Italian favorites dominate at McKees Rocks' Primadonna
Primadonna Restaurant in McKees Rocks is a bit like Cheers -- the kind of place where everybody knows your name. It's somewhere you always feel comfortable, especially when you've got an appetite.
Decorated in dark earth tones, with horizontal stripes on the walls and soft lighting, Primadonna boasts an extensive traditional Italian menu that has snared several awards over its 15-year history. The International Restaurant and Hospitality Rating Bureau named it one of America's Top 10 Restaurants in 2002. The former owner, Joseph Costanzo, who retired this past February, was selected as one of America's top 10 restaurateurs that year by the same organization.
The Distinguished Restaurants of North America (DiRoNA) gave Primadonna its Award of Excellence in 2001.
The menu features old Italian favorites such as chicken and veal piccata, chicken and veal parmigiana, chicken and veal marsala. There are several fettucine dishes; seafood, such as stuffed flounder, shrimp scampi, orange roughy and sea scallops; and pasta, including manicotti, rigatoni, gnocchi, spaghetti, ravioli and linguine with clam sauce.
Appetizers include the popular fried mozzarella, shrimp cocktail, fried calamari and fried mushrooms. To wind up the evening, cheesecake, tiramisu, cannoli and pizzelles are on the dessert menu.
More adventurous palates can try Spaghetti Caruso (with chicken livers and fresh mushrooms), Mostaccioli all' Arrabiata, black pasta, Veal Trapuzzano (served on a bed of spinach with roasted red peppers) and Chicken Zummo, which chef Jimmy Zummo shared with "Cooking Class."
The 83-seat restaurant is open for dinner. Owner John Welsh says that you usually can get a seat during the week without a wait, but on the weekend it could take an hour.
Zummo has presided over Primadonna's kitchen since 1990. He previously worked at hotels and several upscale restaurants before joining Primadonna. He's a graduate of the Pennsylvania Institute of Culinary Arts.
Zummo created his hot and spicy signature chicken dish. A chicken breast is pounded flat and filled with provolone cheese, pepperoni, a stuffed banana pepper and prosciutto ham. For maximum flavor, the chef suggests deep-frying the chicken for a minute or so before baking, but it can be baked for the entire time.
To perk up his marinara sauce, Zummo adds five or six anchovies, 1 tablespoon minced garlic and 1 tablespoon julienned basil leaves.
Serve the chicken with sauteed green beans and carrots
Chicken Zummo
- 1 banana pepper
- Hot cooked sausage
- 1 (8-ounce) chicken breast
- Romano cheese, grated, to taste
- Parsley, minced, to taste
- Pinch each of salt and pepper
- 2 slices provolone cheese
- 6 or 7 pepperoni slices
- 3 slices thinly cut prosciutto
- 1/2 cup flour
- 1 egg, beaten, for egg wash
- 1/2 cup fine dry bread crumbs
- 1/3 cup bottled marinara sauce (your favorite)
- Vegetable oil for frying
- Fresh basil leaves, for garnish
Trim the top off the banana pepper and stuff it with sausage. Set aside.
Butterfly the chicken breast and place plastic wrap over it. Using a meat mallet or the side of a heavy plate, pound the breast as flat as possible. Remove the plastic wrap and sprinkle the chicken with Romano cheese, parsley and the salt and pepper .
Lay a slice of provolone cheese on top of the center of the chicken, followed by the pepperoni slices. Place the hot banana pepper on top of the pepperoni, followed by the prosciutto . Lay one more slice of cheese on top, then roll up the chicken breast, tucking in the sides. Dredge the chicken in flour, then dip in the egg wash. Coat with the bread crumbs .
If you have a deep-fryer at home, heat the fat to about 350 degrees, then fry the chicken breast for 90 seconds. Finish in a heated 350-degree oven, for about 25 minutes. If you don't have a deep-fryer, bake a little longer in the oven.
Meanwhile, heat the marinara sauce. When the chicken is done, place it on a dinner place and ladle 1/3 cup heated marinara sauce on top. Garnish with fresh basil leaves.
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Primadonna Restaurant is at 801 Broadway Ave., McKees Rocks, (412) 331-1001.
