Wooster Street, New Haven, CT

The wife’s aunt came up to visit from Florida this past week.  She grew up here until she was a teenager and moved south.  Every time she comes up here she has one thing on her mind: New Haven Pizza.  The amount of pizza I ate this past week is some kind of record I’m sure.  Anyone that knows me knows I can’t refuse pizza.  Especially good pizza.

Her last night here we were sitting around the house completely stuffed from the crepes she had made for breakfast when she had an epiphany.  “I’m leaving tomorrow!  Let’s go to Wooster Street!”  So I loosened up my belt and hopped in the car.  A short time later we were staring at the neon white, green, and red sign that marks the beginning of Little Italy in New Haven, CT.  

Our first stop was not the normal Pepe’s or Sally’s.  We were pizza’d out.  We had graduated to calzones, stuffed breads, and pastries.  First stop – Abate’s.  We strutted into the obscure side door of the building and ordered up a spinach and meatball calzone.  It of course came with mozzarella and ricotta.  And 2 sides of sauce.  After ordering the calzone (and being told it would take 20 minutes) we headed next door to Anastasio’s. There we ordered stuffed bread with broccoli and sausage.  We were also offered a bite sized sample of their broccoli pastry rollups, an appetizer on their dining room menu.  It only took a couple of minutes to make and was delicious.  Our last food stop was Libby’s, well known for their Italian ice and pastries.  I was outside moving the car so the wife and aunt went in.  They emerged with two café mochas and a box full of assorted cannolis.  Once all the food and people were packed into the car we raced back home to eat.

This calzone was amazing.  It was, for the most part, a very large pizza sans sauce folded in half like a giant overstuffed baked Italian style empanada.  When we cut into it the spinach was very nicely layered with sliced meatballs, salty cheeses, and a touch of garlic and herbs.  Doused with some marinara sauce it was a complete meal in one dish.  Meat, vegetable, dairy, and breads.  I ate way too much of it (of course) and even helped myself to seconds.  

Anastasio’s makes their stuffed breads to order and you don’t have to order it a day ahead.  When we received it the loaf was hot a fresh right out of the oven.  Upon slicing the bread the innards of broccoli, sausage and cheese were revealed.  I’m not a huge fan of sweet sausage (usually too much fennel for me), but this sausage was not overpowering like most you get in the area.  It was very lean as apparent by the lack of grease dripping out of the bread.  Slight hints of garlic, salt, pepper and a mixture of other seasonings released from the bread filling as I bit into it.  The filling was moist and the bread was crispy on the outside and still doughy on the inside.  

Having gorged myself on the savory, I rested for a few minutes before attacking the sweets.  We had cannolis of every kind.  Regular ricotta filled, coconut, peanut butter, chocolate, and I think one was chocolate mousse.  I knew I would not be able to eat them all, so I sampled a few.  They were all out of this world.  The coconut was the first I tasted with its chocolate dipped shell and shredded coconut mixed into the creamy filling adding texture to the normally smooth inside.  Then I tried the chocolate mousse, and it was just as it sounds.  A cannoli shell filled with decadent chocolate mousse rather than the traditional filling.  Finally, I had to have a bite of the peanut butter.  The filling was smooth and creamy and slightly denser than the plain filling.  You could see that peanut butter had been marbled in but not completely mixed with the ricotta.  The chocolate topped shell with peanut chips put this one over the top.  Although I was completely stuffed, I felt as if I could have devoured the entire box of cannolis.  I would have been sick afterwards, but I’m pretty sure I could have done it.

So, next time your in New Haven be sure to visit Wooster Street.  If you’ve already had the pizza, go for something a little different.  But always finish off with pastries from Libby’s.