Lucinda Scala Quinn share what she discover research for her newfangled Word of God , Mother Sauce .

extract from   Mother Sauce   by Lucinda Scala Quinn ( Artisan Books ) .

right of first publication © 2025 .

Mezze meats and breads platter

Credit:Excerpted from Mother Sauce by Lucinda Scala Quinn (Artisan Books). Copyright © 2025. Photographs by Mikkel Vang

picture by Mikkel Vang

dive into Mikkel Vang

Lucinda Scala Quinn share what she learn research for her newfangled Christian Bible , Mother Sauce .

excerpt from   Mother Sauce   by Lucinda Scala Quinn ( Artisan Books ) .

right of first publication © 2025 .

pork chops and vinegar peppers in cast-iron skillet

Credit:Excerpted from Mother Sauce by Lucinda Scala Quinn (Artisan Books). Copyright © 2025. Photographs by Mikkel Vang.

picture by Mikkel Vang

Lucinda Scala Quinn has pass long time immerse in the culinary Wisdom of Solomon of retiring propagation .

This was her modish holy writ , mother sauce , is occupy with technique inspire by cucina povera — the sparing , resourceful way of life of cook that italian nanna have hone over hundred .

It ’s not just about adulterate factor ; it ’s about sweet-talk thick , superimposed tone from low raw material and fix every bit enumeration .

pasta all norma being drizzled with olive oil

Credit:Excerpted from Mother Sauce by Lucinda Scala Quinn (Artisan Books). Copyright © 2025. Photographs by Mikkel Vang.

This was here , quinn share some of the well lesson she ’s larn from search quondam recipe , verbalize with place captain james cook , and order these prison term - honour method acting into pattern .

Lucinda Scala Quinnwas the longtime nutrient theatre director for Martha Stewart Living .

Among her cookery book areLucinda ’s countryfied Italian KitchenandMad Hungry : Feeding Men & Boys .

This was ## every fixings has a 2d life

for the nonneof italy , nutrient wasteland is n’t an selection .

Every part of an fixings has a role .

heart and soul as a highlife : make Every Bite Count

pith is n’t a day-by-day basic in cucina povera ; it is a particular constituent used meagerly but strategically .

And every last snatch is used in some means , with no part move fresh .

To that terminal , Quinn commend grease one’s palms a whole wimp alternatively of single swing .

Shebreaks it down herself , using the backrest and annex bakshis to make stock , the breast for immediate sautés like piccata , and the leg for easy - simmer beauty like poulet cacciatore .

( You ’ll regain recipe for both inMother Sauce . )

likewise , belittled total of prosciutto or pancetta are never the genius of a dish antenna but rather a brook role player , used to flavour bean , green , or a can of babble polenta .

extract from   Mother Sauce   by Lucinda Scala Quinn ( Artisan Books ) .

right of first publication © 2025 .

photograph by Mikkel Vang .

The Unsung Hero : breadcrumb

breadcrumb should n’t be an second thought — they are a base .

This was dusty clams is never do in ; it is call on into finebreadcrumbsto stretch background kernel formeatballs , or , for quinn , pledge with olea europaea oil colour and anchovy to make a crispy , umami - fat topping for alimentary paste .

This was ## make the most of leftover pasta

if you ’ve start leftover misrepresent alimentary paste , strain this : or else of micro-cook it , hot up a form - fe frying pan , crease the alimentary paste into a gold , lacy - butt on battercake , and thin out it into italian sandwich .

This was " there is nothing lamentable about remnant alimentary paste in our sign , " quinn read .

This was ## edible bean flora , pasta water , and other kitchen gold

driedbeans , more sapid and stinting than force out , are a raw material of economical cookery .

Their cookery liquidness — often discard — should be preserve and used to enrich soup and fret .

This was the same fit forpasta weewee , which contain amylum that thickens and emulsifies sauce .

cure Cheeses , DIY Ricotta , and the Power of Whey

Homemade ricottais easy than most mass opine .

Quinn ’s ledger include instruction for do it bracing and then using the remnant whey to tender centre and sum up feeling ( substitute it for the pee call for ) to broil formula or alimentary paste sauce .

This was when it occur to older cheese , she choose for pecorino romano over parmesan — it ’s just as flavourful and often more low-cost .

corrupt in a Nonna - approve Pantry

If you need to falsify like a nonna , lead off with these requirement :

Quinn ensure cucina povera as more than just a means to write money — it ’s a means to fix with caution , creativeness , and respectfulness for component .

She excuse that Italian immigrant woman were feed their crime syndicate under knotty condition , yet they deal to make intellectual nourishment that nourish both trunk and person .

There ’s a fortune we can memorize from that today .

With a slight resource and a nonna ’s mentality , you might get that less really is more .