Category: Food

Italian traditions

Rig A Tony’s expands to Bedford; new Windham and reopened Derry spots on the way

Lisa DeSisto was gearing up for a 20th anniversary celebration of Rig A Tony’s Italian Takeout — and had just opened a second location in Windham — when the pandemic hit, followed by a fire in May 2020 that forced the closure of the downtown Derry Rig A Tony’s.

“I wasn’t going to close during Covid because I wasn’t going to let it defeat me,” said DeSisto, who is also in her second season as owner of Clam Haven in Derry. “Then when the fire happened, it made me say, ‘OK, I have an opportunity to rebuild my restaurant. What else can we rebuild and do differently?’ It made me start to think about what was next.”

A year later, DeSisto and her team are hard at work on reopening the original Rig A Tony’s on West Broadway in Derry, and the Windham location is moving into a larger space four doors down. Both are on track to open later this year. Meanwhile, a new Rig A Tony’s in Bedford opened last month, and while a third location hadn’t been part of DeSisto’s initial plans, she couldn’t pass up the chance to purchase the space that was previously home to Table 8 Pasta.

DeSisto has teamed up with longtime industry professionals Rich Vellante and Jason Berkman, who each now serve as business associates of the company. Vellante is the former executive chef and executive vice president of restaurants for Legal Sea Foods, a role he held for two decades. His and DeSisto’s families also happen to hail from the same region of Italy.

close up of hands holding sandwich
Uncle June’s Garden sandwich. Photo courtesy of Rig A Tony’s.

“With Jason and Rich, I was [introduced] to all these elevated products that I didn’t even know existed,” DeSisto said. “I feel like they’re here helping me carry on the family legacy.”

All three Rig A Tony’s locations have the same takeout and catering menus, which are filled with new options. Appetizers include wood-grilled Tuscan wings with lemon, rosemary and Calabrian pepper sauce; a whipped feta cheese dip with roasted pepper puree, garlic and parsley; and seared broccoli rabe with white beans, garlic, red chili flakes and white wine. Notable additions to the entrees menu are beer-braised boneless short ribs with a mustard glaze and stewed vegetables, and a spit-roasted porchetta with roasted carrots and apricot pesto.

“Porchetta is something you don’t see too often that we’ve introduced,” Vellante said. “It’s a highly seasoned pork that we do as a meal and on a sandwich as well. … We use fennel pollen, which gives it a more aromatic and floral flavor and smell to it.”

You’ll still find lots of Rig A Tony’s favorites on each of the menus too, from chicken or eggplant Parmesan to spaghetti and meatballs, Sicilian pan pizzas and other Italian staples. Even the pastas and the tomato sauces have received upgrades of their own.

“We chose to use the De Cecco brand pasta. They dry it in a very slow process, and also cut it with a bronze die, so what it does is it holds up a lot better and just complements the sauce,” Vellante said. “We tested a lot of different tomatoes, and what makes them taste so good is the soil. … These tomatoes that we have are actually grown at the base of Mount Vesuvius, and so it’s that volcanic soil that makes the difference.”

There are also new selections of savory salads, like pesto burrata and Sardinian couscous, and sweet treats from cannolis and Italian cookies to tiramisu and whoopie pies. Inspired by Vellante’s 2-year-old dog Barbuto, there is even a section of the takeout menu that is dedicated to man’s best friend, featuring homemade dog treats and hearty bowls, like chicken with sweet potato and peas, or beef with brown rice and carrots.

Rig A Tony’s Italian Takeout & Catering

Bedford: 254 Wallace Road (now open); current hours are Tuesday through Saturday, 11 a.m. to 8 p.m., and Sunday, 11 a.m. to 6 p.m.
Derry: 38 W. Broadway (reopening; coming soon)
Windham: 13 Rockingham Road (coming soon)
Visit rigatonysitalian.com, find them on Facebook and Instagram @rigatonysitalian or call 488-2877

Featured photo: Chicken marbella. Photo courtesy of Rig A Tony’s.

Pavlovas with (or without) berries

Just under a year ago I shared a recipe for double strawberry pavlovas. Today’s recipe is its more simplistic sibling. Sometimes I want a pavlova that is bursting with strawberry flavor, and other times I want a pavlova as plain as can be.
When I was first working on this recipe, everything seemed to shout, “Since they’re vanilla, you’ll need to top them with berries.” So I made my first batch of pavlovas, macerated some berries, and served them together. The result was quite delectable.
Looking at the leftover pavlovas, I decided to eat one just as it was. I fell in love. Sure, it was just a simple vanilla pavlova, but there’s a lot of deliciousness in that. There are the great pavlova textures — crispy and chewy — plus all of the sweetness.
Make these pavlovas whichever way you prefer. You can’t go wrong no matter what you decide.
Michele Pesula Kuegler has been thinking about food her entire life. Since 2007, the New Hampshire native has been sharing these food thoughts and recipes at her blog, Think Tasty. Visit thinktasty.com to find more of her recipes.

Pavlovas with (or without) berries
Makes 8

1 cup granulated sugar
2 teaspoons cornstarch
4 large egg whites, room temperature
1 teaspoon white vinegar
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 cup blueberries
1 cup diced strawberries
1 Tablespoon sugar

Heat the oven to 250 degrees.
Line a large baking sheet with parchment paper.
Blend sugar on high in a food processor for 15 seconds.
Measure sugar again. (You need 1 cup)
In a small bowl, combine cornstarch and 2 tablespoons of the processed sugar.
Place egg whites in the bowl of a stand mixer, and whisk on medium-high speed until foamy peaks form, about 1 to 2 minutes.
Gradually add plain, processed sugar, 1 tablespoon at a time, to the egg whites, whisking until incorporated, about 1-2 minutes.
Add cornstarch and sugar mixture, 1 tablespoon at a time, whisking until whites are stiff and glossy, about 1-2 minutes.
Add vinegar and vanilla; whisk for 1 minute.
Using a spatula, spoon meringue into 8 mounds on the prepared baking sheet.
Using a butter knife, spread each into 3-1/2″ disks.
After that, using the back of a spoon, make an indent in the center of each.
Bake for 40 minutes.
Turn off the oven, and prop the door open, placing a wooden spoon in the opening.
Let pavlovas cool in the oven for an hour.
Meanwhile, combine blueberries and strawberries in a small bowl; sprinkle with sugar.
Stir well; allow to sit for at least an hour
Transfer the pavlovas from the baking tray to a cooling rack.
To serve, top with berries, if desired.

Photo: Pavlovas with (or without) berries. Courtesy photo.

Fireworks and beer

Celebrate the Fourth of July with the perfect brew

Do you remember what you had planned for the Fourth of July last year? That’s a trick question. We both know you had absolutely nothing planned. The 2020 Fourth of July took a hit just like everything else last year.

Actually, that said, my family was preparing for my dad’s 70th birthday, as he was born on July 5. It was supposed to be the first time we got together as a family, albeit outside and socially distanced, since the world came to a halt in March 2020.

I was looking forward to having a beer with my dad, and it was off to a good but very brief start when the skies opened up and thunderstorms took over. Hey, we tried. But Covid-19 won in the end. In hindsight, I suppose it was predictable.

This year, we’re all overdue for a party. I know my dad is.

With last year behind us and a light visible at the end of the tunnel, this year feels different. I don’t think people are going to be attending the same old Fourth of July cookout this year. This is the year to take things up a notch.

I mean, bring the burgers and dogs, but let’s also throw a couple T-bones on the grill in honor of what we missed out on last year. I think we should all be allowed to have an extra-large ice cream sundae on the Fourth this year too, or maybe an ice cold root beer float.

That goes for beer too. Don’t hold back on your beer choices this year. This is the year to wait in line for the beer you want. There. I said it.

Here are three beers that will help you celebrate the Fourth of July.

Combover IPA by Schilling Beer Co. (Littleton)

You should probably just go to Schilling for the Fourth and have some delicious pizza by the river as you drink amazing beer. You can’t beat the view. You can’t beat the pizza. And you can’t beat the beer. This is your quintessential American IPA: supper hoppy, bursting with notes of citrus and pine, and, maybe surprisingly, a little hint of strawberry. I would wait in line for this beer.

Seize the Bean Coffee Milk Stout by Throwback Brewery (North Hampton)

I know, it’s super hot and who wants a rich, creamy stout when the sun is cranking? Well, sometimes when the sun goes down on the Fourth of July, people light fires and then enjoy toasted marshmallows and smores. And I think this brew would go absolutely perfectly with a summer bonfire on the Fourth. This is rich, decadent and full of chocolate and coffee flavor but relatively low on alcohol, which makes this just slide right down.

Tie Dyed Dry-hopped Pale Ale by Great North Aleworks (Manchester)

I’m legitimately scared you are going to drink too much of this. It’s got the hop character that beer drinkers these days love but in a package that is just so much more palatable and drinkable. I hadn’t had one of these in a while and cracked one open recently, and I said to my wife, “I could drink a million of these.” I didn’t and I’m not going to, but I think you’ll appreciate how this beer combines big hop flavor with an easy-drinking brew.

What’s in My Fridge
Naughty Nurse by City Steam Brewery (Hartford, Conn.)
I went to my cousin’s wedding a couple weeks ago and it was just so hot and humid. It’s the most uncomfortable I’ve ever been in a suit — and I didn’t even wear a tie. It’s an understatement to say I was thirsty. The Naughty Nurse is an amber ale — and can I just say amber ales are underrated as a style — and this was both refreshing and flavorful. It’s got a little caramel sweetness and a little bitter spice in a very sessionable package. Cheers!

Tim and Amy Dally

Tim and Amy Dally of Milford are the owners of Tim’s Drunken Sauces & Rubs (967-4242, [email protected], find them on Facebook), a food trailer they launched in the spring that specializes in barbecue items like ribs, pulled pork and beef brisket, in addition to other options like burgers, tacos, Philly cheesesteaks, loaded fries, fresh-squeezed lemonades and fruit smoothies. They also offer their small-batch sauces and rubs, many of which will incorporate alcohol, like their signature maple bourbon sauce. Find them at 244 Elm St. in Milford most Tuesdays and Wednesdays from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m., Thursdays, Fridays and Saturdays from 11 a.m. to 6 p.m., and Sundays from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. Tim’s Drunken Sauces & Rubs also appears at local breweries like Able Ebenezer Brewing Co. in Merrimack and Spyglass Brewing Co. in Nashua, and has a few public events scheduled this month, including Ashland’s Independence Day Celebration on July 3 and the annual Twilight at the Currier block party at the Currier Museum of Art in Manchester on July 17.

What is your must-have kitchen item?

Tim: My probe thermometer.

Amy: My burger spatula. It’s a nice wide one, so you can get right under there. If I don’t have that, it’s not coming out right.

What would you have for your last meal?

Tim: Hibachi.

Amy: Definitely Italian. Something with cheese and sauce and pasta, [like] chicken Parm or eggplant Parm.

What is your favorite local restaurant?

Tim: Jade Dragon and Golden Koi [in Milford].

Amy: Pastamore [in Amherst]. It’s family-owned, and probably the most authentic Italian food that we have found since moving here, other than in Boston. They’re really great people and their food is great.

What celebrity would you like to see ordering from your food trailer?

Tim: J. Lo [Jennifer Lopez].

Amy: For me, it would have to be Gronk [former New England Patriots tight end Rob Gronkowski].

What is your favorite thing on your menu?

Tim: The brisket. We’re doing both plates and sandwiches, and we sell it by the pound.

Amy: Mine is the pulled pork macaroni and cheese burrito, and I dip it in the maple bourbon sauce. It’s fantastic.

What is the biggest food trend in New Hampshire right now?

Amy: In all honesty, I would say food trucks, just from all of the people that have reached out to us. … There are so many places in New England where food trucks are a thing, and New Hampshire is finally getting on that bandwagon.

What is your favorite thing to cook at home?

Amy: Lasagna. I do a meat lasagna with Italian sausage in it, and my kids love it. It’s their favorite.

Tim: Hibachi. I make my own teriyaki sauce and everything.

Smoked baked great northern beans
Courtesy of Tim and Amy Dally of Tim’s Drunken Sauces & Rubs

1 bag great northern beans
1 red onion
1 pound bacon
3 garlic cloves
¾ cup maple syrup
¾ cup bourbon
½ cup molasses
½ cup apple cider vinegar
5 cups barbecue sauce
6 tablespoons ketchup
6 tablespoons tomato paste
7 tablespoons Dijon mustard
Pork belly (cut into 1-inch cubes; about 5 to 10 cubes)
5 tablespoons paprika
3 tablespoons dry mustard
1 teaspoon cayenne powder

Rinse beans. Add six to eight cups of water to a saucepan and bring to a rapid boil. Boil for two minutes. Remove from heat and cover. Drain beans and rinse. Add six cups of water to the saucepan. Add beans and simmer on low to medium heat with lid tilted until desired tenderness. Cook the bacon and set aside. Drain the grease out and add the pork belly. Dice the onions and cook for 5 minutes. Add the diced garlic and cook for 1 minute. Add 6 cups of water, along with the maple syrup, bourbon, molasses, apple cider vinegar, barbecue sauce, Dijon mustard, ketchup, tomato paste, paprika, dry mustard and cayenne powder. Bring to a boil and simmer for 5 minutes. Add cooked bacon and place in smoker for 3 to 5 hours at 250 degrees.

Featured photo: Tim and Amy Dally – Tim’s Drunken Sauces & Rubs

Home-cooked Italian

Tammaro’s Cucina coming to Litchfield

Donna Tammaro and her daughter, Lindsey Russo, quickly gained a following among family and friends last year for trays of their homemade Italian dishes, starting with Russo’s lasagna before expanding to others like meatballs, chicken alfredo, stuffed shells and eggplant Parmesan. The feedback was so positive that it inspired them to pursue opening their own restaurant, where they’ll soon be offering a variety of scratch-made options to the public for the first time.

Lasagna from Tammaro’s Cucina. Courtesy photo.

Tammaro’s Cucina, on track to open later this month in northern Litchfield, is expected to feature a diverse menu of homemade Italian dishes cooked to order, plus a case of take-and-bake pasta trays, pastries and other options. Many of the dishes are named after and use recipes from multiple family members, including MaryAnn Tammaro — Donna’s mother and Russo’s Nana — as well as Russo’s aunt and even a few of her cousins from overseas in Italy.

While cooking most of the meals out of MaryAnn’s home kitchen in Manchester, Donna Tammaro and Russo looked for potential restaurant locations over the course of several months. A friend eventually tipped them off earlier this year about a small space on Charles Bancroft Highway in nearby Litchfield that would soon become vacant.

Tammaro’s Cucina will feature salads, soups and a few Italian hot subs like chicken Parmesan, meatball, and sausage, pepper and onion. But the stars of its menu will be the pasta dishes, from Russo’s meat or cheese lasagna to chicken penne broccoli alfredo, shrimp scampi, chicken ziti broccoli in a garlic wine sauce, and a five-cheese tortellini. Each will be served with two pieces of garlic bread, made with Tammaro’s own garlic butter in house.

“Some dishes will have other sides you can choose,” Russo said. “We’ll have risotto, ricotta mashed potatoes, broccoli, mixed vegetables and mozzarella sticks for sides. … We’re also going to be doing cheese and pepperoni Sicilian pizzas.”

A few pasta dishes, Tammaro said, will likely be cooked in half trays ahead of lunchtime and available out of a grab-and-go case. Several homemade desserts are also expected, including cannolis, lemon or blueberry ricotta cake, tiramisu and assorted Italian cupcakes and cookies.

Half- or full-sized trays of any of the menu’s pastas will be cooked to order too, feeding about six to eight or 12 to 16 people, respectively, according to Russo.

Potential specials may include Italian meatloaf with ricotta mashed potatoes, or items traditionally served around the holidays like pizzagaina.

“Pizzagaina is a meat pie with Italian cold cuts and fresh ricotta and Parmesan cheese,” Tammaro said. “It’s absolutely out of this world. … My mother used to make one that was so huge.”

While they expect to offer mostly takeout and delivery, Russo said there will be a few tables inside for customers to dine in, as well as outside the restaurant in nice weather.

Tommaro’s Cucina
An opening date is expected in the coming weeks. Call, email or follow them on social media for updates.

Where: 469 Charles Bancroft Hwy., Litchfield
Anticipated hours: Tuesday through Thursday, 11:30 a.m. to 7 p.m., Friday and Saturday, 11:30 a.m. to 8 p.m., and Sunday, noon to 6 p.m.
More info: Follow them on Facebook @tammaroscucina4 or on Instagram @tammaroscucina, email [email protected] or call 377-7312

Featured photo: Penne with meatballs from Tammaro’s Cucina. Courtesy photo.

Handcrafted deliciousness

A new handcrafted chocolate and confection shop in Bedford is offering everything from specialty barks and all kinds of flavors of truffles to peanut butter cups, honey caramels, fudge and a line of sugar-free products sweetened with monk fruit.

Sweet Boutique, housed in the former Triolo’s Bakery space on Kilton Road, also roasts its own nuts, produces its own caramel corn in several flavors, and will have colder options like fruit smoothies, acai bowls and gelato cookie sandwiches throughout the summer. A two-day grand opening celebration is set for Saturday, July 17, and Sunday, July 18.

Sweet Boutique. Courtesy photo.

The shop is run by Michael Pais and his partner, Lynn Mackenna, a chocolatier with more than three decades of experience working at the former Willey’s Candy Shop on Salisbury Beach.

Pais, who oversees the shop’s sugar-free products, said the pair had discussed opening a shop together over a period of a few years, looking at potential locations in New Hampshire and Massachusetts before eventually coming across the Kilton Road storefront last fall.

With a retail store downstairs and a production area upstairs, Sweet Boutique can craft just about any kind of chocolatey treat imaginable. Some products will start with original recipes that Mackenna has brought from Willey’s Candy Shop, dating back to its opening in 1913, while others come from her experimenting and tinkering with different flavor ideas.

“I’m always trying to come up with something new. My brain just keeps on going and doesn’t stop.,” she said. “The honey caramel is something that I completely did myself. A lot of the truffles, the barks and the creams are my own creations.”

Some of the chocolates are pre-bagged, but you can also create your own customizable boxes.

Sweet Boutique. Courtesy photo.

Spanish peanuts are roasted in house and used in several items, like the peanut caramel corn, multiple flavors of the chocolate peanut butter cups, and the peanut butter fudge.

The idea to introduce smoothies and bowls, Pais said, came about when he and Mackenna tried to think of ways to supplement what might otherwise be a slower summer season.

“We had always thought we were going to do something,” he said. “We were talking about some type of frozen dessert. Then Lynn said why not go with the acai bowls and smoothies, because they are pretty popular right now, especially with the younger crowd.”

They also make other cold items like chia seed pudding parfaits, gelato cookie sandwiches with flavors like vanilla bean and pistachio, and their own take on a healthier type of banana split.

“It’s a banana split that I’m making out of superfruits … and then maybe with a yogurt topping, some granola, nuts and whipped cream,” Mackenna said.

During holidays like Christmas, Valentine’s Day and Easter, Sweet Boutique plans to offer all kinds of unique seasonal candies and chocolates. Pais said there are also opportunities for local businesses to order customizable chocolate molds for company events or fundraisers.

Sweet Boutique

Where: 21 Kilton Road, Bedford
Hours: Tuesday through Friday, 11 a.m. to 6 p.m., and Saturday and Sunday, 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. (hours may be subject to change)
More info: Visit visitsweetboutique.com, follow them on Instagram @sweetboutique_chocolates or call 222-1521

Featured photo: Sweets and candies from Sweet Boutique. Courtesy photo.

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