We're Simply Falling For These Savory Stanley Tucci Cooking Tips
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Most of us know Stanley Tucci from his starring roles, including the kind and sassy club manager in "Burlesque" and the stern but caring art director in "The Devil Wears Prada." We've seen Tucci portrayed as a wise and sarcastic friend many times, but only in the last decade have we learned about his skills in the kitchen. As it turns out, Stanley Tucci is an ardent lover of food, and he has an arsenal of cooking tips to bring your dishes to a new level of deliciousness.
Along with being a famous actor, Tucci is an Italian-American with a passion for all things culinary. He's written two cookbooks and a memoir titled "Taste: My Life Through Food," in which he shares about his life and reflects on the connection between food and people. He's even taken his love of food to the screen in his show "Searching for Italy," which follows his travels as he experiences the country's many culinary wonders.
After watching the affable actor eat his way through a country filled with mouthwatering dishes, many Tucci fans are dying to learn some of his culinary knowledge. The actor is quite the chef in his free time and occasionally shares cooking tidbits on his social media accounts or in interviews. Here are the top Stanley Tucci cooking tips to transport you straight to Italy.
Shake delicate ingredients to combine
Tucci has many tricks up his sleeve, such as unique ways to mix ingredients to bring out their flavor. While outlining the steps for a seafood stew in "The Tucci Cookbook," the talented actor reveals a technique to mix ingredients that tend to easily break. As he explains, rather than mixing them with a spoon in the typical method, you can combine them by gently shaking the bowl or pan.
The eastern Italian stew was created by local fishermen who needed a way to use up the extra fish that they didn't sell. To use up the excess, they cooked the fish into a tomato-based stew. Although the traditional recipe contains 13 different kinds of seafood, Tucci's version is much more reasonable, featuring only two types. And while you can use any fish you like, Tucci recommends avoiding overly oily options like salmon or tuna.
In the recipe, he instructs readers to make the broth and then add the fish one by one, shaking the pan until the sauce covers the pieces. This keeps the fish from breaking apart, ensuring that the stew contains tender bites that have kept their shape throughout the cooking process. This Tucci tip can be used in many recipes that use delicate, breakable ingredients.
Prepare a plate of savory treats for guests to enjoy
We can gather from his books and TV show that Tucci views food as one of the essential ways to connect with others. During his travels in Italy, he learns about the cuisines of different regions, meeting talented chefs and memorable personalities along the way. Since he views food as such a social connector, it's no surprise that Tucci loves hosting almost as much as he loves cooking. The actor learned a lot from his mother, including the importance of serving hors d'oeuvres before the meal. As he explains in "The Tucci Cookbook," one of his favorite moments is when his guests first arrive, which is made even better by a spread of savory snacks.
Tucci recommends making an assortment of finger foods like cured meats, olives, cheeses, and biscotti to serve with wine or espresso. These kinds of foods are ideal for the occasion because they can be prepared ahead of time and do fine sitting out at room temperature. These pre-meal snacks are called cicchetti in Veneto, Italy, and they can be the mouthwatering precursor to a meal or even compose the meal themselves with a side of salad and bread.
Avoid non-stick pans whenever possible
Tucci's cookbooks go into detail about all aspects of cooking a meal, from drinks to pair with your food to ingredients to prioritize. At the beginning of his book "The Tucci Table: Cooking with Family and Friends," he also lists kitchen supplies that are necessary for cooking the recipes to come. This includes an assortment of knives, tongs, mortar and pestles, and other kitchen tools he views as indispensable to creating his distinctive recipes.
According to the beloved Italian-American actor, using the right pan is essential to the outcome of a dish. He asserts that heavy-bottomed pans and pots are the best options for cooking and that cast iron pans are always an excellent choice. However, non-stick pans are not advisable, and Tucci strongly discourages using them. If you must, he recommends those with a ceramic surface like Green Pan or Bialetti. Although many home cooks simply use whatever tools are available to them and prioritize pans that are easy to use and clean, Tucci believes it is important to consider the specific material.
Cook tomatoes at a low simmer to bring out their flavor
Tomatoes are a popular ingredient in Italian cuisine, and few things are better than using a freshly-grown tomato for bruschetta or pasta. However, this is one ingredient that needs to be cooked well to enjoy. Nothing is worse than a mushy tomato dish or one with an overly metallic flavor, which can happen if you buy low-quality tomatoes or cook them incorrectly.
One of Tucci's go-to recipes is a Tuscan tomato soup seasoned with aromatics like shallots and garlic. As Tucci learned from his mother, the key to cooking with tomatoes is reducing their acidity. He explains in "The Tucci Table: Cooking With Family and Friends" that the best way to achieve this is to simmer the tomatoes for a long time until the natural sweetness emerges. Another Stanley Tucci cooking tip is to make sure you get the best possible tomatoes for your recipe. According to the cook, San Marzano tomatoes are the pinnacle of quality.
Rotate meat to ensure it's juicy and evenly-cooked
In "The Tucci Table: Cooking with Family and Friends," Tucci reminisces about his early days in New York City when he was too broke to eat anything but a bowl of soup at coffee shops. While he chose cafes because they were cheaper than restaurants, the upside was that many served tasty soup. One recipe that brings him right back to those days is his pea and ham hock soup.
Tucci explains that to properly make this recipe, it's essential to have well-cooked, juicy ham. One of his special tricks is to turn the meat every once in a while as it cooks, ensuring that it cooks all the way through and has no dry parts. This is a great tip when making any soup recipe that contains meat since cooking it evenly can be a struggle. Depending on the cut, you'll want to maneuver the meat carefully to keep it intact.
Use heat from cooked pasta to cook cold tomatoes
Tucci loves tomatoes and basil and names them as some of his favorite summer ingredients. It only makes sense that these are featured in his favorite summer recipe, which is a classic combo of just five fresh ingredients. The hot-weather pasta recipe is flavored simply with tomatoes, basil, garlic, olive oil, and goat cheese if desired.
Although simmering tomatoes on low heat is a great option for soups and sauces, summer recipes with fresh tomatoes involve other methods. Tucci's cooking tip for perfect tomatoes in his summer pasta is to toss the marinated tomatoes in a bowl with hot pasta that's just been drained. The heat cooks the cold tomatoes just the right amount, leaving them tender and crunchy.
This trick shows that sometimes the simplest cooking tips are the most effective. Rather than an in-depth process, using the heat from the cooked pasta is the key to making Tucci's favorite summer recipe.
Steamed mussels are tasty on toasted bread
In the last few years, Tucci quickly discovered that his fans love learning cooking tips from his social media videos. While the actor is far from being a social media guru, he's figured out how to film entertaining videos of himself making some of his go-to recipes. With his wife's commentary in the background, he takes the opportunity to share culinary tricks with his followers on Instagram or TikTok.
One of his beloved Instagram videos reveals a creative way to serve steamed mussels that brings the dish to a new level of tastiness. While steaming mussels with seasonings like olive oil, butter, and garlic is nothing new, Tucci's adds an extra element that transforms the recipe. In the video, he starts by explaining how to make steamed mussels on the stove, flavored with leeks, shallots, garlic, olive oil, salt, white wine, and butter. Tucci steams the mussels for five minutes with the lid on and adds fresh parsley and chives at the end. His final step is to pour the mussels and the liquid they are cooked in over pieces of crispy bread in a bowl. Tucci explains that the bread will soak up all of the sauce and be absolutely delectable. This simple tip leaves the cook with both delicious mussels and flavorful bread.
Clean leeks with a jug of cold water
Along with the ability to make complicated recipes and classic Italian dishes, Tucci is well-versed in kitchen basics such as how to choose the right pan or effectively clean a vegetable. One of the recipes he features in his cookbook "The Tucci Table" is a potato and leek soup with fried parsley. As the food enthusiast explains, this soup is as versatile as it gets and can be served hot in the winter or cold in the summer. It's also a great crowd-pleaser, whether you're feeding your kids or having friends over.
Leeks are undeniably tasty, but it's no secret that they often have residual dirt even after being cleaned. Unlike apples or tomatoes, they hold dirt in the folds between their leaves, meaning that a quick rinse may not do the trick. Tucci has experience with this struggle and has perfected a cleaning method over the years. His creative strategy for cleaning leeks involves rinsing them in a large jug.
He says to cut the leeks in half lengthwise and then transfer them to a large jug filled with cold water. Swish them around and drain the water, repeating three to four times until no more dirt comes off. Once the water remains clean, they're ready to be used in the recipe with no dirty surprises.
Use tongs to crisp the edges of sandwiches
Tucci seems to be an expert when it comes to gourmet comfort food, and sandwiches are no exception. Anyone who's made a grilled cheese sandwich knows that it's simple enough to crisp both sides; you simply flip it over when the bottom side is crispy enough and cook the other side. However, Tucci takes the crispiness to a new level with a cooking tip involving tongs. We already established that Tucci views tongs as an essential kitchen tool, and this trick likely explains part of his affinity.
Tucci's grilled mozzarella cheese sandwich recipe from his book is the one his grandmother used to make during his childhood. For starters, if you can get your hand on Italian bread then do so, otherwise, Tucci says that any bread with a crispy crust and a soft middle will do fine for the sandwich. Next, he instructs readers to layer mozzarella cheese on the bread and dip the sandwich in a beaten egg mixture. Then, grill the sandwich for three minutes on each side to achieve a gold color. If you want it to be extra crispy (and who doesn't?), he recommends using tongs to hold the sandwich upright in the pan, ensuring that the edges get as crispy as the two sides.
Serve the pasta and meat separately when making ragù
One recipe that holds a special place in Stanley Tucci's heart is ragù, which he grew up eating nearly every weekend with his parents. This traditional Italian dish is a meat-based sauce typically served with pasta. It can be made with whatever type of meat you have on hand, whether that's pork, beef, chicken, or fish. Everyone has a different method for ragù that they swear by, but few people have as much authority on the matter as Tucci. Growing up eating delicious, authentic Italian food, this well-loved actor has a unique perspective on ragù, which includes his own preferences when it comes to serving it.
Although many pasta lovers prefer to serve the meat in the sauce over the pasta, Tucci swears by keeping them completely separate. As he explains in an Instagram video, one of the most important steps of his recipe is to remove the meat from the sauce, take out the bones, and set it aside. Then, he combines the pasta and the sauce, enjoying the meat along with the meal on its own plate.
Make roasted bell peppers by blackening the skin
Among the numerous cooking videos that Tucci shares with fans is a clip that shows him cooking on a grill in his yard. In the video, Tucci is grilling bell peppers with a side of sauteed sweet peppers and onions. He explains that he uses large sweet peppers because they pair well with fatty sausage meat. As for his grilled bell peppers, he truly puts his own spin on this classic summer side.
Roasted bell peppers are nothing new, but Tucci's recipe involves an unconventional step that looks unappetizing at first. As one can see in his TikTok video, he prefers to completely blacken the skin as he roasts them and let them cool before peeling off the charred skin. Then, he puts the peppers in a jar with olive oil, garlic, and salt. As Tucci says, he does this because he's "crazy." As strange as this looks, Tucci's savory tips never fail us.
Add sauteed onions to baked beans
In one of his lovable cooking TikTok videos, Tucci makes a recipe for baked beans that his late wife Kate used to make. He prepares the dish for Thanksgiving, but it's a tasty option no matter the time of year. Although Tucci lives in London, he says that he's not a big fan of British baked beans, which he describes as "tomatoey" and "soupy."
Along with the classic ingredients of bacon, pork, molasses, ketchup, mustard, and dark brown sugar, Tucci adds an extra pop of flavor to his distinctive baked beans recipe. His special trick is to add sauteed onions to the mix, which infuses the perfect flavor to complement the bacon and beans. In his videos, Tucci's charm and personality shine through, which is likely the true reason that his fans are watching. Still, he certainly has a way of inspiring anyone to whip up a pot of baked beans. At the end of the video, Tucci says that these baked beans are "delicious on the side of a good burger," and raves, "oh my god it's so good!"