Alex Guarnaschelli Told Us Her Favorite Italian American Cooking Tips - Exclusive Interview

You don't have to have Italian heritage to love spaghetti and meatballs or frequent a checked-tablecloth red sauce joint. But if you're heading into the kitchen to whip up some tiramisu, it's always nice to have a secret family recipe up your sleeve. No Nonna? No problem. Chef Alex Guarnaschelli's new cookbook, "Italian American Forever," comes out on October 15th, 2024, ready to help you make a marinara sauce that would make her grandmother proud.

You've seen chef Guarnaschelli on "Iron Chef America," "Chopped," and "Ciao House," where she flaunts her incredible culinary talent and her passion for her Italian heritage. Her cookbooks, however, are a peek into how she cooks for the people she loves, and her latest book is no different. If you want to show people you love them with lobster fra diavolo and lasagna (à la Carmela Soprano, of course), then you won't want to miss Guarnaschelli's latest tome. The Iron Chef took a few minutes to walk us through the tips and tricks that make these iconic dishes so beloved — the things that, in Guarnaschelli's words, people always want to eat.

You released a cookbook, "Cook It Up: Bold Moves for Family Foods," with your daughter Ava last year, and are now following it up with another family-focused cookbook, "Italian American Forever." What has it been like to focus on family recipes in these two different ways?

I think there's this side of every chef that's this restaurant chef, and then there's the side that's the personal experience, and I guess it's mostly what you cook in a restaurant and professionally versus what you eat at home. And so the family side is great to explore.

So many recipes in "Italian American Forever" are go-tos, even outside of Italian-American families. What do you think makes these classics so universally beloved?

I just think people love to eat them. I think people never get sick of cooking them or eating them. They find both parts of the equation so rewarding. It's the kind of food that people will buy when they are out, and the kind of food people will also experiment with at home.

You have your own takes on these classic recipes, starting with a few ways to make Caesar dressing a little less polarizing. You eliminate egg yolk, and also offer canned tuna as an alternative to anchovies. How should home cooks go about picking the right canned tuna for this swap?

Albacore tuna packed in oil. Get the oil instead of water.

There are some great tips hidden in your meatball recipe. First, why do you reach for curly parsley over flat leaf parsley here?

It has a stronger taste, and that can stand up to the meat and the salt of the cheese.

You also advise cooking the meatballs to medium rare, letting them cool, and then finishing them in the sauce. What does this do to enhance the meatball flavor and texture?

It's more about not thinking that you have to cook a meatball for five hours before you eat them. A meatball is just a hamburger's cousin, so I think we don't need to cook them all day. They just need to be cooked medium ... and still tender once they're in the sauce.

People talk about family recipes for marinara sauce, but you've got three — your mom's with a soffritto, your dad's with passata, and your grandma's with pancetta. What does each recipe bring to the table that you can't get from the others?

I don't know if it's a matter of what you can't get. It's more that each recipe offers a unique take. For my mother, it's the vegetable and the vegetal nature of her sauce, and then the natural sweetness from the carrots. And then my father's is more like the classic red sauce joint with a lot of tomato paste and really deep tomato flavor.

Then the pancetta one, I wanted one where there was meat, but something a little bit more unusual than a classic bolognese. I don't think pork and cuts of pork are naturally the go-to with tomato sauce, and it's so delicious that I wanted there to be definitely vegetarian versions and then one with meat.

Why is the Cheater's Carbonara your preferred version? What does the addition of cream do to help you make a successful dish?

You're not dealing with such an acute possibility of ending up with an omelet. The cream — it's like a mediator in a divorce.

There's a final splash of red wine vinegar in both of your carbonara recipes, which you don't usually see. In your book, you recommend Regina as your go-to brand. What inspired you to add that extra touch?

I never think you can have enough acidity, especially when there's so much fat in a recipe.

You mention using leftovers as a filling for your stromboli. What's something to keep in mind when grabbing things from the fridge to put inside?

I don't put in anything raw that's going to weep liquid when it bakes, so anything really cooked already or anything that doesn't have a tremendous amount of liquid in it is key.

There's a huge range of canned tomato products out there. Are there certain times or specific products that you'd recommend splurging a bit on, versus times when a budget-friendly option will get the job done?

I never like to talk about when people should buy more expensive things necessarily, because this is the type of book where I want everybody to feel like they can make everything. I'd like people to decide for themselves, and I don't want them to think that the only way they're going to get great quality is by buying the most expensive stuff.

What is your favorite Italian grocery store in NYC? Is there something you always pick up, even if it's not on your list?

In the book, I talk about a place called Di Palo's, on Grand Street, which is the corner of the beginning and end of what remains of Little Italy. And inside are two brothers and a sister who operate the business that they grew up in, operated by their parents. And when I say to you I would literally buy anything in that store, I mean don't ask me to pick because every last thing ...

There are shelves of dried pasta and anchovies, all the pantry staples that you can buy. And then when you walk deeper into the store, and it's not huge, then you get into the case with the cheeses and the meats and all the antipasti. They do pre-made things like eggplant parm and lasagna. That's delicious. I literally wouldn't know what to tell people to buy. It'd be easier if I told you what not to buy, and the answer is nothing.

Where do you buy fresh pasta in NYC?

I like the fresh pasta at Eataly. They have a really good counter there with ravioli, so they have filled pastas and they have just tagliatelle and fettuccine and things like that, so you could really get anything there. And they sell it by the pound, or even the half-pound.

Are there certain pastas you usually buy fresh instead of dried?

That's hard because it depends on what I'm making. I don't have a hard and steady rule. Sometimes I like [pasta] fresh, sometimes I like it dry.

[There is] a page in the book where I pair certain pastas with sauces, because there is a lot of confusion about that. [But] I'm just offering suggestions, because I feel like people get really emotional about this stuff. People are like, "No, I'm not using penne for that. Are you crazy?" It's kind of kooky.

On the one hand, I offer my thoughts and suggestions, but I leave it there because people have some serious ideas, and they're pretty passionate. I'm getting some handwritten letters. You know what I'm saying?

What is your favorite NYC slice of pizza?

Favorite slice of pizza? Oh, boy. There's so many. Stylistically, I like Scarr's. Oh, and I love — but it's in Jersey City — Razza. And yes, it's worth going to.

Do you have go-to toppings?

Nothing. Tomato, cheese. Boring.

Do you have a favorite Italian bakery? What is your go-to order?

I'm going to get a sfogliatelle at Ferrara Bakery with coffee. I'm going to sit there, and they're warm. Or probably the pignoli cookies, the pine nut ones with a gallon of almond extract.

"Italian American Forever" is available for preorder, and will be on bookstore shelves starting on October 15th, 2024.

This interview has been edited for clarity.