Chef Hillary Sterling, known for her work alongside culinary icons such as Bobby Flay and Missy Robbins, currently oversees the New York City restaurant Ci Siamo. Sterling, who has extensively explored Italian cuisine, balances her professional life in the kitchen with everyday simplicity at home, reports BritPanorama.
While Sterling has achieved notable success, she readily admits to indulging in simple pleasures. On quiet evenings, she sometimes stands at her counter eating pretzels dipped in hummus straight from the tub. Additionally, she often orders takeout from Peter Luger, a well-known steakhouse nearby, with her go-to meal being a Caesar salad and a medium-rare burger, emphasizing that even chefs enjoy casual dining.
Living in Brooklyn with her wife Tess McNamara and their four-year-old son, Sterling also embraces the concept of “girl dinner,” a term popularized on social media for simple meals. However, she frequently returns to her culinary roots by preparing a quick 15-minute pasta dish inspired by her grandmother. “My grandparents grew up in the Depression, so my grandma was a thrifty yet soulful home cook,” Sterling recalls, cherishing memories of family gatherings around the dining table and especially her grandmother’s kosher spaghetti and meatballs paired with soft white bread.
Among her culinary offerings, Sterling highlights Bucatini all’Amatriciana as a staple to reflect her Italian culinary passion and her heritage. The dish features in her debut cookbook, “Ammazza! Culinary Adventures from New York to Italy and Back Again,” where she describes it as “a dish I could eat every day.” She appreciates its blend of sweet-tart tomatoes and the rich flavor of pancetta or guanciale, noting that essential pantry items can create a satisfying meal, making it a go-to choice for cooking at home.
Becoming a chef and cookbook author
Hillary Sterling’s journey in the culinary world began early. After working as a busser in high school and enduring a year-long desk job post-college, she completed culinary school in Chicago and has been thriving in the kitchen ever since. Looking ahead, she plans to open a second location of Ci Siamo in Boston, collaborating with restaurateur Danny Meyer’s Union Square Hospitality Group. Sterling expresses her enthusiasm: “This is the best job in the world. I feel so much joy walking into my kitchen every morning.”
Her cookbook is designed to inspire home cooks, featuring over 100 recipes suitable for one or many, along with practical cooking tips. Sterling aims to instill confidence in her readers, encouraging them to find joy in cooking and to embrace imperfections. “My main goal is to teach people to be comfortable cooking and to trust themselves,” she explains, emphasizing the importance of intuition in the kitchen.
Bucatini all’Amatriciana
In her recipe for Bucatini all’Amatriciana, Sterling suggests using a shallot instead of a red onion for its faster cooking time and natural sweetness. The dish serves one and requires only about 15 minutes to prepare.
Ingredients
- Kosher salt
- 1 cup water
- 2 ounces guanciale or pancetta, rind removed, cut into ¼-inch-thick strips (Bacon is a suitable substitute if you prefer.)
- 1 tablespoon olive oil
- 1 large shallot, petaled
- Crushed red pepper flakes
- 5 tablespoons double-concentrated tomato paste
- 5 ounces bucatini
- Freshly grated Pecorino Romano, for garnish
- Optional: Calabrian chili oil, for garnish
Instructions
- Bring a medium pot of water to a boil. Once boiling, generously salt the water.
- In a small saucepan, bring 1 cup water to a boil and set it aside. This unsalted hot water will be used to build the sauce.
- In a medium sauté pan, heat the guanciale and the olive oil over high heat. Once the guanciale starts sizzling, reduce the heat to medium-low and cook, stirring often, until the guanciale crisps and renders its fat, about 3 minutes.
- Reduce the heat to low, add the shallot directly to the fat, and cook, stirring often, until soft and translucent, about 4 minutes. Add a pinch of red pepper flakes to the fat, then remove the pan from the heat and let the pepper flakes bloom, about 1 minute. Pour off about one-quarter of the oil from the pan and reserve it for cooking eggs the next morning.
- Return the pan to medium heat and stir in the tomato paste. Cook, stirring often, until the tomato paste turns the fat red, 2 to 3 minutes. Add 6 tablespoons of the reserved hot water to the pan and bring the mixture to a boil, stirring constantly until thickened, about 30 seconds.
- Add the bucatini to the boiling water and cook until al dente, using the package directions as a guideline.
- Using tongs, transfer the pasta to the sauce pan, bringing along any pasta water that clings to the noodles. Cook, tossing vigorously, until the pasta absorbs the sauce, about 3 minutes. Add more reserved hot water if needed.
- Transfer to a bowl and garnish with Pecorino Romano and additional chili oil if desired. Serve hot.
Note: To petal the shallot, halving it first and cutting it into four wedge-shaped pieces, then pulling apart the layers to create petal-like shapes.
The simplicity and heartiness of Sterling’s Bucatini all’Amatriciana not only showcase her culinary expertise but also reflect a deep appreciation for her roots and family traditions, inviting home cooks into a rich culinary experience.
