How Hailee Catalano Keeps Calm in the Kitchen
Plus: Her tips for the ultimate picnic sandwich.
I’m pretty sure Hailee Catalano’s kitchen, where she cooks and films videos with her partner Chuck Cruz, is the calmest place on earth.
You get the sense that everyone’s having a good time, that everything’s under control, and that the food will be utterly delicious.
Hailee and Chuck have an advantage—on this week’s podcast episode, Hailee told me that they cooked together in restaurants, often side by side at the same station, for years before she began to write her cookbook, By Heart: Recipes to Hold Near and Dear.
Watching Hailee casually fry a cutlet or emulsify a creamy sauce for pasta, you can see that she knows what she’s doing, and that she’s a friendly source for useful tips on technique.
But a lot happens before Hailee even picks up a spatula.
“Especially if I'm cooking something for the first time, I think it’s very important to set yourself up in the right way before you just start throwing things in the pan.” That means a clear space and clean stove—and reading through the recipe from start to finish.
“I think people go into the kitchen, and they’re like, my god, I’m so overwhelmed, which I get.”
The first time you try a recipe, doing all of your chopping up front will help things stay low-stress; by round two you’ll get a sense of what you can prep while things start to simmer. Hailee’s suggested mantra: “I’m at home. I’m chilling. It’s fun to cook. It’s no big deal.”
And while you’re likely to end up with something delicious, Hailee feels that the most important thing in cooking isn’t the final result: “I think it’s the time shared.”
Hailee’s enthusiasm for food is contagious; I left our recent conversation eager to make a giant sandwich for the beach (or a park picnic). Hailee convinced me that spring asparagus needs the fresh horseradish hollandaise treatment—and that we should all be steaming more vegetables, like in the vodka-sauce-inspired spicy carrot rigatoni recipe you’ll find below.
Tune into the episode to hear about Haillee’s brilliant topping for a baked potato, why she’s partial to Calabrian chiles, and her bold theory on pasta salad.
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Hailee mentioned:
Tuna salad (video)
Tart’s Celery Vinegar
Butter Bean and Golden Beet Salad (video)
Anchovies: Fishwife, Ortiz, Cento
Muffaletta (video)
Turkey Provolone Sandwich (video)
Zucchini & Ditalini
Joy of Cooking (Bookshop here)
Salt Fat Acid Heat (Bookshop here)
Pasta Grannies Cookbook (Bookshop here)
Tartine (Bookshop here)
Asparagus With Hollandaise and Fresh Horseradish + Julia Child video
Salmon with Fennel Soubise (in the book!)
Hailee on Instagram, TikTok, and her videos with Chuck
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Maggie mentioned:
Tonnato (Serious Eats)
Codesa anchovies (in New York, I usually get these from FreshDirect)
Anna Hezel’s Tin to Table (Bookshop here)
Great tinned fish source: Rainbow Tomatoes Gardens
Cooler backpack for picnics
Get Hailee’s Mushy Pea Pasta Salad in the book; in the meantime here’s her Chickpea Pasta Salad, which is also packed with fun stuff!
Tatung rice cooker / steamer
Yun Hai Tatung Family Cookbook
Spicy Carrot Rigatoni
Excerpted from By Heart, reprinted by permission of DK, a division of Penguin Random House LLC. Copyright © 2025 by Hailee Catalano.
Classic spicy vodka rigatoni is such a glorious sight, beautifully orangey-red and glossy. That iconic look and luxurious texture sparked the idea for this dish. This pasta highlights the humble carrot by making it the star of the show and the base for a creamy, spicy, orange sauce. I like buying carrots with the tops attached for this to make a lovely herby topping to balance the richness of the pasta, but if you can’t find them, this dish is still a stunner. Simply top with more pecorino Romano, black pepper, and olive oil to really lean into the vodka pasta vibe!
SERVES 4 TO 6
Pasta
1 pound (454 g) carrots (6 to 8 medium) with tops, peeled and cut into 1-inch (2.5 cm) pieces, green tops reserved (see Topping)
4 garlic cloves
1⁄2 cup (55 g) grated pecorino Romano, plus more for serving
1⁄2 cup (120 ml) olive oil
1⁄4 cup (60 ml) water
1 tablespoon chopped jarred Calabrian chiles in oil
1 tablespoon pine nuts, toasted
Kosher salt and freshly cracked black pepper, to taste
1 pound (454 g) dry rigatoni
Topping
1⁄4 cup (20 g) finely chopped reserved carrot tops (see Pasta)
1⁄4 cup (15 g) finely chopped fresh parsley
1⁄4 cup (60 ml) olive oil
Zest of 1 lemon
Juice of 1⁄2 lemon
Kosher salt and freshly cracked black pepper, to taste
Ricotta cheese, for topping, optional
Make the carrot sauce: Set up a steamer over medium heat, and bring the water to a low boil.
Add the carrots and garlic, cover, and cook until very tender, 12 to 15 minutes.
Transfer to a blender along with the pecorino Romano, olive oil, water, chiles, and pine nuts, and blend (vented, to account for the hot carrots) on high until very, very smooth and creamy. Season with salt and pepper. Set aside.
Bring a large pot of water to a boil over high heat.
Meanwhile, make the topping: Mix the carrot tops, parsley, olive oil, lemon zest, lemon juice, salt, and pepper in a small bowl. Set aside.
Heavily salt the boiling water from step 4, and drop in the rigatoni. Cook according to the package directions until al dente.
Drain the pasta, reserving at least 2 mugsful of pasta water. Return the pasta to the pot, and set over low heat.
Add the carrot sauce and a couple splashes of pasta water, and toss to combine. Add as much pasta water as needed to thin out the sauce so it coats the pasta evenly without being too thick. (You are looking for an elegantly coated pasta, not a gloppy one! I like a very saucy vibe here.) Season with more salt and pepper, if needed.
Serve the pasta, drizzled with the herby topping, a dollop of ricotta, if using, pepper, and more grated pecorino Romano.
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I'm eager to try the horseradish hollandaise!
love this format!