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Food People, Parent Picks: we ask our favorite chefs, food writers, and industry insiders who we interview in our Order Up! Series to share the products, books, and bites they can’t live without.
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Domenica Marchetti has a gift for making Italian cooking feel both grounded in tradition and totally doable on a weeknight, and even though she’s an award-winning food writer, she’s adamant about being a home cook first and foremost. A cookbook author and teacher with over half a dozen books under her belt (and another coming in 2026 on regional Italian cookies!), Domenica grew up with roots in Abruzzo, Italy, and now calls Virginia home. Her kitchen is full of history, curiosity, and spoon desserts—but also practical tools, comforting rituals, and clever pantry staples that make real-life home cooking feel joyful. Make sure you read this week’s interview with Domenica as part of One Potato’s Order Up! Interview Series, and read on for her Food People, Parent Picks below.
We ❤️ Domenica’s Cookbooks: The Glorious Soups and Stews of Italy [Amazon] 🌟 Big Night In: More Than 100 Wonderful Recipes for Feeding Family and Friends Italian-Style [Amazon] 🌟 Everyday Italian Cookbook: 90+ Favorite Recipes for La Cucina Italiana [Bookshop, Amazon] 🌟 The Glorious Pasta of Italy [Bookshop, Amazon] 🌟 The Glorious Vegetables of Italy [Bookshop, Amazon] 🌟 Rustic Italian: Simple, Authentic Recipes for Everyday Cooking [Bookshop, Amazon] 🌟 Preserving Italy: Canning, Curing, Infusing, and Bottling Italian Flavors and Traditions [Bookshop, Amazon] 🌟 Ciao Biscotti [Bookshop, Amazon] 🌟 Pre-order! Italian Cookies [Bookshop, Amazon]
📖 Favorite cookbook to gift (besides your own)?
Two standouts:
First, Il Talismano della Felicità by Ada Boni [Bookshop, Amazon]. It’s the kind of cookbook passed from mother to daughter—my mom’s copy came from her own mother, and it’s a timeless, all-encompassing guide to Italian home cooking.
📘 Second, Michael Chiarello’s Casual Cooking [Amazon]. He had such a clever way of taking Italian tradition and giving it a relaxed, California spin. His recipes always worked, and I still find inspiration in that book.
🥄 Favorite kitchen tool?
I couldn’t choose just one—so here are two! First, my mezzaluna (that half-moon blade for chopping herbs and nuts). There’s just something so satisfying about using it—it fluffs the herbs beautifully and feels like a lovely unplugged moment in the kitchen. Second, my bench scraper. Sure, it’s handy for working with dough, but I use it for everything—scooping up flour, corralling coffee beans off the floor, even cleaning up oil spills. Truly a multi-tasking wonder.
🧂 Pantry essential you’re never without?
Olive oil. Always. It’s the soul of so many Italian dishes—and my kitchen wouldn’t function without it.
🌶️ Favorite summer ingredient you count down the months for?
It’s a three-way tie: eggplant, peppers, and zucchini. I adore them separately, but together? Magic.
🧄 An Italian ingredient you wish more American home cooks used?
Two come to mind: pumpkin and saffron.
Growing up, I would visit Italy during the summer, so even I wasn’t aware that pumpkin is hugely versatile in Italy. When it’s pumpkin season, you can find beautiful pumpkins in all the farmer’s markets, and it’s used in all these incredible dishes in Italian cooking, in everything from stews, to pasta fillings, to savory tarts, and of course desserts. And saffron? In my family’s region of Abruzzo, it’s a DOP ingredient (DOP stands for Denominazione d’ Origine Protetta, an ingredient that comes from a Protected Designation of Origin). We use it in soups, pasta dough, and even desserts. It’s delicate, aromatic, and completely Italian.
🍝 A kitchen tradition you’ve passed on to your kids?
Christmas Eve seafood dinner—without fail. My mom never called it the “Feast of the Seven Fishes,” but every year, she’d somehow pull off a marathon of seafood dishes. We’ve scaled back a bit over the years, but we always gather around a table full of fish to keep the tradition going.
🥣 Favorite artisan food gift to give (or get)?
It depends on where I am in Italy. I love picking up a jar of something special—Taggiasca olives in Liguria, saffron in Abruzzo, or preserved peppers from a local farmer near our house in the hills. My rule: find something small-batch and regional, wherever I go.
🍮 What’s your current kitchen obsession?
Lately, I’ve been testing recipes for bonèt, a rich Piedmontese dessert that’s like a cross between flan and chocolate custard—with amaretto cookies stirred in. But if I zoom out a little, my real obsession these last few years has been Italian cookies. I’ve traveled all over Italy collecting recipes for my next cookbook (coming in 2026!), and the variety—from meringues to amaretti to whimsical butter cookies—is just enchanting. So yes… my kitchen has basically been a cookie factory.
[You can pre-order Domenica’s Italian Cookies [Bookshop, Amazon] coming out in early 2026, or pick up a copy of her cookbook Ciao Biscotti [Bookshop, Amazon] now!]
☕ Coffee or wine?
Coffee. Every time. I literally go to bed looking forward to that first cup in the morning. These days it’s a toss-up between a strong American-style brew with lots of half-and-half, or a cappuccino from our espresso machine. Either way, it’s a daily ritual I love.
