Story Moments Introductions to Gloucester's History and Culture

St. Joseph Pasta


2 cans (about 1 pound) chick peas with juices (not drained)
4 heads of cauliflower washed and cut up in 2 inch pieces
1 cup fennel fronds (the feathery leaves at the end of fennel stalks)
Olive oil
8 chicken boullion cubes
1 49.5-ounce can of chicken broth
1 pound dried fava beans, soaked in pot of water for 24 hours and shelled
Kosher salt and pepper to taste
8 cups water
Home-made St. Joseph fettucini pasta, cooked



  1. Drain the fava beans, shelled, and place in fresh water in pot. Cook beans on high heat until fork-tender.

  2. Cover the bottom of a large stockpot with olive oil, and add cauliflower. Sauté 3 to 5 minutes.

  3. Add fennel fronds, chick peas, and cooked fava beans. Cover with chicken broth and 8 cups of water. Add chicken bouillon cubes. Drizzle top of mixture with olive oil.

  4. Lower heat and cook until cauliflower is cooked through. Season with salt and pepper. This goranza, or sauce, is going to look like a slightly thick soup.

  5. Serve over cooked home-made St. Joseph fettucini pasta.


Heather Atwood, Gloucester Daily Times

In Gloucester, the novenas for St. Joseph begin nine days before his feast day, which is the third Saturday of March. In years past, Gloucester’s Sicilian women gathered afternoon and night to sing the rosary and pray to Joseph for sick friends and family, for relatives lost at sea, to help in times of distress, and quite specifically to help with work.