"Her baked shrimp scampi, that was kind of the thing that set it off for me," he said. "It's rosemary breadcrumbs, butter, and butterfly shrimp, baked and poured over pasta. Then I made gazpacho. Those were two insanely easy recipes that were delicious. And it was kind of this epiphany that it doesn't have to be difficult to make good food, you can make delicious recipes with simple ingredients."
And Pheifer was shocked when he was able to successfully make homemade ricotta.
"If you would've said I would ever make ricotta, I would've called you crazy and closed the door," he said. "It seemed like something that was impossible to do at home, and learning that it was actually insanely easy — it's just about trying the recipe and not being intimidated."
"That's one of the great things about Ina," he added. "While she's aspirational, her dishes are very approachable."