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Jimmy Fallon is open to trying new things — including Giada De Laurentiis’ polarizing chocolate pasta!
The celebrity chef's “childhood favorite” dish, which she debuted on TikTok last December to mixed reactions, made it to The Tonight Show on Monday, March 3. Host Fallon, 50, not only tried the sweet, non-traditional treat but also gave his “honest” reaction.
De Laurentiis, who appeared on the late-night show to promote her new cookbook Super-Italian, brought chocolate pasta for the host to try, and even assembled it for him live.
As the chef, 54, poured chocolate sauce over a bowl of noodles sitting on Fallon’s desk, the host said he loves that she's doing a live “demo” even though they were instructed not to. “You can’t help yourself,” he said with a laugh as De Laurentiis agreed.
Visibly nervous at the prospect of trying the chocolatey dish, the host then put his hands on his head and said, “I don’t know if this is going to be good, Giada, I’ve got to be honest.”
He also apologized for overcooking the pasta as she struggled to mix it. “I see that,” the cookbook author replied before, seconds later, ditching utensils altogether. Instead, she used her hands to toss it more effectively — a move that drew a series of shocked gasps from the Tonight Show audience.
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“You’re unbelievable,” Fallon said and De Laurentiis fired back, “Okay, but I need to make it happen because you’re never going to believe me if I don’t.”
“My hands are really, really clean,” she later assured after the host admitted he doesn’t have any napkins for her to use. Fallon then completed the dish by shaving chocolate on top — the sweet dish’s version of a parmesan sprinkle, per De Laurentiis.
When the chef has had “a really bad day,” she explained, “this is sort of the comfort food.” Fallon, meanwhile, worked up the courage to take a bite.
Taking a page out of his guest’s book — and ensuring she isn’t the only one left with chocolate-covered hands — Fallon then skipped over his fork, grabbing a chunk of noodles with his hand and clinking them with De Laurentiis in a “cheers” moment before giving his initial reaction.
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“You want to hug me now?” the chef joked, showing off her dirty hands, as Fallon admitted, “It’s actually delicious.”
“I love it, it’s fantastic,” he said, chocolate still covering his hands — and face. “It’s great!”
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Like the Tonight Show host, some fans had a hard time wrapping their minds — and stomachs — around De Laurentiis' chocolate pasta when she first shared the comfort food on TikTok.
“This is like from Elf,” one user commented on her original video, referring to the sickly sweet spaghetti Buddy the Elf (Will Ferrell) eats in the 2003 Christmas comedy.
Despite viewers’ skepticism, however, the chef doubled-down in a second TikTok at the time. “Honestly,” she said, “nothing is more comforting” than the atypical pasta dish — “and more of a hug.”
And while she admitted that the pasta may not be "the sexiest of dishes” before revealing the recipe, it is “dang good,” she told fans.