The secret to the perfect marinara sauce, or “gravy” as they like to call it in New York and the greater Northeast, obviously lies in the tomatoes. That, and as Italian American chef Tara Punzone heard time and time again growing up, “DON'T burn the garlic!”
Punzone was raised in a big Italian brood, where food served as the cornerstone of her household. In fact, cooking was—and still is—an integral part of her family’s heritage.
As a child, her paternal grandparents—Enricco “Charlie” Punzone and Francesca Fiorito, who hailed from Gragnano and Calabria in Southern Italy—ran a small grocery store-turned-deli in Brooklyn called Punzone’s Hero Shoppe. Their savory subs drew customers from far and wide.
“My grandfather really brought that Brooklyn neighborhood together through his food,” Punzone told The Epoch Times in a recent interview. “People still talk about him on social media today, and he has been gone from this life for almost 40 years!”
Her parents, Paul and Amelia Punzone, were also both “magical in the kitchen in different ways,” she said.
“I’ve learned so much from both of them and my grandparents as well. My father and grandmother, on his side, had the Calabrese influence,” she said. “When my father creates a dish, it is almost always spicy to some degree. He can’t help himself. I learned to take the heat very early in my childhood, and this made him very proud!”
To help balance out all the spice, Punzone’s father liked to infuse his recipes with a little something sweet.
“He was always throwing raisins into his dishes, whether it be meatballs or hot peppers,” she said. “I really latched onto this spicy and sweet combination, and you will find it in many of my dishes today.”
Italian-Made Vegan
The tantalizing flavor combo is certainly front and center on the menu at Pura Vita, an Italian restaurant that Punzone opened in 2018 in West Hollywood, a few years after moving to California.Patrons can tuck into heaping plates of spaghetti alla puttanesca tossed with sautéed olives, capers, and chili pepper or spicy penne all'arrabbiata with shaved parmigiano, among other pasta staples. Calzones come loaded with Italian sausage, mozzarella, and ricotta, while the pizzas feature artisan dough baked to perfection with a bevy of toothsome ingredients—pepperoni, bacon, peppers, garlic, basil, and the like.
But Punzone’s dishes look a tad bit different from the meals she grew up eating as a child. They’re 100 percent plant-based—free from any animal-derived products. The meatballs are made with mushrooms and lentils. The cheese is derived from nuts, such as macadamias and cashews. Even the honey is bee-free.
Punzone has been vegan for more than 35 years now. She went vegetarian in the fifth grade after watching video footage taken from inside a slaughterhouse, eschewing dairy and eggs altogether at the age of 12. Most of the people who dine at Pura Vita, however, don’t have plant-based diets.
“They simply love my pastas and vegetables, along with the environment I created. The energy is loving and everyone is welcomed, just like my grandpa’s shoppe!” Punzone said. “It is extremely satisfying to bring a community together by simply feeding them beautiful, healthy, and traditional foods.”
Veganizing her family’s time-honored recipes wasn’t always easy, especially when it came to perfecting her grandmother’s delicious polpettine.
“The meatballs were one of the more complicated things to replicate. I am not a big fan of fake meat, but meatballs are a necessity,” Punzone said. “I tried many combinations but ended up mostly recreating them exactly as she made them and simply replacing the chopped meat with lentils and mushrooms. That was the best combination to achieve the deep flavor and texture that I was looking for. They are simple and nostalgic.”
At Pura Vita, the tender polpettine can be ordered atop spaghetti al pomodoro, encased in a calzone, or nestled within a panuozzo—an authentic Neapolitan sandwich—slathered in roasted garlic cashew aioli, cashew mozzarella, and marinara.
Those unable to make the trip out to West Hollywood can still whip up Punzone’s delicious meatless meatballs at home. The chef included easy step-by-step instructions for making her flavorful polpettine in her debut cookbook, “Vegana Italiana: Traditional Italian the Plant-Based Way,” published on Oct. 7.
The cookbook features more than 100 plant-based Italian recipes, including hearty main dishes such as lasagna and fresh gnocchi, as well as an array of desserts, among them her favorite treat to tuck into as a child: creamy, velvety tiramisu. There’s also a section on how to make the basics, from nut-based cheeses to Punzone’s version of her Ma’s special Sunday gravy.
“Nobody, not even me, can make it as good as she does,” the chef said. “She still makes it and brings it to me to keep in the freezer ‘just in case.’”
Through the dishes served at her restaurant and the pages of her cookbook, Punzone offers soul-soothing nourishment both locally and beyond.
“There is nothing more important to me than to share my food with the community,” she said. “However, I only have one restaurant and it’s in LA, so I am extremely excited to have the opportunity to share my food with everyone across the country who cannot come visit me here!”
