Blending Italy and California

An interview with Giada De Laurentiis of Santa Monica

For this week’s newsletter, I had the honor of interviewing the delightful Giada De Laurentiis. The Food Network star and cookbook author recently launched a new website, Giadzy, to offer cooks Italian foods from artisanal producers she has known for a long time—and to share stories about those foods and producers along with recipes for using the ingredients. She is also in the process of launching an LA-based catering company. (And she quietly runs and funds a charity that builds gardens in public schools in the Compton Unified School District.)

Giada shared one of her classic recipes—along with some of the twists she often uses when she makes it—and told me about how she ended up in Los Angeles and how growing up and living in California has influenced her cooking. Here is part of our talk, edited for clarity, with the recipe following:

Giada De Laurentiis

I was born in Rome, Italy, and I moved to the States when I was seven years old. I lived in New York first and then my whole family moved to Los Angeles. We basically were the classic Italian or European patriarchal family, where you follow the patriarch—and that was my grandfather. And so, when he moved to the States, we all moved with him. My grandfather was in the movie business, so we moved to Los Angeles because he was making several movies here.

Food was the center of everything that we did. It was what we spoke about 24-7, it was how we spent most of our time, it's, I would say, how we all connected, for the most part. And my grandfather loved to get everybody together on Sundays. He was born in Naples. His parents owned a pasta factory before World War II, and he sold pasta and sauces and pizza doughs and things of that nature. On Sundays, he would make either pasta from scratch or pizza dough from scratch, and he would have us kids (me being the eldest of all the grandchildren) either helping him cut the pasta dough into whatever it was he wanted to make—whether he made ravioli or spaghetti or fettuccine—or he would make pizza dough and have us roll it out and make our own pizzas. So those are sort of my first memories of food in my family. But it was the center of everything that we did—which probably explains why it's still the center of what I do.

Giada with two of her siblings: her sister, Eloisa and her late brother, Dino

At home, I pretty much make mostly simple Italian food. That is my daughter's favorite. Every once in a while I step out and I make something different. I make a Thai dish here and there. My daughter tends to like Thai food, so we do that a little bit. I'll do an Indian curry or a Thai curry—she likes that a lot as well. I took a couple classes in making sushi from scratch, which I really enjoy. So, from time to time I play with that. I went to culinary school in Paris, so every once in a while I will make a French quiche or something of that nature, or a French dessert (because that's really what I love). But otherwise it's pretty similar to what you see me make on television, believe it or not. It is almost identical many of the times.

What drives me to cook is my daughter. Otherwise, I don't know that I would. I probably would eat very simple. I grow tomatoes in my garden and basil, and I will make something very simple—maybe toasting some bread, making some crostini or bruschetta on the grill, and topping it with some tomatoes. I don't really need to eat that much, but, because I have my daughter, then I'm like, Oh, okay; she needs to get her protein, she needs to get her carbs, she needs to get her vegetables. So I then go and I make a meal. But otherwise, I could eat very little and be totally fine.

Giada in culinary school

I think that most people that know me or watch my shows would say that a lot of my dishes, my Italian food, is very much influenced by California. I think that over the years I’ve lightened up many of my family recipes based on the fact that I live where and the sun is shining all the time and we have access to a lot of produce that some other parts of the country don't always have access to year-round. I also think that I have sort of merged my family’s style with Italian coastal cuisine, which is very similar to how we eat in California. Most of it has to do with lightning the dishes up—lots of lemon, lots of fresh ingredients, arugula, basil—more than heavier, more robust dishes. I've introduced a lot more fish than I grew up eating, and less saucy, thick things. White wines, lemon juice, chicken broth, lots of veggies, lots of salads, grilled salads—that is more my style of food than the heavier Italian food that a lot of Americans think of.

I think that what's pretty amazing about California is the farms. Still, to this day, a lot of people don't know about the farms in California, in the sense that if they go to the grocery store, those grocery stores don't highlight where the produce comes from. Sometimes it comes from a lot of different places, so they can't. But there's a lot of stuff that comes from places like Flamingo Estate, which I really like, and Frog Hollow Farm.

I think that that's sort of the interesting part for people living here—getting to know some of these farms and understanding where they can access them. A lot of them have great websites where you can order baskets or crates of their produce.

Lemon spaghetti

I think that the recipe I'm best known for is my lemon spaghetti. I think the lemon spaghetti is sort of a beginner dish, but it's super simple and I feel like it represents both Italian food and California very well with lots of basil, lots of lemon juice, lemon zest, olive oil. The recipe just calls for regular lemons, but I definitely use Meyer lemons whenever they come in on my tree. I have a tangerine tree as well, so sometimes I do some tangerine juice mixed with lemon juice. So, I sort of vary it.

I play around with recipes a lot—even the ones that I'm famous for. I like to just to switch them up a little bit every once in a while. So I've played with lots of different things, depending on what’s in my garden.

Lemon Spaghetti

This spaghetti is one of Giada’s most famous dishes. There are a few versions of this recipe out there, as she often plays her recipes. Sometimes she serves this with grilled shrimp on top (which she sometimes also marinates in a bit of lemon). But it’s perfect on its own, without extra adornments. (I particularly like it with Meyer lemons, but I’m spoiled; I have a big tree in my backyard.)

Serves 4

⅔ cup olive oil
⅔ cup freshly grated Parmesan cheese
½ cup fresh lemon juice (from about 2 lemons)
¾ teaspoon salt (plus more to taste)
½ teaspoon freshly ground black pepper (plus more to taste)
1 lb dried spaghetti
⅓ cup chopped fresh basil
1 tablespoon grated lemon zest (from about 2 lemons)

1. In a large bowl, whisk the oil, Parmesan cheese, lemon juice, 3/4 teaspoon of salt, and ½ teaspoon of pepper to blend. Set the lemon sauce aside. (The sauce can be made up to 8 hours ahead. Cover and refrigerate. Bring to room temperature before using.)

2. Meanwhile, bring a large pot of salted water to a boil. Add the spaghetti and cook, stirring occasionally, until tender but still firm to the bite, about 8 minutes. Drain, reserving 1 cup of the cooking liquid.

3. Add the spaghetti to the lemon sauce, and toss with the basil and lemon zest. Toss the pasta with enough reserved cooking liquid, ¼ cup at a time, to moisten. Season the pasta with more salt and pepper to taste. Transfer to bowls and serve.

More California Stories to Read, Watch, and Listen To

My favorite little California food story this week actually ran just this morning, on KQED. It isn’t specifically about food—it’s a piece about the Vietnamese-American bus service that runs from San Jose to Little Saigon (in Westminster, CA)—but the bus is known as the “bánh mì bus,” and the descriptions of sharing food with other passengers and hauling jackfruit in the cargo bay are just delightful. (I particularly like the audio version, which will be on the California Report’s site later today.)

For a really wonderful piece of writing, check out Jean Trinh’s essay “How these Chinese doughnuts helped save my refugee family” in the LA Times. (The LA Times also has a great Korean dumpling crawl video that makes me really hungry!) And for a current story about Asian-American food entrepreneurship, check out the North Coast Journal’s recent story about a Hmong food business that’s starting up in Humboldt County.

If you’re looking for something to cook this week, the OC Register has some recipes for Sukkot, Word of Mouth has a recipe for fig chutney, and Sunset Magazine has a delicious-looking recipe for chicken adobo that I’ll definitely be making! (And for something to go with your dinner, take a look at Sonoma Magazine’s fall cocktails story.)

Stay Tuned For…

I’m compiling a list of cookbooks released by California authors this fall, and I’ll have a quick write-up of each (and interviews with some of the authors) coming up in the next few weeks—just in time to start thinking about your holiday gift list. Subscribe to get it in your inbox!

Photos courtesy of Giada De Laurentiis