Sinatra Sauce Cookbook Christmas Gift 2025

 

"SINATRA SAUCE"

aka The SINATRA COOKBOOK

by Daniel Bellino Zwicke

COOK & EAT LIKE FRANK

His FAVORITE ITALIAN FOOD RECIPES

AMAZON.com

SINATRA SAUCE “Music Meatballs & Merriment”

Daniel Bellino Zwicke

Sinatra Sauce "Music Metaballs & Merriment" and Living The Good Life. "Like Frank" .. Yes, it's about Frank. That is one Francis Albert Sinatra, the Greatest Singer of The 20th Century, and Icon of American, especially of the Italian-American Enclave in America. Frank Sinatra was many things, first and foremost a Great Italian-American singer, Love & Adored by Millions. Mr. Sinatra was also an actor, citizen, and Entertainer Par Excellence. Yes this book is about those things, Frank Sinatra : the incomparable singer, actor, recording artist, Teen Idol of the 1940s, philanthropist, and Las Vegas & Nightclub Entertainer. He was like no other, Sinatra was one-of-a- kind, and he had a lust for life, “Hanging with Friends,” - sipping cocktails, with good food, and making good times. That's what this book is about, Frank Sinatra, eating (Italian Food), enjoying a cocktail or two, and the company of family and friends. Yes, Frank Sinatra lived life to its fullest. He wouldn't have it any other way, but "His Way." 

This book “Inspires” and gives you the tools to live out your Sinatra Dreams. You can make it reality, with recipes of Frank’s Favorite Italian Foods, Pasta, Meatballs, Posillipo, Eggplant Parm and more. Eating, drinking, and having good times, all the time as Frank did. Meals with friends and family. Meals you can cook, with recipes in this book. The info and recipes are all here in Sinatra Sauce. Read it, put on some Sinatra (music), cook, eat, and create memorable times at the table, just like Frank. That’s what this book is about: Sinatra, Family, Friends, and Good Times. “The Best is Yet to Come”

Visit SINATRA SAUCE - The Website @ https://sinatrasauce.com

Author Daniel Bellino Zwicke is a lifelong Sinatra fan. He is a Best Selling author, who lives and writes in New York’s Greenwich Village. Daniel is currently working on several other projects. 

He has authored : Sunday Sauce, La Tavola, Mangia Italiano, Grandma Bellino’s Cookbook, Segreto Italiano, and Positano The Amalfi Coast - Travel Guide / Cookbook.

Recipes : SINATRA SAUCE

SINATRA TOMATO SAUCE

DOLLY'S MEATBALLS

EGGPLANT PARMIGIANA

CAPONATA

ARTICHOKES SICILIAN STYLE

ARANCINI (Sicilian Rice Balls)

MINESTRONE alla DOLLY

DINO'S PASTA FAZOOL

MACCHERONI al FORNO

SICILIAN LASAGNA

CHICKEN VESUVIO

VEAL MARSALA

STEAK - SINATRA'S WAY

MARTY'S SICILIAN MEATLOAF

FRANK'S ITALIAN CHEESECAKE

REGINELLA SICILIAN COOKIES

And Much More !!!

GET SINATRA SAUCE

AMAZON.com

.

Franks Favorite Italian Cookies - Regina Cookies

 

VENIERO'S

ITALIAN PASTRIES

Since 1894

On September 23, 1894, one of the East Village’s longest-running businesses, Veniero’s Pasticceria, opened its doors. This venerable local institution has been serving confections, cakes, and pastries to New Yorkers and visitors ever since from its home at 342 East 11th Street, between 1st and 2nd Avenues, in the heart of what was once the East Village’s own Little Italy, and remains one of the few surviving businesses from that once-thriving community. Located just down the block from our offices, we have a special love for Veniero’s — from which we have been known to indulge in a treat from time to time (or more) — and a special insight into the beloved business’ rich history, thanks to an oral history that Veniero’s current co-owner Robert Zerilli, grand nephew of Veniero’s original founder, conducted with us in 2014. 

Antonio Veniero immigrated to New York from Italy in 1885, in the period following Italian unification when poor Italians, especially southern Italians, began to leave the country en masse, seeking better lives and opportunities. At 15 years old, Antonio began working in a candy factory downtown. By 1894, he bought today’s 342 East 11th Street, a pre-old-law tenement built in 1865-66. Originally the business, then called Antonio Veniero Confections, was founded as a social club, complete with pool tables. Antonio sold homemade candy and espresso, the beans of which were roasted in the backyard. Veniero hired other Italian immigrants also skilled in confectionery. This part of the East Village was well populated with Italian immigrants, mostly Sicilian, although Antonio was from Naples. No. 342, which had residences above the ground floor, housed 13 families, all Italian immigrants or of Italian descent, according to the 1900 Federal census. 

VENIERO'S PASTICCERIA

ITALIAN PASTRIES

East 11th Street, NY NY

The same census and 1900-1901 New York City directory show Antonio living with his wife and children across the street at No. 345, a no longer extant building. In his oral history, Robert Zerilliexplains that the business evolved from Antonio’s founding to serve baked goods such as biscotti and cakes, later renaming itself Veniero’s Pasticceri. Following Antonio’s death in 1931, the business would continue to be run by members of the family. In 1970, Frank Zerilli, Robert’s father and a cousin of the Venieros, bought the business. As a teenager, Frank Zerilli had worked in the bakery and learned a great deal working under Antonio.

Zerilli shares great stories of both the family and the neighborhood connected to Veniero’s, including Antonio’s managing to avoid firebombing by the Black Hand, (Mano Nero gang — a mafia extortion racket), neighborhood quarrels with other bakers and pushcart sellers, and a legal fight over the ownership of a coffee-sipping parrot. 

Zerilli was born in 1962 and by that time his family lived in New Jersey. He would sometimes join his father for the workday in the East Village, and in his interview, Zerilli shared the sights, smells, and sounds of the East Village in his early years through the eyes of a child. One of the sounds that dominate his memories was the constant mix of English and Italian throughout the streets and small businesses in the area. As a teenager, he would work at Veniero’s, and lived in one of the apartments in the upper floors at No. 342, rent-free.

The neighborhood has changed quite a bit over the course of Zerilli’s tenure, and he talks about gentrification, as well as changing ethnicities and business and building ownership. On a side note, he mentions the East Village’s punk rock scene, and Joey Ramone coming to Veniero’s to buy a cake. Veniero’s itself has changed over the years too, adding items like red velvet cupcakes, which Zerilli discusses his reluctance to include. One of the many things that hasn’t changed, though, is that Veniero’s is still very much a family-run business, with Robert and his three sisters at the helm as co-owners.

ITALIAN PASTRIES

CANNOLI - RHUM BABA - ECLAIRS

At VENEIRO'S

FRANK SINATRA'S FAVORITE COOKIES

SICILIAN REGINA COOKIES

VENIERO'S

FRANK SINATRA & FRANK ZERILLI

At VENIERO'S

1979

NEW YORK CITY

SINATRA SAUCE

The COOKBOOK

SINATRA STORIES & RECIPES

COOK & EAT LIKE FRANK

His FAVORITE ITALIAN RECIPES

AMAZON.com

Frank and Tony Curtis

 

FRANK & TONY

""Frank Sinatra and Tony Curtis were close, lifelong friends. They knew each other since the 1940s when Sinatra was playing the Paramount. In 1958 they were in the movie Kings Go Forth together. Curtis is often mentioned as part of The Clan/Rat Pack in the 1950s and 1960s. Tina Sinatra remembered that when her father was old and sick, she once found Tony Curtis cradling her father in his arms.

Sinatra called Curtis “Bernie” (pronounced “Boinie”), because his real name was Bernard Schwartz.

Here are some of the things that Tony Curtis said about Frank Sinatra, in interviews and in his memoir.

“When I met him, I realized he was very nice with everyone around him. He wasn’t so obnoxious. That was the rumor about Frank, that you didn’t know what he had in mind.”

“I became an honorary member of Frank's Rat Pack; I never went on stage with Frank, Dean, Sammy, Joey Bishop, or Peter Lawford, but anytime they had a get-together, I was invited. Whenever those guys got up to any kind of mischief, I was there. They treated me like a kid brother, which brought out the best in everyone.”

“I knew a lot about Frank. We were really close. He liked me a lot, and that meant a lot to me. To be a friend of Frank's was a great help in those early days. I didn't abuse it or take advantage of it. I would just make myself available when he would call or want to go out to dinner.”

“When he was not angry, there was a calm humanness about him. He would always stick up for his buddies. He was always available. He would stick up for you even if the guy was a big guy.”

“Frank wasn't a womanizer - he was womanized! What a great position to be in! You know, those were carefree, intelligent, and very stimulating days and nights!”

“Women would flock around him. Then the husbands or the boyfriends found themselves ill at ease. I couldn’t understand it, you know? Frank wasn’t gonna take ‘em anywhere. He’d just hang-out there.”

“He's one of the biggest prudes I've ever met…he's an old-fashioned man. I've never heard him use a vulgar word in front of a woman!”

“Frank Sinatra was like the sun, with a lot of people revolving around him.”

“Notice I don’t bring up the Mafia. He in himself was his own godfather. He ran his own family and his friends like that. Untouchable.”

“Frank exhibited the traits I admired most in a person, namely his unfailing self-confidence.”

“I would make model airplanes, the kind you make with balsa wood. I’d make it with glue and the things that would make it work. He was so pleased because he told me, ‘I was never able to get that body in the plane right’. So, he’d throw his stuff away. But, there I was making the bodies and he’d say will I add to it? Then, we’d paper it. We did the wings. We put a rubber band in it, and a propeller. We’d go out in his garage, in back, and I’d wind it up and let it go. The f***er would ram into a wall, and there it was all broken again. We did this two or three times. Sometimes we had more success than others. But, I loved him for that.”

Tony Curtis wrote about one time at the Sands when he was very drunk and Frank and Dean threw him into the swimming pool fully dressed.

Tony Curtis: “I climbed out of the pool… freshened up, and went back down to the casino. I was still a little dizzy, but at least I was keeping my eyes open. When Frank saw me he said, 'Where have you been?'

'Somebody threw me in the pool,' I said. 'I had to go upstairs and change.' Frank said, 'Who in the world would do that?' I told him I thought he might have had something to do with it, but he denied it,and I couldn't be sure I had remembered it right.”

Tony Curtis wrote that during the filming of Sweet Smell of Success, he was “the recipient of one of Frank's legendary acts of thoughtfulness.” He was learning to play the flute for the movie and would often go over to Sinatra's house to practice.

Tony Curtis: “I'd come over to Frank's house and practice playing my flute for him. Frank was impressed that I was learning this new skill for my part in the movie, and he noticed that I was playing a cheap flute I'd picked up. So without telling me, he went out one day and bought me a magnificent flute, a priceless gift that I cherish to this day.”

In an interview, he talked about the flute too and called it “one of my sacred possessions from The Man.”

Frank Sinatra once said Tony Curtis was his favorite actor “because he beat the odds.”

Their mutual friend Sidney Poitier said of Tony Curtis, “When you're with Tony Curtis, you're with somebody very alive. He was - and is - one of the most 'up' people I have ever known.”

SINATRA SAUCE

COOK & EAT LIKE FRANK

His FAVORITE ITALIAN RECIPES

STORIES TOO !

AMAZON.com

Sinatra Spaghetti Meatballs Recipe

"FRANK"

 

 

 

 

 

 

Mrs. FRANK SINATRA RECIPE for SPAGHETTI & MEATBALLS

WFBL FROM COOK BOOK of The STARS

 

RECIPE :

 

MEATBALLS alla SINATRA

 

 

INGREDIENTS for MEATBALLS :

 

1/2 Pound GROUND BEEF and 1/2 lb. Ground PORK

1 Clove GARLIC, peeled and Chopped Fine

1 tablespoon fresh ItalianParsley, chopped

1/2 teaspoon SALT

1 Teaspoon Ground BLACK PEPPER

1/2 cup OLIVE OIL

 

Mix all these ingredients together and shape into medium sized balls. 

 

Place all the oil except 4 tablespoons in a large pan and turn heat on to high. Brown the meatballs until all are lightly golden brown on all sides. When all the meatballs are browned, remove from pan and set aside to cool.

 

INGREDIENTS For SAUCE :

 

4 Tablespoons OLIVE OIL

1 small ONION, peeled and Chopped 1 clove GARLIC, peeled and chopped Fine

1 28 ounce can Crushed San Marzano Tomatoes

1 small can Tomato Paste

1/2 teaspoon Crushed RED PEPPER Flakes

1/2 teaspoon each of SALT and BLACK PEPPER

 

Put 4 tablespoons of OLIVE OIL and Red Pepper Flakes in a large frying pan, and cook ONIONS and GARLIC in pan on low heat for 6 minutes. 

 

Add crushed Tomatoes and Tomato Paste to pan and turn heat to high. Fill the empty large can with water and place in pot with tomatoes. Add salt and Black Pepper.

 

Turn heat up to high. Add the brown Meatballs. 

 

When the tomatoes start to bubble, lower the heat to a very low flame and let the sauce simmer with the Meatballs on low heat for 1 hour.

 

1 pound SPAGHETTI

Grated PARMIGIANO REGGIANO or GRANA PADANA CHEESE

 

Boil the Spaghetti in rapidly boiling salted water according to directions on package. When done, drain Spaghetti in a Colander.

 

Add Spaghetti back to the pot it cooked in. Add a Cup and a half of Tomato Sauce and a drizzle of OLIVE OIL to the Spaghetti and Mix. Plate the Spaghetti evenly onto 4 Plates. Add some sauce over the top of the Spaghetti. Place 2 Meatballs n each Plate and cover with a little more Sauce.

 

Serve to you guest with Grated Cheese on the Side. BUON APPETITO !

A LOT MORE SINATRA RECIPE !!!

SINATRA SAUCE

COOK & EAT LIKE FRANK

His FAVORITE ITALIAN RECIPES

AMAZON.com

 

 

 

.

SPAGHETTI & MEATBALLS

.

RECIPES FROM MY SICILIAN NONNA

The SINATRA FAMILY and Author DANIEL BELLINO "Z"

both Come From The Same Town in SICILY, LERCARA FRIDDI

So Does CHARLES "LUCK" LUCIANO

AMAZON.com

.

.

.

.

 

 

Frank and Yule - Sinatra House

 

Frank & Yule

At FRANK'S HOUSE

PALM SPRINGS

"Yul Brynner and his wife Doris were close friends of Frank Sinatra. They were at the Compound so often that they had their own room, hooked onto the great hall and marked with a bronze nameplate . Sinatra taught Doris Brynner how to mix a martini.

Doris Brynner: “We were there constantly - always! Always a helicopter or Sinatra's plane. And everything was orange: the sofas, the chairs, the carpets. It was Frank's favorite color. It was a compound, so cozy and great. It was a super-modern house. There were bungalows for the guests,so everyone was on his own except when they didn't want to be. So civilized. I sat by the piano-shaped pool while Yul and Frank played golf nonstop. Yul won. Or was it Frank? Fierce competition.

He loved Spaghetti & Meatballs. And Lasagna. And the booze. The boys boozed a bit, you see… They would tell stories, have a few drinks, play the piano and sing. Such fun people. Dean Martin, Sammy Davis, Bill and Edie Goetz, us. Frank would sing duets with his records, Yul accompanying him on his guitar. Just another Saturday night.”

SINATRA SAUCE

COOK & EAT LIKE FRANK

AMAZON.com

Spaghetti Meatballs Sinatra Recipe Nancy

 

NANCY BARBATO SINATRA

SPAGHETTI & MEATBALLS

From the WFBL COOK BOOK OF THE STARS

FRANK SINATRA Born in Hoboken, Frank was an only son. His mother came to this country from Genoa and father from Sicily. As a lad, Frank had always been crazy about music, but his parents failed to share his enthusiasm of making a career of it. His first singing spot was with Harry James, then Tommy Dorsey. The turning point in Frank Sinatra's career came in January, 1943, when he signed for a series of personal appearances at New York's Paramount Theater. Then and there, he became "The Voice." Sinatra's slight build is kept in hard trim by his prowess at boxing, golf and bowling.

MRS. FRANK SINATRA'S RECIPE FOR SPAGHETTI AND MEAT BALLS

MEAT BALLS -

1 lb. chopped meat, 1/2 pork, 1/2 beef

1 clove garlic (chopped fine)

1/2 cup grated Italian cheese

1 cup bread crumbs

1 teaspoon finely chopped parsley

Salt and pepper to taste

(Mix all well, form into balls, brown in oil and put aside until sauce is made.)

SAUCE

1 large can Italian style tomatoes

1 can tomato puree

1 small onion

1 clove garlic

1 teaspoon ground parsley

1/2 cup olive oil

Thyme

Salt

Black pepper

DIRECTIONS

Brown chopped up onion and garlic in oil in which you brown meat balls. Strain tomatoes, add puree to the juice. Add the oil in which you have browned onion and garlic, but remove all sauteed ingredients. Season with salt, pepper, thyme and parsley. Cook the sauce (covered) for 1 hour, with meatballs added, over a slow fire.

Boil spaghetti in water, salted to taste. Remove spaghetti, drain. Serve it on a platter over which you have poured sauce and meat balls. Add layer of cheese, and add full covering of sauce, add another layer of cheese and another layer of sauce. Serve piping hot.

SINATRA SAUCE

The COOKBOOK

FRANK'S FAVORITE ITALIAN RECIPES

AMAZON.com

Above, you have the SPAGHETTI & MEATBALLS Recipe of Nancy Sinatra. Nancy Barbato Sinatra, Frank's wife, not his daughter Nancy. 

In the book "Sinatra Sauce," along with many other recipes is another Spaghetti & Meatballs recipe, but not Frank's wife Nancy, but his mother Dolly's recipe. Both are excellent, we're sure you will agree. If you want to know more of Frank Sinatra, the foods he loved, and grew up with in the Italian Enclave in Hoboken, New Jersey, along with all of Frank's favourite dishes and restaurants around the country and the World. Dishes like Chicken Vesuvius of Chicago, BBQ Ribs from The Anchor Bar in Chicago, Veal Milanese and Clams Posillipo from "Patsy's Restaurant" in New York, and Frank's afternoon Egg Sandwich in Palm Springs, California.

FRANK SINATRA

At HOME in PALM SPRINGS

EATING his DAILY Afternoon EGG SANDWICH

RECIPE

Sinatra Tomato Sauce

 

Frank Sinatra

TOMATO SAUCE

Who knew that Frank Sinatra had a signature tomato sauce or even that the beloved star enjoyed spending time in a kitchen? Well, a whole lot of people in the 1970s got a glimpse of those chef proclivities when Sinatra appeared on NBC's hit daytime show starring Dinah Shore. In a "Dinah's Place" episode, the Rat Pack celebrity dished on and dished out his signature tomato sauce, rightfully credited as having come from his Italian-immigrant mother Natalie Della Garaventa, affectionately known as Dolly Sinatra.

Sinatra's version is a pretty stress-free version of a classic Italian sauce, relying on cans of tomato puree and Italian-style tomatoes, which could include the renowned San Marzano tomatoes from the Agro Sarnese Nocerino region of Southern Italy. Due to volcanic soils from the nearby towering Mount Vesuvius, these tomatoes tend to be sweeter with intense tomato flavors and less acid than other varieties. The exact recipe attributed to Sinatra tends to vary slightly depending on the cookbook or source, but it's generally agreed that the canned tomatoes get pureed in a blender and added later to a pot of emerging ingredients. Onions and minced fresh garlic get sauteed in olive oil on the stovetop, joined by the blended tomatoes and Italian-favorite spices such as parsley, thyme, and black pepper. That's about it -- just cook on low for a few minutes and top with crushed red pepper and extra fresh parsley. 

Once you know Sinatra's connection to Italian food, it makes sense when finding photos of him in a chef's hat or seeing his name tied to Italian recipes in magazines and cookbooks, like the 2013 book SUNDAY SAUCE - When Italian-Americans Cook. He's certainly in good company there, with his Spaghetti and Meatballs recipe appearing alongside a Sunday gravy from Joe DiMaggio's Mama and several recipe incarnations from famous movie scenes, such as a Brooklyn Mob War Sauce from "The Godfather" and a Sauce in Prison from "The Goodfellas."

Some of Frank Sinatra's favorite foods were known to be Italian dishes, and he maintained enduring devotion to Italian cooking and restaurants, including the recently reopened La Dolce Vita in Hollywood and Patsy's Italian Restaurant in New York City. Much like his inimitable fame and fan devotion, Sinatra and his mama's tomato sauce recipe is still around -- and it's a fresh and easy take on classic Italian saucing. 

Wendy Leigh

February 21, 2024 

SINATRA SAUCE

COOK LIKE FRANK

FAVORITE ITALIAN RECIPES

AMAZON.com