Giada De Laurentiis Shares The One Recipe Her Friends Always Ask For: ‘People Are Wowed By It’

2 min read

Key Points

In an interview with Delish, Giada de Laurentiis shares what recipe she gets asked for the most from friends and family.She also reveals which food trend she hopes sticks around forever and which she can’t wait to see the last of.She’s also the face of a new pop-up experience in partnership with Peroni, which will be traveling to cities across the country.

Giada de Laurentiis and Italy go hand in hand. The Italian-born chef first became a household name thanks to her Food Network show Everyday Italian and she has continued to celebrate Italian cooking throughout her career. So it makes complete sense that, in partnership with Peroni Nastro Azzurro, the celebrity chef is now bringing a piece of Italian culture to America.

Inspired by the famous wine windows in Italy, Peroni and de Laurentiis are introducing a new summer drinking experience in the States: Peroni Portals. The traveling pop-up will visit major cities across the U.S., where guests can grab an ice-cold bottle of Peroni, try Giada’s Pane di Peroni focaccia, and take a moment to slow down.

I caught up with de Laurentiis at the kick-off event in New York City, where she shared that her focaccia recipe is to die for—yes, she uses Peroni in the batter—and that the beer is also the secret to her parents’ fritto misto. Because of its light effervescence, the beer creates a light and fluffy coating that really shouldn’t be overlooked.

However, it’s not her focaccia or fritto misto that always has guests asking for more. Instead, it’s one of her simple spreads that always steals the show. When asked if there’s a certain recipe she always gets asked for, her answer was quick: “Sicilian pesto.”

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As de Laurentiis explains, it’s a departure from your typical green pesto, with a bold red color instead, thanks to Sicilian tomatoes and almonds.

“Every time I make that, people are wowed by it,” she tells me. “I use it on pasta for summer; I use it on grilled chicken, grilled meat, on grilled fish—I basically make a batch of it and use it on everything. I’ve always got it in the fridge, and people always ask me for the recipe.”

While her guests may be wowed by Sicilian pesto, de Laurentiis herself can’t get enough avocado toast. It’s one trend she hopes sticks around “forever and ever and ever,” she says.

One fad she’s more than ready to say goodbye to? Truffle oil.

“I’m so over [it] and I get pushback on those in my restaurant all the time,” she shares. “It’s usually not real truffles. I like fresh truffles.”

And honestly, she’s not alone in that opinion. Many chefs share her disdain for truffle oil, since it is often synthetic and restaurants tend to overcharge for it. Bring back real shaved truffle!