Though Christmas is as big a night as any, there’s one dish that won’t appear on Stanley Tucci’s dinner table.

While the timpano—a layered pasta dish often featuring vegetables, meat, cheese and eggs baked in a layer of dough—was a holiday staple throughout Stanley’s childhood, the dish likely won’t make an appearance this year.  

After all, his wife Felicity Blunt—sister of actress Emily Blunt—is especially not a fan.

“Unless my mother and father come, there won't be,” Stanley told E! News in an exclusive interview. “My wife hates it. No one likes it, except me and my son Nicolo. Huge amount of effort for just two people.”

With favorability against the timpano‚ so beloved by the actor it was the pièce de résistance of his 1996 film Big Night, he added,  “So most likely it’s not going to happen, which is heartbreaking.”

Nostalgia aside, the Devil Wears Prada star’s holiday table is sure to be a delicious one for its lucky attendees, including Nicolo’s twin sister Isabel, 24, daughter Camilla, 21, the three of whom he shared with his late wife Kate, as well as his and Felicity’s children Matteo, 9, and Emilia, 6.

“I'm in England, so they do a roast on Christmas,” the 63-year-old explained. “But I kind of want to do a lasagna Bolognese for Christmas Day, which I think would be great.”

In fact, it’s the latter dish that the foodie—whose culinary interest has led to the creation of multiple books, movies and shows—says is a go-to for any family special occasions.

“It takes a fair amount of effort and time,” Stanley noted, “but it's so delicious and special that I think it's appropriate for any important occasion.”

And of course, no special moment is complete without cheese, something of which Stanley cannot get enough. (Lactose intolerant readers, consider this your warning: irresistible dairy content lies ahead.)

“There’s nothing wrong with a baked camembert is there?” he mused, before noting he planned on making a pasta carbonara for the family the night his interview took place. “You're using pecorino and you're using some Parmigiano. I love all that. I save all the rinds of parmigiano, put them in the freezer and then use them in soups, stews, sauces, whatever.”

Plus, as he’d be remiss not to mention, “Obviously, a caprese salad is pretty great: Buffalo mozzarella, tomato basil, olive oil. Great.”

Clearly, a cheese connoisseur. Which is why it comes as no surprise that the Julie & Julia actor partnered up with San Pellegrino—his go-to beverage—to bring fans the “S.Pellegrino & Stanley Tucci’s Holiday Cheese ‘Cake,’” a savory stack of four artisanal cheeses available this holiday season at Murray’s Cheese.

With layers made from La Tur, brie, Cave Aged Reserve Cornelia, topped off with a provolone star, Stanley explained, “These, I think, give a nice sort of diversity of flavor and texture.”

“I really love these things that we do around the holidays,” he continued. “That's really fun to put together a recipe.”

Because, after all, food is often what brings people together—a concept the Academy Award nominee explores in his new book What I Ate In One Year, which is out Oct. 15.

“Food is, if you pay attention to it, the thing that defines us,” Stanley said, adding how it can be summed by a favorite quote of his by French gastronome Jean Anthelme Brillat-Savarin.  “‘Tell me what you eat, and I'll tell you who you are.’”

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