Summary
Nadia Caterina Munno’s new Prime Video series, The Pasta Queen, features unexpected twists and classic Italian dishes.
The show captures the heart of Italian culture through spontaneous moments and stunning visuals of various regions in Italy.
Munno’s playful approach in the kitchen, emphasizing imperfection, family wisdom, and authenticity, sets the series apart.
If you’ve ever caught the Pasta Queen, Nadia Caterina Munno on TikTok or Instagram, you already know she’s the real deal. With her larger-than-life personality walking us through cooking demos and making every dish look drop-dead gorgeous, it’s no secret her vibrant nature has millions of fans and a spot on the New York Times bestseller list. The Italian-born chef and entrepreneur is not just cooking pasta, she’s living and breathing it, and now taking it to the next level with her new Prime Video series, The Pasta Queen. Bringing us on a vibrant journey across four regions of Italy, Munno delves deep into the heart of local ingredients, regional traditions, and culinary stories. But it’s not just about the food, as she shares in an exclusive interview with Collider.
While getting candid about her Italian roots and adventures in the kitchen, including a bucket list dream, Munno shows us first-hand everything that goes into the delicious world of Italian food, family, and culture. Spilling the sugo on everything — from mushroom foraging with her dad to why eggplant parmigiana is the ultimate holiday dish, she shares how the 13-part series produced by Reese Witherspoon’s Hello Sunshine finds its greatest joys in not just the connections we build, but through the food, places and family we love. Not to mention, the only ingredient you need to make everything taste better — and it’s not salt.
‘The Pasta Queen’ Embraces Her Origins With Unscripted Surprises
“It was such a liberating and electrifying experience.”
Munno, who best describes herself as a “puttanesca” pasta, best known for its “classic and iconic” flavors and a sprinkle of “sass,” reveals the Hello Sunshine-produced series was full of unexpected twists. “We weren’t fully set until we went to Italy on the actual recipe list,” she tells Collider. “A couple of dishes made it into the show that were not planned, like the eggplant parmigiana, which is a very big staple of a Sunday supper with the family down in Campania. It’s a very iconic grandma dish-type.”
These spontaneous moments give The Pasta Queen series a lot of its heart, as Munno lets Italy’s vibrant culture reveal itself naturally. “We interacted with a lot of farmers. We did a lot of crazy things. Like we had a live volcano. I milked a wild buffalo. I went out fishing for mussels. I really did a lot of fish-out-of-water moments, even for me as an Italian,” she shares. “It was such a liberating and electrifying experience because, with the crew, we became a family and had so much fun.”
With each dish deeply rooted in her background, the regions featured on the show reflect Munno’s emotional connection to Italian culture. “The recipes are very classic, rich, and employ all the basic ingredients the world knows to be Italian,” Munno explains. Whether it’s the familiar guanciale or the indulgent mortadella, her goal in helping showcase the heart of Italian cooking makes viewers feel as if they’re right there with her at the dinner table. Expanding on how they brought in the “foundational” background of her upbringing to the series, she adds how the regions you see in the show are the regions where she grew up. “[It] defined my cooking style, my lifestyle, the way I love my family, the way we spend time together. You’ll see through the show; it really makes sense — it explains it,” she says.
‘The Pasta Queen’ Is a Visual Feast Beyond the Pasta
“We talk about Italy as living as Italians and sharing moments.”
Image via Prime Video
While the dishes take center stage, Munno makes sure The Pasta Queen goes beyond just cooking. Every episode showcases stunning coastlines, bustling alleyways, and historical landmarks, capturing the soul of each region through breathtaking visuals. Delivering a sensory experience that feels like a real-life vacation from your couch, it’s easy to see the appeal and learn a thing or two about pasta. But Munno admits it wasn’t just about that – it’s more along the lines of showing the world what it means to live, eat, and celebrate like an Italian. “You really see Italy through an Italian family’s perspective… we don’t talk about Italy as if we are visiting Italy. We talk about Italy as living as Italians and sharing moments,” she explains.
As the show emphasizes the emotional and familial ties that shape Italian cuisine, Munno’s travels are also about reconnecting with her roots and sharing meaningful moments with her loved ones. “My father has been foraging mushrooms since I was a toddler,” she recalls. “We went mushroom hunting and truffle hunting together… It felt like going back, doing the things we love, which is really gathering food and then eating it.” She adds having her father in the episodes was not only a lot of fun, but “so special” to share that time with him.
‘The Pasta Queen’ Blends Munno’s Playful Approach With Family Wisdom
“Giving your love to the food before you even cook it… everything tastes better that way.”
Image via Prime Video
While the show’s charm lies in its candid exploration of local traditions and customs, it’s Munno’s playful approach to cooking that truly sets the series apart. Unlike other cooking shows, The Pasta Queen embraces the beauty of imperfection, making the kitchen feel more approachable and fun. “I always make mistakes,” Munno admits, sharing they left a lot of them in on purpose. “It is real, it is raw. Sometimes I spill things, sometimes I’m having trouble pulling things out of a drawer, or sometimes I put too much salt, sometimes I splatter things on myself. I feel that that makes it less hard for someone as opposed to like everything measured perfectly.”
This kind of authenticity not only strips away the pressure of perfection, but it allows viewers to feel at ease with Munno proving how cooking can be enjoyable even when things don’t go as planned. “It’s just instinctively throwing things in there that feel right,” she explains, further adding how she doesn’t want anyone to feel intimidated by cooking, especially with the added pressure or expectations that come with a meal.
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But at the heart of Munno’s playfulness are life mantras she learned from her grandparents — little nuggets of wisdom that guide not only her meals but her entire outlook on life. “I am all about Nona’s wisdom,” she says, explaining how these sayings become “stable milestones” that continue to shape her actions and keep her grounded. As it’s a “huge thing” in Italy to repeat these proverbs, The Pasta Queen star encourages people to cook with intention, joy, and a focus on connection. “Love your food, like pick up the food, smell it, taste it, feel it. Pick the favorite things that you love,” she says. “If you take the moments to do that, like really, making sure you go through the details of the thing… it feels like it automatically slows you down because you’re not just pouring things out of a can or a box or whatever it is. You’re literally giving your love to the food before you even cook it. I think everything tastes better that way.”
‘The Pasta Queen’ Isn’t Done Serving Her Fans
“It’s just so good because you can also pair it.”
With the show set to win over audiences across its 13 episodes on Prime Video, Munno is already looking ahead to her next big project: a cookbook that captures the magic of the series. “There’s a cookbook that’s coming out three weeks after the show that has every show recipe in it,” Munno shares of her latest project, The Art of Italian Cooking out November 12. Lucky for fans, the cookbook is more than just a collection of recipes — it’s an extension of the show, with beautiful imagery shot in Italy to match the stories and meals featured throughout the first season. “I feel for the holidays, you’re watching The Pasta Queen show, you get your cookbook, it’s a great gift for the holidays.”
When asked what dish from the book she’d recommend for the festive season, Munno doesn’t hesitate: “Ooh, eggplant parmigiana. I’m into it, I’m into it. Yeah, no, I love it, I love it.” Gorgeously rich, the eggplant parmigiana holds a special place in her heart. “It’s just so good because you can also pair it. It’s almost like you can have it as a side dish or a main dish, an appetizer. It’s so versatile.”
For more with Nadia Caterina Munno, watch the entire interview above on Collider. The Pasta Queen is now streaming on Prime Video in the U.S.
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