Mouthing Off

Photo © Johnny Miller

To celebrate the 25th anniversary of F&W’s Best New Chef awards, one of our biggest stars shares one of his most requested recipes.

Marc Vetri was named an F&W Best New Chef 1999 at Vetri Ristorante in Philadelphia. His restaurant empire now includes Amis Trattoria, Osteria and Alla Spina.

Carrot gnocchi. Squash gnocchi. Beet gnocchi. Eating in restaurants around Italy in the mid 1990s, Marc Vetri discovered these vegetable-based versions of one of his favorite pastas. They inspired him to create a recipe for spinach gnocchi using eggs, bread crumbs, Grana Padano cheese and a little flour; they’re more intensely flavorful than the traditional ricotta kind. Vetri finishes the dish with brown butter and ricotta salata shavings. The gnocchi have been on Vetri Ristorante’s menu since the place opened in 1998, and the only thing that’s changed is the size. “We first made one that looked like a big spinach meatball,” says Vetri. “But guests thought the other pastas were small in comparison. Since then, we’ve served the gnocchi in all sizes, from three large ones to 12 very small ones.” SEE RECIPE »

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This decadent lasagna is made with pocketless pita or naan bread instead of traditional lasagna noodles. / © Tina Rupp

Food & Wine's senior recipe developer, Grace Parisi, is a Test Kitchen superstar. In this series, she shares some of her favorite recipes to make right now.

My husband's been on a low carb diet kick for several months now (he looks great!), and you'd think that we all would be dropping pounds, since I cook nearly all of the dinners. I'm not making tons of pasta these days, and rice or bread is always now an accompaniment. But I've got to say, I've been craving a great big plate of gooey baked pasta.

This flatbread "lasagna" is probably the most carb-y casserole I've ever made, but it's delightfully evil and, I think, worth the splurge. I developed this recipe for an old column of mine—Tasting and Testing—this particular one about using flatbreads in somewhat unexpected ways. Though I'd never seen anything like this, I'd imagined (when I was hatching ideas) that it would be as if bread pudding and baked ziti got together and made a flatbread lasagna baby.

Aside from not boiling noodles, I tried to make the dish as simple as possible. It calls for jarred marinara sauce (I love Rao's—it's convenient and delicious, but kind of expensive). At home, I always have several quart containers of homemade sauce in the freezer. I've only ever used plain naan or pocketless pita, but now that there are so many flavors, it might be time to try it with onion,  garlic, olive or whole grain.  A futile nod to the health conscious? I think not. In any case, it will certainly test my husband's resolve. Never a saboteur, maybe I'll wait until he's reintroduced bread to his diet or maybe just until he's out for the night. SEE RECIPE »

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Fried capers add a delectable salty crunch to this pasta tossed with fresh tomatoes and prosciutto.

Food & Wine's senior recipe developer, Grace Parisi, is a Test Kitchen superstar. In this series, she shares some of her favorite recipes to make right now.

When tomatoes are fat and plentiful is the time to make this quintessential summer pasta dish. Crispy fried capers and salty, meaty prosciutto give the dish some depth of seasoning, but it's really all about the tomatoes. I like a mix of low acid yellow tomatoes and more robust red heirloom tomatoes. SEE RECIPE »

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