Benvenuto, Agosto! Please click on the headline at the top of this post to read it in its entirety. And while you’re there, tap the little heart. Thank you!

This week, I’m teaming up with my friend and fellow cookbook author , who writes the newsletter Colu Cooks. Colu and I have devised a late-summer menu starring recipes from our cookbooks, and we think you’re going to love it: Prosciutto with Quick-Pickled Melon; Battered Pecorino Cutlets with Sungolds and Crushed Olive Salsa; Summer Squash Salad with Toasted Pine Nuts and Blue Cheese; and Sbrisolona, a giant crumbly cookie meant for breaking into pieces and sharing (bonus: it’s extra delicious with a scoop of vanilla ice cream on top!).

Below you’ll also find my Q & A with Colu. Be sure to click over to Colu’s newsletter to read her Q & A with me.

If you’re new to Buona Domenica, you can browse the newsletter archives here, and the full index of recipes (278 and counting!) here. A paid subscription gives you access to all archived newsletters and recipes, as well as The Winelist, a monthly column by Scott Vance. We appreciate your support.

Subscribe now

For those of us who love to cook, August is the best time to be in the kitchen, crazy as it sounds. It’s a chance to get creative, to showcase the wealth of ingredients that this month has to offer—tomatoes, melons, summer squashes and much more—and an opportunity to share that wealth with our friends and family. Right now I’m on a break from recipe testing. My goal for August is this: cooking for fun and for the creative satisfaction it brings.

And what better way to get creative in the kitchen than to team up with a creative cook? My friend is that cook, and she and I have put together a four-course late-summer Italian menu for you. You might already know Colu—she is a fellow food writer and author of the popular newsletter Colu Cooks here on Substack. She’s also the author of three cookbooks, including her most recent, Better at Home, a collection of simple but sophisticated dishes for entertaining.

Colu and I met nine years ago when her first book, Back Pocket Pasta, was published. I had the pleasure of interviewing her at an event in D.C. I wrote above that Colu is a food writer, and she is, but she has been many things—a barista, a cocktail waitress, a cabaret singer (!), fashion and restaurant PR person. These days she splits her time between Hudson, N.Y. and rural Nova Scotia, where she and her husband are restoring a farmhouse.

Coincidentally, both Colu and I had new books published this past spring—Better at Home for her and Italian Cookies for me. Naturally, we turned to each other’s books for inspiration for our menu. I chose a main dish and a side from Better at Home, and Colu chose dessert from Italian Cookies. To round out the meal, we added an appetizer from an earlier book of mine, Williams-Sonoma Rustic Italian.

We also gave each other four questions to answer, to provide a little insight into our creative cooking process. My Q & A with Colu is below. And be sure to click over to Colu Cooks to read her Q & A with me.

You’ll find links to all the recipes following the Q & A. Hopefully we’ve inspired you to bring friends together for some easy entertaining with some delicious summer food.

COLU AND DOMENICA’S SUMMER MENU

ANTIPASTO: Prosciutto with Quick-Pickled Melon

MAIN DISH: Battered Pecorino Cutlets with Sungolds and Crushed Olive Salsa

VEGETABLE: Summer Squash Salad with Toasted Pine Nuts and Blue Cheese

DESSERT: Sbrisolona ~ a big crumbly cornmeal cookie for sharing

WINE PAIRINGS: The Winelist’s recommends Vermentino from Liguria, a dry white wine with crisp acidity and flavors of citrus, peaches and green herbs, for the antipasto and main courses; and for the Sbrisolona, an Italian passito, made with partially dried grapes, such as Recioto della Valpolicella from the Veneto, or Vin Santo, from Tuscany.

Links to all the recipes follow the Q & A.

Share

Q & A WITH COLU HENRY

BUONA DOMENICA: Most cookbooks (the best ones, anyway, IMO) come about organically. Meaning there is an idea, or a seed that plants itself inside your head and flourishes until it really can’t be ignored. At least that’s how it seems to work for me. I don’t know if this is true for Better at Home, but it feels that way to me in that the recipes seem beautifully aligned. They’re at once casual but also creative and a little special, and together they create a lovely aesthetic for easy entertaining. I’m wondering what your inspiration was for the book.

COLU HENRY: Better at Home did indeed come about organically. It is a reflection of where I primarily spend my time (Hudson and Nova Scotia) and the friends that sit at the table. The title came out of real conversations Chad and I would have about what to make for dinner. What did we want, were there any cravings that needed satiating or did we want to go out? And, for the most part, always coming back to the concept that it’s just “better at home.” Don’t get me wrong, I love going out to dinner. I grew up working FOH in restaurants and it’s magic, but at the end of most days, I’d rather be cooking in my kitchen and know who’s coming through the door. The recipes followed from there, the A Lobster Dip Welcome I make people when they arrive at the cottage, the Sweet Corn and New Potato Chowder I made after a long day trip with my friend Deanne, and of course, A Christmas Lasagna, which I make every year with our friends Dan and Helen. Most of the dishes in the book tell a story, and if they don’t, I want readers to be able to create their own with whoever they are cooking with or for.

BD: In the beginning of the book you present a pared down yet really eclectic list of pantry items that make repeated appearances in the book. Talk about some of your favorite pantry ingredients and how you make this limited pantry strategy work in your (the cook’s) favor.

CH: I love my pantry! Back Pocket Pasta was a pantry book at heart, albeit an elevated one, and I’m still a firm believer that if you shop seasonally and keep a well-stocked pantry, you can pull together something beautiful. I kept this section of this book tightly edited because I want cooks to get more than one use out of an ingredient; it just gives you more options to make more recipes from the book.

I’ll admit I lean on Castelvetrano olives, ‘nduja, and sesame seeds a lot. I know this, but I also think they each add something wonderful to the recipes they’re called for. If I had to name a few more pantry staples, they’d be dried mint (wildly underrated), anchovies, Calabrian chile paste, lemons, fish sauce, fried shallots, and miso. OK fine, soy sauce and sesame oil too. Oy, I do have a problem. But, they do all add lovely flavor components to meals. I can’t tell you how many times I’m cooking and tasting and reaching for one of these to add a bit more oomph to what I’m making. They take good meals to great ones.

BD: You are named for your great-grandmother Maria Nicola, who was from the province of Avellino, in Campania. Your Italian background was evident in your first book, Back Pocket Pasta. The influence also shows up in Better at Home, but in a different, maybe in a less obvious way. Can you tell us about how your Italian side has influenced your palate and cooking?

CH: Cooking with Italian ingredients is something that comes naturally to me as they are how I first got comfortable in the kitchen and are flavors I grew up with. Sometimes, I’ll begin cooking something and then instinctually start adding a bit of pancetta here or some ‘nduja there and all of a sudden I realize “there she goes again!” I think it’s muscle memory at the end of the day. With Back Pocket Pasta, the Italian ingredients were front and center. In Better at Home, the ingredients are used more thoughtfully and woven into dishes that aren’t necessarily Italian at all.

A good example is the Italian Shrimp Toast. I love dim sum and thought it could be a fun play on the Cantonese dish to make it Italian-American and I was pretty pleased with myself about that. When I get to be playful and creative about it is when it really feels satisfying.

BD: What are your three desert island dishes/foods?

CH: This is a tough one. I thought I knew, but then I read yours and I would happily be eating Spaghetti alle vongole, Eggplant Parmesan and Key lime pie (all my favorites, I ate Parm and pie last night actually) with you on your island! But for the sake of both our newsletters, I will say with no rhyme or reason…

Fried Chicken
Pork Wontons in Chili oil
Cold Sesame Noodles
With lots of Tavel rosé and Oregon Pinot Noir to drink, of course.

I love all those dishes, and the wine pairings. Grazie, Colu!

* * * * * * * *

Readers: what are your three desert island dishes?

Leave a comment

Share Buona Domenica

COLU AND DOMENICA’S MENU

ANTIPASTO: Prosciutto with Quick-Pickled Melon

Marinating ripe melon balls in a sweet and sour brine spiked with chile pepper turns the classic combination of prosciutto and melon into something fresh and new. This is especially welcomed on a sweltering late summer afternoon or evening.

Click on the button below for a link to the full printable recipe:

Prosciutto with Quick Pickled Melon

MAIN DISH: Battered Pecorino Cutlets with Sungolds and Crushed Olive Salsa

From Colu Henry’s headnote in Better at Home:

Chicken cutlets are upgraded and battered in an egg and cheese mixture that is almost Francese-like and deeply savory. The cutlets shallow-fry until they are golden, and the bright tomatoes and olive salsa that they’re topped with gives them a nice jolt of acidity. I call for Sungolds here, which are readily available in the summertime. If you find yourself in another season, grape or cherry tomatoes will also work well.

Click on the button below for the full printable recipe:

Colu's Battered Pecorino Cutlets

VEGETABLE: Summer Squash Salad with Toasted Pine Nuts and Blue Cheese

From Colu Henry’s headnote in Better at Home:

One of my favorite ways to entertain this time of year is to make a number of vegetable salads such as this that can be served at room temperature. When guests arrive, all you need to do is fire up the grill and cook one thing, be it fish, steak, or otherwise and let the sides steal the show. They’ve waited all year to do so, so let them enjoy their time.

Click on the button below for the full printable recipe:

Colu's Summer Squash Salad

DESSERT: Sbrisolona

This giant crumbly cookie is a specialty of Mantua, in Lombardy.

Also known as torta sbrisolona, the name of this cookie roughly translates to “crumbly cake.” The cookie was once upon a time prepared by farmers using simple ingredients that they were likely to have on hand—flour, cornmeal, sugar, a little lard or butter, and almonds. It was eaten as a snack to revive them after a long morning of work. Once baked, is customary to break this cookie into irregular pieces for serving, though you can cut it with a knife for a neater presentation. The cornmeal gives it an appealing crunch and warm, toasty flavor. Enjoy as is, or top with a scoop of pure vanilla ice cream.

Click on the button below for the full printable version of the recipe:

Sbrisolona

Leave a comment

Enjoy August, amici. Daniela and I will be back next week with fresh art and a new recipe before our summer break. Thanks, as always for reading, subscribing, cooking, and sharing.

Alla prossima,
Domenica

Benvenuti! Welcome to the latest installment of Abruzzo in Tavola, my monthly series exploring the food of Abruzzo. Turn on your fans because we’re making pasta this week. It’s a summery one, with cornmeal in the dough and a cherry tomato and sweet corn sauce. It’s a riff on a traditional recipe from Abruzzo and you are going to love it. Because of the cornmeal, the dough rolls out easily, no need to drag out your pasta machine.

You can browse all of the Abruzzo in Tavola posts here; the Buona Domenica archives here, and the full index of recipes (276 and counting!) here. A paid subscription gives you access to all archived newsletters and recipes and The Winelist, a monthly column by Scott Vance. We appreciate your support.

Subscribe now

A quick ITALIAN COOKIES update: Next Sunday, Aug. 1, I will be at Piazza Italian Market, in Easton, MD. If you are on or near the Eastern Shore, come by and say hi, get a book signed, and taste some Italan cookies! Click here for details.

Awhile back I ran across a recipe in one of my Abruzzo cookbooks for triangular pasta called ‘patellette.’ It’s a recipe from the province of Teramo, the northern quadrant of Abruzzo and the origin of some of the region’s most famous and beloved dishes, including my personal favorite, scrippelle ‘mbusse.

I quickly scanned the recipe as I paged through the book, noting that the dough contained cornmeal. Interesting! I bookmarked it, then moved on and promptly forgot all about it.

Once we hit sweet corn season here in the Mid-Atlantic, the recipe for patellette (pronounced pah-teh-LEHT-teh) popped back into my mind. Not that cornmeal and corn on the cob have all that much in common—one is dry and ground into meal and flour, the other is sweet and juicy and meant to be enjoyed fresh. On the other hand, they are related. And although people tend to associate cornmeal (polenta) with cold-weather cooking, it also goes well with summer ingredients.

Rereading the recipe, I noticed the pasta was paired with a rustic sauce made with pancetta, onion, tomatoes, with pecorino cheese to finish. Remind you of anything? More on the sauce in a bit.

For now, back to the pasta. The recipe in the book had no headnote and no information on the history of the dish. So I pinged my friend Ottavia, one of my culinary muses, who grew up in the province of Teramo and has lived there all her life. She wasn’t familiar with a backstory for patellette. But she did tell me that in the part of Teramo that she is from the pasta is called “patellucce,” (pronounced pah-teh-LOOCH-eh) and that in addition to the tomato and pancetta sauce, it is often served with legumes, specifically chickpeas or beans.

I’ve long been curious about the tradition of cornmeal in Abruzzese cooking, an ingredient mostly associated with the cuisine of the Veneto and the north. I found an explanation on the website of the Parco Nazionale del Gran Sasso e Monti della Laga. Turns out cornmeal was not part of the Abruzzo diet until the 18th Century, when a famine in 1764, triggered by a poor wheat harvest, forced the population to diversify its crops. The most renowned polenta dish in Abruzzo has to be polenta alla spianatoia. It’s a great example of hearty and rustic mountain cuisine: a big batch of polenta is poured out onto a tabletop or wooden trough. Hearty ragù with mixed meats and sausages is ladled over the top. You stake out your territory and dig in. Another, less dramatic, example is the pizz’ e foje I wrote about early this year, a dense pan-fried cornmeal cake mixed with cooked greens.

The recipe for patellette offers yet another look at how cornmeal is used in Abruzzese cooking. The pasta contains two parts wheat flour to one part cornmeal. Water is the only binder. It’s easy to imagine how this pasta might have come about—possibly a resourceful cook looking to use up a store of polenta, to stretch the more precious wheat supply, or simply to feed more people.

And what about the name? The word “patellette” translates to “small flap,” which makes sense given the pasta’s flat, triangular shape. But it may also refer to “patella,” or limpet, a conical and vaguely triangular shaped mollusk that is found in the Adriatic. Whatever its provenance, I’ve found patellette a welcome addition to my pasta repertoire.

You can mix the dough on the countertop, in a stand mixer, or in a food processor. I used the food processor, then finished kneading on my wooden pasta board. After a short rest (30 to 60 minutes) you roll the dough out into a comparatively thick sheet and then cut it into strips, which are then cut into triangles—they don’t need to be perfect. We’re really going for a version of maltagliati here, meaning the more rough and rustic, the better.

The dough rolls out easily with a rolling pin. This is because it is egg-free and has less gluten than all-wheat dough, so you don’t need much elbow grease or a pasta machine to stretch it. However, this lack of elasticity also means the dough can tear. Keep this in mind as you handle it. Make sure to flour your work surface and the dough as you roll and you’ll be fine.

I planned to dress the pasta with tomato and pancetta sauce, following the recipe in the book. It is, essentially, Amatriciana sauce, except with a little extra pasta water stirred in to make it somewhat brothy. By the way, Amatrice, where the sauce originated, is located in the region of Lazio, but it is less than 10 miles from the Abruzzo border. In fact, it was part of Abruzzo until 1927, when it was turned over to the newly created province of Rieti, within Lazio. So it makes sense that you would find Abruzzese recipes with this sauce.

In the end, however, I went with a summery Amatriciana riff, substituting cherry tomatoes for sauce tomatoes and—yes—adding fresh corn cut from the cob. Cooked patellette has a toasty, lightly sweet corn flavor, like good polenta, so my summer sauce turned out to be a great match. I did make sure to follow the original recipe’s direction to add pecorino “a volontà,” mean “to you liking.” I like a lot, so that’s what I added.

One final note before we get to the full recipe: Unlike polenta, which takes a good long while to percolate to doneness on the stovetop, patellette cooks very quickly in boiling water—less than three minutes. Go past that point and you risk ending up with flabby pasta (unforgiveable). Watch the pot closely—the triangles of pasta will rise to the top when they are just about done—and taste one to make sure the raw flour flavor has cooked out but the al dente texture is still there.

What’s an unusual pasta you’ve come across?

Leave a comment

Share

RECIPE: Patellette with Summer Amatriciana Sauce

Fine cornmeal brings a touch of toasty sweetness to these rustic pasta triangles from Abruzzo. Toss with classic Amatriciana sauce, or try this summery cherry tomato and fresh corn adaptation. Either way, be sure to finish with lots of grated cheese. I used pecorino but ricotta salata would be a great alternative.

Makes 6 servings

Click on the button below for the full recipe, available to paid subscribers.

PRINT: Patellette with Summer Amatriciana Sauce

31.1KB ∙ PDF file

Download

Download

Share

Thanks for reading, subscribing, and sharing!

Alla prossima,
Domenica

Benvenuti! Thank you for being here. Please click on the heart at the top of this post to help bring it more visibility. This small gesture goes a long way. Also, it would be a great way to acknowledge the beautiful illustration by Daniela Bracco, whose work graces this newsletter each week.

Today’s newsletter is on the short side (hooray!) as I am on the road again. It features a recipe for Sciroppo alla Menta (Fresh Mint Syrup), for all subscribers; and an updated version of Gino’s Mint Chocolate Chip Cake with Fresh Mint Syrup, for paid subscribers. Both recipes were originally published in 2016 in my book Preserving Italy. I recently updated the cake recipe with tweaks to the cake batter and syrup soak.

You can browse the Buona Domenica archives here, and the full index of recipes (275 and counting!) here. A paid subscription gives you access to all archived newsletters and recipes and The Winelist, a monthly column by Scott Vance, plus giveaways and other assorted perks. We appreciate your support.

Subscribe now

For years, I have referred to my backyard as the Garden of Neglect. This is especially true this year. I spent most of spring on the road promoting Italian Cookies. By the time I got home, planting season was pretty much over, and it was too late and too hot to put things into the ground. Usually, I at least get my act together enough to fill the pots on the back patio. This year? I did not pot one geranium or impatiens or begonia. The two urns adorning my front stoop sport no flowers, just unruly grey-green trails of ivy, which persists year after year of its own accord, as does the fig tree in the backyard whose generous yield never seems to diminish.

The backyard mint also persists. Two patches of mint sprout cheerfully, expectantly, every year. It’s not exactly lush, but it shows up. And so I try to do it justice by hacking it back, pulling the leaves from the stems, and turning them into a batch or three of fresh mint syrup. It’s the least I can do when I’m doing the very least!

One of the perks of fresh mint syrup is that it is the easiest thing in the world to make. All you need is the mint, water, and sugar. It lasts for a month or more in the fridge, longer in the freezer, and has about a thousand uses: churn it into a batch of vanilla ice cream or drizzle it over store-bought; stir it into lemonade, iced tea or a summer cocktail; toss it with summer fruit—melon, peaches, blueberries, blackberries, watermelon, figs. Mint syrup loves them all. It’s an excellent refresher in the sort of withering heat that many of us have been experiencing.

My favorite way to employ it is in Torta alla Menta, a mint and chocolate chip cake from Abruzzo. Mint cakes are common in the region, possibly because the herb grows abundantly in the foothills of the Apennines, and so the Abruzzesi put it to all sorts of uses in both sweet and savory dishes. Most notably, it is one of the herbs in a strong liqueur called Centerba, which translates to “hundred herbs,” which the Abruzzesi love to drink and/or drizzle on desserts.

I’ve been making Gino’s Mint Chocolate Chip Cake every summer for at least a decade. The recipe calls for stirring mint syrup into the cake batter and then brushing more on top once the cake is baked. It comes from La Locanda di Gino, a family-run restaurant in Sulmona. The ancient city, in the province of L’Aquila, sits in a valley ringed by mountains. It is the birthplace of the Roman poet Ovid and is also famous for those colorful candy-coated almonds known as confetti. On the western edge of Piazza Garibaldi, the city’s main square, is a beautifully preserved section of a medieval Swabian aqueduct, with 21 arches beckoning you to walk through them.

The restaurant is just a 5-minute walk from the piazza, and here you will find classic Abruzzese dishes expertly prepared by the Allega family—spaghetti alla chitarra, tender roast lamb, roast potatoes, fried peppers, vegetable terrines, and other piatti tipici Abruzzesi. The late Gino’s sons, Giacomo and Marco, always impeccably dressed in pressed shirts and ties, manage the front of the house. Their mother, Lucia, and their wives, Marcella and Titina, run the kitchen.

Back in 2014, while lunching with friends, we were served squares of this chocolate-studded cake for dessert. It was pretty, if plain-looking, but when I took a bite—what a surprise! The cake tasted of fresh mint—not too powerful, just enough to balance out the richness of the buttery crumb and the bittersweet chocolate bits. It was a revelation. After the meal, I went back into the kitchen to thank the chefs, and they handed me a slip of paper with the handwritten recipe.

Below is the recipe for the mint syrup. Following that, you’ll find a link to the updated recipe for the cake, available to paid subscribers.

What’s your favorite summer cake to make?

Leave a comment

Share

RECIPE: Sciroppo alla Menta | Fresh Mint Syrup

Here’s something you might not know about fresh mint syrup. It is not mint green; it’s a pale straw yellow, the color of white wine, depending on how long you steep it. But the flavor is pure, unadulterated, and fresh. It’s so much better than the artificially dyed commercial version. (Recipe from Preserving Italy)

Makes about 1 1/2 cups (360 ml)

INGREDIENTS
1 cup (240 ml) water
1 cup (200 g) vanilla sugar (sugar infused with vanilla bean)
4 strips lemon zest (no white pith)
2 lightly packed cups fresh mint leaves (about 45 g)

INSTRUCTIONS
1. Combine the water and sugar in a heavy-bottomed saucepan and toss in the lemon strips. Bring to a boil over medium-high heat, stirring to dissolve the sugar.

2. When the syrup is almost at a boil, coarsely chop the mint leaves. Do this at the last possible moment so that you don’t lose any of that wonderful mint aroma. As soon as the syrup starts to boil, turn off the heat and gently stir in the chopped mint leaves. Cover the saucepan and let the syrup steep for 3 hours.

3. Pour the mint syrup through a fine-mesh sieve into a clean glass jar or bottle. Cover tightly and store in the refrigerator for up to 2 months or in the freezer for up to 1 year.

Click on the button below for the printable version of the recipe, available to paid subscribers.

Sciroppo alla Menta

RECIPE: Torta alla Menta La Locanda di Gino

Don’t be fooled by the demure appearance s of this cake. It brims with the flavors of rich bittersweet chocolate and sassy mint. Click on the button for the newly updated, printable version of the recipe originally published in Preserving Italy.

Gino's Mint Chocolate Chip Cake

NEWS & NOTES

I had a delightful chat with of The Bittman Project about all the “cookie towns” I visited while researching Italian Cookies, plus sourcing ingredients and other cookie-related stuff:

The Bittman Project

Taking a Tour Through Italy’s Cookie Towns

​Italian Cookies​ came out in April, and in true Kate fashion, I’m just now writing about it — despite how much I love Italian cookies. I’m a fan of many types of biscotti; I’m a fan of the chocolate sandwich cookies with sprinkles; I’m a huge fan of pignoli cookies. I dream about cookies from…

Read more

19 days ago · 24 likes · Kate Bittman and Domenica Marchetti

I also had the pleasure of chatting with , exuberant baker and host of Cherry Bombe magazine’s She’s My Cherry Pie podcast. Among other things, we got into the nitty-gritty of how to make Canestrelletti di Torriglia, the Italian cookie with its own festival:

Cherry Bombe

The Italian Cookie with Its Own Festival

Read more

16 days ago · 7 likes · 3 comments · She's My Cherry Pie

177 Milk Street Cooking Class

There are still a few spots left for the Summer Stuffed Pasta Class I am teaching online in collaboration with 177 Milk Street. We will be making Zucchini Anolini, a summer riff on a classic stuffed pasta from Emilia-Romagna. I’ll teach you how to make the dough and roll it out into thin sheets. Then we’ll make a light but richly flavored filling of zucchini and ricotta cheese. And (in a clever and practical twist!) we’ll use the liquid from draining the zucchini to create a light, glossy sauce.

Date and time: Thursday, July 30, 6 p.m.-7:30 p.m. EDT
Price: $74.59
DISCOUNT: Enter the code PASTA15 to receive a 15% discount on the class.

Click on the button below to register:

Stuffed Summer Pasta Class

Book signing, plus a cookie tasting and conversation in Easton, MD:

On Saturday, August 1, I’ll be at Piazza Italian Market for a book signing and talk with owner Emily Chandler. The book signing is from 10 a.m.-12 p.m., and our conversation will take place next door at Accanto from 12:15 p.m.-12:45 p.m. The book signing is free, and books will be available for purchase. Tickets are required for the event next door at Accanto, and cookies will be served!

Click on the button below for more info and to register:

Cookies & Conversation at Accanto

Thanks, as always, for reading, subscribing, and sharing!

Alla prossima,
Domenica

Benvenuti! Thank you for being here. Please click on the heart at the top of this post to help bring it more visibility. This small gesture goes a long way. Also, it would be a great way to acknowledge the stellar illustration by , whose work graces this newsletter each week.

Today’s newsletter is the first in a new occasional series called “Ode to Spaghetti.” Every so often I’ll be posting a recipe that celebrates this most mundane of pasta shapes (that isn’t mundane at all IMO). The featured recipe is Shrimp Spaghetti alla Camille, a signature pasta dish at the restaurant Anton’s in New York City. The recipe is available to all subscribers; my version with a few modifications is available to paid subscribers.

You can browse the archives here, and the full index of recipes (273 and counting!) here. A paid subscription gives you access to all archived newsletters and recipes and The Winelist, a monthly column by Scott Vance, plus giveaways and other assorted perks. We appreciate your support.

Subscribe now

Every so often I get asked what my favorite pasta shape is. It’s a fair question and one I’ve thought about a lot over the years but have had a hard time answering. There are so many shapes I adore: chewy cavatelli, made with semolina flour and water; medium shells (great with pesto or cheesy sauces); fusilli corti a.k.a. corkscrew pasta (so good with tomato-based sauces); lovely egg tagliatelle, equally delicious tossed with ragù or butter and Parmigiano cheese. And about a thousand more.

Then, a couple of weeks ago, quite out of the blue, the definitive answer came to me: Spaghetti. The answer is spaghetti. This revelation occurred as I was twirling a forkful of Shrimp Spaghetti alla Camille at Anton’s, a restaurant and wine bar in Manhattan’s West Village that serves French- and Italian-influenced American cuisine. The noodles and several large pink shrimp were bathed in a glossy, soupy cherry tomato sauce (“soupy in a good way,” I wrote in a note to myself on my phone). Whole parsley leaves were scattered over the top of the dish. It looked messy, and so inviting.

I thought to myself, of all the hundreds of pasta shapes in this world, nothing is as satisfying as spaghetti. Nothing. As much as I love all the aforementioned shapes, and many others, I only ever get visceral cravings for spaghetti. It’s the perfect length and perfect thickness for twirling (essential), and when cooked to al dente, it gives you maximum toothsome enjoyment. Don’t come at me with bucatini—I love it with Amatriciana sauce, but it doesn’t twirl effortlessly and the noodle’s girth can sometimes feel too heavy. On the opposite end of the twirling pastas, there’s capellini, or angel hair, which is really only good in soup. It has this strange ability to swell when boiled in water and somehow sauce seems to vanish within its soft tangle.

We could talk about tajarin’, the finely cut egg noodles from Piemonte, or airy tagliatelle, the forever companion to Bolognese ragù. Both delightful. But, again, not spaghetti. I should probably give a nod, too, to the entire canon of stuffed pasta: agnolotti, anolini, cappelletti, ravioli, tortellini, and so many others. I love teaching these shapes—they are fun and rewarding to make—but they take work (snob alert: I do not buy frozen or refrigerated stuffed pasta). Also, you can’t twirl them.

I haven’t even mentioned spaghetti’s seductive qualities. Have you ever seen a bombshell pose with a come hither look in front of a plate of wagon wheels? I rest my case.

Where do you stand on spaghetti? And what’s your favorite spaghetti preparation?

Leave a comment

Share

Back to Anton’s Shrimp Spaghetti alla Camille. Even in their soupy sauce, the noodles were perfectly al dente, and the sauce itself was layered with flavor: cherry tomatoes, tomato sauce, smoky chili peppers, and fresh parsley. There was a richness and a depth to it and I told Scott (aka The Winelist) that I thought there might be broth in there. No basil, no grated cheese, and yet they weren’t missed. It was unusual and seemed to me more French than Italian in spirit, but I liked it.

I thought I might try to recreate it when I got home. I did a quick internet search, hoping I could at least find out who Camille was. No such luck there, but lo and behold, there was the recipe, right on the Anton’s website, written out with detailed instructions. It’s a long recipe, and as I suspected, the sauce does indeed contain broth—or, more accurately, a modified shrimp stock made with chicken broth and shrimp shells—along with three kinds of alcohol (Amontillado sherry, Cognac, and white wine).

Anton’s co-owner Nick Anderer wrote in a 2024 Instagram post that the sauce is based on a lobster recipe from the 1920 book The Epicurean: A Complete Treatise of Analytical and Practical Studies on the Culinary Art. The book was written by Charles Ranhofer, the onetime chef de cuisine at the famed Delmonico’s Steakhouse.

You can find Anton’s orignial recipe here. Also, slightly off subject but I came across this New York Times homage to the restaurant’s olive oil mashed potatoes, which I’ve bookmarked to make come fall.

Below is a link to my modified version of Anton’s shrimp spaghetti, available to paid subscribers.

RECIPE: Shrimp Spaghetti alla Camille

This is not an everyday spaghetti recipe to throw together on a Tuesday night. It involves making shrimp stock from homemade chicken broth, blitzing and straining, and other tasks that a harried (or even non-harried) home cook might not want to tackle. But if you’re feeling a bit ambitious on a weekend and looking for a cooking project, give this delicious restaurant take on spaghetti a go. Once the work is done and you’re twirling those al dente noodles around your fork, you won’t regret it.

Also, the stock itself is a great recipe to have in your repertoire. It makes an excellent foundation for risotto, brodetto and other seafood stews, and any number of sauces.

Click on the button below for the full, printable recipe, available to paid subscribers.

Anton's Shrimp Spaghetti alla Camille

FRIENDLY REMINDERS

Pasta lovers: Join me on Thursday, July 30, for an online class with 177 Milk Street! In this small-group work shop, we’ll be making Zucchini Anolini, a summer riff on a classic stuffed pasta from Emilia-Romagna. I’ll teach you how to make the dough and roll it out into thin sheets. Then we’ll make a light but richly flavored filling of zucchini and ricotta cheese. And (in a clever and practical twist!) we’ll use the liquid from draining the zucchini to create a light, glossy sauce.

Date and time: Thursday, July 30, 6 p.m.-7:30 p.m. EDT

Price: $74.59

DISCOUNT: Enter the code PASTA15 to receive a 15% discount on the class.

Click on the button below to register:

Summer Stuffed Pasta Class

Milwaukee and Chicago

Saturday, July 18, 4-6 p.m. CDT: I will be at Semolina MKE Handcrafted Pasta and Pantry, in Milwaukee, where owner-pastaia Petra Orlowski is hosting me for a cookie tasting and book signing at her shop and cooking school. Tickets include cookies, coffee, and wine, plus a signed copy of the book.

GET TICKETS HERE

Sunday, July 19, 10:30-12:30 a.m CDT: The Chicago chapter of Les Dames d’Escoffier is hosting a morning of coffee and Italian cookies at Sip Society Coffee Education Center. There will be an Italian Cookies Q & A, with coffee service provided by Wolf at the Door, a culinary cookbook pop-up in Chicago. Tickets include all food and drink and a signed copy of Italian Cookies.

GET TICKETS HERE

Easton, MD

On Saturday, August 1, I’ll be at Piazza Italian Market for a book signing and talk with owner Emily Chandler. The book signing is from 10 a.m.-12 p.m., and our conversation will take place next door at Accanto from 12:15 p.m.-12:45 p.m.

MORE INFORMATION HERE

Finally, if you are enjoying Italian Cookies, please consider leaving a review on Amazon. These reviews really do help boost the book’s visibility in this algorithm-driven world. Grazie!

Review Italian Cookies

Thanks, as always, for reading, subscribing, and sharing.

Alla prossima,
Domenica

Ciao! Thanks for reading our monthly wine note at Buona Domenica, a bonus for paying subscribers. You can browse previous issues of The Winelist here.

Read more

Benvenuti! Thank you for being here. Please click on the heart at the top of this post to help bring it more visibility. This small gesture goes a long way.

This week’s newsletter features three summertime menus highlighting a dozen recipes from the Buona Domenica archives, along with recommended wine pairings. And the marvelous illu…

Read more

Benvenuti! Thank you for being here. Please click the heart at the top of this post to help bring it more visibility. This small gesture goes a long way.

This week’s newsletter is blissfully short and savory. It features two recipes for summer sauces: Ligurian-Style Herb Sauce with olives and walnuts; and Salsa Tonnata, a cold, cream…

Read more

Benvenuti! Welcome to Buona Domenica, a recipe newsletter of Italian home cooking and baking. Please click the heart at the top of this post to help bring it more visibility. This one small gesture helps a LOT.

This week’s newsletter features a recipe for Nocino, homemade walnut liqueur, and nocillato, green walnut wine, both availab…

Read more

Friends: What are you doing this Saturday at 2 p.m. EDT?

I’ve been invited to give a free online cookie demonstration in collaboration with QB Cucina, and I’d love for you to join me.

If you’ve been a Buona Domenica reader for awhile, you might be familiar with QB Cucina. Founded by Sarah Uber…

Read more

Benvenuti! Welcome to the latest installment of Abruzzo in Tavola, my monthly series exploring the food of Abruzzo. This month takes us to Scanno, one of the region’s most picturesque mountain villages, located in the province of L’Aquila. It is designated one of …

Read more

Benvenuti! Thank you for being here. Please click the heart at the top of this newsletter to help bring it visibility.

This week’s newsletter features a recipe for a piquant antipasto of mini mozzarella, slow-roasted cherry tomatoes, and olives, available to paid subscribers. You can browse the Buona Domenica…

Read more

Ciao! Thanks for reading our monthly wine note at Buona Domenica, a bonus for paying subscribers. You can browse previous issues of The Winelist here.

Subscribe now

Read more

Benvenuti! Thank you for being here. Please click the heart at the top of this newsletter to help bring it visibility. This week’s newsletter features a recipe for Fennel Pollen Pistachio Cake, available to paid subscribers. You can browse the Buona Domenica archives here, and the full index of recipes here. A …

Read more

This week’s featured recipe, available to paid …

Read more

On Tuesday I had the pleasure of joining , a.k.a. The Amateur Gourmet, for his popular series Kitchen Treasure Hunt, in which he explores the kitchens of chefs and cookbook authors and gets them to dish on all their favorite things. I shared lots of secrets, including the one kitchen item I cherish most; an ingredient I have that most people don…

Read more

Saluti! I am happy to announce the winners of last week’s cookbook giveaway. The two winners of Italian Cookies are Anne V-S and Kristine. And the winner of Big Night In is Kyle. Congratulations! Please look for an email from me this morning.

You can browse the Buona Domenica archives here, and the Index of Recipes here. And remember…

Read more

Wishing you a wonderful week,
Domenica

Get more from Domenica Marchetti in the Substack app

Available for iOS and Android

Get the app

Please click the title at the top of this post to view the newsletter in its entirety.

Whenever I’m headed to a book event, I think about the young man who visited me in Fredericksburg, VA.

This was back in 2008, when I was promoting my second cookbook, Big Night In: More Than 100 Wonderful Recipes for Feeding Family and Friends Itali…

Read more

Ciao!

Thanks for reading our monthly wine note at Buona Domenica, a bonus for paid subscribers.

Across Italy, especially in the South, grape farmers and winemakers have worked to lift their industry out of a post-war devotion to quantity and volume. That’s meant “rediscovering” grapes that had essentially fallen off the production map (like Trebbiano Abruzzese and Susumaniello). It’s also meant working to rejuvenate varietals that never left the scene but had become mired in mediocrity.

Gaglioppo is one of those.

Read more

Dinner at an iconic restaurant; food surfing at the Ferry Building; visits to three museums; focaccia in North Beach; and brunch with a long-lost college friend.

Somehow, dear reader, I managed to sandwich all of that in between events promoting Italian Cookies. The week in (and around) San Francisco has flown by, and while I’m sad t…

Read more