With a variety of mushrooms and creamy polenta, this dish will hit the spot if you're craving something savory. Chef Holiday Recipes Made Easy Delicious, Quick Side Dishes
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Chef Tom Valentiis, an old fishing buddy of Peter Kaminsky, has a knack for transforming a classic dish with one or two powerful flavors. He arrived at their tailgate with cooked macaroni, Italian sausage and clams. "I like to prepare the ingredients the night before and throw them together at the stadium," he said. "It leaves plenty of time to drink a cold beer and toss a football around."Plus: More Pasta Recipes and Tips
"In our house, stracciatella was a catch-all," Tom Valenti says about this simple, rustic soup. "We started with good homemade stock and added whatever was around: beans, leftover sausage, shredded chicken." With a few truffle shavings, this soup can be dressed up for a holiday dinner party.
From Tom Valenti, a 1990 Best New Chef, now at Ouest in New York City. Satisfying Vegetarian Recipes
These braised ribs are even better the next day—on their own or in the delicious sandwich that follows.Plus: More Beef Recipes and Tips
This cheesy frittata is the kind of dish—fast, flexible and easy to reheat—that Tom Valenti likes to have around for all kinds of holiday eating. "A frittata is just as good, or maybe better, at midnight," he says. More Breakfast Recipes
As the child of Italian parents, Tom Valenti recalls a refrigerator permanently stocked with charcuterie, cheese and preserved vegetables like peperoncini, olives and roasted peppers. "My memory swept up all of those ingredients and rolled them up in pizza dough," he says. This hearty stromboli, stuffed with several kinds of Italian meats and cheeses, is easy to reheat—or enjoy cold—for a late-night snack. More Italian Dishes
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Unlike most other lettuces, escarole and radicchio are hearty enough to chop ahead of time. Tom Valenti uses only tender, inner escarole leaves for this salad, reserving the tougher outer leaves for soups. Terrific Green Salads