“My mother always used white vinegar instead of lemon juice because lemon makes the ricotta tart.”

8 ½ cups whole milk 
⅓ cup white vinegar
1 teaspoon salt

Pour milk into a saucepan set over medium heat. Heat milk for about 5 minutes. Remove from heat. Stir in vinegar and salt slowly into the warmed milk. Let stand until milk curdles, 10–15 minutes. Line a fine-mesh strainer with cheesecloth and place it over a large bowl. Pour milk mixture carefully into the lined strainer. Let stand until most of the liquid has drained off the ricotta, about 15 minutes. Discard drained liquid.

“I rarely get to play Italian. I was really glad to get to unload a lot of my Italian nuance into this character.”

For the meatballs:

2 pounds ground meat (can be all beef, or can be 1 pound beef and 1 pound pork)

Soft white bread/roll — a dinner roll/slider-size amount of soft white bread soaked in enough milk that it all gets wet but there’s not a lot of excess milk)

2–3 large cloves garlic, microplaned 

1 large, minced shallot

5–10 stalks Italian parsley, finely chopped leaves 

3 eggs

10 large basil leaves (optional) — chiffonade the leaves

Pecorino Romano grated cheese (wedges usually come in 7- or 8-ounce portions; use ½ to ¾ of the wedge)

Good amount of salt and black pepper

For the sauce:
3 cans (28 ounces/1 pound) of Bianco DiNapoli whole canned tomatoes

Half a tube of tomato paste

1 large yellow/sweet onion, diced small

6 cloves garlic, diced

3–4 fresh bay leaves (bay leaves have a great flavor that comes through only when you use fresh leaves … dried leaves pale in comparison)

3–4 stalks fresh basil (chiffonade 20 or so leaves plus more to garnish)

10 shakes dried oregano

5 shakes dried thyme

5–10 shakes red pepper flakes (depending on your heat tolerance)

Good amount of salt and black pepper

2–3 glugs dry white or red wine (preferably Italian grapes)

Extra-virgin olive oil — depending on what’s left from cooking the meatballs, add enough back in to coat the bottom of the pot 

For the meatballs:

Mix with your hands and incorporate everything well — don’t go crazy, but make sure it’s all together. Pull out a marble-size amount of the meat and cook in olive oil to taste if the seasoning is working. If it needs more salt, add more salt; more cheese, add more cheese; more pepper, etc. In a large pot, heat up enough good extra-virgin olive oil to coat the bottom. Roll the balls to your size preference — golf ball to plum-size is recommended. Sear the balls in the olive oil … doesn’t have to be every square inch of the exterior (2 sides is fine), just enough that the balls will keep their shape once you transfer them into the sauce to finish their cooking. Transfer the seared balls onto a plate, platter, or sheet pan –– whatever you’ve got –– and let them hang out until your sauce is ready. 

For the sauce:

In the same large pot that you seared your meatballs, add in more olive oil if needed and start getting it hot. (You want those cooked meatball bits at the bottom and the cooked oil to help flavor your sauce.) Add in your diced onion and stir for a minute or so … then add in some salt and pepper, red pepper flake, dried oregano, and thyme, and stir again. Add in your diced garlic, fresh bay leaves, and the basil stalks, and stir. Let that all cook for another minute. Make sure the garlic doesn’t brown too much. Squirt half a tube of tomato paste into the onions and garlic and stir. Cook for 1–2 minutes, then pour in 2–3 glugs of wine, stir, and let simmer for a minute … there should be enough in the mixture that it can reduce but not evaporate. The mixture should be wet, but not too liquid. Remove the basil stalks. 

Open the cans of Bianco DiNapoli whole tomatoes. Break them up before adding to the pot (do it over the pot with your hands if you’re comfortable with that, or just pour them into a big bowl and break them up in there, then add to the pot.) * Open the cans in advance so they’re ready to go in when you get to this step.

Stir everything together and let it come to a simmer. Season to taste: Add some salt and pepper and the fresh chiffonade basil. Once it has simmered for 10–15 minutes, add in the seared meatballs and continue to simmer for a further 15 minutes. 

In another pot with boiling salted water, add your favorite pasta. Make sure to drain it when it’s al dente (a minute under what is recommended on the box). Then put the pasta back in the pot, and ladle in enough sauce onto to coat thoroughly, so they absorb the sauce and don’t stick. Plate the pasta with the meatballs, add more sauce, grated Pecorino Romano, some chiffonade basil, and some good extra-virgin olive oil. 

“This was one of my go-to pastas when I was living in Rome. And I invented it, mostly because, since it was my own recipe, no one could tell me the right way to do it. And now my daughter Eva has perfected it, and she tells me how to do it.”

2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil

2 cloves garlic, diced

½ large onion, diced

1 jar (8 ounces) of sun-dried tomatoes, drained and diced

1 small log of goat cheese

8 ounces of penne or farfalle pasta

Salt and pepper, to taste

Start by boiling the pasta water. I always add 4 tablespoons of sea salt to the pot, but this is optional. Meanwhile, heat the olive oil in a large sauté pan over medium heat. Add the garlic and onions and sauté until the onion is translucent. Then add the sun-dried tomatoes, stirring occasionally for about 3 more minutes. Next, lower the heat to low and add the log of goat cheese, breaking it up with the spoon. Stir until the goat cheese melts and becomes uniform with the rest of the sauce. Season to taste with salt and pepper and turn the burner off. At this point, the water should be boiling in the pot, so add the pasta. If the water boils while you are still doing the above steps for the sauce, add the pasta earlier.

Cook the pasta according to the package directions, about 10 minutes, until the pasta is al dente (soft but with a firm bite). Before you drain the pasta, reserve a cup of the cooking liquid and set aside. Drain the pasta and turn the flame back on medium-low under the sauce, and add half of the cup of cooking liquid, stirring as it heats in the pan and loosens the sauce into a more creamy consistency. This amount of cooking liquid should be enough to loosen the sauce but if you would like it looser, just add more liquid, little by little. Now return the pasta to the pan with the sauce and toss to coat. Turn off the heat, and enjoy!

“Food was another language in our house. Food has an ability to convey feeling and emotion and history and past and legacy. The recipes were passed down not on paper but by showing. When people take time and effort to make you something, it tastes amazing because it’s made with love.”

2 cans (14 ½ ounces) whole tomatoes

1 large onion, chopped

1 green bell pepper, chopped

2 cloves peeled garlic

1 tablespoon fresh or dried basil, chopped 

1 tablespoon fresh or dried oregano, chopped 

6 links Italian sausage, hot or sweet  

¼ teaspoon pepper

2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil

¼ cup fresh parsley

In a medium saucepan, add olive oil, onion, green pepper, and 6 links on medium heat. Slice garlic cloves in half and add to the pan. When garlic is brown, add tomatoes (which you can break up), add pepper and salt to taste, and cook for approximately 1 hour on medium heat, stirring with a wooden spoon. Add basil, reduce heat to simmer with cover off, and let simmer for 30 minutes, stirring. If the sauce is too thin, add an 8-ounce can of tomato sauce or paste. Also, add a 28-ounce jar of Victoria marinara sauce for additional flavor.