Simmer

This dish reminds me of summertime as a kid. Growing up we had a vegetable garden and we always grew zucchini—one of those veggies that if you grow some, you get a ton. So my mom was constantly coming up with different ways to use all the zucchini we had hanging around—we had stuffed zucchini, grilled zucchini, zucchini bread, you name it. (I took more zucchini bread to my teachers at school than you can imagine!) This preparation of stewed zucchini was one my favorites. Zucchini with tomatoes and cheese . . . HELLO? What’s not to love???

For years polenta reminded me of the Cream of Wheat my mother used to send me off to school with in the morning. It was totally boring. But once I started making polenta for myself I discovered I LOVED it. My special twist? I fat it up with milk, Parm, Fontina cheese, and mascarpone until it’s creamy, decadent, and delicious. Just remember, the kicker here is to season the liquid with plenty of salt in the beginning—it makes all the difference.

I don’t know if my love of beans comes from living in Tuscany or if I was Tuscan in another life, but I adore beans. And when I want a stick-to-your-ribs side dish, I immediately think of Tuscan white beans. They’re creamy and delicious, and they say, “Put me with pancetta!” And I say, “Sure, I’d be happy to.” Then I toss in a bit of rosemary (but sage would be SOOOOO good here too!) and serve these with a yummy porky main—or just on their own for lunch.

To me cauliflower is an underappreciated vegetable, and for no good reason. It’s one of my very favorites and I return to it again and again for many different preparations. I love it because you can cook it to death, literally hammer it, and it just gets better! I find it goes absolutely beautifully with seared fish and a bright parsley salad—this dish is ballsy, bold, and rustic all at the same time.

I LOOOOOVE dark meat chicken! Especially chicken thighs—they’re succulent and delicious, the perfect portion size (two thighs per person), and they’re cheap. I also love nuts. In this recipe I put these two ingredients together and take the humble chicken thigh to a totally new level. I braise these lovelies with lots of mushrooms and then thicken the sauce with toasted almond purée. The result is a dish that is surprisingly rich and, thanks to the nuts, has an excellent mouthfeel. It’s definitely one of the best recipes I’ve ever come up with.

Everyone thinks of mac and cheese as comfort food, but there’s a lot of bad mac and cheese out there, and frankly, that food makes me UNcomfortable! Great mac and cheese should be creamy and tangy and luscious—it should get me excited with every bite. I promise that this recipe is what mac and cheese should be. And it’s got bacon! What could be better?

When you use my Risotto-Without-a-Recipe technique (opposite), you can flavor it with anything you like. Sweet little rock shrimp, bright lemon, and fresh herbs are one of my favorite combos.

Farro is an ancient grain that’s used in traditional Tuscan and Umbrian cooking—kind of like a cross between barley and wheat berries. I love making farro in the style of risotto—a.k.a. farrotto. By using my Risotto-Without-a-Recipe technique (page 136) and substituting farro for rice, you end up with something rich and chewy and nutty all at the same time. Like risotto, farrotto is a blank canvas for whatever you’re feeling passionate about. Whatever ingredients are in season, whatever flavors you’re in the mood for, whatever’s freshest. Whenever I cook for big events and have to feed a lot of people, I always make farrotto because it’s quick, it doesn’t cost a lot, and it’s a huge crowd pleaser. It’s a win-win-win.

If you wheel your grocery cart down the rice aisle, you will not find “risotto.” Risotto is not a type of rice—it’s a method used for cooking Arborio or Carnaroli rice. And once you learn how to make risotto using my Risotto-Without-a-Recipe method, you’ll be able to make any kind of risotto simply by adding ingredients and flavorings to this basic technique.

These gnocchi are also called malfatti (which translates to “badly made”) or gnudi (which means “nude”) because essentially these are ravioli without the pasta—they’re naked! No matter what you call them, I ADORE these delicate little cheese dumplings. They’re little bundles of spinach and ricotta sitting on top of melted Fontina mixed with heavy cream, mascarpone, and egg yolks. A little bit of this dish goes a long way—right to my booty usually!

I LOOOOOVE meatballs—who doesn’t? This is my interpretation of the classic Italian-American dish. What makes these meatballs special are two things: First, I cook the onions before putting them in the meatball mix. Second, I add water—this helps ensure a moist ball every time!

I used to go to Lupa, Mario Batali’s Roman trattoria on Thompson Street in Manhattan, and eat preserved tuna belly with beans. It was SOOOOO good! The tuna belly—which is a highly underrated ingredient—becomes succulent and delicious when it’s slow-poached, and that’s exactly how I cook it. I use it in a pasta sauce that’s full of tomatoes, fennel, and lots of garlic to create a wonderful tomato-y, perfume-y, olive oil-y dish that just screams of Sicily. One of the great things about tuna belly is that because it’s considered the throwaway part of the fish, it’s really cheap. You have to spend some time cleaning it, but usually if you pay a bit more you can get it already prepped from your fishmonger (much easier!). If you can’t find tuna belly or don’t feel like making it, a good substitute is Sicilian tuna packed in olive oil.

When I’m in the mood for tomato sauce, Amatriciana is my go-to. It’s all about onions, spicy tomatoes, and pork products. Guanciale—cured pork jowl—is the key here. It has a sweeter, more interesting flavor than bacon. In a pinch, pancetta can be substituted, and in a double pinch bacon will suffice (though it does add a smokier flavor, so be warned). What else can I say? This sauce makes me want to dive into the bowl head first with my mouth wide open!

I love beans—any time, any way. And while my preference is to cook my own beans (see page 55), I’m the first to admit that sometimes a can of beans is a lifesaver. For this recipe in particular I have no problems using canned beans, and you shouldn’t either. Having a few cans in the pantry means whipping up this dish is easy—it’s one of my very favorite things to make when I want something super comforting to slurp up and stick to my belly while sitting around watching TV on a Sunday afternoon.

When I was working in Tuscany during porcini season I always wanted to go foraging for mushrooms, but the Italians are so secretive about where they find their prized porcini that I could never convince anyone to take me with them. So, while I never got to go hunting for fresh porcini, I did learn how to use dried ones to make this gorgeous sauce. If you’ve never used them before, dried porcini are a fantastic way to add a huge bump of mushroomy goodness to almost anything. And, because you have to soak them first, you get the added benefit of the fastest, most flavorful vegetarian stock ever; one that you can then add to your sauce to give it an even richer, earthier boost of flavor—just like I do here.

Chicken soup is so comforting on so many levels, and it’s a cinch to whip up a pot of your own rather than opening a can (which is not that healthy, by the way). And here’s a tip: If you’re going to make a little, you might as well make a lot and toss the leftovers in the freezer.

I love this soup because it’s my favorite color and the garnishes bump up the fancy factor! It’s also totally seasonal—what could be more autumnal than a pretty pumpkin soup with spiced whipped cream and crispy leeks?

I’m a bean lover but chickpeas are my favorite, so I make them the star of this spicy, satisfying rustic soup. I top off this bowl of comfort with some crispy, crunchy croutons and a drizzle of big fat finishing oil, and it takes me right back to Tuscany!

I admit that the first time a customer requested hamentaschen I had to go to the local kosher bakery to see what the person was talking about. But then I recognized them immediately and I quickly fell in love with every variety of light pastry stuffed with jam. Use any preserve or jam in the center that you like, but I’ve included a recipe for my favorite blackberry filling. You can sub in a different berry without trouble, with the exception of raspberries, which tend to be very watery and don’t, for the most part, thicken up all that well.

These are like sweet little gnocchi wading in a deep purple pool. Aside from being fun to make, the cheese and lemony-mint dumplings play off the sweet, warmly spiced compote and combine into a lighthearted dessert adored by young and old alike. I always like to hide a serving or two away to save for breakfast in the morning.