Cooking tips from Alan Alda

From CNN Entertainment Producer Jennifer Wolfe:

Alan Alda hates Earl Grey tea. He believes the world is divided into two types of people, those who love Earl Grey and those who don't.

That was the launching pad for a lively discussion about food here at our Treasure Mountain Inn Suite at the Sundance Film Festival. Alda was here to do an interview about his new film "Diminished Capacity" - but beforehand, we talked food.

Alan offered up a pasta recipe that he’s fond of and swears it's great - although a little unconventional:

Take one box of pasta (any type will do). Soak it in a half-cup of olive oil. Then spread the pasta in a Pyrex dish and add a can of diced tomatoes. A dash of salt and pepper (no garlic, he insists). Bake for a while and eat.

He added the pasta's consistency is more "al gummy" than al dente.

Alan's other foodie offering was a dessert:

Take pizza dough. Spread it very thin. Take a bunch of seedless grapes (off the vine, I'm guessing). Dip the grapes in sugar. Place them on top of the pizza dough. Add another layer of pizza dough on top. Crimp the edges. Then top it with some more sugared grapes and bake in an oven.

Unfortunately, I never got a temperature or a time from him. (Alan, if you’re reading this, send that along, OK?)

Our resident Italian, Jenny D'Attoma from "Showbiz Tonight," says she's going to ask her father about that one. He's from Italy and she's a first-generation American.

Alan may believe the world is divided into Earl Grey lovers and Earl Grey haters, but I'm convinced the world is actually divided into people who bake and people who cook. I think Alan firmly resides in the cook's camp.