A former top aide to Gov. Andrew Cuomo was inspired to call his alleged bribe payments “ziti” by watching “The Sopranos,” the admitted middleman in the corruption scheme testified Monday.

Lobbyist-turned-cooperating witness Todd Howe said Joseph Percoco made like a wannabe gangster while discussing the $300,000-plus in “pay-to-play” cash he allegedly scammed from two firms doing business with the state.

“Joe threw in this term ziti, which we used throughout the entire bribery scheme,” he told jurors in Manhattan federal court.

“Joe indicated it was a reference to ‘The Sopranos.’ Joe watched the TV show.”

Before Howe took the stand, prosecutors asked Judge Valerie Caproni if they could show the jury a “Sopranos” video clip, presumably to buttress Howe’s testimony.

During a memorable episode of the HBO mob drama’s second season, protagonist Tony Soprano loans his former high school pal Davey Scatino “five boxes of ziti ” — or $5,000 — so he can take part in a high-stakes, “executive” poker game with the real-life Frank Sinatra Jr.

But the degenerate gambler winds up owing “about 45 boxes of ziti,” Tony’s nephew later tells him, adding: “He grabbed another 10 while you were asleep. He said you OK’d it.”

Following the Monday lunch break, defense lawyers argued against admitting the video clip into evidence, with Percoco’s lawyer, Barry Bohrer, saying, “It has almost no probative value.”

Lawyer Milton Williams Jr., who represents co-defendant Joseph Gerardi, a co-founder of the Syracuse-based COR Development Co., also called the clip “severely prejudicial to my client.”

“I happen to have three Italian-Americans on trial,” Williams said, adding that the video “fits right in” with anti-Italian stereotypes.

Prosecutor Matthew Podoksly argued that “the government didn’t choose ‘ziti.’ Mr. Percoco chose ‘ziti.'”

But the judge ruled the video wouldn’t be shown in court, saying, “I will let [Howe] explain the reference.”