In the fall of 2019, I began testing the recipes for Italian American, the cookbook from Scott Tacinelli and Angie Rito, the chefs at Don Angie, a cozy, twinkly (you guessed it) Italian American restaurant in New York City’s West Village.

For six wonderful months, I worked my way through gallons of olive oil, enormous hunks of Pecorino Toscano, and truly impressive amounts of garlic as I cooked the book’s recipes. I had such a good time (and ate so well) that when asked to write about just one recipe I loved, I almost couldn’t choose.