'Mrs. Dotti, to me'

NEW YORK -- Think of Audrey Hepburn, and your mind will likely conjure up an extraordinarily elegant woman in a boatnecked black dress, huge sunglasses, gloves to the elbow and a chic updo.

It's doubtful you'll picture a woman in jeans and T-shirt settling down in front of the TV with a plate of penne and -- gasp! -- ketchup.

But that's the image that her son, Luca Dotti, wants you to get to know. In "Audrey at Home," an inviting cookbook filled with intimate family photos and memories, he paints a picture of a woman who was happier at home than on a movie set or, really, anywhere else -- even though the press, he says, had a hard time believing that.

"Yes, she was an international star, but she was Mrs. Dotti to me," says Dotti, a Rome-based graphic designer who is the son of Hepburn and her second husband, Andrea Dotti. "And she loved her home life the most. I wanted to bring these two worlds together, the public perception of her, and the woman that I knew."

The inspiration for the book came, Dotti says, from a binder he found in his mother's kitchen, filled with recipes and little notes. "It was from the '50s when she had just gotten married (to her first husband) and was starting out as a wife," Dotti says. "They were mostly elaborate and fancy recipes. But in the end, she eventually came to what worked for her and what reflected her style and her life." Those simpler recipes, he says, form the core of the book.

A 1960 photo shows Belgian-born actress Audrey Hepburn at a hotel in Rome. (Jim Pringle ~ Associated Press)

And so, for example, Dotti begins with hutspot, a nod to Holland, where Hepburn -- born in Belgium to a Dutch mother and British father -- spent her difficult youth, nearly starving during World War II. (Her final life partner, Robert Wolders, also was Dutch.)

"The Nazis had deprived Holland of all forms of sustainability. My mother had to eat turnips and boiled grass," Dotti says. Hutspot is a puree of carrots, potatoes and onions, in this case with beef added.

The point of the cookbook, and of Hepburn's own cooking, was not to display chef-quality talents. "This wasn't about excelling in cooking," Dotti says. "My mother wasn't really interested in that. She simply liked food as a way to get her family together."

Hepburn, who died in 1993, lived mostly in Rome and Switzerland, where she loved the countryside.

If Dotti had to pick one recipe to symbolize his mother's life, he says it would be beloved -- and simple -- spaghetti al pomodoro (with tomato sauce).

Luca Dotti, son of Audrey Hepburn, wrote the book 'Audrey at Home: Memories of My Mother's Kitchen,' which was published by HarperCollins. (HarperCollins Publishers via Associated Press)

An even simpler dish -- and certainly less elegant -- was what Italians call pasta al forno, but Americans know as lowly mac and cheese.

But what of that penne with ketchup?

Dotti suspects it's the British part of Hepburn that created a fondness for this dish, the ketchup resembling a sauce of baked beans. His mother loved organic vegetables and treasured her own garden, yet still liked to indulge in this "junk food," as her son calls it.

"It sounds terrible, but actually it's pretty good!" Dotti says. "We ate it when it was just the two of us, in front of the TV." His recipe calls for penne, extra-virgin olive oil, Emmentaler cheese -- and some Heinz ketchup.

Dotti, who's donating proceeds of the book to the Audrey Hepburn Children's Fund, says he's by no means his mother's biographer, just a chronicler of what it was like to live in her home, and her kitchen.

"This is a son writing about someone who was more of a wife and a mother than a celebrity," he says.

Fegato Alla Veneziana

Dotti suggests serving over mashed potatoes or -- more traditionally -- polenta.

Start to finish: 30 minutes

Servings: 4

• 3 tablespoons plus 1 teaspoon unsalted butter
• 1/2 cup extra-virgin olive oil
• 2 medium white onions, peeled and finely chopped
• 1 pinch sugar
• 1 pound calf's liver, thinly sliced
• Splash sherry vinegar or lemon juice (optional)

In a large skillet over very low heat, melt butter with oil. Add onions and cook until translucent, but not browned -- about 15 minutes. Once ready, add pinch of sugar and stir until caramelized, about 5 minutes.

Heat a second skillet over high heat. Transfer onions and then liver to the second skillet, stir for a few minutes until meat is seared but still juicy. If you like extra acidity, add a splash of vinegar or lemon juice and stir, scraping bits at the bottom of the pan, and serve.

Nutrition information per serving: 510 calories; 370 calories from fat (73 percent of total calories); 42 g fat (12 g saturated; 0.5 g trans fats); 405 mg cholesterol; 90 mg sodium; 9 g carbohydrate; 1 g fiber; 3 g sugar; 23 g protein.