Good-for-You Italian Cooking : Nutrition: Ethnic cooking can still meet low-fat, low-salt and low-calorie menu restrictions.

Pretend they are filming a scene at Villa Scalabrini Retirement Center, an eight-acre retirement complex in Sun Valley.

The tranquil, well-manicured gardens, the air of peace and serenity, the imported Rococo Italian lobby furniture, the sprinkling of snow white heads everywhere, the unexpected bronze bust of Jimmy Durante, the sun striking imposing shadows on his ample nose. What was it Durante would say whenever he signed off? One forgets. Ah, well.

Robert DeNiro could play Father Mario Trecco, the villa’s executive director, who also is editor of the Italian American newspaper L’Italio-Americano, operated in the basement. Strike that. Genial Father Trecco could play himself.

Sister Elina Pizzicaroli, the jolly, smiling, kindly assistant superior of the retirement community must play herself. The casting and costuming is perfect. Pure white from head to toe.

Elvira Fragiacomo, the service supervisor, is also perfectly cast, as she checks off the menu with the cook: “tortellini soup, check, orange chicken, check, green beans, check . . . “ All accounted for and ready to serve.

The real benefactor of the retirement center, Frank Sinatra, can be co-producer. The director? Maybe Woody Allen. We need someone with heart here.

It’s St. Joseph’s Day, lunchtime, a pre-Easter celebration.

Mother Mary, a looming wooden statue is decorated with blossoms and has two huge fresh floral bouquets at her feet. She overlooks the low-salt, low-cholesterol, low-fat lunch bunch who, in their golden years, are filing into the cheerful dining room off the well-kept gardens.

Ralph Salvatore, the first resident to arrive at the site in Sun Valley back in 1979, stops to remind Father Trecco of his seniority, adding a few taps of his cane for emphasis. “Yes, yes,” replies Father Trecco. “You were the first resident at Scalabrini, and a wonderful gardener.” Today the complex houses some 150 residents, 80% of them Italian-Americans.

The shimmering green decorations hanging since St. Patrick’s Day gleam around the dining room.

“Doesn’t matter,” says Father Trecco. “What St. Patrick’s Day is to the Irish, St. Joseph’s Day is to Italians,” he explained. “So we celebrate both days.”

St. Joseph, you may remember, is the husband of the Virgin Mary and step-father of Jesus. St. Jospeh’s Day, celebrated in many Catholic countries around the world, honors the patron saint of carpenters.

For this scene, we need to show the essence of “family,” and what that means to Father Trecco--or Italians, for that matter.

“We try,” said Father Trecco, “to have people here who are happy. We don’t want people who feel imprisoned or brought against their will. If the food is good, the environment is a happy one that projects concern in the ‘family’ sense, the person will have the strength to overcome daily adversities. That’s our philosophy.”

Meals are one of the most important elements of wellness for the elderly residents, so it is imperative to make mealtimes the pleasant, happy occasions they seem to be, and have food so well prepared that the most discerning residents, themselves great cooks in their day, could not say “boo.”

There are, of course, debates over how much garlic a dish should have, but that is natural among Italians whose cooking is regionally varied.

“Garlic is the one thing we hear arguments about every day,” said an administrator.

Never mind. The debate is strictly academic, in the true spirit of il convivio , a camaraderie that occurs whenever Italians meet around the table, whether it is to laugh or cry, praise or scorn.

So in order to solve the problem of garlic, those who want more garlic than the cook’s palate would endure, could--and do--bring their own.

The fact that all the food is cooked with minimum sodium, fat, cholesterol, sugar and calories has been collectively approved--and wanted. So there are pink place mats for diabetics, yellow for very low sodium-restricted dieters and white for the normally low-salt, sugar, fat, cholesterol, calorie group.

Back in the kitchen Fragiacomo, the dietary supervisor, has the ever-desperate look of Joan Fontaine lin the movie “Rebecca.” “What is it you want, Father? Tortellini with marinara? Without marinara? With or without the broth? How, how?”

It’s a question of props. Father Trecco, takes over. “Bring the tortellini with the broth and put some marinara over it so it looks like the real thing, but isn’t. The photograph cannot taste, after all.”

The menu had a festive ring, even though not exactly what one would envision a typically Italian Easter menu to be.

It began with tortellini soup, which was dished up at the table-side carts. The orange chicken, rather sweet, but very good, was accompanied with green beans and rice pilaf. Panettone, an imported Easter sweet bread with raisins, was served with ice cream.

The recipe for the spaghetti sauce is in quantity size measures for occasions when cooking for a crowd is necessary. However, it may be frozen in smaller portions for later use. Increase the quantity of meat and spices to suit personal taste. Meat can be formed into meat balls to add to the sauce while cooking. Some cooks think that quantity cooking saves time and money in the long run, provided the food is actually used and not wasted.

The stuffed artichokes are typical of Southern Italian cuisine. The recipe is simple and can be handled easily by novice cooks.

Pretend that the camera is moving out of the dining room and into the garden where Jimmy Durante’s bust stands. Slowly the camera closes on the face, the nose and then . . . it all comes back. “Goodnight, Mrs. Calabash, wherever you are.” That was it.

SCALABRINI ORANGE GLAZE

CHICKEN

1 chicken, cut into pieces

Flour

Salt, pepper

1 orange, thinly sliced

2 tablespoons brown sugar, packed

1/2 cup cup orange juice

1/2 teaspoon grated orange zest

1 tablespoon margarine, melted

Dash dry mustard

Dash allspice

Dredge chicken with flour seasoned to taste with salt and pepper, if desired. Place in shallow pan. Top with orange slices.

Combine brown sugar, orange juice, orange zest, butter, mustard and allspice. Season to taste with salt and pepper and pour over chicken and oranges.

Bake at 350 degrees 1 hour or until chicken is glazed, basting once or twice during baking. Makes 4 servings.

SPAGHETTI MEAT SAUCE FOR 50

1 1/2 quarts finely chopped celery

1 1/2 quarts finely chopped onions

1/2 cup oil

4 pounds ground beef

4 1/2 quarts tomato puree

Salt

1/4 to 1/2 cup sugar

1 quart tomato juice

1 teaspoon ground dried oregano

1 teaspoon garlic powder

1/2 teaspoon ground cloves

1 teaspoon ground dried thyme

1/2 teaspoon dried basil

Beef broth

Brown celery and onions in oil in heavy kettle, stirring occasionally, until onions are golden.

Add ground beef and cook, stirring over medium heat, until meat is broken up and well browned. Drain meat and vegetables well in colander, discarding fat.

Return meat and vegetables to kettle. Add tomato puree, salt, sugar and tomato juice. Mix well. Cook, uncovered, over low heat, stirring occasionally, 1 1/2 hours. Sauce should just be barely simmering.

Add oregano, garlic powder, cloves, thyme and basil to sauce. Mix well. Simmer, stirring occasionally, 30 minutes.

If sauce is too thick, add beef broth, 1 cup at time, until desired consistency. Makes enough sauce for 50 servings.

Note: If spicier sauce is desired, increase amounts of oregano and garlic powder to 2 teaspoons each. Amount of beef may be increased to 8 pounds, 12 ounces if served as meat balls, making 2 ounces of meat per person.

STUFFED ARTICHOKES ITALIAN STYLE

4 to 6 artichokes

Lemon juice

2 cups dry bread crumbs

1/4 cup olive oil

2 to 3 cloves garlic, minced

1/2 cup chopped parsley

Salt, pepper

Clean and remove chokes from artichokes. Trim off leaf tips. Brush with lemon juice. Combine bread crumbs, 2 tablespoons olive oil, garlic, parsley and salt and pepper to taste. Stuff centers and between leaves of artichokes with breading.

Place artichokes snugly upright in baking pan. Fill half way with water. Drizzle remaining 2 tablespoons oil over artichoke tops.

Cover and bake at 350 degrees 1 1 /2 hours or until artichokes are tender. Makes 4 to 6 servings.