Growing up, we always had a big garden, and it just gave me the passion and appreciation for really good food.
Classics can be phenomenal when done right. A simple roast chicken dish could be the best thing you ever eat.
I like Sicilian food. It's real peasant food.
Italian food is my favorite food. It's the most sophisticated eating system.
Food should be simple; it shouldn't be complicated, even down to making Knorr gravy: a Knorr stock cube and water, bit of parsley at the end, little bit of olive oil. It's about making the food deliciously tasty.
Pesto is such a great standard. It's so simple to make and always tastes good.
The classic Italian green sauce, salsa verde, is easy to make and especially nice in the spring when bunches of fresh herbs start appearing in the farmers market or in your garden.
My signature dish - something I've been making since I was 10 - is angel hair pasta with shrimp and feta in a white-wine basil sauce with tomatoes, because it's absolutely amazing.
A well-crafted cocktail isn't complete without the right garnish. This final flourish - often citrus or fresh herbs - enhances the drink's taste, smell, and look.
My son loves my carbonara. I've tried to master that recipe - it's very simple but very delicate. Once prepared it must be eaten quickly.
For dinner parties, I love making an easy cioppino using shrimp, mussels, clams, and a hearty fish that won't fall apart easily.
If someone offers me a hot plate of Penne Arrabiata, fageddaboutit.
I love the simplicity, the ingredients, the culture, the history and the seasonality of Italian cuisine. In Italy people do not travel. They cook the way grandma did, using fresh ingredients and what is available in season.
When summer squash is freshly picked, all it needs is a little olive oil, salt, pepper, and maybe a hit of lemon juice.
I love a bit of arugula tossed in olive oil and pepper over it to just have something nice and fresh and green.
I love to make a one-pot meal - think stir-fry but in the French Fricassee. I start with what takes the longest to roast and then add vegetables, fresh herbs, and starch until the meal is complete in one shot.
If you're making a salad of any kind, cut the herbs, stems and all, and toss them into your mixed greens salad, a Romaine salad, iceberg, Bibb - it just adds a special touch.
New-season lamb shoulder, cooked pink, is the perfect platform for a mixture of fresh and cooked herbs.
Any British household with a scrap of land has always grown herbs for the kitchen. From the superb monastic herb gardens down to the humblest cottage, a supply of fresh herbs would have been considered essential.
Some heat, some spice and plenty of citrus are the building blocks of many North African fish dishes.
It's important to salt the tomatoes before draining them because that helps pull out the water. Fresh herbs, some garlic and pepper will also enhance the flavor.
Fresh herbs really belong anywhere you put them.
