Rob Chirico grew up in Brooklyn, New York, with an Italian mother, who, to his chagrin, couldn’t cook. He describes her as an “assassin,” who killed pretty much every dish she prepared.

In self-defense, Chirico, who now lives with his wife Valdina in western Massachusetts, learned his way around a kitchen, mastering traditional Italian dishes and putting his own creative spin on others.

A cookbook editor and author of “Field Guide to Cocktails,” numerous articles for culinary publications, and three novels, Chirico also is an artist and former professor of art history and has lived and painted in Argentina and France. In 1991 he won the $10,000 grand prize in the Sutter Home “Build a Better Burger” competition.

Chirico comes to the Westerly Library on Sept. 8 to talk about his new humorous food memoir, “Not My Mother’s Kitchen: Rediscovering Italian-American Cooking Through Stories and Recipes.”

The author gives us a taste of the inspiration behind his new book in this exclusive Day interview.

Q. You’re very funny. Did you develop a sense of humor as a defense against the awful food you had to eat growing up?

A. I was a naturally funny kid. My father was very, very funny. He won a (neighborhood) prize for Best Wit. He could always twist a phrase, come up with a terrible pun.

Q. How did your own passion for “real” Italian food evolve, despite your mother’s meals consisting of things like Chef Boyardee out of a can and “malformed, nearly cremated hamburgers”?

A. There must have been something inherent. They talk in art history about the grandparent theory that talent or interest skips a generation. And so, my grandmother would make things like her own ravioli with spinach but because I was used to the Butoni ravioli, I wouldn’t go near her ravioli. Same with lamb, as a kid, it was like eating shoe leather. When I got married, my wife’s family was having a leg of lamb. It was a revelation — they served it properly. In my later college years, I realized I had to learn to cook; it wasn’t just coming to me. I went to Italy and realized ‘Wow, this is what is should taste like.’ It became a quest to find the best ingredients, the best foods.

Q. What are some of the differences you discovered between Italian food in Italy versus the U.S.?

A. Growing up in New York, you’d get your plate of lasagna and a side of spaghetti. Italian meals are well orchestrated — you have a succession of dishes. Our meals at home are more like a jam session. I learned to cook in a very basic fashion in Rome. Even the other night, with all the tomatoes I have, I just cut up them up, got rid of the seeds and extra juice, put them in a bowl, added a little hot pepper, salt, garlic, and olive oil, let it marinate for an hour or two, and then threw the pasta into the tomatoes, topped it with some fresh basil and served it with freshly grated Parmigiano. I could eat that for dinner at least once a week in the summer.

Q. You say you’re less interested in recreating authentic Italian dishes as you are experimenting. Can you explain?

A. I do list a couple of authentic recipes in the book. At the same time, having tasted many of these foods in Italy, it lets me try something completely different. After years of doing this every day, I have a very good sense of what I think will work. It’s like mixing colors on a palette. It’s not like I don’t read other people’s recipes, I read them all the time and I can see ways to alter them to my own taste. People can use this (cookbook) as a springboard for their own imaginations. Pretty much every recipe can be adapted to everyone’s palate.

Q. Can you talk a little about the misuse of the tomato?

A. The other day I started making a sauce — six quarts that I’ve frozen to have all winter. I’m not going to buy fresh tomatoes in the winter because they’re flavorless, like hockey pucks. Too many people have the idea that sauce has to be completely covered with tomatoes. It’s not true in Italy. They use just enough to coat the pasta. Pasta has to be an integral part of the dish. I buy very good Italian pastas. There’s a nuttiness, a flavor to it that just can’t be matched by inferior brands.

Q. You say you had no intention of creating yet another cookbook of recipes. Can you explain? And why did you choose the recipes you did include?

A. The recipes in the book are illustrative of how I learned to cook and how other people can learn to cook. It’s more of ‘How to do it on your own’ rather than ‘Here are 6,000 recipes.’ I tried to keep people’s interest while illustrating great ways to cook and enjoy eating and share my stories and sense of humor. I’m actually explaining why something might work, why something might not work. I tried to give a good sense of variety. While there’s a list of sauces in the beginning you can use with any pasta, with individual pasta recipes, I included things people may have never seen before like using broccolini with linguine.

Q. What are some other “unexpected” recipes in the book?

The rotini with ’nduja — a spicy proscuitto paste that you just never saw in this country. At first I could only get it online, but now — as more ingredients are appearing everywhere — I found it in two stores in Massachusetts. People mostly put it on bread; I came up with this idea that you can cook with it. You put it in a pan; it melts down, and makes for a lovely, spicy sauce.

When I was studying different recipes, I learned that Cardoni’s original Caesar salad didn’t have anchovies. It also didn’t include lemons. In most South American countries, like Buenos Aires, limes are a scarcity. So. I put in lime and I add a little bit of fish sauce for that salty flavor. It’s simple and very creamy because you just put all the ingredients in a little jar and shake up, except the cheese, and when you’re ready to serve, just pour it over the lettuce.

CAESAR SALAD MY WAY

Serves 4 to 6

1/4 teaspoon each coarse or kosher salt and freshly ground pepper, or more to taste

2 tablespoons good quality white wine vinegar (preferably aged Italian)

2 tablespoons freshly squeezed lime juice

1 large crushed and minced garlic clove

1 teaspoon Dijon mustard

1 teaspoon Worcestershire sauce

1 tablespoon Vietnamese or Thai fish sauce

2 egg yolks

1/2 cup extra-virgin olive oil

3 romaine lettuce hearts, chopped widthwise into 1-inch ribbons, or leaves left whole

1/2 cup freshly grated Parmigiano

1 cup croutons

Mix all ingredients up to the lettuce in a jar and set aside. You may refrigerate the dressing briefly.

Place the romaine lettuce on a large platter and toss with Parmigiano. Top with croutons. Shake jar of dressing and toss it with the salad. Serve immediately, passing extra pepper and cheese if desired. 

ROTINI WITH ’NDUJA AND CHERRY TOMATOES

Serves roughly 6 as a first course and 4 as a main course

2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil

1 1/2 teaspoons minced garlic

1/4 cup finely chopped shallots

3 ounces ’nduja (removed from casing, if any)*

1/4 pound cherry tomatoes, halved

Coarse or kosher salt to taste

1 pound rotini or other pasta of choice

Chopped parsley for serving

In a large skillet, heat oil over medium heat until shimmering. Add garlic and shallots and cook until golden, but not brown, about 5 minutes. Add the ’nduja to mixture, breaking it up with a wooden spoon, and stir until melted. Stir in tomatoes and salt and continue cooking until tomatoes begin to break down, about another 5 minutes. Turn heat to low, just to keep sauce heated while pasta cooks.

While the sauce is cooking, bring 4 quarts of water to a boil. Salt the water, add the pasta, and cook until al dente. Drain pasta and reserve about 1/4 cup pasta water. Add pasta to sauce and stir, adding some reserved pasta water if mixture is too dry. Top with chopped parsley and serve.

*If not available locally, you can order online from Boccalone or Underground Food Collective of Wisconsin.

Recipes courtesy Rob Chirico, “Not My Mother’s Kitchen.”

“Not My Mother’s Kitchen: Rediscovering Italian-American Cooking Through Stories and Recipes” (Imagine! Publishing) is 24.95, hardcover.

IF YOU GO

What: Rob Chirico talks about and signs his book, “Not My Mother’s Kitchen: Rediscovering Italian-American Cooking Through Stories and Recipes.” The free event is hosted by Savoy Bookshop and Café.

When: Thursday, Sept. 8, from 6:30 to 7:30 p.m.

Where: Westerly Library auditorium, 44 Broad St., Westerly

Info: www.banksquarebooks.com or call (401) 213-3901; no registration is required.