Giada De Laurentiis’ Favorite Protein-Packed Ingredient

The art of cookbook writing is something that Giada De Laurentiis knows very well. And with today’s release of Super-Italian: More Than 110 Indulgent Recipes Using Italy’s Healthiest Foods, she has truly mastered it.

“This is my eleventh cookbook,” De Laurentiis tells EatingWell. “And what makes this particular cookbook different from the others, is that in this five-year span since my last cookbook, I have spent a lot more time going back to Italy and really reconnecting with a lot of my roots.” 

Super-Italian focuses on the “superfoods” of Italian cuisine—think nutritious ingredients like olive oil, cruciferous vegetables, beans, tinned fish and more. The chef explains that these foods are the “basis of Italian cooking.” It’s important to remember there’s no specific definition of the term “superfoods”, though these foods can absolutely be part of an overall healthy eating pattern.

“A lot of people, myself included, feel that they go to Italy, eat all the pasta and pizza and they still feel good,” she shares. “I think that the reason for all of this is the way that we treat our land in Italy, how we grow our ingredients. We don’t mass produce things the same way, and the ingredients that we’re putting into our food are really nutrient-dense. That is what this whole book is about.”

Read more about De Laurentiis’ new book in this exclusive interview, including her vibrant Fregola Salad with Olive Relish and Chickpeas recipe. Plus, more on her favorite high-protein staples and the meal she’s looking forward to making this spring below.

Super-Italian is split into sections—pasta, cocktails and appetizers, condiments and more. Can you tell us more about one of those sections?

The first section of the book is all condiments. For example, things like my garlicky anchovy bread crumbs that I use in pasta dishes and on salads. I use it for coating my chicken parm, I use it in many ways. It’s very nutrient-dense because of all of the anchovy that’s in it, right? So something like that, a condiment like that, that adds so much flavor to so many different foods and actually makes it good for you as well. I think that is the key to Italian cooking. It is also the key to this book.

The book is very healthy ingredient-focused. Is there an ingredient in Italian cuisine that you think is underrated? 

Anchovies. Anchovies are loaded with antioxidants and omega-3s. In Italian food, we use a lot of anchovies and sardines, but a lot of anchovies, anchovy paste and anchovy oil. I think that people are scared of it, but then they love Caesar salad. What do you think is in a Caesar salad dressing? It’s anchovy paste, whole anchovies or anchovy oil, right? People aren’t realizing that the things they truly love actually have these ingredients in them. They just don’t want to think about it. I would love for people to be a little bit more open and if they don’t want to open a jar of anchovy filets because they just can’t handle that thought, then use anchovy paste or use anchovy oil. It’s one of those flavor bomb ingredients that changes your whole world. It opens up your palate.

Could you talk more about your Fregola Salad with Olive Relish & Chickpeas recipe?

Fregola is something I grew up on. It’s a Sardinian pasta really, and it’s kind of like orzo. It’s a dried semolina that they put through a fine mesh that has little tiny squares, and they dry it in the sun. It’s really, really fabulous. It’s almost like the old world of making pasta in the days of my grandfather’s time. In the early 1900s, when they would dry the pasta strands on the roof of the houses in the sun, it’s the same idea that they do in Sardinia. It makes for great salads. It has a nice bite to it, so it’s not like eating oatmeal or something that’s gummy. So I love to load it up with greens and beans and all the things that add protein. It’s also high in protein as far as pasta goes, and getting protein in every single meal is really important to me these days. It’s a way to add protein into salad. I grew up with all sorts of fregola salads, and I find it so versatile. It’s Italian food that Americans don’t know as well, but I think they will love it if they take a leap and try it.

Get the Recipe: Fregola Salad with Olive Relish and Chickpeas

You said you prioritize proteins in your meals, what are your favorite sources of protein?

I do try to get some kind of animal protein with every meal, then sprinkle in things like beans and legumes. I love anchovies and sardines—I know that people are grossed out by it, but when seasoned properly, it really works. I have a pasta in the book called Pasta Assassina, it’s crispy pasta with sardines in it, and that is one of my favorite meals because it adds so much protein, but it’s also a pasta that I love. 

The other thing you have to think about is, but there’s a lot of other ways to add protein if you don’t want to eat animal protein. And I think beans are great. In Italy, we eat tons of lentils, tons and tons and tons, and I cook lentils once a week. I keep them in a container and I just add them to my salads or to my dishes, whatever it might be. Chickpeas are awesome, and in Italy, we use them a lot. We also do a lot of white bean purees that we add to fish. And pasta, I know that people think of pasta and they’re like, “that’s not a protein,” but actually really good pasta that’s simply made with two ingredients, semolina flour and water, that is slow dried and cut on bronze dyes has high levels of protein. If you check the box of Italian pastas, you should see around 8 grams of protein per serving. I think what’s really important for people is picking really nutritious ingredients.

Any meals you’re looking forward to making this spring?

Spring to me says asparagus, it says snap peas, it says fruits. I’ll use half of a box of pasta, like eight ounces, and then add all the spring vegetables into it—snap peas, asparagus and a lot of times I like to roast them all. I add a lot of dried herbs and a seasoning salt that has a lot of lemon in it—it’s also in my book—and then I take them out and I cool them. I do this with all different vegetables depending on the season, and then I make a really light Parm vinaigrette, and I toss it all with warm pasta. It’s vibrant, it’s colorful, it smells really good and it’s great the next day as the pasta and the veggies absorb all the lemon in the dressing. The color just makes me happy.

Editor’s Note: This interview was edited for clarity and length.