A CHEF’S CREATION
By John Tredrea
Editor’s note: This is the first in a series of stories about local chefs and their original recipes.
Vincenzo Severino, owner and chef of Avanti restaurant on West Delaware Avenue in Pennington, got his start in the restaurant business at age 16, at the old Italian-American Sportsman’s Club on Kuser Road in Hamilton.
"I took the job because I needed to make money to buy a car," he said. "They started training me as a cook two months after I was hired as a dishwasher, and I’ve been cooking professionally and a lot at home ever since. I’ve worked lots of places. I was a chef at Resorts International in Atlantic City when the gambling started down there, back in ’78. I was 19 at the time. Eventually I decided that, with all the hours I was working, I should have my own place. So here we are."
Mr. Severino showed us how to make his Shrimp Gorgonzola for one. It’s an original recipe he developed with his sous-chef at Avanti, Jose Taracena.
"I’ll make the sauce first," Mr. Severino said in the Avanti kitchen recently.
"First, two tablespoons of butter into a sauté pan." As the butter began to melt, he readied other materials involved with this dish and said: "It’s foolish to skimp on ingredients. Use the best and freshest you can get." Mixed into the melted butter are 4 ounces of Gorgonzola cheese and 2 ounces of mozzarella cheese. Then, 2 ounces of provolone and a small handful of grated Romano cheese are whisked into the sauce while it’s on the stove. "Be careful of the fire," Mr. Severino cautioned as he vigorously whisked the sauce to keep it from burning.
When the butter and cheeses have been whisked to a uniform consistency, a cup and half of heavy cream, a little black pepper and another small handful of Romano are added. Bring the mixture to a boil while whisking. "Then set it aside," said Mr. Severino, who opened Avanti in the early 1990s and recently opened another restaurant, Palermo’s on Lower Ferry Road in Ewing. Palermo’s specializes in tomato pies, pizza and other Italian fare.
Next, enough peeled and deveined shrimp to satisfy a hearty appetite. "I prefer medium shrimp," Mr. Severino said.
Coat the shrimp with olive oil, ground garlic and salt and pepper. On a grill, or on a grill fixture that can be set atop the stove, cook the shrimp halfway through. Then, to cover the shrimp, mix 2 tablespoons each of olive oil, white wine and chicken stock. "Now they’re ready for the oven," Mr. Severino said. "We’ll do that soon. Now it’s time to cook the pasta. I like to use a short-length pasta, like penne, for this dish."
While the pasta is cooking, chop up a few tomatoes "preferably Jerseys," Mr. Severino said and sprinkle them with olive oil, garlic, basil, salt and pepper.
"Don’t overcook the pasta al dente!" he cautioned. "Because it will get cooked a bit more after it comes out of the boiling water you’ll see how and you don’t want soggy pasta."
Also while the pasta is cooking, put 4 ounces of bread crumbs in a bowl and fry a little fine ground garlic in 2 tablespoons of olive oil with a bit of oregano. "Fry the garlic until it’s half-brown, then you pour the olive oil-garlic mixture into the bread crumbs. Then, add a little salt and paper, grated cheese and fresh parsley."
By now, the pasta is ready, which means the shrimp go in the oven or back onto the grill to finish the second half of their cooking. Retrieve the cheese sauce you made in the beginning of the recipe and pour the pasta into it. "The heat of the sauce, which you remember we brought to a boil, will finish cooking the pasta," Mr. Severino said. The sauce is reheated as the pasta is stirred and shaken in, that movement preventing the sauce from burning.
Show time!
The pasta with cheese sauce goes on the dish. The shrimp go on top of the pasta. The cold, spiced tomatoes go on top of the shrimp. And the breadcrumb mixture goes top of the tomatoes. "A little parsley on top, and some paprika on the edge of the dish, to make it look nice," Mr. Severino said.
Mr. Severino was born in Belgium and moved shortly thereafter to Sicily. "We were there until I was 5 years old, then moved to north Trenton," he said.
Asked why he has stayed in the restaurant trade so long, he replied: "I like to cook, because I like to eat. And it’s made me a good living." He admits to "not caring much about eating breakfast and lunch. Dinner is the important meal to me. I’ll make a full course dinner at home all the time, the works. Have people over to share it and relax a little." When he can find time, he likes to go to New York or Philadelphia with his wife, Kathleen, who also works at Avanti. "We go out to eat and to a show."
Sitting at one of Avanti’s outdoor tables, he reflected: "You have to love and have a passion for food. You have to feel people out and find out what they like in the area where you’re working. Dishes with light cream sauces are popular here. My motto has always been: ‘If I wouldn’t eat it, I won’t serve it.’ You have to stay on top of things. It’s more than just the food. It’s also the decor, the cleanliness and the service. It’s a concert."

