Dinner and a Disney Movie: Lady and the Tramp

Perhaps the most memorable instance of food in a Disney movie comes from Lady and the Tramp. I’ve always thought of it as more of a Christmastime movie since the film is bookended by the holiday, but with D23’s first Fanniversary Home Edition celebrating the film’s 60^th anniversary taking place June 12^th-14^th, it seemed fitting to join in the fun and feature the film as our next Dinner and a Disney Movie. If you’re looking for more menu options, D23 also has recipe suggestions on their event webpage.

Spaghetti Bella Notte

The most iconic scene in the film involves Tramp taking Lady out for a night on the town, including a very memorable dinner at Tony’s where the two share their first kiss while nibbling the same string of spaghetti. This recipe comes from the book Disney Recipes by Ira L. Meyer. Makes 6 servings and takes 2 hours to make. The only variation I did was the exclude veal by substituting extra ground beef.

For Meatballs

¼ cup breadcrumbs
¼ cup milk
6 oz lean ground beef
2 oz ground pork
1 egg
2 tbs chopped parsley
1 oz grated parmesan cheese
1½ tsp olive oil
1½ tsp minced garlic
½ medium onion, chopped
Salt
Pepper

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Soak breadcrumbs in milk and wait for it to be absorbed. Mix the ground meats together with the breadcrumbs, then add egg, parsley, parmesan cheese, olive oil, garlic, onion, salt and pepper. Shape into 1 inch balls (should make about 20). Place them on a baking sheet so that they aren’t touching each other. Bake for 20 minutes until browned on the outside. (This is just the first step for the meatballs, you will continue cooking them in the sauce as part of the next set of directions.)

For Sauce

¼ cup olive oil
4 tsp minced garlic
56 oz canned whole tomatoes
2 tbs tomato paste
½ tsp salt
½ tsp pepper
2 tsp sugar
2 tsp chopped parsley
10 chopped basil leaves

In a deep pan, heat olive oil and sauté garlic until slightly browned. Crush the tomatoes with your hands and add them to the pot with the juice from the can. Bring to a boil and reduce to a simmer for 15 minutes, stirring occasionally. Add tomato paste, salt, pepper, sugar and parsley and simmer for another 10 minutes. Add chopped basil.

The meatballs should be out of the oven by this point. Gently add them to the pot and simmer them, covered, for 30 minutes.

For spaghetti

1 lb spaghetti
Salt

Cook your spaghetti until al dente while the meatballs are cooking in the sauce. Drain the pasta and add the noodles to the pot of sauce and meatballs, cooking for an additional 4 minutes. Serve spaghetti on a plate with meatballs on top.

Tiramisu

Lady and Tramp skipped dessert when they dinned at Tony’s, but if they had stayed for desert I imagine they would have had tiramisu. This recipe comes from one of the newest restaurants at Walt Disney World, Trattoria al Forno at the Boardwalk (Recipe found on disneyfamily.com). Makes about 12 servings and takes 30 minutes of prep time and at least 3 hours to refrigerate (I recommend making it a day ahead).

6 eggs
1½ cups sugar divided
16 oz mascarpone cheese
1½ cups brewed espresso or brewed strong coffee
2 tbsp and ¼ cup amaretto, rum, or wine
Package of 20-25 ladyfingers
Cocoa powder

Separate the egg yolks and the egg whites. In a large bowl, mix the yolks with ½ cup sugar with an electric mixer until it is light yellow. Add mascarpone, 1 tbsp espresso and 2 tbsp alcohol, whisking until smooth. In a separate bowl, add the egg whites with ½ cup sugar and beat on high speed until peaks can be formed (took about 10 minutes for me). Mix the egg white mixture into the other mix gently.

In a small bowl, add the remaining espresso, alcohol and sugar and mix well. Dip each lady finger into the liquid quickly. In a 13×9 pan, place half of the dipped ladyfingers on the bottom and top with half of the mixture. Lay the remaining ladyfingers over that and top with the remaining mixture. Dust with cocoa powder and cover. Refrigerate for at least 3 hours.

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