Chef, restaurateur, actor and producer -- Matty Matheson is a true jack of all trades. But when it comes to cooking on the internet, adding his punchy personality to a plate of delicious food, he's the king.
The Canadian chef, who chopped it up as handyman Neil Fak in the hit Emmy-winning FX comedy series "The Bear" -- on which he also serves as an executive producer -- is out with his third cookbook dedicated to an iconic culinary trinity: soups, salads and sandwiches.
The trio of mixable and matchable crave-worthy classics get Matheson's signature bold, innovative spin that will revolutionize how home cooks see these basics, with minimal effort and maximum flavor.
To celebrate the debut of "Matty Matheson: Soups, Salads, Sandwiches" on Tuesday, the chef and author joined "Good Morning America" equipped with three recipes -- one from each category -- to share with the world.
Check out his full recipes to step up your soup, salad and sandwich fixing at home, and shop the cookbook that's already a No. 1 bestseller on Amazon to recreate even more of Matheson's dishes.
"This is a tasty Mediterranean shovel-fest salad. Have this with some grilled chicken or lamb chops," Matheson writes in the cookbook. "Orzo is white hot. You'll see; you are ahead of the curve. You will be the most fantastic kids at the function."
Serves 2
Prep time: 45 minutes
Ingredients
1 cup dried orzo pasta
1 medium zucchini, cut into 1/4-inch halved coins
6 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
Kosher salt and freshly cracked black pepper
1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice
1 teaspoon Dijon mustard
1 small garlic clove, minced
1 cup cherry tomatoes, halved
3 ounces goat cheese, crumbled
2 tablespoons basil leaves, chopped
2 tablespoons tarragon, chopped
2 tablespoons parsley
Directions
Bring a small pot of salted water to a boil. Cook the orzo until it's al dente, about 8 minutes. Drain and rinse under cold water to stop the cooking process. Let it cool completely.
Heat a large cast-iron pan over medium-high heat. Toss the zucchini with 2 tablespoons of the olive oil and season with salt and pepper. Cook the zucchini on the cut side until lightly charred and tender. Remove from the heat and let cool slightly before quartering them lengthwise and chopping them into bite-sized pieces.
In a small bowl, whisk together 2 tablespoons of the olive oil, the lemon juice, mustard, garlic, and salt and pepper to taste. Taste and adjust the seasoning as needed.
In a large bowl, combine the cooled orzo, charred zucchini and cherry tomatoes.
Gently fold in the crumbled goat cheese, reserving a small amount for garnish.
Drizzle the vinaigrette over the salad and toss everything together to coat the ingredients evenly.
Add the basil, tarragon, and parsley, and reserved goat cheese. Finish with the remaining 2 tablespoons olive oil, salt and pepper.
"This is a quick and easy soup that makes you feel good. After you crush this soup, you'll have accomplished making something you probably haven't done before, making a new thing. That's huge. This soup is an easy win," Matheson writes. "Everyone's life needs more wins and this soup is your big W this day! Keep winning, keep soupin'."
Serves 4
Prep time: 1 hour 15 minutes
Ingredients
1 cup extra-virgin olive oil, plus more for serving
6 shallots, sliced
6 garlic cloves, smashed
1 fennel bulb, diced
2 rosemary sprigs
2 tablespoons preserved Calabrian chili peppers, chopped
1 heaping tablespoon tomato paste
1 cup Italian white wine
6 cups vegetable stock
2 cups dried cannellini beans, soaked for 6 hours and drained
Two 2-inch pieces Pecorino rind
Kosher salt
Freshly cracked black pepper
1 large bunch Tuscan black kale, chopped into 1-inch-wide pieces
1/2 cup grated pecorino cheese
Juice of 1 lemon
1 bunch curly parsley, chopped
Directions
In a large Dutch oven over medium heat, add the olive oil, shallots, garlic, fennel, rosemary and 1 tablespoon of the Calabrian chili peppers.
Throw in the tomato paste and cook it down until it starts to caramelize. Add the wine, vegetable stock, and cannellini beans. Turn it down nice and low and cook covered for about 1 hour. Skim the scum while the soup cooks down.
Take the lid off and reduce it to a nice hearty soup, about 15 minutes.
The beans will have fluffed up. Take the rinds of Pecorino and throw them in. That's nice.
Adjust the seasonings to your taste, and when it tastes real good, throw in the kale and cook it down for 10 minutes. Stir that up.
Ladle the soup into bowls. Top each bowl with the grated Pecorino, a drizzle of olive oil, and lemon juice. Throw in the parsley. It should look like mulch.
If you are a spicy boy or girl add some more of that preserved Calabrian chili pepper.
"What a special sandwich we got here, oh boy. The roasted pork, the ham, the mustard, the pickles, and the bread all press together. It's all so soft, then you get the pickle crunch in the middle. The sandwich has to be built so that the ratio is perfect. The bread needs to be toasted right. The filling can't be smushed because it will slide all over the place. The ham can be just OK, but the roasted pork is what you can really judge the sandwich on," Matheson writes alongside this classic recipe. "That beautiful roasted pork is so crucial. Not too fatty and not dry. We all know that dry roasted [is] like cat food."
How to make this cafe's signature Puerto Rican roasted pork and cubano sandwich
Serves: 4 to 6
Prep time: 2 days
Ingredients
Roasted Pork
2 tablespoons olive oil
1/4 cup orange juice
1 tablespoon lime juice
2 tablespoons light brown sugar
2 teaspoons kosher salt
1/2 teaspoon freshly cracked black pepper
1/2 teaspoon smoked paprika
1/2 teaspoon ground cumin
2 garlic cloves, minced
4 pounds pork butt
One 12-ounce can Coca-Cola
For the sandwich
2 loaves Cuban bread (or substitute French or Italian bread)
Yellow mustard
Mayonnaise
8 ounces Roasted Pork (see above)
8 ounces sliced ham (old-ass ham in your fridge preferred)
8 ounces Swiss cheese, thinly sliced
4 large dill pickles, sliced lengthwise
Unsalted butter
Directions
Marinate the pork: In a small bowl, mix together the olive oil, orange juice, lime juice, brown sugar, salt, pepper, smoked paprika, cumin and garlic. This will be your marinade.
Score the surface of the pork shoulder with a sharp knife to allow the marinade to penetrate. Place the pork shoulder in a 2.5-gallon jumbo Ziploc bag. Pour the marinade over the pork shoulder, making sure to coat it evenly on all sides. Use your hands to rub the marinade into the meat. Let this marinate in the fridge overnight.
To roast the pork: Preheat your oven to 325 F.
Take the pork out of the bag and let any excess marinade drip off. Place it into a large roasting pan. Pour the Coca-Cola into the roasting pan, around the pork shoulder. Cover the pan tightly with aluminum foil, ensuring it is sealed to keep the moisture inside. Roast the pork until the meat is tender and easily pulls apart with a fork, about 2 hours. Every 30 minutes, baste the pork with the pan juices to keep it moist and flavorful. Re-cover it with the foil each time.
Once the meat is tender, remove the foil and increase the oven temperature to 400 F. Roast the pork until the top develops a crispy, golden-brown crust, an additional 15 to 20 minutes. Remove the roasted pork shoulder from the oven and let it rest for at least 30 minutes before slicing or shredding it. Alternatively, you can cool this in the fridge overnight; it will be much easier to slice thinly. You'll need only 8 ounces of the roasted pork to make the sandwiches.
Make the sandwiches: Preheat your oven to 300 degrees. Preheat your griddle or panini press over medium heat.
Slice the bread horizontally and spread a thin layer of mustard on the bottom half of the bread. Spread mayonnaise on the top half.
Layer the roasted pork on the bottom half of the bread, followed by the sliced ham. Add the Swiss cheese on top of the ham, and then place the pickles evenly over the cheese. Place the top half of the bread on the filling and spread a thin layer of butter on the outside of the sandwich.
Place the sandwich on the preheated griddle with a weight or use a panini press and press it down gently.
Cook until the bread is toasted and the cheese has melted, 5 to 10 minutes on each side. Then throw the pan in the oven until the cheese has fully melted, 10 minutes.
Take it out, slice it diagonally, and enjoy!
Recipes reprinted with permission from “Soups, Salads, Sandwiches” Text copyright © 2024 by Matty Matheson. Photographs copyright © 2024 by Quentin Bacon. All rights reserved. Published in the United States by Ten Speed Press, an imprint of Random House, a division of Penguin Random House LLC, New York.
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