Mario Batali is on a mission to gather families around the dinner table. “We’re all so hooked in, electrified, amplified, tweeted and totally handled in a way that we are constantly worried we’re going to miss something,” says the flame-haired chef, whose new cookbook, “Molto Batali,” promotes home-cooking.
“What we really need to do is turn off our cellphones and sit down with our family for an hour [and] relax and vent and talk unguardedly. ”
What better opportunity than Thanksgiving to reconnect at the dinner table?
MARIO BATALI’S THANKSGIVING RECIPES
This year, Batali, his wife Susi and their sons Benno, 14, and Leo, 13, will go to the parade, volunteer at a soup kitchen and host a holiday meal for about 20 people in their West Village home.
Though turkey will be served, Batali enjoys mixing up the menu. “Some people don’t like turkey or some people are just tired of the same thing,” he says. As a result, his “anarchist Thanksgiving” menu here offers fresh alternatives for Turkey Day classics — whether it’s providing culinary inspiration for lowly turnips or a new, adult spin on sweet-potato-and-marshmallow casserole.
Best of all, you can opt to replace just one stale dish in your repertoire — or the whole spread.
For those attempting the entire meal, Batali recommends whipping up the pear-and-hazelnut cake first thing in the morning. Put the lamb shanks in the oven about two hours before you plan to serve dinner. Sides can be prepared and kept in ovenproof dishes, then warmed up while the lamb shanks rest on the stove top.
“The biggest problem for most Americans is when they’re trying to do a meal like this they think they have to be line cooks in a restaurant and present all the food out of the pan like on ‘Iron Chef.’ That is the worst way to go about it. If you want to talk to your guests, get the dishes done as far in advance as you can.”
As for wines to pair with this feast, Batali suggests a bottle of the Sangiovese-based red known as Morellino di Scansano, “the new take on what Chianti is in the further southern and more coastal region.” Meanwhile, white wine drinkers might prefer a medium-bodied Friulano from northeastern Italy. Both can be had for under $20.