Nantucket Stroll is a time to celebrate established traditions while creating new memories with family and friends. But with our peak seasonal population approaching 70,000, and just 4,000 restaurant reservations to be had on-island on any given evening, Nantucketers are upping their game as stay-at-home chefs, creating wholesome, nourishing meals that are as delicious as they are practical. This holiday season, N Magazine features favorite recipes from the custom kitchens of some of Nantucket’s most celebrated hosts and hostesses.

Mark Famiglio became enchanted by Nantucket in the1970s while he was a student at New College in Sarasota, Florida. A Philadelphia native and a second-generation Italian American of Roman and Sicilian descent, Famiglio was raised alongside six brothers and a sister on a steady diet of home-cooked Italian food. After a familial squabble over who would inherit his mother’s copper cookware, Mark came into possession of his grandmother Aldina’s chitarra pasta maker and has since mastered the art of traditional pasta-making. Those fortunate enough to be on the receiving end of the Famiglio family’s famous brand of Italian-style hospitality are treated to heaping bowls of homemade pasta, served with a traditional “meat gravy” that, over the years, Mark has refined into a gourmet bolognese. “To my mother’s meat gravy I add a soffritto, also known as the ‘holy trinity’ of Italian cooking,” says Mark as he dices the celery, onions and carrots that form the base of the flavor for his pasta sauce. Together with his twin daughters Camilla Marquesa and Bryn Aldina, Mark regularly hosts pasta nights that have become famous among the Nantucket teen theater crowd. “We make rigatoni, fettuccine, penne, spaghetti, and then we basically eat until we die,” says Camilla, who serves as sous-chef to her dad when she’s not keeping busy as a summer camp counselor at The Westmoor Club.

Polly and Nick Miller met and fell in love on Nantucket as teenagers in the 1950s, and after they married, entertaining became central to their family’s legacy. Society events such as “Women of Summer” and “Women of Winter” featured many of Polly’s signature dishes, as well as world-class entertainment at the Millers’ sprawling seven-acre Polpis estate. At the top of Polly’s list of go-to dishes is a satisfyingly savory Portuguese kale soup, prepared with fresh local produce whenever possible and served with a tangy, aromatic side of skillet beans. This versatile protein and fiber-rich combination is well suited to a mixed crowd of carnivores and vegetarians, as well as those with gluten sensitivities. “Even the meat-eaters can’t seem to resist the skillet beans,” says Polly, who adapted the skillet bean recipe from her son Scott. “Watch out,” she adds. “It is addictive.”

From her annual Stroll celebration to her Ladies’ Luncheon, where accomplished women in the community meet and support each other, Kimberly Kozlowski  is all about bringing people together. A self-described “purist,” Kozlowski honors Nantucket’s history through the impeccable historic renovation of her Pleasant Street home, and in the kitchen, where she makes healthy food sourced from locally grown and produced ingredients. She even incorporates the use of an antique pie crimper for her famous apple pie. “Apples should taste like apples and not like sugar,” says Kozlowski, who this holiday season has embellished her recipe with Nantucket cranberries and honey.



FAMIGLIO FAMILY RAGÙ ALLA BOLOGNESE WITH MACCHERONI ALLA CHITARRA

Prep and cook time 3-4 hours. Serves 6-8.

Ingredients

For the Bolognese:

2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil

2 tablespoons butter

1 onion, finely diced

1 carrot, finely diced

1 celery stalk, finely diced

10 ounces mixed ground beef and pork

5 ounces pancetta, finely diced

½ cup good dry white wine (something you would actually drink)

½ cup whole milk

14 ounces canned peeled tomatoes (we like San Marzano) crushed or passed through a sieve

Chicken broth

Parmesan cheese, freshly grated

Sea salt and freshly ground pepper to taste

Fresh basil for garnish

For the Pasta:

6 large eggs

3½ cups all-purpose flour

Extra-virgin olive oil

For the Bolognese, heat the olive oil and butter in a large cast-iron pot over medium heat. Add onion, carrot and celery and sauté 5-7 minutes, until vegetables are soft and fragrant, but not brown. Add pancetta and cook until fat renders and meat begins to brown. Add ground beef and pork and cook until browned, breaking up meat. Season with salt and pepper. Pour in white wine and simmer for 3-5 minutes, until alcohol evaporates. Lower heat and stir in milk until absorbed. Add tomatoes and season with a bit more salt and pepper, then lower heat to a gentle simmer and cook uncovered for 2-3 hours, stirring occasionally. If sauce gets too thick, add broth.

For the pasta, heap flour in the center of a large, clean cooking surface. Make a well in the middle. Crack eggs into the well and beat together with a fork, starting at the inner rim of the well and working outward, until half the flour is incorporated. Continue kneading with the palms of your hands until all the flour is gone and the dough becomes cohesive. Clean the cooking area and dust with fresh flour, then continue kneading for about 10 minutes, adding more flour as necessary. Set the dough aside for 30 minutes. After it has rested, cut the dough into four equal parts, covering those not in use to prevent drying. Roll out the dough with a dusted rolling pin, lengthwise and widthwise, until it forms a thin rectangular sheet. Press the sheet of dough through the wire rack of the chitarra with either your fingers or the thin rolling pin. Dust the pasta with flour and cover until cook time. This pasta should be boiled for approximately 2 minutes, then served immediately.

POLLY'S PORTUGUESE KALE SOUP

Prep and assemble, 1 hour. Cook time, 45 minutes. Serves 8.

Ingredients

4 cups chicken stock

1 pound linguica, chorizo or kielbasa, casing removed, sliced thinly or diced

1½ pounds kale, washed, torn apart, stems removed

2-3 yellow onions, chopped (about two cups)

2 cans diced basil-and-oregano or fire-roasted tomatoes

2 medium raw, cubed Idaho potatoes (2½ cups, peeling optional)

1 small can Bush’s brand baked beans

1 can undrained dark red kidney beans

1 small red and ½ orange or yellow bell pepper, chopped

Some shredded napa cabbage (optional)

Cumin and curry powder to taste

Directions

Place sausage in a large, heavy pot or slow cooker, along with chicken stock. As the mixture begins to simmer, add kale, then the other ingredients, in the order above. Cover and let simmer for at least 45 minutes. Soup will improve the next day when reheated and can be thinned by adding more chicken stock.

SCOTT’S SKILLET BEANS WITH SAFFRON ORZO

Prep and cook time, 35-40 minutes. Serves 8.

Ingredients

1 pound orzo pasta

2-3 cans undrained red kidney beans, drained black-eyed peas, butter beans, white northern beans or garbanzos

1 large can plain diced tomatoes

1 large Vidalia onion, chopped

3 celery stalks, chopped

1-2 green bell peppers, chopped

3 garlic cloves, pressed

2 tablespoons olive oil

1 tablespoon honey or molasses

1 tablespoon coarse Dijon mustard

1 tablespoon basil1 teaspoon thyme

1 teaspoon oregano

¼ teaspoon good saffron

¼ teaspoon ground black pepper

Salt to taste, plus a few shakes of cayenne pepper

Directions

In a heavy saucepan or large skillet, sauté onions and garlic in olive oil over medium heat until golden. Add celery and peppers and continue sautéing another five minutes, stirring occasionally. Add thyme, oregano, basil, black pepper, salt and cayenne pepper to taste. Add tomatoes, honey or molasses, and mustard. Cover and simmer for five more minutes, then carefully fold in the beans, cover and stir occasionally until thoroughly heated. Crumble saffron into a bowl and add 1 tablespoon of hot water to extract the spice’s flavor and color. Use the water to flavor the cooked orzo. Top orzo with skillet beans and add Parmesan, if desired. Both dishes pair well with a simple mixed green salad and hot buttered Portuguese rolls. Ladle soup into bowls and top with freshly grated Parmesan cheese.

KIMBERLY KOZLOWSKI’S NATURALLY SWEET CRANBERRY APPLE PIE

Prep and bake time, 3 hours.

Ingredients

For the crust:

2½ cups all-purpose flour

Pinch of sea salt

1 cup (2 sticks) cold, unsalted butter (cubed)

6 tablespoons ice water

2 tablespoons honey

For the filling:

6 large Granny Smith apples, peeled and sliced into 3-centimeter slices

½ cup fresh cranberries (approximately 20 cranberries)

½ cup 100% pure raw honey (I love Grey Lady Apiary)

2 teaspoons pure ground cinnamon

1 tablespoon cornstarch

4 pats unsalted butter

For a golden crust:

1 egg

1 tablespoon milk or water

Directions

Prepare the dough. Add 1½ cups of flour and salt to a food processor, pulse 3 times until combined. Add cubed butter a little at a time, then honey, continuing to pulse the food processor (about 15 seconds) until the dough takes the form of little clumps. Add 1 cup of remaining flour and continue to mix on low speed until the dough looks crumbly. Transfer to a mixing bowl, add 4 tablespoons of ice water and hand-mix to form a ball. (You should be able to pinch the dough and it should bind. If it does not, gradually add a tablespoon of water and test again.) Cut the dough ball in half and press into a disk-like form. Wrap both pieces in plastic wrap and place in the freezer for 10-15 minutes until firm. While the dough is chilling, prepare the pie filling. Preheat oven to 400 degrees.

Prepare the filling. Mix apple slices, fresh cranberries, cinnamon and cornstarch together. Mix well and set aside.

Assemble the pie. Take the dough out of the freezer and test for pliability by squeezing it. Dust a clean surface and rolling pin with flour. Roll the dough out evenly to about a 12-inch circle and place in an ungreased glass pie pan (you can use a nonstick cooking spray if using an aluminum pan). Continue the same process with the second half of the dough. Set it aside. Fill the crust in the pie pan with the apple/cranberry filling, then pour the honey directly over the apple mixture. Apply the 4 pats of butter onto the filling. Place the second crust over the filling and crimp edges with a pie crimper. (If you do not have a pie crimper, you can pinch the upper and lower crust together with your thumbs around the edge of the pie pan). Remove excess dough. Make slits or cut a design in the top pie crust to vent (I typically cut the shape of Nantucket Island in the crust). Place the pie on the center rack of the 400-degree oven and bake for 30 minutes. In the meantime, in a separate bowl, mix egg and milk until frothy. After baking the pie for 30 minutes, reduce heat to 350 degrees and brush the crust with egg wash. Bake for another 40 minutes until the apples are soft and the crust is golden brown. Place on a cooling rack for two hours before cutting. Served best with vanilla or Crantucket ice cream from the Juice Bar.