Viviana Varese, born in Salerno in 1974, earned her first Michelin Star in 2011 with her restaurant Alice. Since 2019, she has been the chef behind VIVA, located inside Eataly Smeraldo in Milan. Energetic and tireless, she has opened several other venues between Milan and Sicily. In 2021, she was awarded the Champions of Change title by 50 Best, which honors “three unsung heroes” leading long-term progress in their industry and local communities. In January 2022, in collaboration with CADMI (the Milan shelter for abused women), she launched Io sono Viva dolci e gelati inside Milan’s Mercato Comunale Isola—a women-led project offering employment to survivors of domestic violence. Her cuisine is primarily seafood-focused—though her minestra maritata is not to be missed. Generous, instinctive, and never boring, her cooking is full of energy and authenticity. As of March 2024, she is at the helm of the kitchen at Hotel Passalacqua on Lake Como, where she interprets the great classics of aristocratic Italian and European haute cuisine in harmony with the villa’s 18th-century grandeur.

The Recipe (for four servings)

INGREDIENTS

200g anellini or tubetti pasta

For the potato cream

480g smoked (oven-baked) or regular cooked potatoes
280g milk
80g cream
60g butter
40g water
8g salt
120g diced potatoes (3 mm cubes)
60g Pecorino Romano
40g Tuscan Pecorino
40g pistachio pesto
20g basil oil
40g toasted pistachios
Cherry wood chips (as needed)
Aromatic herbs (as needed)

Method

For the potato cream

Smoke the pre-cooked potatoes in the oven for about 40 minutes at 80°C (176°F) with dried aromatic herbs and cherry wood chips. Blend with the remaining ingredients until smooth.

Cook the anellini pasta, then refresh the pasta and potato base with a sauté of garlic-infused oil. Finish the final 5 minutes of pasta cooking in the potato base, adding water as needed until fully cooked. Add the pre-cooked diced potatoes. Finish cooking and stir in both types of Pecorino cheese to cream.

Plating

Start by plating the pistachios and pesto, then add the pasta and potato mixture. Garnish with more pesto, chopped pistachios, basil oil, and fresh basil tips.