Chef and restaurateur Christian Petroni is an authority on all things Italian American cuisine, and the Bronx-born Food Network star is plating up his best recipes in his debut cookbook, "Parm to Table."
Petroni, who spent summers as a kid off the coast of Naples in Ponza, infuses beloved old-world dishes with his fresh take on the classics in his first-ever title.
He joined "Good Morning America" on Monday to serve up a selection of must-try at-home recipes from "Parm to Table" that evoke the same ethos of his restaurants.
"It's my first cookbook, I'm a first generation Italian American -- this book is a representation of me growing up," he said.
From comforting Sunday feasts to effortless weeknight meals, check out the recipes below to enjoy the warmth of an Italian nonna's kitchen with Petroni's signature bold flavors.
Servings: 4
"In a Neapolitan-style eggplant Parmigiana, you don't necessarily bread the eggplant. Instead, you fry slices of it, then layer them into a casserole dish: fried eggplant, tomato sauce, Parmigiano-Reggiano; fried eggplant, tomato sauce, Parmigiano-Reggiano, and so on until the pan is full. Then you bake it and cut squares out of it," the recipe's intro in the cookbook states.
"One thing to know about traditional eggplant Parm Neapolitan-style: When you have that square block of essentially eggplant lasagna in front of you, you don't use your fork to cut it all the way through; instead, you peel layers of eggplant off the top and work your way down. It's really quite lovely. Romantic, even."
Ingredients
3 large eggplants
1 cup kosher salt, for sprinkling
Extra-virgin olive oil, for frying, plus more for drizzling
3/4 cup all-purpose flour
2 tablespoons freshly ground pepper
1 quart 8-Hour Marinara Sauce (see below)
1 chunk Parmigiano-Reggiano (the size of a large orange)
1 basil plant from the supermarket
Special equipment: a deep-fry thermometer
Directions
Peel and cut the eggplant into 1/4-inch slices. Salt and let sit for 20 minutes, then pat dry.
In a heavy or cast-iron pan, add enough olive oil for a shallow fry, about 1/2 inch. Heat oil to 350 F.
In a medium bowl, add the flour. Season with pepper, then lightly flour the eggplant. Fry until light golden brown.
Preheat the oven to 400 F.
In an 8-inch casserole dish or brownie pan, add a layer of marinara (about 1/4 inch).
Arrange eggplant slices to cover the sauce. Top with more marinara, a generous dusting of Parmigiano-Reggiano, and torn basil leaves.
Repeat layers: eggplant > sauce > cheese > basil, until the dish is full. Leave basil off the top layer (it will burn). Instead, drizzle generously with olive oil.
Bake for 30 minutes, until browned and bubbly.
Allow to sit for 30 to 60 minutes before serving.
Ingredients
2 cups extra-virgin olive oil
2 onions
1 large carrot
12 garlic cloves
10-pound can peeled tomatoes
1 tablespoon crushed red chile flakes
2.25 ounces tomato paste (1/2 of a 4.5-ounce tube)
1 tablespoon kosher salt
2 tablespoons freshly ground black pepper
1 teaspoon to 1 tablespoon sugar
Directions
In a heavy-bottomed pot, heat oil over medium heat.
Grate onion on the largest holes of a box grater and add to the pot. Grate carrot the same way, chop the grated carrot, and add. Finely chop garlic and add.
Reduce heat to low and cook slowly for 4 hours.
Run the canned tomatoes through a food mill or potato ricer directly into the pot. (Alternatively, smash tomatoes by hand in a bowl.)
Add chile flakes, tomato paste, salt, pepper, and sugar (adjust depending on tomato sweetness). Cook uncovered on low, stirring every 5 to 10 minutes, for 4 more hours, until sauce is richer in color and fat separates.
Keeps up to 2 weeks in the fridge or 2 months in the freezer.
Yield: 12 Meatballs
"I always preferred my meatballs unsauced. I can still remember Sunday mornings as a kid, being in my room upstairs with the door closed, and I could smell the meatballs frying in my mother's kitchen, the aroma making its way all the way up the stairs, under the door, through the sheets, and into my nose, beckoning me just like in the cartoons," Petroni writes alongside this recipe. "That's when I would get out of bed, go down the stairs into the kitchen, and pluck a fried meatball off a mappine draining it of its oil before my mother would dunk it to braise in that delicious sauce."
Ingredients
14 ounces white bread (not sourdough)
2 cups milk
2 cups finely chopped fresh flat-leaf parsley
1 quart grated sharp pecorino (preferably Locatelli)
2 large eggs
1 tablespoon kosher salt
2 tablespoons freshly ground black pepper
1 pound ground beef
1 pound ground pork
6 garlic cloves, minced
Extra-virgin olive oil, for frying
Special equipment: a deep-fry thermometer
Directions
In a large bowl, tear the bread into small pieces. Add enough milk to cover and soak until the bread is fully saturated and breaks down. Squeeze out excess milk.
Add parsley, pecorino, eggs, salt, and pepper to the bread mixture. Add beef, pork, and garlic, and gently combine, being careful not to overmix.
Divide mixture into 12 equal portions (about 4 ounces each) and roll into balls.
In a heavy skillet or cast-iron pan, heat 1 inch of olive oil to 350 F.
Fry meatballs in batches, being careful not to overcrowd the pan. Cook until browned on all sides and cooked through.
Yield: 1 Sandwich (10 to 16 servings Roast Pork)
"This is the type of sandwich that makes you want to be a better person," Petroni writes alongside the recipe in the book.
Ingredients
20 garlic cloves
6 ounces Calabrian chile paste
2 tablespoons fennel pollen
2 sprigs fresh rosemary
1 cup kosher salt
1 cup freshly ground black pepper
1 cup extra-virgin olive oil, or more as needed
5- to 8-pound skin-on pork belly, scored through the skin crosshatch, 1 inch
Semolina bastone (Italian bread)
Garlic Butter (see below)
Spicy Broccoli Rabe (see below)
Sliced sharp provolone
Special equipment: kitchen twine
Directions
Preheat the oven to 225 F.
In a food processor, add garlic, chile paste, fennel pollen, rosemary, salt, pepper, and a splash of olive oil. With the machine running, drizzle in the remaining olive oil to form a thick paste.
Rub the inside of the pork belly with the paste. Roll up tightly and tie with kitchen twine.
Roast for 2 hours and 40 minutes. Increase oven to 450 F and roast 20 minutes more. Remove porchetta but keep the oven on.
Shave a generous portion of porchetta (an electric carving knife works well).
Split open a semolina bastone. Smear lightly with garlic butter and toast in the oven until golden. Turn on the broiler. Layer shaved porchetta, broccoli rabe, and sharp provolone. Broil until provolone melts. Close sandwich and serve.
Extra porchetta freezes well. Wrap tightly in plastic wrap and freeze for up to 2 months.
Ingredients
1 pound garlic cloves, peeled (8 to 10 bulbs)
4 anchovy fillets
1 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes
Extra-virgin olive oil
1 pound (4 sticks) unsalted butter, at room temperature
Dried Sicilian oregano, to taste
Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper, to taste
Directions
In a small pot, add half the garlic with anchovies and red pepper flakes. Cover with olive oil and cook slowly on low for 1 1/2 hours.
Finely slice 6 ounces of the remaining garlic and fry until just golden in olive oil.
Grind the remaining 2 ounces garlic into a paste.
Whip all three garlic preparations into the butter. Season with oregano, salt, and pepper to taste.
Keeps for 2 weeks in the fridge or up to 3 months in the freezer.
Ingredients
2 heads broccoli rabe
2 cups extra-virgin olive oil, plus more for serving
6 garlic cloves, sliced
1 cup white wine
2 tablespoons Calabrian chile paste
1 lemon
Directions
Trim the bottom stems of the broccoli rabe and cut in half.
Bring a pot of salted water to a boil. Prepare an ice bath. Blanch broccoli rabe for 2 minutes, then submerge in ice bath to set the bright green color and stop cooking.
In a large saute pan over medium-high heat, warm olive oil. Add garlic and cook until just golden, about 1 minute.
Add broccoli rabe (careful, it may spatter), white wine, and chile paste. Cook until most of the wine evaporates.
Remove from heat. Squeeze lemon over the top and finish with more olive oil.
Delicious on its own, or topped with Brown Butter Breadcrumbs and freshly grated horseradish.
Recipes reprinted with permission courtesy of Christian Petroni. All rights reserved. Printed in Malaysia. No part of this book may be used or reproduced in any manner whatsoever without written permission except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical articles and reviews. For information, address HarperCollins Publishers, 195 Broadway, New York, New York, 10007.
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