• nomadchowwoman on January 09, 2010

  Like its American and French counterparts, this is a lovely book I actually use. Even if I didn't, I'd love reading it.

Notes about Recipes in this book

• Bolognese meat sauce (Ragù alla Bolognese)

  • SpatulaCity on October 08, 2023

    Excellent bolognese recipe! Love that this is made the Northern Italian way, so there’s more focus on the rich meat flavors instead of too much tomato. I make a lot of bolognese and love the results here, which is especially gratifying because it has fewer ingredients and is more simple to prepare over other recipes I’ve tried. The livers are enough to add umami without too much funk. I think using canned tomatoes and avoiding tomato paste helped avoid a certain bitterness I’ve tasted in many a ragu recipe. Not sure if it was my pan size, but the steps did take longer than stated in the book - for the veggies to soften/ caramelized and the meat to cook, liquid to evaporate, etc.. Simmered for over four hours. Perfect for us!

• Crustless potato and green bean tart (Polpettone di patate e fagiolini)

  • SpatulaCity on October 06, 2023

    Would not make again. This was so boring.

• Hollow noodles with sardines (Bucatini con le sarde)

  • SpatulaCity on October 04, 2023

    Loved it! Didn’t have saffron, so used tumeric in the pasta water. Everything together was so good, and I needn’t have been concerned about sardines - they were fantastic and a breeze to use. Especially delicious were the breadcrumbs that fell to the bottom of the plate and soaked up all the anchovy onion sauce.

• Hunter's wife's chicken (Pollo alla cacciatora)

  • bwehner on October 13, 2012

    Fairly easy. Delicious with cheesy polenta and greens.

  • SpatulaCity on October 06, 2023

    Pretty good and simple to make, however my sauce didn’t really reduce. After 45 minutes there was still so much liquid, so I removed the chicken and reduced the sauce for another 20 min. Served with roasted potatoes. Would seek out a different recipe next time.

• Ligurian gnocchi with pesto (Trofie al pesto)

  • SpatulaCity on February 15, 2023

    Used store bought trofie, but the pesto with this noodle is simply sublime

• Pugliese-style broccoli rabe with wine sauce (Cime di rapa affogate alla Pugliese)

  • SpatulaCity on October 03, 2023

    I used one bunch of rapini. Liked the flavor of white wine and garlic in the sauce. At the end of the day we just aren’t big fans of very bitter greens, so I don’t know that we’d make this again.

• Spaghetti with eggs and pancetta (Spaghetti alla carbonara)

  • SpatulaCity on October 03, 2023

    Classic recipe. I think everyone needs to make it their own a bit to get to their taste. I first made it as the recipe stated first and it was good. Second time around I added an extra yolk, some reserved pasta water, fresh grated nutmeg and a pinch of pepper, and maybe an extra handful of the cheese combo. Tasty! Can’t go wrong either way.

  • SpatulaCity on October 03, 2023

    Classic recipe. I think everyone needs to make it their own a bit to get to their taste. I first made it as the recipe stated first and it was good. Second time around I added an extra yolk, some reserved pasta water, fresh grated nutmeg and a pinch of pepper, and maybe an extra handful of the cheese combo. Tasty! Can’t go wrong either way.

• Spaghetti with tomato sauce (Spaghetti al pomodoro)

  • SpatulaCity on April 22, 2024

    Pretty classic recipe. Used canned san marzano tomatoes. A la Marcella Hazan, I added half an onion to the simmering sauce and removed at the end.

• Tuscan tomato and bread salad (Panzanella)

  • Breadcrumbs on July 12, 2010

    p. 47 - Jul 2010, first use of this rec. Delicious results...reminded us of Tuscany! Next time I'd reduce amt of evoo used to toast bread by 1/2. Also, double up on the basil. Finished w some grey sea salt. Yum!!