If you want to create rich flavors without spending hours in the kitchen poring over long ingredient lists, Italian food is always a good go-to. For centuries, Italians have adopted a cucina povera, or “poor kitchen,” approach to cooking, which focuses on making the most of simple, humble ingredients.
Italian-American actor and renowned foodie Stanley Tucci is a big fan of simple Italian recipes. As well as starring in shows like Stanley Tucci: Searching for Italy and Tucci in Italy, he frequently shares easy, tasty, nutritious recipes on his social media account. Last month, for example, he shared a quick lunch he enjoyed before filming the sequel to The Devil Wears Prada.
GreenPan
“It’s really good, really hearty,” he said about the dish, which combines tomato sauce, cannellini beans, onions, garlic, and fresh basil. The simple concoction is finished off with salt, pepper, and a drizzle of olive oil for serving.
Like many dishes influenced by cucina povera techniques, Tucci’s lunch included twice-baked bread softened in the sauce. It’s a common way to use leftover bread, saving money and reducing waste.
Tucci also elected to add tuna to his hearty soup, but if you wanted to make the dish vegan, you could add extra beans or chickpeas. For a fishy flavor, you could sprinkle in a little nori seaweed or mix in a store-bought vegan tuna alternative.
Stanley Tucci’s go-to plant-forward meals
Many of the dishes Tucci enjoys are plant-forward. Last year, for example, he shared his take on pasta e fagioli on Today. The dish is another example of simple, cucina povera cuisine: it’s made with just cannellini beans, onions, and marinara. The name literally translates to “pasta and beans.”
“It’s a classic, classic dish, it’s been around forever,” Tucci said during the segment. “It’s been abused sometimes, and made, sometimes, really badly, but it doesn’t have to be. It’s incredibly simple.”
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Tucci added chicken stock and dairy cheese to his version, but these can easily be swapped for vegetable broth and dairy-free cheese. The actor has also shared recipes for plant-based string bean minestra on his social media, as well as pitti fritti (deep-fried pizza dough with sugar) and pasta e ceci (pasta with chickpeas).
Previously, Tucci told Eating Well that most of his go-to ingredients are vegan. “Olive oil, tomatoes, garlic, onion, basil, carrots, celery, you can do a lot with that right there,” he said. “Risotto rice, polenta, pasta, and any kind of vegetable. You can do a million things with all of that.”
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Charlotte is a VegNews editor and writer based in sunny Southsea on England's southern coast.
