A crust of browned breadcrumbs and parsley cover a casserole dish, holding in the heat of melted cheddar cheese and the soft pillows of baked gnocchi that lie beneath.
Gnocchi mac n cheese is one of many generously comforting recipes created by celebrity chef Alex Guarnaschelli. That mac n cheese lives on the menu of her decades-old New York City restaurant, Butter.
But what does the Iron Chef and Food Network icon prepare on her days off? And how can one taste her comfort food dishes outside of the Big Apple?
This fall, Chef Alex published a new cookbook, “Cook with me: 150 recipes for the Home Cook,” dedicated to her late father, the less “glamorous cook” in her family, who made unforgettable meals, like risotto with tomato and parmesan and spaghetti and meatballs. Chef Alex follows his example, turning simple home-cooked recipes into flavor bombs, while adding her recent discoveries as a mother preparing meals for her daughter Ava.
Alex Guarnaschelli latest cookbook
The recipes are divided into smart sections designed to spark the appetite while saving time. And although Chef Alex trained in France, there’s no lack of Italian and Italian-American influenced meals.
From “Snacks and Dips,” (Alex grew up eating fresh ricotta cheese with sugar as a child and visiting Di Palo’s Fine Foods in New York City’s Little Italy since she was seven years old ) to “Red Sauce Recipes” (Alex’s paternal side came from Naples), to baked ziti, Alex fills the book with intuitive suggestions for feasting, entertaining, and enjoying the perfect snack.