by making Clemenza’s Meatballs!
Aside from being the single greatest movie ever made, the film deals with the Mob – gangsters who lived large, and ate well too!
Time For A Special “DINNER IN A MOVIE!“
Behold Clemenza’s Meatballs!
“The Godfather” is chock full of food – family meals, wedding cakes, executions that take place in a diner that serves “the best veal”…food in this film is a vital part of life, and death. For example, Don Corleone’s daughter Connie makes a meal for her obnoxious husband, who announced that he’ll eat out later – you know, with his mistress…
Connie goes into a fit and flings the dinnerware around the house, causing her husband to beat her…what we find out later is that this was instigated for one reason: to lure Sonny out of his compound, and to one of the many iconic death scenes in the movie: at the toll booth.
Time To “Go To The Mattresses!”
When this leads to the five families re-igniting a mob war, they go “to the mattresses”, which means they all sleep in one place to be ready for battle at any time.
Clemenza teaches Mikey how to make Sunday sauce for this house full of guys…here is the scene, and the recipe – first, the scene from the movie, courtesy of “The Godfather” blu-ray!
And here is that recipe again, courtesy of Clemenza:
“Heh, come over here, kid, learn something. You never know, you might have to cook for 20 guys someday. You see, you start out with a little bit of oil. Then you fry some garlic. Then you throw in some tomatoes, tomato paste, you fry it; ya make sure it doesn’t stick. You get it to a boil; you shove in all your sausage and your meatballs; heh? And a little bit o’ wine. An’ a little bit o’ sugar, and that’s my trick.”
Let’s Get Cooking With Clemenza!
Here’s the recipe from the film:
2 tablespoons olive oil
2 to 4 cloves garlic, chopped
2 large (28-ounce) cans tomatoes (whole, crushed or chopped)
1 (10-ounce) or 2 (6-ounce) cans tomato paste
3 to 4 Italian sausages, grilled and sliced
1 pound cooked meatballs (use your favorite recipe)
Dry red wine
¼ cup sugar
Hot cooked pasta
First, take whatever ground meat you like and add some fresh minced garlic and onion, plus some italian herbs….roll those into meatballs and sear them off in a pan…now, make the sauce.
Heat the oil over medium heat in a large pot. Add garlic and cook for a few minutes; do not let the garlic burn. Add tomatoes and tomato paste. Cook for about 5 minutes, stirring continuously so that a relatively smooth consistency is reached.
Add sausages and meatballs. Stir until the meat is coated. Add a splash of red wine, then the sugar, according to taste. As you can see, Clemenza is very serious about making a good meal for his men…
Reduce heat to medium-low and let simmer for a minimum of 20 minutes, stirring occasionally to prevent scorching. Serve over hot cooked pasta.
And whatever you do, don’t insult the head of the family when it comes time to eat:
The Godfather – “Dinner In A Movie!”
So, make the meatballs, put in the movie’s special edition blu-ray, and enjoy!
It’s the greatest film of all time and here’s why – click my link for great stories about the making of this brilliant movie picture!
I not only love the film, but I got to see some of the places where it was filmed in Sicily!
Yes, I sat in the seat where Michael Corleone told Appolonia’s father that men would pay a lot of money to know he was there!
See it all here:
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Categories: 70's Cinema, Academy Awards, Action Films, Art, Cult Movies, Film Fight Club, Food, food blog, Great Films, James Caan, Movies, Pop Culture, Talent/Celebrities
Hi John, I’ve got to try out this recipe. It looks so good.
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One of the prop men on ‘The Godfather’ told me they had a heck of a time with the food, They would have it ready to shoot the scene and Coppola would be standing by the table nibbling.
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HA! I love that! Thanks for sharing! The meatball recipe is pretty straightforward but I always make pasta when watching the film!
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And cannoli for dessert
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YES!
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Definitely one of the best movies, ever. Thanks for sharing the meatball recipe.
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My favourite film of all time. What a coincidence… I’ve just left a review of ‘Leave the Gun, Take the Cannoli’!
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I loved this film and this secret recipe sounds like a recipe I’d love as well
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Such a sweet moment set in a scene filled with so much tension.
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Great recipe, great film. The perfect combination, John.
Best wishes, Pete.
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I’m not much of a chef, but I gotta save you post and try this recipe on my wife the next time we have dinner and a movie. She’d probably disagree with us that Godfather is the greatest movie ever made (yes, I know!!! I still married her. Crazy I know.) But, I bet I could convince her to watch if I make Clemenza’s secret recipe!!! Ha ha. Fifty some years old and still an amazing movie!
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Yes, it is brilliant – but we can all have our favorites, right? Perhaps this recipe will indeed make her re-think the film, and certainly Clemenza! Thanks for the comment!
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