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After you loved the meatball video so much, you kept asking: “Michael, where’s the pasta? Where’s the sauce?” So here I am, back in the kitchen. This time I’m sharing my wife’s famous Pasta Pomodoro — the dish she whips up when I come home and want something fast and delicious. Here’s the crazy part: when I met my wife 42 years ago, she was Mexican and had never eaten Italian food. Now? Italian is her favorite, and she makes pasta better than restaurants in Italy. I’ve been all over the world eating at the best places, and I’m telling you, this 20-minute recipe will beat them all. No delivery fees robbing you, no complicated ingredients — just olive oil, fresh garlic, tomatoes, basil, and pasta. My grandmother used to make heavy “gravy” with everything in it. This is light, simple, and absolutely delicious. I’m challenging Gordon Ramsay to make better pasta than this. Week by week I’m sharing all my family secrets. Pair it with our Franzese Areni wine, and you’ve got a meal you can’t refuse. Don’t order out — make this at home for 30 bucks.
Ex-Mob Boss Cooks Mafia Style Pasta Pomodoro (Old Family Recipe)
00:00 Introduction
01:02 My wife’s introduction to Italian food
04:05 Sharing my families cooking secrets
04:38 Ingredient 1: real Italian Olive Oil
05:43 Ingredient 2: Garlic, and more garlic
08:30 I challenge Gordon Ramsey
09:10 Sautee the Garlic
09:49 Boil the Pasta
10:27 gather the ingredients
11:28 Our Flagship wine: Areni
14:16 Ingredient 3: Add the Tomatoes
15:37 “Bouquet” of wine meaning
18:05 “Body of Wine” meaning
20:26 “Tannins” Meaning
21:25 My biggest gripe with some restaurants
22:32 Pasta goes in
23:19 Italian bread recommendation
23:57 Add Tomatoes onto pan
24:34 “Dry vs Sweet” meaning
25:43 Ingredient 4: Fresh Basil (always fresh!)
27:00 My top 3 Italian foods
29:26 “Terroir” meaning
31:28 Pasta and sauce prep tip
32:16 My go-to dish
33:56 I don’t eat Oysters
35:20 Time for toppings
35:44 And the taste?
39:14 How many will this recipe feed?
39:29 Final recipe reveal
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44 Comments
About two weeks ago me and my seven-year-old daughter made Sunday gravy. We started out. With a medium yellow onion a third of a cup of olive oil over medium low heat and work that for about 15 minutes and then add in for fat clothes of garlic, work that over for about two minutes and then would add Some chili flake for just a minute and then some tomato paste imported from Italy and then four big cans of whole San Marzano tomatoes rinse the cans. And then simmer for several hours until it got as thick as we wanted I made my meatballs from scratch, which is a lot like Michael’s instead of getting the bread, wet with water I use milk. And I used a 50-50 blend of 8020 ground beef and mild Italian sausage. My wife made the pasta homemade it was fantastic. Salute. Oh we’re not Italian. I’m just some hillbilly redneck living in the north Georgia mountains. 😅
My wife and daughter would live off hot pockets and little Debbie snacks if I didn't cook the meals.
Its very therapeutic to prep and cook ( in my opinion)
bullshit
I love your stove
Oh boy, i hate basil and terragon , i dont know what it is about either one.
I find the flavor profile to be so strong.
I did some Mongolian Barbeque tonight as a treat…it's Friday😊. Next time Mafia Pasta. Thank You Michael🙏🍝
I think we all know you shared all your Family Secrets!!
I never heard of this spoon twirling we always used the plate.
❤ to mr. Michael! and Italien Food! Love from Germany 💯👋
how much 👀 is used?
I want some of that wine. I'm espanic from New Mexico. I watched the video on the meatball. I will definitely make it one day ❤ I've made the pasta the same way but I use fresh oragno . Red powder chili 🌶️ or Cheyenne sprinkle.
Whole bottle?😮
Thank you for going over what all these wine terminologys mean as i like wine but never know what to look for when choosing a bottle…. also is franzese wines avalible here in the uk? Id love to try it Xx
We've got to have the story on why not oysters, Michael. Come on!
I'm 100% in agreement that a celebrity chef likely can't make anything this good. Even many of my colleagues from my Culinary School days and I likely couldn't. I would be interested to see Vincenzo's Plate compete with Mr. Franzese though! Or Vincenzo's Nonna!
whole bottle of oil is crazy 😀 caloriebomb 😀 but ye looks delicious 🙂
I love this series with the food thank you Michael for sharing your families recipes with us
Very nice. I like cooking Greek and Italian recipes when I have time. I am learning from internet. I love spaghetti. One day I will make Spaghetti all'assassina
I made the pomodoro today for lunch. It is outstanding!
Made this pomodoro recipe a couple days ago it was sensational 🤌🏼 best pasta I’ve ever had. I put Gotti (1996) on the tv with a bottle of Malbec it was a fantastic combo. I took the left overs home to my family and they loved it as well. Thank you Michael
I love your content but the food is dannatamente fantastico!!
😅😅😅😅
I have to give to you Sir 😀
You poured what? half a bottle of OLIVE OIL 😀
And fried the hell out of that GARLIC 😀
+ added some nice cherry tomatoes. Bazil. + cheese int he end. The oil alone, if i'm honest – ensures that this simply CAN NOT taste bad 😀
I mean, you just deepfried vegetables in essense 😀
So does it tastes good? Ooh i'm sure it does 😀
No doubt about it 😀
Me personaly? a bit too much oil 😀
But i had fun watching your video. Best of luck to you, kind sir from the internets!
My Wife Hot. My Food Hot 🔥
34:08 Baccala (Cod fish) is not an Italian fish actually. Yes, it is traditionally eaten by Italians for holidays, and it is part of the Italian cuisine. (I never researched why, if anyone knows, please let me know) But it does not live in the mediterranean sea. It is a North Sea fish, caught mostly by Norwegians and exported – mostly to Italy. That is why we always get them dried, never fresh. Never in my life have I seen a fresh baccala. I'm Slovenian/Croatian, live 20 minutes from Italian border, and my wife is Italian. We have Baccala every christmas, no exception.
Btw, it is a tradition also in Dalmatia, not just Italy and Istria. But the recipe is completely different. So I had it since I was a kid, because my dalmatian grandmother and mother were preparing it every holiday. Now we usually make 3 dishes for Christmas, white bakala soup and white bakala spread by my mother in law, and a bakala stew with potatoes by my mother.
I love all of them honestly, each very good, but different enough from the other that it can't even be compared.
what is you and your family's favorite thanksgiving dish?
This, made with basil and tomatoes fresh from my garden is one of my favorite meals.
Break the spaghetti, tomato sauce is the blood of villains
Absolutely love ❤️ your cooking videos!!!!!! I love all the Mob movies some of the scenes I enjoyed the most was watching the guys eat all that amazing Italian food!!!!!! Now with your authentic recipes I can make these foods for my family Thank you for sharing your love of amazing food and giving us the opportunity to cook up centuries of Italian cooking and for keeping the art of love in the food !!!!!!!! Love is the most important ingredient I think that’s what sets good food apart from beyond amazing food!!!!!!!
That was in Donnie Brasco, Pacino's character who said all the best cooks are men and are always going to be, it was a hilarious scene because he said He was making Coq au vin, but you could tell by the ingredients that he was using that he was actually making chicken cacciatore lol
Yup , thats how they do it in Italy and kinda looks like the flags colors in the dish aswell , its delicious 🙂
Made the Meatballs 🍝
💯 ❤ everyone loved them……
Fugedaboudit😊🙏🏼
My second shipment of Areni. Everyone loves it!!! Great for Christmas. Happy holidays!!!
big on fine teas. tea is the same way, when you get quality whole leaf and brew it right it has different aromas, flavors, feel in the mouth, in the body. guan yin tea is like fresh cut grass, dragon well like sweet roasted beans, duck shit tea (yes that is the real name and no it has nothing to do with real duck shit) is like a jelly filled pastry, and my favorite (and more pricey) tea is eastern beauty, straigh up fruit and flowers.
This is just a commercial for his wine
"A nice loaf of Italian bread" – The package says french bread
"Ex-Mob Boss", yeah okay.
I was watching a video with a guy called AJ Gentile, and I says to myself, I says, this guy looks like Mike. I figure, I won't bother Gentile with this, but I says, I says, Mike has guys….so here we are. You guys look exactly the same. I like AJ better 😛. I don't like the fucking fish! Mike, if you know a Perticaro (or a Portnoy), I'll come cook with your ass on any day that you pay me to. Maybe I should acknowledge my ties in NYC…..I doubt it tho.
Tony Danza calls Michael Franzese The Boss.
Michael l remember you mentioned your pizza business starting soon. Can you make a pizza for us!
6min: 50sec For me Daniel Bolus. Has to be Italian? ,#1 and she's American too! Lidia Bastianich. Big respect to Mario Batali. …and Bourdain was the cook that taught us to appreciate how hard these fucking cooks actually work!
For everybody who didn't grow up in rural Italy……Step#1: Go to the Garden, pick stuff Step#2: Start with what you have the least of (hopefully eggs, they'll come again tomorrow). Step#3 Add stuff you have excess of until it tastes perfect. Step#4: Keep the leftovers for tomorrow. …..right Mike?!
I'm finishing a home project, listening to you. OK stop done. Going down stairs to make this right now…kind of live like yoir there lol. The meatballs were good. So this is high priority. Everything stops, I'm making this pronto.
Show ideas…
1. As you know sometimes the family and the relatives know the least. What do you know about the Vecchio car in the Danny Green hit and did he years before have sponser the sit down dinner of bosses in Cleveland as in his property.
2. Any info of Joe Bandy/the Rabbit. Was he liked? Why did they let him well survive after he did a skim?
3. What is the connection of Licata Sicily and to so many old school, Chicago, Cleveland, Philly and Buffalo members from the late 1800s to say 1978?
If you're spending over $15 on a bottle of wine, you'd better have a palate already. If you're spending over $35 on a bottle of wine, shit, I hope you've drank a lot of wine already 'cause now you're paying for 'different'.