TikTok's Pasta Queen Just Unveiled Her Own Cookbook

Branching out to America, Nadia Caterina Munno, known to her five million followers as "The Pasta Queen," is continuing the dynasty her family began in the 1800s. Referred to as the "Macaronis," Munno's family in Rome has been in the pasta business for generations, a part of Munno's heritage that she takes very seriously.

As a diligent mother of four, Munno credits investigating the unfamiliar app TikTok in 2020 for inappropriate content on her daughter's phone as the beginning of her path to royalty. According to her website, when The Pasta Queen saw inappropriate content in the form of a "blasphemous video of a horrifying lasagna," she felt compelled to do something about people bastardizing her beloved Italian culture. With a love of the telenovelas she watched with her nonnas growing up, Munno began making dramatic videos of the dishes she prepared at home that the women in her family have passed down.

After a viral TikTok recipe, Munno's life changed. The pasta empire grew to include Pasta Queen merchandise, a line of cookware, and now her first cookbook, "The Pasta Queen: A Just Gorgeous Cookbook: 100+ Recipes and Stories." The debut cookbook was released on November 8, along with a virtual and in-person nationwide tour with Munno. Here's what we know so far.

A Just Gorgeous Cookbook

Called "[A] luscious debut ... Thorough and infectiously jubilant" by Publishers Weekly, Nadia Caterina Munno's cookbook, "The Pasta Queen: A Just Gorgeous Cookbook: 100+ Recipes and Stories," launched Tuesday with a segment on TODAY where she prepared Frittata di Pasta. Written as a "love letter" to Italy, the book contains recipes from all over Italy, including from her hometown of Rome and Naples where her family's pasta factory began (per press release).

Along with the recipes — most of which are family heirlooms — Munno introduces the history of pasta, emphasizes the importance of using quality ingredients, and shares cooking tips so you too can "entertain like Pasta Royalty." According to Munno, all the recipes in her book are simple to make and easily customizable to what you have on hand and your palate. She believes that knowing the ingredients allows a cook to convey different emotions through their cooking and deliver the right impression when entertaining (via The Pasta Queen).

Munno's cookbook is an extension of her philosophy, "life is a combination of magic and pasta." Her book's launch begins with a live signing and dinner at Devozione in New York City, followed by a week's worth of stops at bookstores and Williams-Sonoma locations in New York, New Jersey, Florida, and California. Otherwise, you can catch The Pasta Queen on TikTok critiquing cringe-worthy Italian food videos and creating cinematic versions of her own.