If Chef Lidia is out of reach in NYC, let her guide you in your own kitchen

I don’t think Lidia Matticchio Bastianich subscribes to Italian-American Herald yet, but maybe we can change that together. From her family table to mine, she’s walked me through how to make countless beloved Italian-American dishes, including, most recently, Costolette di Maiale alla Capricciosa or Pork Chops Capricciosa.

Costolette di Maiale alla Capricciosa: Pork chops at home, cooked Lidia’s way. | PHOTOS BY NIKKI PALLADINO

In her cookbook, “Lidia’s Italy in America,” the chef writes that the dish is “a traditional method of cooking and combining ingredients, especially in Southern Italy, and many restaurants have it on their menus, especially those in Little Italys across America.” It’s a newer staple on the menu at my caffè, which is what I call my kitchen, thanks to its easy preparation, impressive presentation on the plate, and forkful after forkful of flavor.

There’s a nice amount of heat from the cherry peppers. So, I recommend pairing the dish with a white wine that gives the illusion of being sweeter but isn’t. I recommend something with lees contact to offset the heat and play up the richness of the overall pairing.

A byproduct of fermentation, lees are created as a result of yeast converting sugar into alcohol and carbon dioxide. While some winemakers may choose to filter out these particles, others allow these particles to spend time with grape skin and salts in a vessel to enhance the wine’s overall flavor and texture. If you’ve ever drank Champagne or Italy’s own version of the beloved sparkling beverage, Franciacorta, then you’ll likely recall the “autolytic” flavors often associated with wines with lees, specifically, yogurt-y or bread-like characteristics or almond or hay flavors. A great example of this style of wine is La Spinetta’ Vermentino from Toscana. Averaging $20 in a wine store, the wine’s savory and mineral elements take on a different taste profile when matched with a dish like Chef Lidia’s pork Capricciosa, owing to the recipe’s inclusion of butter, rosemary, and white vinegar.

Pasta filled with braised beef, pork and veal, at Bar Milano at Eataly Flatiron in New York.

Hankering for a taste of elevated home cooking outside of my own caffè, as soon as the weather broke, I ventured to Eataly Flatiron – the vibrant Italian marketplace founded by Chef Lidia, just off Fifth Avenue in New York City. Surrounded by shelves filled with hard-to-find Italian specialties, including authentic imported jams and olive oils, I don’t recommend visiting the market, unless you plan to eat. So, I did, at bar Milano.

The Agnolotti del Plin – handmade pasta filled with braised beef, pork, and veal, in a veal sugo, is revelatory. The pasta is delicate yet filling, and the sugo tastes like something my grandmother made for us what feels like a hundred years ago. Convinced red wine would be added to the broth, I ordered a glass of Cascina Valle Asinari Barbera d’Asti, and enjoyed the wine’s elevated acidity, which complemented the acidity coming from the onion and wine broth. I’d say the Barbera reminded me of an Oregon Pinot, in the way that those wines can exhibit a stemmier, softer tannin, and simultaneously rich mouthfeel, with bright, red cherry and perceptible oak flavors, but I wouldn’t want to undermine Barbera’s existence as its very own grape having very different styles, like Pinot Noir, depending on where it’s grown.

That’s the thing though. So much of what we know about Italian food and wine is regionally driven. At my caffè, though, I keep my pantry as fully stocked as my wine fridge, with everything from truffles to chili oil and bitter whites, as well as full-bodied reds. I appreciate that I can jump in the car if I want to visit Chef Lidia’s Italian marketplace in New York City or buy bottles of Vietti Barbera and Bastianich Friulano for close to $20 from my Wegman’s in Mount Laurel, all without having to book a flight. For me, food and wine adventures start at home. Cin cin to that!