Delicious and Filling Pasta Recipe From the Great Depression

I had a really tough time finding a place that sells escarole, but I finally did it, and it looks just like romaine lettuce. Supposedly it is a bit more bitter, and the color is lighter, too.

I also needed some tiny pasta, originally pastina, so I used tubetti.

Finally, I needed pecorino romano, but it was so expensive that I decided to use the next best thing according to the internet, which is parmesan cheese.

Along with that, I am only going to be needing some salt and pepper and olive oil.

In this recipe, Ms. Clara talks about how she used to work at the Twinkie Factory. “Another job I had was at the Hostess Twinkie Factory. I worked there for a while and only quit because it was so far away from my house and I used to walk most of the time. It was five miles both ways and it took forever.

So sometimes I beg my cousin Tony Lappa for his skates and as usual most of the time he'd let me. That made the truck faster but not fast enough.

But making the Twinkies was a fun job. I started on the factory floor and it was just like that scene in “I Love Lucy” where Lucy and Ethel were working at the chocolate factory and the candies were coming out much too fast for them to process and they end up stuffing them in their mouths and their clothes and anywhere they can find.

It seemed like it could have been stressful but it was actually a lot of fun and I guess eventually I got good at it because I was promoted to the coveted Twinkie puncher position. After Hostess, I got a job in the Richardson factory where I started out on the floor but ended up in the back office.

Whether I was making that long commute from the Hostess factory or not, I was pretty wiped out when I got home and mom knew exactly how to give me some of my pet back. With a nice big bowl of pasta with some high-energy vegetable in it, like this recipe for pasta with escarole. By the next morning, I was all revved up and ready to go."

Ms. Clara gives some amazing advice here: “Take it from me, walk when you go to the grocery store because if you don't have a large car, trunk store things, you'll be forced to buy only what you can comfortably carry, which is most likely all you need."

When we think about walking to the grocery store now, it seems like such a headache, but they had to back then, and it helped them save money.

I am super excited for this recipe, since it is pasta, and pasta is always good. Let’s get started!

Ms. Clara says to boil the escarole and the pasta at the same time in two separate pots, but I am going to use my hot plate and do one after the other.

I have diced up the escarole and I am going to boil it first. I need to boil the escarole with a dash of salt and let it boil for three to five minutes or until it is wilted.

I noticed that the escarole is starting to change colors a bit, becoming a bit more yellow, even before it starts boiling. It smells like something my mama makes, but I just cannot place it.

Once it has boiled for about three minutes, I need to reserve ¼ cup of escarole water, drain the escarole, set it aside and get started on the pasta. Cooked escarole just smells like cooked cabbage.

I am just going to cook the pasta according to the instructions on the package, until al dente, which takes 10 minutes.

Once it is done, I am going to drain the pasta and add in that escarole water and cooked escarole. Now it is time to season with some pepper and salt, add ¼ cup of olive oil, stir and top it with cheese.

That is it! I plated the pasta and served it hot. It smelled great. My older sons said it tasted like butter noodles and enjoyed it, and my younger son was a bit apprehensive about it.

The flavor is very light, and they suggested adding chicken to it. What I would do to improve it is maybe boil that pasta in chicken broth first, just to really set it off. Anyway, this is a super easy and extremely filling meal, I could not even finish my bowl.

Recipes from the Great Depression

I love trying frugal recipes from the Great Depression, so I am definitely going to cook some more of these, maybe a dessert next time!

What are your favorite super frugal recipes? Do you have any recipes that have been passed down in your family since the Great Depression? If so, I would love to have you share those in the comments!

Next, try out these 6 Delicious and Easy Chicken Freezer Meals to Save Money.