Buzz

There’s nothing that can bring two seemingly different people together quite like a shared love of food. For filmmaker Joe Russo and New York City chef Joe Isidori, that shared love is Italian cuisine and the mutual heritage that influenced their careers. Russo and Isidori discussed all that and more while conversing exclusively on Tasting Table’s “Shared Tastes.”

During their chat, Russo recalled how his grandmother’s family-style Italian meals have influenced the way he runs his movie sets, Isidori looked back on some of the films that have impacted him as a chef, and the two bonded over a passion for storytelling and bringing joy to others. Let’s just say the conversation left us with some serious cravings. And we weren’t the only ones — before the chat was over, Russo asked if Isidori would cook one specific, old-school Italian dish for him in the future: timpano.

If you’ve seen the 1996 film “Big Night” then you’re probably familiar with the hearty Italian dish, which played a pivotal role in the movie. It is essentially a baked pasta pie that is said to have originated in Sicily. While there are variations on the recipe, the thick, egg-based pastry dough is generally stuffed with noodles, meat sauce, eggs, herbs and spices, and plenty of cheese. If that sounds like a lot of work, that’s because it is; but luckily for Russo, chef Isidori immediately agreed to this off-menu request.