Orecchiette "Little Ears" Pasta Ideas for Saint Days

Orecchiette from the Italian orecchia, meaning "ear", and -etta, meaning "small" is a variety of pasta from southern Italy. Its name comes from its shape, which resembles a small ear.  The ridged exterior and cup-like interior holds chunky sauces and scoops up small vegetables, making orecchiette perfect to serve with sautés. 

Last year, I posted an orecchiette recipe called tuoni e lampo which is a traditional Italian pasta dish with chickpeas. Its name, I thought, linked it well to the story of thunder and lightning associated with St. Scholastica and St. Benedict. But focusing specifically on the ear shape and its name, this pasta would be a fun one to use for a variety of saint feast days associated with ears and hearing.

Today we celebrate the feast day of St. John Vianney, patron of parish priests and confessors. St. John Vianney was especially known for his gift as a confessor. He  drew thousands of penitents to line up, sometimes days in advance, to experience what many recalled as his ability to see into the deepest recesses of the soul.  For this humble priest who was known to hear confessions for up to 16 hours a day, the ear pasta seems a fitting symbol.

Some other saints who have connections associated with hearing and ears are listed here – many coming up soon in September.

• St. Francis de Sales (January 24)  -  He was known as powerful confessor during the Counter-Reformation. His masterpiece of the spiritual life, Introduction to the Devout Life includes the well-known, “How To Make A General Confession.”   He is the patron of the deaf and hearing impaired.  
• St. Benedict (July 11) - St. Benedict in his rule begins the Prologue with these words: "Listen carefully, my son, to the master's instructions, and attend to them with the ear of your heart." 
• St. Alphonsus Liguori (August 1) – He is a patron of confessors and wrote much on the sacrament of confession. 
• St. John Vianney (August 4) – He was known for hearing confessions up to 16 hours per day and is a patron of confessors. 
• St. John Chysostom (September 13) – An early Church Father, he interpreted the epistles of St. Paul. He is often depicted in iconography with St. Paul whispering into his ear. His ear is incorrupt. 
• St. Cornelius  (September 16) – Pope St. Cornelius is a patron of hearing ailments due to his name coming from the Latin for horn, and in art is usually shown holding a horn, the type that was used in the Middle Ages to rally troops in battle. These horns had a similar shape as the ear horns that hard-of-hearing people once used to amplify sounds. By this process, he became the patron of ear ailments.
• St. Pio of Pietrelcina (September 23) – Confession was his primary activity of the day. He was known for reading souls in the confessional.

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Mini Caprese Inspired Appetizers for Italian Saint Days

Caprese salad is a simple Italian salad, made of sliced fresh mozzarella, tomatoes and basil, seasoned with salt, and olive oil. It was made to resemble the colors of the Italian flag: red, white, and green. A clever Italian Flag-Shaped Caprese Salad was featured in past post. Since the salad is a specialty of the Island of Capri and the province of Calabria in southern Italy (which includes Naples) it is especially fitting for feast days of the saints associated with that region.  This week we celebrate San Gennaro (St. Januarius), the patron of Naples (September 19).  Two recent August saints, St. Alphonsus Liguori and St. Philomena, are associated with the region as well. And then there is St. Pio of Pietrelcina next week who is not from the region, but is Italian, and this can definitely be for any Italian saint as well.

I came across this variation of the salad as an appetizer and with sun-dried tomatoes which I love, so decided to give it a try. They were quite delicious and make a fun feast day savory treat. Ideally, this would be made with the true mozzarella di bufala, a specialty of the Naples region.

Mini Caprese Inspired Appetizers

INGREDIENTS:

4 oz. fresh mozzarella ball, diced small
3 tablespoons oil-packed, sundried tomatoes, patted dry and diced
2 tablespoons fresh basil, thinly chopped
1½ tablespoons white balsamic vinegar
1½ tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
30 Phyllo Shells
Flake sea salt, to garnish

DIRECTIONS:
In mixing bowl, combine mozzarella, sun-dried tomatoes,vinegar and oil. Mix thoroughly. Fill mini shells with one heaping teaspoon of mixture. Garnish with chopped basil and flake sea salt. Serve.

You can buy the phyllo shells ready made (Ex: Athens Mini Fillo Shells) or make your own from phyllo dough. I adapted mine from this tutorial - cut them round instead of square. 

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Onion Ring Chains "Linked" to August 1 Feasts

While it is no longer on the current liturgical calendar, the feast of St. Peter in Chains was a feast day commemorated on August 1st to recall St. Peter's miraculous release from imprisonment and the dedication in the 4th century of the church Pietro in Vincoli - St. Peter in Chains in Rome.  Last year I posted this St. Peter in Chains Feast Day Bread recipe as an idea to commemorate the feast.

This year I found a quote from St. Alphonsus Liguori whose feast is also on August 1.  He wrote in his sermon "On the Love of Christ":

Since God knew that man is enticed by favours, he wished to bind him to his love by means of his gifts: “I want to catch men with the snares, those chains of love in which they allow themselves to be entrapped, so that they will love me”. 

So another "link" to making chain related feast day foods for August 1. 

Onion Chain Links - Fried Onion Rings

1 onion, cut into ¼ inch slices
1 egg
1 t. baking powder
1 ¼ c. flour
1 t. salt
1 c. Panko bread crumbs
1 c. milk
oil for deep frying

Heat oil to 350 degrees.  Separate the ¼ inch slices of onion into separate rings.  Mix egg and milk, whisking until combined. Combine flour, salt and baking powder in another bowl. Dip onion rings in egg mixture, then in flour mixture.  Dip the flour-coated onion rings back into egg-milk mixture a second time. Place on a wire rack to let excess egg-milk mixture drain.  Place dipped onion rings into Panko bread crumbs and coat completely.  Drop in hot oil and cook 1 minute per side until golden brown color.  Place on a paper towel to drain excess oil. Sprinkle onion rings with salt to taste.

Serve either as individual links or cut the links so they open and link together several onion rings for a chain of onion rings.  Serve with ranch dressing or spicy dipping sauce.

St. Peter in Chains, Pray for us.

St. Alphonsus Liguori, Pray for us. 

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