Angie Rito and Scott Tacinelli have worked side by side throughout their culinary careers, and their shared Italian roots -- paired with their passion for innovative upscale twists on traditional flavors -- make them a dynamic duo in the kitchen.
The co-owners of West Village hotspots Don Angie and its new sister restaurant next door, San Sabino, joined "Good Morning America" on Wednesday to share a few recipes beloved by their patrons.
Check out the full recipes below to recreate a true taste of modern Italian cuisine.
"This is a really nice late summer recipe," Rito said of the melon dish. "This salad's really cool it's got a nice play of textures and flavors."
Serves 6 - 8
Ingredients
One small (2 1/4-pound) Galia or honeydew melon, peeled and seeded
1/2 cup Tamarind Dressing (recipe follows)
5 to 6 sprigs mint, leaves picked
1 cup large crumbled good-quality feta cheese (preferably French)
1 cup Chile & Lime Candied Hazelnuts or toasted hazelnuts, roughly chopped
1/4 pound prosciutto, thinly sliced
Extra-virgin olive oil, for finishing
Freshly ground black pepper
For the tamarind dressing:
Note: Tamarind concentrate is available in many Asian markets or online.
1/4 cup + 2 tablespoons tamarind concentrate
Grated zest of 2 limes
2 tablespoons + 1 1/2 teaspoons fresh lime juice
3 tablespoons sugar
1 1/2 teaspoons kosher salt
1/2 teaspoon sriracha sauce
3 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
1 1/2 teaspoons fish sauce
1/2 teaspoon garlic, grated on a Microplane
1/4 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes
For the candied hazelnuts:
1 egg white
Zest and juice of 1 lime
1/2 cup sugar
1/2 tablespoon salt
1 teaspoon Hungarian paprika
1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper
2 cups hazelnuts
Directions
For the tamarind dressing:
In a medium bowl, whisk together the tamarind concentrate, lime zest, lime juice, sugar, salt, sriracha, olive oil, fish sauce, garlic and pepper flakes until combined. The dressing will keep for up to 3 days in the refrigerator.
For the candied hazelnuts:
Preheat oven to 300 F. In a small bowl, whisk together the egg white with the lime zest until thick and frothy. Add lime juice and whisk to combine.
In a separate bowl, mix together sugar, salt, Hungarian paprika and cayenne. Add the hazelnuts to the egg-lime juice mixture and toss until the nuts are well-coated. Add the dry ingredient mixture and stir well.
Spread nuts on a lightly oiled, parchment paper-lined baking sheet and bake for 10 minutes.
Coat a large spoon with cooking oil and stir the nuts with it, ensuring that all candy evenly coats the nuts, and not the spoon! Return nuts to oven for 10 minutes.
Re-oil the spoon and stir the nuts again. Return to oven for five more minutes. Remove from oven and transfer to another lightly oiled, parchment paper-lined sheet tray. Spread nuts evenly and let cool.
To assemble:
In a large bowl, dress melon wedges with 1/2 cup of the Tamarind Dressing. Season with a pinch of salt, lime zest, and half of the mint leaves, torn.
Spread the dressed melon onto a platter. Sprinkle crumbled feta over the top, followed by a layer of the chopped Candied Hazelnuts. Top with prosciutto, loosely folding the meat to create height on the plate. Top with the remaining mint leaves.
Finish with olive oil and fresh cracked pepper.
Serves 4
"Here's a versatile fish recipe that's hearty in flavor but light on the palate. Scott likes to say it has the muscle memory of fried fish minus the actual deep frying. Pesto rosso (red pesto) is also known as pesto alla trapanese, hailing from Trapani on the west coast of Sicily. It utilizes umami-forward Sicilian ingredients (dried tomatoes, oil-cured olives, toasted almonds) to make a rich pesto with a depth of flavor. The sesame pairs well with the tomato in the pesto -- think about how delicious it is to dunk sesame-crusted Italian bread into tomato sauce, and you have the right idea."
Note: We call for blitzing the panko in the food processor to make it smaller and more even in size, which helps make a crispier crust. Feel free to use whatever thin-cut fillets look freshest at the market (we suggest several options); just be sure the fillets are a uniform thickness so they cook evenly.
Ingredients
3 large egg whites
4 teaspoons cornstarch
1/2 cup toasted sesame seeds
1 cup panko bread crumbs, pulsed for 30 seconds in a food processor until finely ground
4 skin-on fillets (4 to 4 1/2 ounces each, 1/2 inch thick), such as branzino, sea bass, flounder or other mild whitefish
Kosher salt
4 tablespoons neutral oil, such as vegetable
4 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
1 cup Red Pesto (recipe follows)
10 basil leaves, large leaves roughly torn
Directions
Preheat the oven to 350 F.
In a small bowl, whisk together the egg whites and cornstarch until well incorporated and foamy. In a separate bowl, mix the toasted sesame seeds and processed panko crumbs. Season each side of the fish fillets with 1/4 teaspoon kosher salt. Working one at a time, dip each fillet, skin-side only (if no skin, just dip one side of the fish), into the egg white mixture. Allow the excess egg to drip off, then press the eggy side of the fish into the sesame breading. Transfer to a large plate, breading side up, and repeat with the remaining fish.
Heat a large nonstick saute pan over medium heat. Add 2 tablespoons of the neutral oil along with 2 tablespoons of the olive oil. Carefully place 2 fish fillets in the pan, breading-side down, and cook until the breading is golden brown, 1 to 2 minutes. Remove and place, breading-side up, in a baking dish. Repeat the process with fresh oil and the remaining fish.
Place the baking dish in the oven and roast until the fish is just cooked through and firm to the touch, 4 to 6 minutes.
To serve, spoon 1 cup of the red pesto on and around the fish, dispersing it evenly across all fillets. Scatter basil leaves across the surface and serve immediately, with any remaining pesto on the side. This dish is best made and eaten day-of.
"We came up with this recipe while brainstorming how to make a pasta dish for two and landed on lasagna, because it's the ultimate crowd-pleaser, the king of all baked pastas, the most impressive thing we could think of. We are not ashamed to admit that the idea for presenting it this way came from a photo of baked cinnamon buns in a pan, though we later learned that there is in fact a classic, pin wheel shaped pasta dish that exists in Italy, called rotolo. We wanted to make this version taste like classic lasagna and pulled in all the flavors of a true lasagna Bolognese -- fresh pasta, besciamella, Bolognese sauce -- and added some Italian-American twists of our own (i.e., mozzarella, tomato sauce, sweet Italian sausage). In its finished form, this is the perfect amalgamation of regional Italian and Italian-American cuisine, with a unique presentation that's helped make this one of our most-requested dishes at the restaurant. It's perfect for sharing, because each person gets a pinwheel, and the whole top is crispy, so every bite is perfect. And because the pasta is rolled around the filling, instead of stacked and compacted, it feels lighter than most lasagnas. Diehard regional Italian connoisseurs will say this isn't a 'real' lasagna, in the traditional sense, but nothing we do is, and we don't claim it to be. This is just us doing our thing."
Ingredients
Kosher salt, for the pasta water (see Note)
Northern-Style Egg Yolk Pasta or 8 store-bought fresh pasta sheets (12 by 7 inches)
1 cup plus 3 tablespoons Besciamella, chilled (recipe follows)
4 cups shredded whole milk mozzarella cheese
1 cup finely grated Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese
4 cups Italian Sausage Bolognese, chilled (recipe follows)
2 cups 10-Minute San Marzano Tomato Sauce, chilled (recipe follows)
1/2 cup robiolina cheese or whipped cream cheese
2 tablespoons roughly chopped parsley
3 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil, for finishing
Directions
In a large pot, bring 4 quarts water and 1 cup kosher salt to a boil over high heat. Meanwhile, set up an ice bath in a large bowl. Line a sheet pan with parchment paper.
Working with one sheet at a time, place a pasta sheet in the boiling water for 15 seconds, then immediately remove and chill in the ice bath for 15 seconds. Transfer to the lined sheet pan and pat dry with a paper towel. Cover with another layer of parchment paper and repeat with the remaining pasta, creating a stack of sheets, each patted dry and each layer separated by parchment.
On a clean countertop, lay out one pasta sheet with a short side facing you (the sheet should look like a portrait shot). Spread 1/4 cup of the besciamella in a thin layer evenly across the sheet. Sprinkle 1 cup of the mozzarella and 1/4 cup of parmesan over the besciamella.
Place another sheet of pasta on top. Spread 1 cup of the Bolognese evenly across the second pasta sheet, leaving a 2-inch border uncovered at the top short edge. Spoon 2 teaspoons of the besciamella onto the uncovered edge (this will act like your "glue" to seal the roll closed).
Starting at the bottom, roll up the layered pasta into a thick log (like a jelly roll). Transfer to a small sheet pan seam-side down. Place in the refrigerator to chill for at least 1 and up to 2 hours, which will firm it up and make it easier to slice.
Repeat the process with the remaining pasta sheets to make a total of 4 rolls, transferring to the refrigerator as you finish each roll. (The rolls can be tightly wrapped in plastic at this point and refrigerated for up to 2 days, or frozen for up to 3 months, before cooking. If frozen, thaw in the refrigerator before slicing.)
Besciamella
Makes about 2 1/2 cups
1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, cubed
1 head garlic, halved horizontally
1/3 cup thinly sliced shallots (about 1 medium shallot)
1 bay leaf
1 thyme sprig
1/4 teaspoon black peppercorns
1 teaspoon kosher salt
1/2 cup all-purpose flour, "00" flour, or Wondra
2 cups cold whole milk
Directions
In a small heavy-bottomed pot, melt the butter over medium heat. Add the garlic, shallots, bay leaf, thyme, peppercorns and salt. Cook over low heat until the shallots are translucent, about 2 minutes.
Add the flour and stir well. Increase the heat to medium and cook, stirring continually with a wooden spoon or silicone spatula, until the flour forms a smooth paste and turns lightly golden brown, about 5 minutes. Stir in the milk and cook for 5 minutes, stirring continually, until the besciamella is thick enough to coat the back of a spoon. Remove from the heat and strain through a fine-mesh sieve.
Place in the refrigerator to cool. Besciamella keeps, tightly covered in the refrigerator, for up to 3 days, or in the freezer for up to 3 months.
Italian Sausage Bolognese
2 yellow onions, coarsely chopped
4 garlic cloves, peeled
5 celery ribs, coarsely chopped
2 carrots, coarsely chopped
4 ounces pancetta, cut into 1-inch cubes
1 pound sweet Italian sausage, casings removed
1 pound ground veal
3 tablespoons kosher salt
2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
1/2 cup tomato paste
1 cup white wine
Two 28-ounce cans whole tomatoes (preferably San Marzano DOP)
2 cups whole milk
2 whole star anise
2 teaspoons colatura or fish sauce, plus more to taste
1 tablespoon sugar
2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
Directions
In a food processor, working in batches if necessary, process the onions, garlic, celery and carrots until chopped as finely as possible, similar in size to uncooked rice. Set aside. Rinse the food processor and process the pancetta until very finely chopped, the same size as the vegetables. Set aside.
In a medium bowl, mix the Italian sausage and veal together and season with the salt.
In a large heavy-bottomed pot, heat the olive oil over high heat. When it shimmers, add the meat, stirring frequently with a wooden spoon to break it up into small pieces, until evenly browned, about 15 minutes. Remove the meat with a slotted spoon and set aside. Drain any excess fat from the pot but keep the browned bits on the bottom (do not wash).
Add the pancetta to the pot over medium heat and cook, stirring occasionally, until the fat is rendered and the pancetta is browned, 8 to 10 minutes. Add the processed vegetables and cook, stirring often, until the vegetables are very soft and have taken on a darker hue, 10 to 15 minutes. Add the tomato paste and cook, continuing to stir, for 5 minutes, until deep orange and caramelized. Stir in the wine and cook until fully evaporated, about 5 minutes.
Meanwhile, using your hands, crush the tomatoes (including the liquid) over a medium bowl until completely broken up.
Return the ground meat to the pot. Add the milk, star anise and tomatoes. Stir well, bring to a simmer and cook over medium-low heat, uncovered, stirring occasionally, until the sauce thickens and is bright orange, about 2 hours. If any fat separates, whisk it back in to emulsify. Discard the star anise. Remove the pot from the heat and add the colatura, sugar, and lemon juice and stir well to incorporate and re-emulsify the sauce.
The sauce is ready to be used at this point, or it can be stored in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to 1 week, or in the freezer for up to 3 months.
10-Minute San Marzano Tomato Sauce
Two 28-ounce cans whole San Marzano tomatoes (make sure they are labeled DOP)
1/2 cup extra-virgin olive oil
8 garlic cloves, smashed with the flat side of a chef's knife
1 tablespoon + 1 teaspoon kosher salt
1/4 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes
1 tablespoon sugar
2 sprigs basil
Directions
In a food processor, pulse the tomatoes (including the liquid) until they're broken up but still chunky (you'll have about 7 cups). You can also do this with your hands, though it will produce a chunkier sauce (not a bad thing!). In a medium pot, heat the olive oil over medium-high heat until shimmering. Add the garlic and salt and cook, stirring occasionally, until the garlic is golden and fragrant, about 2 minutes. Add the pepper flakes and stir. Stir in the tomatoes and cook until the sauce comes to a boil, 1 to 2 minutes. Immediately remove from the heat and season with the sugar, then stir in the basil sprigs.
Let the basil steep in the sauce for at least 5 minutes and up to 30 minutes, then remove the basil and garlic from the sauce before serving. The sauce is ready to be used at this point, or it can be stored in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to 1 week, or in the freezer for up to 3 months
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