The delicious frugality of 'Clara's Kitchen'

Cannucciari’s grandson, Brooklyn, N.Y.-based filmmaker Christopher Cannucciari, began making video’s of his grandmother in her kitchen as a way to capture her tales of surviving the Depression and to record the family recipes that were passed down to her from her mother.

After Christopher posted the first video on YouTube, it quickly became apparent that Clara’s simple, frugal cooking, plucky banter and “take it from me” words of wisdom connected with viewers who were struggling with their own economic hard times.

“Clara’s Kitchen,” written with Christopher, features a greatest hits collection of dishes Cannucciari made in the online videos. But it also fleshes out a candid and lively narrative of Clara’s youth in Chicago and her Italian immigrant parents — who kept a backyard garden and made the most of nourishing, filling, inexpensive ingredients, such as pasta, beans, potatoes and eggplant.

Besides the obvious correlation between the Depression and the current recession, “Clara’s Kitchen” is surprisingly contemporary in several other ways.

Nearly all the recipes, from dandelion salad to pasta with peas, follow Michael Pollan’s “In Defense of Food” dictum: “Eat food. Not too much. Mostly plants.” And many are perfect for finding ways to use the excess bounty of vegetable gardens or farm boxes.

Clearly, few of the recipes fall into the realm of “gourmet” cooking, though Clara does favor olive oil and pecorino Romano cheese.

But even the most elemental of “Clara’s Kitchen” creations make for tasty, satisfying everyday meals. And one in particular, eggplant burgers, hits on a hot culinary trend — burgers with house-made condiments — featuring go-to recipes for quick pickles and homemade ketchup.

Q: You’ve been having “Clara’s Kitchen” fans e-mail questions that you answer on YouTube. What do most people want to know?

A: They want to know what we used to eat in the old days and how we got through the hard times.

Q: Surely people want to know your secret for living to be 94 years old. So what is it?

A: Times were hard, but we ate good foods. We ate a lot of pasta, but always with vegetables. My father grew all kinds in our garden. We worked hard, too.

Q: The Mediterranean diet has been touted as a super healthy way to eat, and your cooking certainly fits with that, as well as being very frugal. But you don’t skimp on things like olive oil, do you?

A: Never skimp on olive oil. Even when we had no money, my mom would not buy one thing to make sure we’d have enough olive oil. We always had wine. Even as kids, our parents would give us a few drops in our water, we loved that. On Sundays our parents would give us a nickel to buy one scoop of ice cream. Vanilla was my favorite. It was expensive for our parents, but it got us kids out of the house and they could have some peace and quiet.

Q: How does it feel to be such an online celebrity, and now see yourself on the cover of your own cookbook?

A: I can’t believe that so many people would watch my show. Everybody talks about the book now. I guess they want to know how we got through it. I hate pictures of myself, but this one is OK, because it has the whole family in it.

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These recipes from the book “Clara’s Kitchen” are easy, healthy and tasty. But maybe best of all, they offer a historic glimpse into the frugal cooking style of Italian-American families during the Depression. The recipe introductions, in quotes, are remembrances from the book’s author, Clara Cannucciari.

Quick Pickles

Hands on: 30 minutes Total time: 31/2 hours (including 3 hours for marinating) Makes: 2 pints

“What went great with these burgers were the homemade pickles Ma made and jarred so we could have them all year long. But when cucumbers were in season, she would make us these quick pickles so we could have them the next day instead of waiting over a month to taste them.”

3 cups water

2 tablespoons salt

2 cups granulated sugar, divided

3 cloves garlic, minced

6 miniature (Persian) cucumbers or 1 English cucumber cut into spears, chips or a combination of both. (Make sure the cucumbers aren’t waxed or thick-skinned, as those won’t be able to absorb the mixture very well.)

2 cups distilled white vinegar

1 teaspoon mustard seed

Pour the water, salt and 3/4 cup sugar into a sterilized jar. Stir until the salt and sugar dissolve. Add garlic and cucumbers. Put a lid on the jar and place in the refrigerator for 2 to 3 hours. Remove jar from refrigerator and strain cucumbers. Rinse well to remove salt and strain again. Pour 2 cups vinegar in a saucepan and bring to boil. Add remaining sugar plus mustard seed to the vinegar. Place the cucumbers into boiling vinegar mixture and remove just before it returns to a boil. Transfer to sterile container. Seal and chill in refrigerator or eat them warm.

Per tablespoon: 30 calories (percent of calories from fat, 1), trace protein, 7 grams carbohydrates, trace fiber, trace fat (no saturated), no cholesterol, 150 milligrams sodium.

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Pasta With Beans (Pasta Fagioli)

Hands on: 30 minutes Total time: 1 hour, plus overnight soaking if using dried beans Serves: 6

“Between you and me, I used to hate eating Pasta With Beans, but that’s because we had to eat it so much. Over the years, I’ve started to like it more. I remember in my house growing up, there were lots of things I didn’t like to eat that my mother made me eat. And then there were lots of things my own family didn’t like to eat. But I made them anyway. I guess that’s just how it goes. We had Pasta With Beans almost every week, sometimes twice or three times a week. Usually my mom would just make it with pasta, beans, garlic and olive oil, but every so often she would make a real Pasta Fagioli. And that would be really special.”

“If you decide to use dried beans, rinse them well before cooking. Add 1 cup dried cannellini beans to 6 cups boiling water and rapid boil for 3 minutes. Remove from heat and cover. Soak overnight. Makes about 2 cups. Before you begin, cook the pre-soaked beans by boiling them in water with a pinch of salt for about 10 minutes. Turn down the heat, cover, and simmer for an additional hour.”

5 tablespoons olive oil

1 clove garlic, thinly sliced

1 yellow onion, thinly sliced

2 cups tomato sauce (jarred or homemade)

31/2 cups water

1 carrot, chopped

1 whole celery rib (with leaves), chopped

1 cup dried cannellini beans (white kidney beans) or 2 cups canned

2 chicken bouillon cubes

1 large basil leaf

2 dried red pepperoncini, crushed

1 pound small-shaped pasta (ditalini, mini-shells)

1/4 cup fresh parsley, chopped

Grated pecorino Romano cheese

In a large pot set to medium-high heat, add olive oil. Add garlic and onion and cook until caramelized, about 5 to 7 minutes. Add tomato sauce, water, carrot, celery, cannellini beans, bouillon cubes, basil leaf and pepperoncini. Cover, venting slightly, and cook on medium heat, stirring occasionally, until the sauce is reduced, about 35 minutes.

While the sauce is reducing, cook the pasta to al dente (about 2 minutes less than what the directions on the box say, about 7 minutes). Strain pasta and pour it into the sauce. Turn off heat and stir 2 minutes. Top with fresh parsley and pecorino Romano cheese and serve.

Per serving: 525 calories (percent of calories from fat, 22), 19 grams protein, 84 grams carbohydrates, 11 grams fiber, 13 grams fat (2 grams saturated), trace cholesterol, 767 milligrams sodium.

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Eggplant Burgers

Hands on: 30 minutes Total time: 1 hour, 30 minutes (including 1 hour for salting eggplant) Serves: 4

“You already know we rarely ever had meat, but you may not know how creative we got with substitutes. Like when we really wanted a hamburger. All we did was cut open an eggplant. And we’d make it with all the trimmings, too. Homemade ketchup and pickles really made us feel like we were having real burgers. Using eggplant instead of beef is a good way to save money and eat healthy.”

Salt, optional

4 large eggplant slices (about 1/2-inch thick)

4 tablespoons vegetable oil

8 slices fresh Italian bread

4 leaves escarole, romaine or other lettuce

Ketchup (see recipe), mustard, mayo or whatever you like on a burger

4 Quick Pickles (see recipe)

For the eggplant burgers: Salt the sliced eggplant, if desired. Let stand for 1 hour, then rinse. Add vegetable oil to a large pan on medium-high. When the oil begins to simmer, add 1 or 2 slices of eggplant. Carefully flip the slices every couple of minutes. They should become brown on the edges after about 5 to 7 minutes. Remove slices from pan and place on a plate with paper towels to absorb the extra oil. Repeat until all the slices are cooked.

To finish: Put 1 or 2 slices of eggplant between 2 slices of bread. Add a leaf of escarole or lettuce to each sandwich and your favorite condiments. Serve with a Quick Pickle on the side.

Per serving: 259 calories (percent of calories from fat, 52), 5 grams protein, 27 grams carbohydrates, 4 grams fiber, 15 grams fat (2 grams saturated), no cholesterol, 237 milligrams sodium.

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Homemade Ketchup

Hands on: 5 minutes Total time: 5 minutes Makes: 1 cup

6 ounces tomato paste (homemade or canned)

1/4 cup water

1 clove garlic, pressed

2 tablespoons vinegar

1/2 teaspoon salt

Mix together tomato paste, water, garlic, vinegar and salt and put in a sterilized jar. Keep refrigerated.

Per tablespoon: 9 calories (percent of calories from fat, 5), trace protein, 2 grams carbohyrates, trace fiber, trace fat (no saturated), no cholesterol, 151 milligrams sodium.