If you’re not already familiar with the legendary Pasta Queen, Nadia Caterina Munno, then you simply must witness her really quite personable cooking how-to videos on TikTok and YouTube. After you read about the kitchen tools she relies on when cooking pasta. If you’re already familiar with her sassy personality and want more, pre-order her new cookbook, The Pasta Queen, due to release in November.

The Pasta Queen

She’s sassy, outrageous, funny, and molto drammatica. Ever since I first saw The Pasta Queen flip that long mane of hair on TikTok as she growled the world “ingrrrrredients,” I was smitten. This woman is actually how I became addicted to TikTok. Watch her, and you will, too, as she takes you through Italian pasta classics, each lesson lasting less than a minute. You can listen to her, too, on our recent podcast with her. And if you look close, you’ll see many of the Pasta Queen’s favorite kitchen things in her gorgeous kitchen.–David Leite

Tramanto 5-Piece Set Olive Wood Utensils.

Wooden Spoons

Everything tastes better when you cook with a wooden spoon. Plus, you don’t scratch your pans and you can use them to mix the pasta at the end with the true passion of an Italian.

Olive Wood Utensils (Set of 5), $40 on Amazon.com

A Staub cast iron griddle with lid, which is one of the pasta queen's favorite things.

Staub Griddle

My Staub griddle is so handy. You’ve seen it on many of my TikTok videos and on Instagram, I love toasting things but also make pizza in a pan in it. It comes with an amazing lid that captures heat and it makes it into a little oven.

12-inch Round Steam Griddle, $376 on Amazon.com

A French wooden rolling pin, which is one of the pasta queen's favorite things.

Rolling Pin

Most of my rolling pins are handmade in Florence although I have a few that I got on Etsy that are vintage from France.

Olive Wood Rolling Pin, $30 on Amazon.com

A microplane grater, which is one of the pasta queen's favorite things.

Citrus Zester

In Italian cooking and baking we use a lot of zest! I even wrote an article about it.

Microplane Classic Zester Grater, $16 on Amazon.com

A rotary cheese grater, which is one of the pasta queen's favorite things.

Cheese Grater

And then there’s a cheese grater! Are you kidding me? What would Italian cooking be without cheese…

Zyliss Classic Rotary Cheese Grater, $14 on Amazon.com

A pewter ladle, which is one of the pasta queen's favorite things.

Ladle

A ladle is a must. I have one made in Italy of pewter. It’s a delight. You need a good one because pasta water is gold and this ladle’s shape is perfect to hold water.

Antique-Molded Pewter Ladle, $143 on Food52.com

Ruffoni 1.5-Quart Saucepan.

Copper pan

I love my copper pans. Especially the Ruffoni collection of pans. They are amazing because you can do anything with them, they are so versatile, and copper is the perfect conductor for cooking and retaining temperatures well.

Ruffoni 3.75-Quart Covered Saucepan, $520 on Riverbendhome.com

A Miyabi birchwood knife, which is one of the pasta queen's favorite things.

Big Knife

My Miyabi knife is my best friend. I love the Japanese steel and one of my secret wishes is to cook some mixture of Italian and Japanese in a dish…one day!

Miyabi Birchwood 7-inch Santoku Knife, $350 at Zwilling.com

A Wusthof classic Ikon paring knife, which is one of the pasta queen's favorite things.

Paring Knife

There’s another knife I think is essential in the kitchen and that’s a good paring knife for smaller tasks. I use a lot of garlic so I like to have this knife around at all times. I own a set of Wusthofs.

Wusthof Classic 3 1/2-inch Paring Knife, $115 on Amazon.com




About Nadia Munno

Nadia Caterina Munno provides an entertaining yet real insight into classic Italian recipes and food culture on her YouTube channel, The Pasta Queen.

Nadia was born and raised in Rome, and grew up making wine, fresh pasta, and other foods from the family lands.


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