Wine, Sauce and Style with Gianni Russo at Nino's

Hi, I’m Caroline Alexa Mcbride. Welcome to Nino’s, an Italian institution on New York’s uppery side. Perfect for those who crave a bit of Frank Sinatra on the piano while they serve their great age pramigiano on their pasta selection. We’re here to have our taste, so let’s go behind the burner and meet the expert. We’re here with Nino, New York’s favorite restaurateur and actor performer, food and wine expert Gianni Russo. Gianni: Good Morning. Caroline: Good Morning. Gianni: Thank you Nino for letting us be here. Nino: Thank you for coming over. Caroline: Thank you, Thank you. So Gianni, what are you making or us? Gianni: I’m going to do pene robiato, now robiato means mad at the pan. And why you say that is because this is a spicy sauce. Well first of all I’m going to take a half of the sweet Maui onion, now you could see how I’m cutting this. I keep the toe of the knife down, that will prevent you from getting cut plus using the natural growth of the onion, you force the gravity on the small end first that you could see how small this pretty fast and you never endanger, most people cut this way, it’s wrong. So let’s attain, there’s secret cutting salami or any dry meats because they have natural oil. Let’s cut it in half first and lay it flat and you slide it through. Caroline: Yeah because most people just start dicing and chopping, they do it symmetrical and cutting half like that like your doing. Gianni: Well see, if you do it this way, let’s see what’s going to happen. And again your hand is staying away from the meat. We’re going to take eight ounces of the pepperoni, we’re going to add it to the onion. And you noticed, Nino and I only wear Brioni Suits when we cook. As this is sautéeing now and the fats breaking down, we’re going to throw the pasta in. I’m going to use two pounds because this is a 26 ounces jar of sauce and with the onion and with the pepperoni, you're going to have enough here for a family of four. And now this is getting ready to add the sauce, this is a basic marinara sauce. You could see now how this is blending together. So this is done now when I strain the pasta, and here we are with this marvelous dish. And the good news about this sauce, it’s all natural ingredients, it’s fresh tomatoes and herbs and what I like it about also it’s very low in fat. Caroline: The smell is unbelievable. Gianni: And there you are penerobiatco, Gianni Russo style. Well before we eat let’s have a nice toast. To our host Nino, thank you for having us here. Nino: Thank you for coming. Caroline: Nino, thank you. All right, well I’m ready to eat, it looks lovely, tell us about t the dish? Gianni: Well this is the best part of it now sitting down and eating it finally. Caroline: Yes. Gianni: Well you know about the fortunately is my basic sauce which is available and this food recipe is the one recipe we use today was the penerobiatco, it’s the pepperoni, sweet onion as you know in the kitchen, and now lets try it and see what happens. Caroline: Let’s go I can’t wait any longer. Gianni, it’s delicious. It has the right bite to it and I can taste the pepperoni, the peppers’ it’s the perfect combination. Gianni: You know it’s a great hearty the dish as well, I don’t know. Caroline: And where did the wine come from? Tell us about it. Gianni: This is from Julio, Montepulciano d abruzzoand again the prize points on this are very reasonable. But for—especially a dish like this, a little meat, red wine it’s perfect. Caroline: You’re right it’s a perfect combination. Well gentlemen it’s been a lovely evening we saw Gianni’s talent on and off the big screen and it’s been a pleasure to be with two great Italian cooks. Gianni: Thank you. Noni: Thank you. Caroline: Behind The Burner of members can enjoy Gianni Russo’s prime products by taking advantage of our special promotion. Stay tuned to Behind The Burner while we give you the tips, tricks and techniques that are lighting the culinary world on fire.