Hillary Sterling is busy. She’s the chef at one of New York’s hardest-to reserve-restaurants, Ci Siamo, a wife and mom to a four-year-old, triathlete, and newly minted cookbook author. Before embarking on a coast-to-coast book tour (plus culinary pop-ups) to promote her debut cookbook, Ammazza!, Brooklyn-based Sterling chatted with Real Simple about her go-to hack for quickly and deliciously feeding her family, how she turns weekly errands into a culinary event, and the one kitchen tool (under $25!) she just cannot cook without.
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Hillary Sterling is the four-time James Beard-nominated Executive Chef of Ci Siamo in New York City, and the author of Ammazza!, her debut cookbook out now
As a chef Sterling’s kitchen is teeming with anchovies, jars of Calabrian chillies, dark pretzels, flour tortillas, and more, but if there’s one ingredient this culinary pro always has on hand, it’s homemade pesto. When paired with pasta, Sterling relies on the Italian condiment to get dinner on the table in minutes—a lifesaver on busy weeknights.
“I’ll make a big batch of basil pesto on a Sunday, put it in little pint containers, and either freeze whatever I don’t use, or put it in the fridge,” Sterling explained. “When I’m busy, I take a little pint of pesto out of the freezer, make pasta, and my son gets to grate the cheese so we have dinner in 10 minutes. That’s always one of my go-tos.”
Additionally, Sterling keeps her homemade pesto nut-free so that it’s also acceptable as part of her child’s school lunch. She also adds green vegetables like broccoli or spinach to her pesto to amp up the nutrient content.
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As far as the pasta is concerned, Sterling has a clear preference for certain shapes. While long noodles have a time and place, Sterling is a firm believer that short pasta can make mealtime less stressful, especially with a young child at home. “My son loves long spaghetti, but it’s such a mess,” Sterling shared with a laugh. “I usually end up using a smaller shape, like a mezzi rigatoni.” Brand-wise, Sterling is a fan of Sfoglini or Wegman’s Artisanal line, which offers fun shapes that her son can pick out for himself at the grocery store.
When it comes to trips to the grocery store, Sterling loves to turn this necessary (but sometimes tedious) errand into a family affair. “I really enjoy grocery shopping,” she said. On the weekends, Sterling will make various trips with her wife and son to the supermarket, farmers market, butcher, or fish monger, often stocking up on fresh basil, cheese, and other ingredients for her homemade pesto.
Curious to know where a professional chef shops for food? Marlow & Daughters or Ends Meat in Sunset Park, Brooklyn are Sterling’s go-tos for meat, while she likes Greenpoint Fish for seafood. “It’s so important to keep those smaller businesses going,” she said of her local spots.
And while Sterling obviously knows her way around the kitchen, there’s one specific cooking tool she can’t live without. “There’s this French [kitchen tool] that does everything that a spatula would do and more,” Sterling explained. “I live and breathe them. My wife threw it out once because she thought it looked really old and I was … destroyed. I went immediately to [restaurant supply store] J. B. Prince to buy a new one.”
So, why is this kitchen tool, the Matfer Bourgeat Exoglass High Temperature Kitchen Spatula, so fabulous? It features a flat surface with a rounded edge, making it an absolute workhorse for Sterling. In fact, she even uses it when whipping up her aforementioned pesto pasta. “I can’t make mac and cheese and pasta, or anything, without that tool,” she gushed. “It’s the best spatula, but not a [typical] spatula. And they’re heat resistant. Literally, you can put them on the fire almost and they will not melt.”
While this method hasn’t been officially tested, Sterling’s most-beloved kitchen tool is dishwasher-safe, and boasts a non-porous, non-stick surface that makes it ideal for a wide variety of kitchen tasks. Plus, it has earned the seal of approval straight from a pro!
Read the original article on Real Simple
Dining and Cooking