Focaccia Mama does not believe in small portions.

This she picked up from her Momma Francesca, who came from the Sicilian town of Caccamo, perched on the cliffs above Palermo. She, in turn, absorbed it from Nonna Nicasia, the grandmother of Gabriella Mazzarisi. This was demonstrated each November, when Mazzarisi, the aforementioned Matriarch of Italian Flatbreads, requested her birthday favorite, pasta all forno: baked rigatoni in red sauce with fresh mozzarella, Parmigiano, and peas.

Such wanton abbondanza will be demonstrated one month early, this September 22, when the Focaccia Mama returns to Monday Night Foodball .

She’s headlining her second Foodball with that very same birthday pasta al forno, and yes, you can share it—but no shame. “If you are hungry,” she says, “you are wel

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