The Rose Pistola cookbook: 140 Italian recipes from San Franciscos favorite North Beach restaurant41434

COOKBOOK
140

Italian

Recipes from

San Francisco's Favorite

North Beach Restaurant
«

BY R EED

HEARON AND

PEGGY KNICKERBOCKER


When
open

award-winning chef Reed Hearon decided to

his third restaurant in the historic

section of San Francisco, he

wanted

the cuisine of the Italian immigrants

He was immediately
drinking barkeep

North Beach

to pay tribute to

who

settled there.

intrigued by a hardworking, hard-

named Rose

Pistola

who had been

fea-

tured in journalist Peggy Knickerbocker's recently published article

on the great cooks, or "Old Stoves," of

North Beach. He asked Rose

if

he could name

his

new

restaurant after her, to which she replied, "What's in
for

me?" Reed's answer? A

Now

tables are hard to

successful

Rose

come by

Reed's wildly

San Francisco" by the San Francisco

took the country by storm, w

Chronicle,

Rose

ning the

997 James Beard Award

Pistola

rant, while BonAppetit

New

at

Pistola restaurant. Hailed as "the best

Italian restaurant in

1

it

table anytime.

named

it

for Best

"One

New

in-

Restau-

of the Year's Best

Restaurants."

The Rose

Pistola

Cookbook features 140 of this beloved

restaurant's best dishes,
Italian spirit

which combine Old-World

and innovative California cuisine. Each rec-

ipe has been simplified for the
readilv available ingredients

step instructions.
tables,

Only the

w ith

cook, emphasizing

freshest seasonal fruits, vege-

and seafood are used

that simplv burst

home

and straightforward step-by-

ingredient-driven dishes

in

flavor:

Shaved Artichokes w

ith

Fava Beans and Parmesan. Roasted Beets with Ricotta
Salata

and Arugula. Wood-Oven Baked Goat Cheese and

Roasted Pepper Pizza.

Skillet-

Roasted Mussels.

FLAP)




THE

RCOOKBOOK


Reed /learon

&

Fe^y Knickerbocker

Black-and-White Photographs by Henrik Kam

&

roadway Books

(j)

Color Photographs by Laurie Smith

New York


THE

R(§)Se Pist^la
COOKBOOK
140 Italian Recipes from San Francisco's
Favorite North Beach Restaurant


1

BROADWAY

the rose pistola cookbook. Copyright ©1999 by Reed Hearon and Peggy Knickerbocker. Black-and-white photographs copyright ©1999 by Henrik Kam and color photographs copyright
States of America.

© 1999

No

by Laurie Smith.

All rights

reserved. Printed in the United

may be reproduced ortransmitted

part of this book

in

any form

or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by

any information storage and

Broadway Books,

a division of

Random House,

Inc.,

New York, NY 10036.

1540 Broadway,

Broadway Books
cial sales.

system, without written permission from the

retrieval

publisher. For information address

titles

may

be purchased for business or promotional use or for spe-

For information, please write to: Special Markets

Random House,

Inc.,

1540 Broadway,

Broadway books and
Broadway Books,

its

a division

logo, a letter B bisected

of

Department,

New York, NY 10036.

Random House,

on the diagonal, are trademarks of

Inc.

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

Hearon, Reed.

The Rose

Pistola

cookbook

Francisco's favorite North

Knickerbocker

Italian recipes

140

:

Beach restaurant

/

from San

Reed Hearon and Peggy

black-and-white photographs by Henrik

;

photographs by Laurie Smith.

—

Kam and

color

isted.

cm.

p.

Includes bibliographical references and index.

ISBN 0-7679-0250-5
1.

3.

Cookery,

Pistola, Rose.

TX725.A1H357
641.59794

(he)

American— California
I.

style.

2.

Cookery, Italian.

Knickerbocker, Peggy.

II.

Title.

1999

—dc2i

99-26468
CIP

FIRST EDITION

Book design by

Pel Loi

Koay

Black-and-white photographs by Henrik

99

00

Page

ii:

Avenue
Page

iii:

01

02

03

io

9

8

Kam and color photographs by Laurie Smith.
7

6

5

4

3

2

1

Horse-drawn carriages looking south from Chestnut Street on Columbus
in

the early 1900s. Courtesy J.

B.

Lunch on the sidewalk at Rose

Monaco

Photography.

Pistola.

L


In

memory of the people who taught me how

and

abandon

revel with wild

in North

Beach

to drink, eat,

—

the late

Rose Pistola, Freddie Kuh, Sean Mooney, and Bruno Iacopi.

This book

and
"/

is

to Scott

am

dedicated

to

P.

K.

—R.

H.

Rose "Pistola" Evangelista

and Peggy, who share her legacy with me.

rough, I

am

tough,

Vm from

North Beach

—

that's

enough."

We miss you Rose

.

.

.



Contents

North Beach: A

Little History-

i

Basic Recipes and Techniques

7

Antipasti

22

Soups

57

Salads

71

Pasta

90

and Focaccia

123

Fish and Seafood

140

Meat and Fowl

168

Vegetables

206

Desserts

231

Acknowledgments

260

Bibliography

263

Sources

264

Index

267

Pizza, Farinata,



T

H

E

R(§)Se Pist^la
COOKBOOK



N
A

E

Interprising Ligurians

their

homeland

hopes of striking

it

rich in

Hi s t<i> r y

Little

and other

Italians fled

the mid-nineteenth century

in

Beach:

in

the California Gold Rush.

The gentle climate and accommodating landscape of
San Francisco's northern waterfront offered respite to
those whose dreams didn't pan out. North Beach

re-

minded them of home. But the new land was so much
greener and

at sea.

It

richer;

it

was more abundant on

was not the

land and

land of tiny terraced parcels to

farm, but a land of wide expanses and deep blue horizons.

They could

often earn

fish,

grow vegetables,

enough money

send for their families.

to

Many

eat well, and

go back to

Italy or

to

stayed on to establish

what would become one of the most famous

Italian

Paesani sunning

quarters

in

America.

Courtesy J.B.

in

Washington Square

Monaco photography.

circa

1900.


Because
quickly

many

of these

became) fishermen,

settle in the

it

immigrants were

was

natural that they'd

cheap housing near the bay

Columbus Avenue

(or

Fisherman's Wharf. By the turn

in

make wine,

sing opera, and

poetry,

Wealthy neighbors talked disparagingly of "dago

the end of

at

write

sculpt,

blood" running

the gutters. Later

in

that the "blood"

was

it

was

revealed

actually harvesttime spillover

of the century, a line of caffes and simple restaurants

from the basement wineries that were then

extended from the wharf up Columbus Avenue,

North Beach, using grapes shipped

ing into the heart of

what soon became the

community of North Beach. There, and

slic-

barcadero from the Napa Valley

thriving

After World

surrounding

in

neighborhoods, Ligurians (many from the port town
of Genoa)
land

grew the

—eggplants,

garlic,

lettuce,

familiar produce of their

home-

and tomatoes. Horse-drawn carts

the

was frequented by

of San Francisco that

the heart

make

mous

for their Old

World

and

skills,

Italians

from

North Beach helped rebuild much of San Francisco
terthe devastating earthquake and

shade of sycamore

men

fire

of 1906.

In

af-

the

some of the more prosperous

and other bohemian types, drawn by

artists

same

Italians

their families less homesick.
fa-

and

European

restaurant

Neighborhood artisans and craftsmen became

pleasant climate and inexpensive living

In

style

and way of life established by the

the 1950s,

local bars, caffes,

ably Italian, and cheap)
for the loosely knit

came known

group of poets and writers

as the Beat Generation

in

of culture to the area, one

and

around

North Beach

Catholic

become known

churches.
If

they wanted, Italians could

North Beach without ever speaking
Even today, Mass
Paul Church on

from the

is

held

a

in Italian in

Square Bar and

Rose

Grill).

Pistola's

fertile

ground of what became

Saints Peter and
street

(now Washington
do

virtually

leled bounty. Sophisticated

cuisine of
this

a

they found the

source of unparal-

and worldly, yet

nia,

with

and

History

tremendous elegance and

its

notori-

in Italy,

simplicity.

approach was transplanted to Northern

ing,

Little

first settled here,

ously parsimonious, Ligurians had created,

producing familiar food, they could cook, bake, paint,

A

internationally as California cuisine.

word of English,

Here, they could

North Beach:

vital today,

the Ligurians

everything they would have done back home: Besides

2

still

layer

arguably the incubator of what has

When

a

Washington Square, across the

original

is

lifetime in

live

who be-

—Jack Kerouac,

— and the Beats added another

the crushed oyster shell courts that had sprung up
parks

(invari-

Allen Ginsberg, Gregory Corso, Lawrence Ferlinghetti,

Michael McClure

neighborhood

and restaurants

became the meeting ground

in

the

early

has been attracting creative souls ever since,

played bocce ball

trees, old

Em-

quarters that had appealed to their predecessors. The

chefs and Italian housewives looking for bargains and

food that would

as

to the

open railway cars,

hood, North Beach began attracting non-Italian writers

in

II,

down

over

"moving up" and out of the neighbor-

Italians started

artichokes, chicory, rosemary, basil,

transported the goods to a central market

War

in

all

a

When

Califor-

spectacularly abundant agriculture, fish-

viticulture, a

new cuisine was

born

—a cuisine

rooted

in

the seasonal, ingredient-inspired cooking of

and other parts of

Liguria

Italy,

and

in

the recipes

these early settlers developed from what
able

their

in

Today,

avail-

is

is

perfumed by food,

is

about food. You can't walk down the

without inhaling the savory aromas of roasting
baking bread, sizzling garlic and onions.

coffee,

hill

still

be seen shuffling

one of the remaining

Al-

and

down

to buy something nice for their husbands at

stores.

Italian

restaurants are filled with poets

North Beach

life in

driven by food,
street

was

new home.

fresh in their minds, can

the

artists, all

looking for the

Beach has offered for over

a

and

The bars and

lovers,

same thing

century and a

musicians

that North

half,

the fra-

grance of adventure and the lust-driven freedom to

consummate

it.

most every second storefront has something to do
with food or drink. Shopping for food
is

like

shopping

in

the Old Country

—

in

North Beach

a leisurely pur-

with coffee (and

suit liberally fueled

Saints Peter

maybe,

later in

and Paul Church, site of Rose

the day, with wine)

Coit

Tower

is

in

Pistola's funeral;

the background.

involving stops at a dozen places,

each one specializing
thing different.

It

is

hood whose vendors

salami

chalky

wrap

still

and

cheese,

focaccia,

some-

in

neighbor-

a

lovely

and

paper

in

string.

Food

not the only ap-

is

petite that

people to

drives

North Beach. Never very far

below

the

surface

is

the

sense that something sexy

happening
hood.

Is it

in

is

the neighbor-

any wonder that

the topless craze started

on bawdy Broadway
1960s? Today, old
ladies,

the

in

the

Italian

with the scent of

marriage

bed

still

North Beach

A

Little

History

I

.fan

invitation

came

in from

Rose Pistola, you hopped. You
didn

7

need

up or

to get dressed

bring presents; all you needed

was a huge

and a

appetite

will-

Rose, the youngest of the ten.

"A young girl could not go out

down herfront steps

you

bard

Street, across from the

at her house

to

on Lom-

greet

I\orth

old

Beach Plunge, smelled so
to

weep. There she'd be stirring her

gravy (tomato spaghetti sauce)

plained, "so I was always

helping

taught

a

my mother cook.

me

all I

little older,

home

She

know. When

I quit school

I got

and

picked asparagus on the Sacra-

mento Delta before going

to

work

for Del Monte at the peach-

hard-worked fingers. She'd often

canning factory on Sansome

have a basil leaf stuck in her

Street.

"Men

who smells
to cook,

a

like

as if she

woman

knows how

"she'd tease. Not

had changed since

much

the days of

Rose-Pistola-the-saloon; things
just

moved a

little

more slowly

toward the end of Rose's long,
gracious,

A

and feisty life.

legendary bar owner and

renowned North Beach cook,
Rose Pistola lived

in

Later she worked at a cannery.

"Pd get

in terrible fights

with the other girls there over the
best spot to stand. "

her fist

She put up

and laughed.

"I

knocked

the hell out of one big blond girl

one day, and every day after
that, the other workers

would

on who'd win between

us. I al-

ways

did.

woman by the age of nine-

Beach for ninety years. She was

dent

born on Vanderwater

teen, but her parents found

Street,

waters edge (the area has since
been filled

in).

Her Sicilian

father was a fisherman

Little

History

and her

bet

Rose was already an indepen-

North

which, at the time, was on the

A

alone in those days, " Rose ex-

or stuffing squid with her old

cleavage.

the opening of Rose Pistola, March 1996

breaded eggplant or fresh tomatoes, often stolen from horse-

drawn vegetable wagons by

good they made you want

ready for

children with sandwiches of

ingness to participate in an

swirled

parlor, getting

made brown-bag lunches for ten

evening full of raucous tales and
drinking. The aromas that

Rose at the beauty

mother was a fantastic cook. She

it

necessary to arrange a marriage

for

her.

She had other fish

to fry.

so she eloped with her true love, a

man who

drove a fish truck be-


Rose Pistola

tween Eureka and San Francisco. After

a brief marriage,

sadly, his truck

row, twisty

was

ran off the nar-

Highway 1, and he

or a gallon wine jug if she didn't.

She never charged herfriends for

huge platters ofpasta with

the

tomato sauce, veal chops, or
stuffed calamari that she'd set up

killed.

Years passed before Rose

Fred Evangelisti, a

terse

met

North

on the long Formica tables

in

her no-frills saloon. The austere

Beach waiter who was first

ambience of the joint was not a

known

reflection

as Smiling Fred the Stone

Face. He'd earned his name,
Pistola, because

so

one day he got

mad at the cook at a

long-

gone Broadway restaurant that
he came downstairs brandishing
a pistol
on, he

and she

las

to scare

him.

then

took on the

name

too.

motherly,

it

Rose Pishosts

a legendary array of long-

shoremen, writers, musicians,
poets, actors,

"I danced

and garbagemen.

and sang and drank

When North

Ed Moose

teur

came

be-

interested in

buying her saloon,
to

bowl ofpasta. In the

middle of the discus
sion,

a pool ball

in-

advertently landed in
the dish. "She just

picked

it

right out of

and sometimes Fd cook, " Rose

there

reminisced. But as neighborhood

back, "said Moose,

habitues such as Lou the Glue,

eventually bought the

present-day custodian of the

spot

Dolphin Club, remember

the Washington Square

Rose invited you

it,

"If

to stay at the

bar for dinner, you knew you had
arrived. "

She only invited people

she liked,

and she'd kick people

out with a broom, a meat cleaver,

Beach and that's enough."

Beach restaura-

negotiate over a

became

—she

and

bought a bar on Washington

There, they

the 1950s: "I'm

funny.

he was invited

tola's.

in

rough and I'm tough, I'm from North

was warm, tough,

In the early 1950s, the Pisto-

Square and named

to

From

was called Fred Pistola,

of Rose's nature

Rose Pistola at her eponymous bar on

Washington Square

and threw

it

who

and resurrected it c

Bar and

Grill.

Rose remained active
in the

community, playing

bingo at Saints Peter and

Paul Church, taking fre-

North Beach

Little

History


Rose Pistola

quent bus

trips to

gamble

and herfriends would always

in

Reno, and cooking for her

have a table and a meal waiting
at her

andfour great-grandchildren.

Rose celebrated her ninetieth

In 1996,
cle that

Peggy wrote an

arti-

appeared in the first

is-

sue of Saveur magazine, called

"Old Stoves of North Beach.
"Old stove" is

"

restaurant.

birthday at the restaurant, in a

room filled with
just

life,

well-wishers,

months before her death.

During

gentle, compli-

the last years of her

Rose lived at

On Lok Senior

mentary North Beach slang for

Health Center, where she always

someone who has put

had a

a

in

lot

of

time in front of a

lot

in his or her day.

Old stoves are

of old stoves

oil

and a

Rose died

in the

table.

summer of

1998, and the entire neighbor-

hood attended her funeral and

—

often they are simply

home

many years of experi-

ence making savory dishes for
themselves, their families,

and

wake. At the funeral, a few of
her longtime friends sneaked a
bottle

of booze, a pack of ciga-

rettes,

and two heads of garlic

into her casket. At the wake,

theirfriends.

At the same time, Reed was
looking for a

of olive

re-

tired restaurant chefs

cooks, with

bottle

can of Parmesan on her

but more

sometimes restaurant chefs or

name for a

restau-

which was held at the restaurant,

was a photograph of Rose

rant that he was planning to

reveling at her old bar with her

open in North Beach. He loved

garter belt

Roses name, her

attitude,

her joyfulness, so

Peggy

and

After the initial meeting,
said, "I
spirit

has

Reed

wanted to bring back the

of North Beach, and Rose

spirit to spare. "

her, in

name, was that

Little

His offer to

exchange for using her
she, her family,

story

and the

stockings exposed.

"Rose

arranged for an introduction.

A

namesake

daughter, three grandchildren,

is

tops

of her

Reed said,

a link between North

Beach s past and future. She
personifies

what

neighborhood:

I lore about the

its

bawdy sense

of history and

its

ledgment that

its futile to

wry acknow-

ourselves too seriously.

"

take


Basic Recipes
and

T

Techniques

J he cooking techniques this book are based on
home-cooking traditions — nothing fancy, nothing
complicated. Some of those traditions — saving pasta
— have long
water and making homemade
in

ricotta

beenforgotten and
ful

we

revive

them

here, giving care-

attention to the description of their execution.

Black Point Cove circa 1920s. Today
is

the

site of

it

is

called Aquatic Park

and

the Dolphin Club. To stretch their budgets, North

Beach mothers would send their sons out to gather mussels
off the rocks

and

pilings

EJSfc^..

along the edge of the bay.

a,


£>
1

asiiacte
lad
This basic basil sauce adds a wonderful burst offreshness to the

garlic clove

Braised Oxtails with Asparagus (page

Pinch of kosher or sea salt
15 basil

1

72) or other long-cooked or

reheated dishes, such as Seafood Lasagnette (page 114).

leaves

V4 teaspoon grated lemon zest
2

tablespoons extra virgin olive

oil

Place the garlic,

Makes

x

/4 to

1

salt, basil leaves,

and. using the pestle, pound

cup

/3

it

and lemon

with the olive

zest in a mortar

oil.

Alternatively,

you can use a blender or a mini food processor, but the mortar

and pestle works best here, releasing more

of the basils per-

fumed essence.

D

Sourdough Starter

iga

V8 teaspoon active dry yeast

The night before you plan

V4 cup all-purpose flour

book,

make

flavor

to

bake focaccia or any of the pizzas

the biga. or sourdough starter.

and texture

in this

Biga adds a more complex

to breads.

Makes 3 'A cups

In a bowl, stir
yeast,

and

Vi

cup warm water (approximately 100°F). the

flour together until smooth.

ing

Cover and refrigerate

Remove from the refrigerator about 1 hour before usand let come to room temperature. Proceed as directed in

overnight.

recipes using biga.

Recipes and Techniques


D

c r limbs

rea d

Fresh bread crumbs are made from fresh bread. Dried bread

crumbs are made from bread

that

is at

slices of bread. Tear

them

least a

Remove

either fresh or dried bread crumbs:

into pieces, put

processor, and process until the bread

is

day

To make

old.

the crusts from a few

them

ground

food

in the

desired

to the

size.

When

measuring fresh bread crumbs, do not pack them

tightly into the

I

measuring cup. or they

esto

Pesto has a superior flavor and texture

and pestle rather than
in

will lose their airy texture.

when made

in a food processor.

with a mortar

Put the garlic and salt

a mortar and pound together until a creamy paste forms.

one or two of the basil leaves
paste.

Add

pound

until a

and olive

Pound
stir in

at a

time and pound

a couple of drops of the olive

smooth emulsion

oil in this

in the

is

fashion until

pine nuts and.

if

oil

to a

and continue

of the basil

you are ready

to

and

oil

amount of olive

frigerate until you are ready to use

it.

oil

garlic clove

V2 teaspoon kosher or coarse sea salt
3

cups

basil leaves

Vi cup extra virgin olive

to

extra

formed. Continue adding basil
all

are used.

2

if

oil

(plus

storing)

tablespoons pine nuts

Vi cup freshly grated pecorino

use immediately,

the cheese. Otherwise, put the pesto in a small,

container, float a small

Add

rough

i

opaque

on the surface, and

Stir in the

Makes

1

cup

re-

cheese before

serving.

asic

Recipes and Techniques


n

azelnut Pesto

i

teaspoon kosher or coarse sea

i

garlic clove

i

cup

salt

The method for making

making a

flat-leaf parsley leaves

basil pesto.

this

mini food processor works as

72 cup extra virgin olive

well. Serve

and Hazelnut

chokes, Wild Mushrooms,

4 basil leaves

stunning sauce

is

We recommend making

much
it

in

the

same

as for

a mortar, but a

with Lasagnette ofArtiPesto (page 112).

oil

72 cup hazelnuts, toasted and peeled
(see

page

Place the

191)

pound
Makes 7

1

to

1

cup

salt

and

garlic in a mortar or a mini food processor

or blend together.

Add

pounding or pulsing as you

and

the parsley leaves a few at a time,

go.

Add

the basil leaves and

or pulse until they are well incorporated.

blend with the pestle or process

Add

pound

the olive oil and

in the food processor.

Add

the

hazelnuts and just bruise them in the mortar or coarsely chop in
the processor, breaking

them up a

with the other ingredients.

Recipes and Techniques

bit

while you combine them


I|erbs
Early Italian settlers in North Beach regularly cooked with a profusion of herbs, grown from seeds carried from the old country or

found wild in the

hills.

The herbs were planted

in truck

along the perimeters of the neighborhood and sold

duce market not

Many

far

at

gardens

the old pro-

from where Rose Pistola stands today.

of the recipes in this book call for a generous

measure

of fresh herbs, including marjoram, thyme, rosemary , sage,
7

basil.

We

leave

it

tear

in for service.

them

and

usually throw the whole herb stem into a dish and

off the stem.

But some recipes call for leaves;

We usually tear basil

Sometimes we grind or pound leaves

into

if

so, just

leaves to top pizzas.

an emulsion with other

ingredients.

Fresh herbs are readilv available everywhere.
herbs, replace

11
Mix

all

them

b

vou use dried

Bu tter

the ingredients together in a mixer, or

medium bowl and

If

often as they quickly go stale.

combine

in a

V2 pound

beat together with a spoon. Place in a smal

bowl, cover tightly, and refrigerate until ready to use.

(2 sticks)

unsalted butter, at

room temperature
V4 cup chopped shallots
74 cup minced chives
1

garlic clove, finely

Juice
3
i

chopped

and grated zest of 1 lemon

anchovy

fillets,

finely

chopped

teaspoon freshly cracked black
pepper

Wakes

I

cup

Recipes and Techniques