In the Kitchen: Lasorda’s Generations-Old Recipes Bring Authenticity to this Italian Restaurant

When an Italian cook tells you she learned from Grandmom Carmella, you know you’re going to get great food. When the family has been in the biz for her entire life, you really, really know you’re going to get great food.

Such was the case as I sampled my way through fare my Italian father and my by-marriage Italian-cooking mother used to make. The cook is Michelle Lasorda Salamone, and she and her brother, pizza aficionado Darbie Lasorda, treated me and PA Eats photographer Nina Cazille to Greens and Beans, Homemade Meatballs and a seasonal dessert pizza.

“We all grew up cooking with my Grandmom, so most of these recipes are hers,” Michelle said of her hands-on training. “We had dinner at her house every Sunday, and it was everyone. Your cousins became like your brothers and sisters. It was great.”

You can taste that in the meatballs, fried slowly and turned until evenly browned, and then cooked off in sauce (or should I call it gravy?). Michelle uses all beef in her traditional recipe of eggs, garlic, onions, grated cheese, parsley, salt and pepper, and a secret ingredient I was sworn not to divulge.

“Our meatballs at Lasorda’s Restaurant and Pizzeria are 4 ounces; Grandmom’s were 6 ounces,” she said. “They are gently mixed so, like hers, when you cut into a meatball you see all the ingredients.”

Well Grandmom’s recipe didn’t disappoint: not only could you see every tasty bit, but the meatball also was incredibly tender and juicy inside. No one ingredient overpowered the other; it was a perfect blend of beefy goodness. Only from homemade will you get that real Italian meatball taste, right down to the parsley.

Smokey Lasorda, Michelle’s father and the co-owner with his brothers of the original  Lasorda’s restaurant in Marchwood Shopping Center, adds, “On Sunday, I’d grab a few meatballs before they went into the gravy, smear a roll with mayo and pile them on. That’s how I still do it.” And he did, minutes later.

Next up: Greens and Beans, so simple yet so flavorful. Michelle made the restaurant smell like my parents’ house on a Sunday by tossing a generous amount of garlic into a hot pan with oil, and then adding pepperoni. After just a few short minutes, she added bright green escarole and simmered it for a bit. Right near the end, in went the white beans with their juices. A sizzle here, a flip of the pan there, and the dish was piping hot and ready to eat.


Truth be told, this is one of my favorites, and thankfully Nina C. was with me to comment on all things meaty. She gave two thumbs up to a forkful of each item, while I did the same to the humble beans and greens. There’s something garlic does to escarole that tempers the bitter green and almost makes it sweet on top of the creamy beans. Grandmom’s two for two and Michelle is doing her proud.

One more nibble: enter Darbie, who started cooking with Grandmom when he was 6-years-old. He mastered his art in the school of hard knocks working in restaurants and under his family’s watchful eye. We certainly enjoyed watching him make a seasonal dessert pizza his wife once suggested (and which makes an appearance when there are good figs to be had). It starts with freshly made dough, massaged with extra virgin olive oil and then topped with mascarpone, fresh figs (local, of course) and slivered almonds. Less than 10 minutes later (hurry, hurry!) it comes out of the oven only to be topped with drizzled honey and powdered sugar. Really. More toppings.

I was seriously drooling watching Darbie slice off a piece, and was completely mesmerized when the scent of the just-made and just-cooked dough hit the nose. Right before each bite I could smell this was no ordinary dough, and that made an amazing difference. Each morsel was sweet from the ripe fruit and toppings, with just a hint of nuttiness. Glorious. I had two slices.

I could go on, but it would be a lot tastier if you jumped in your car and drove over to Lasorda’s Restaurant and Pizzeria. Now. And just to warn you: you will be treated like family by Michelle and Darbie, by the young relatives from Italy who’ve come to learn the business, by everyone else who works there, by Smokey and his brother Morris during the week, and by four of the brothers, including Eddie and Harry, on the weekend. As everyone told us, “That’s what Lasordas do.”

Lasorda’s Restaurant and Pizzeria is located at 123 East Swedesford Road, in Fairfield’s Shopping Center. They are open Sunday through Wednesday, from 11a.m. to 9p.m.; and Thursday through Saturday, from 11a.m. to 10 p.m. Lasorda’s is a BYOB. For takeout or more information, call 484-872-8185.

Photographs credited to Nina Lea Photography.

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