The Bold Pasta Sauce Nancy Sinatra Made That Frank Loved

Frank Sinatra was one of the most well-known singers of his day, and as such, he lived the life of a mid-century superstar, including marriages to two actresses: Ava Gardner and Mia Farrow. His first wife, however, was a woman named Nancy — no, not the Nancy Sinatra who had a hit with "These Boots Were Made For Walking," since she was Frank's daughter. Nancy Sinatra Sr. was her mom and the crooner's first wife. She may have lacked the star power of her celebrity successors, but she did make a mean clam sauce that was a favorite of her one-time husband.

Nancy, whose maiden name was Barbato, lived to be 101 and remained friends with her ex-husband until the day he died. She was an Italian-American girl from New Jersey, and her white clam sauce recipe is similar to the one my own Italian-American family from the other side of the Hudson (Queens) would eat every Christmas Eve. The sauce is made with canned clams, cooked briefly in olive oil with garlic, and served over angel hair pasta or linguini. (We stuck with spaghetti, ourselves.) Topped off with a sprinkling of parsley and some Romano cheese, it's a dish equally worthy of a Chairman of the Board and a not-so-famous food writer.

Frank Sinatra rose to fame in the middle of the 20^th century, a time during which Italian cuisine was also becoming quite popular. Therefore, one of his favorite hangouts in Manhattan was Patsy's, a restaurant that's still a New York staple. Among his go-to orders was a seafood dish called clams Posillipo that, like Nancy Sinatra Sr.'s spaghetti sauce, consists of clams cooked in garlic. He also enjoyed pasta dishes, including Patsy's fusilli with garlic and anchovies. A 1945 publication called "WFBL Cook Book of the Stars" contains a classic spaghetti and meatballs recipe credited to Mrs. Sinatra. Although Nancy was married to Frank at the time, it's possible the recipe came from his mom, but either way, it's something he undoubtedly enjoyed, as he allowed himself to be represented by this dish in the compilation cookbook.

The meatballs are pretty typical ones, made with a 50/50 mixture of ground beef and pork, bound with egg and breadcrumbs, and flavored with grated Italian cheese along with a little minced garlic. The sauce is made with canned tomatoes, tomato puree, onion, garlic, parsley, and a generous amount of olive oil. The most interesting thing about the recipe is the directions given for serving it. You're supposed to first pour some sauce and meatballs onto a platter, then top it with spaghetti, cheese, more sauce, more cheese, and still more sauce. Apparently, Nancy and I are in complete agreement that you can never have too much sauce on your spaghetti.