Family, Food, and the Hardcore Heart of Laura Lee Flanagan

Some people you work with. Some you call friends. Some are bound to you by family…and if you’re very lucky, like I am, someone can be all three.

Laura Lee Flanagan is my client, my colleague, my friend…and my first cousin.

Born and raised on Manhattan’s Upper East Side, Laura’s life has followed anything but a straight line. She is an attorney, entrepreneur (twice over), producer, writer, and editor, with a PhD in English Literature specializing in 18th-century British culture and critical theory. She’s also an artist, a traveler, a passionate cook, and a lifelong equestrian.

She holds dual citizenship with Italy, has lived abroad, and somehow manages to embody both the fierce grit of New York and the gracious spirit of European hospitality. Laura is also married to Hardcore Punk icon, Harley Flanagan, and together they’ve been creative collaborators since 2012.

But it’s her latest project, Hardcore Vegetarian, that feels like a full-circle moment, tying together her passion for food, her love for family, and her talent for storytelling.

When Laura married Harley, she didn’t just accept his vegetarian lifestyle…she made it her mission to reinvent the family recipes she grew up loving. Hardcore Vegetarian isn’t just a cookbook; it’s a journey. It’s Laura, welcoming you into her kitchen, sharing not just recipes but stories, experiments, hilarious missteps, and triumphs.

Harley and Laura

I’ve been lucky enough to taste Laura’s cooking more than once, and lucky enough to be part of the behind-the-scenes journey as she brought this book to life. She even credited me for editing Hardcore Vegetarian, something not often done…and dedicated it to my late husband, Tom, honoring a bond that goes far beyond work.

Working with Laura on Hardcore Vegetarian wasn’t just another project.It was a reflection of what makes our bond unique: shared history, mutual respect, and a love for doing things all the way…or not at all.  Fiercely loyal and deeply generous, Laura is relentlessly committed to lifting up the people she loves and cares about. I know this, because I am gratefully one of them.

Laura didn’t just write a cookbook. She created a place at the table for everyone she cares about. And just like everything she touches, Hardcore Vegetarian carries the same spirit she brings to her life: bold, thoughtful, fearless.

LUCIANA’S TRIFOLATA is one of my favorite recipes and I can vividly recall the first time I tasted it… that was over 20 years ago.  On page 132 of her book, you can read about the origin of this simple yet exquisite dish, passed on to Laura by Luciana Pisa Gheda, who was like a second mother to her.  It is my great pleasure to share it with you now:

INGREDIENTS

6 small zucchini

salt and ground pepper

1 large clove garlic, diced fine

2 Tablespoons light olive oil

¼ cup fresh Italian parsley, chopped

½ cup Parmigiano, or substitute, grated

METHOD

1. Slice zucchini in ¼" rounds and place in a colander tossed with about

1 teaspoon of salt; allow to rest for about 5–10 minutes. You may want

to place the colander in the sink or over a bowl as lots of water will

drain out.

2. In a frying pan add oil and fry the garlic for about 30 seconds, then

add the chopped parsley; do not brown the garlic, so watch it and

let it cook for about 2 minutes moving it around with the parsley.

3. Add the zucchini. Add pepper (I grind about 7 times). You might add

a little more salt. Either way, cook in its own liquid that it will keep

producing as it cooks down.

Keep moving the contents around as they soften and blend together like

a chunky purée.

Turn off the heat, add cheese and mix well.

Serve warm or at room temperature.

Buon appetito!

Link to buy a copy of Hardcore Vegetarian.