• ceecooks on January 14, 2010

  Italian

Notes about Recipes in this book

• Oven-roasted canned tomatoes

  • mfto on January 08, 2011

    These tomatoes are simply wonderful. You must use a top quality canned whole tomato. We no longer are able to get good fresh tomatoes even in the summer at our so-called farmer's market. Now tomatoes are grown to look good for days and days but taste like cardboard.

  • mamacrumbcake on February 07, 2020

    These are good! I too had trouble balancing the roasting of the tomatoes and the other items. I ended up discarding the garlic. The tomatoes are yummy—so many ways to use them, but I just love to snack on them with some good bread and cheese! PS it’s such a bargain to make these homemade :)

  • ashallen on December 12, 2019

    These are very good - very rich tasting. I had trouble balancing the cooking time for the tomatoes vs. for the non-tomato ingredients and the latter ended up charring to the point where I wouldn't want to eat them (the author warns against letting the garlic char, otherwise it gets bitter). The tomatoes were still very good, though. Perhaps ripping the tomatoes into smaller pieces would help.

• Tuscan white beans with red onion and salami

  • ashallen on July 20, 2019

    This is a wonderful combination of flavors. However, because it's such a simple preparation, lower quality ingredients can't hide. I used pinto beans and the red wine vinegar and salami I had were just so-so. I'm looking forward to making this again with the white beans recommended the recipe and better vinegar and salami - I think they'll make a strong difference.

• Sicilian farmer's bruschetta

  • Breadcrumbs on January 16, 2011

    p. 34 - I made a variation of this recipe. To fresh ricotta I added generous pinches of dried oregano, red pepper flakes and kosher salt. This mixture was spread on prepared crostini which had been rubbed w a garlic clove on one side. Fresh basil sprinkled on top. Some bruschetta were smeared w a sun-dried tomato mushroom tapenade prior to adding the ricotta. Truly scrumptious. Definitely will make these again....maybe today!!

• Grilled chicken pieces in Sicilian mint sauce

  • Breadcrumbs on October 18, 2011

    p. 48 Sadly, my mint melted into a sloppy mess in the crisper (and I use the term lightly!) of my fridge so, this was just plain old Grilled Chicken Pieces at casa bc. Nonetheless, we really enjoyed it. LRK has you toss the chicken pieces w evoo, lemon zest, oregano, salt & pepper then marinate in the fridge for 1 – 6 hrs. Ours marinated for 4 hours before sprinkling w salt and grilling on our new Weber gas grill outdoors. LRK provides indoor grill pan instructions too. Our chicken breasts were organic, juicy and flavourful and totally delicious served atop some roasted, balsamic glazed Brussels sprouts.

• Penne with Sicilian shepherd's sauce

  • ashallen on August 01, 2020

    Very nice, comforting pasta dish - how can you go wrong with cheese and tomato sauce! Relatively easy dish to cook. I found the tomato sauce a little sharp on its own, but it mellowed completely after the ricotta was stirred in and the final dish was very creamy. I used a very fresh cow's milk ricotta, but a sheep's milk ricotta as suggested by the author would definitely increase the flavor.

• Mother's broth

  • DKennedy on August 22, 2011

    5 turkey wings cost $11.00. Stock needs to cook for 12-14 hours. Can use as base for tortellini en brodo. Made 8-22-11.

• Minestrone

  • ashallen on December 08, 2019

    This is a nice, comforting soup with good flavor. All of the ingredients are quite well-cooked, so it's not a "fresh" tasting vegetable soup. I liked the ratio of veggies to starchy items (potatoes, pasta, beans) - it didn't come across as too starchy. I used canned diced tomatoes which didn't "melt" very well into the rest of the soup - next time I'll use chopped-up whole canned tomatoes for that effect. Ate it with some basil pesto swirled in which was very nice.

• Chickpea soup for All Soul's Day

  • ashallen on November 29, 2019

    I love chickpeas in general, but this soup seemed bland and monotonous to me even though I used a good homemade chicken stock instead of water as specified the recipe and seasoned heavily. Perhaps my chickpeas weren't very flavorful? Adding some lemon juice before serving helped spruce up the flavors. At most, I'd eat this in small portions as part of a larger meal versus as the main course.

• Balsamico roast chicken and potatoes

  • ksg518 on January 23, 2019

    What a great chicken recipe! You make a paste with the basil, dried herbs, pancetta, garlic, EVOO and some balsamic which you rub under and over the chicken skin. After that it's a basic spatchcocked chicken roasted over potatoes. My bird took longer to roast than the recipe suggested but I think it was slightly bigger. The end result is a flavorful moist bird with great roasted potatoes.

• Baking day chicken with black olives and red peppers

  • hillsboroks on September 23, 2020

    This is the perfect fall end-of-the-garden recipe. I loved the sauce and the bit of fresh lemon juice added at the end! I did deviate from the recipe technique at the end. Instead of placing my sheet pan over two burners I carefully drained the liquid into a medium saucepan and continued from there. I think this made it easier to control the cooking down of the liquids in the sauce and also easier to serve. I lined my sheet pan with heavy duty foil which made cleanup a snap.

  • nicolepellegrini on May 02, 2020

    As the other reviewer said - this is a surprisingly wonderful recipe. I did decide to add some parboiled potatoes to the pan for last stage of cooking and it made for a perfect one-dish supper.

  • ashallen on October 17, 2019

    This is a wonderful recipe - the chicken and the vegetables work together on a sheet pan to create fantastically deep flavors. There aren't enough vegetables on the pan for this recipe to qualify as a "sheet pan supper" - they function more as a garnish for the chicken. The recipe's great as-is, though - I think adding more veggies would inhibit the delicious browning of the ingredients.

• Porcini chicken breasts

  • PinchOfSalt on November 24, 2013

    The recipe suggests substituting 1/2 pound of fresh porcini instead of the dried version "if fresh porcini come into your life."

  • PinchOfSalt on February 25, 2015

    Made this again, this time transforming it into a sous-vide affair. Put the chicken breasts, dried porcini mushrooms (rinsed, but not soaked) and minced onion plus 1/4 tsp salt into a vacuum-sealer bag. Sous-vide for 1 hour 25 minutes at 140F. Did not bother to sear the chicken breasts after the sous-vide stage was complete. Drained the juices from the bag into a saucepan and made the sauce as directed in the recipe using the wine, water, and butter. The dish was delicious but the presentation needs some work. Sous-vide with the porcini mushrooms in the bag infuses the chicken with wonderful flavor but it also stains the surface of the chicken breasts a odd beige/brown color. I will be returning to this recipe to further refine it, as it is too delicious to abandon as an ugly duckling.

• Braised pork with three peppers

  • mamacrumbcake on February 07, 2020

    This was good, and made a nice sauce. However, I think the meat would be more tender cooked in a pressure cooker. Will try that next.

• Grilled lamb chops with onion and oregano

  • hillsboroks on June 23, 2014

    We left our chops in the marinade about 3 hours and then popped them on the grill. Next time we will take Breadcrumbs suggestion and let them marinade all day plus add more herbs. The chops came out flavorful, moist and delicious! We served them with a baked zucchini vegetable dish from "Cucina Fresca" by Viana La Place. Great combination!

  • Breadcrumbs on March 20, 2012

    Grilled Lamb Chops with Onion and Oregano – p. 253 A simple prep yields outstanding results. This recipe produces an aromatic marinade that infuses the lamb with complimentary big, bold flavours. In addition to the dry oregano, I added the leaves from 2 sprigs of rosemary to the marinade mix. Though the recipe suggests you marinade for 1 to 2 hours, we let ours marinade all day. Also, while LRK has you drain the marinade prior to grilling, we opted not to. We simply lifted the chops from the marinade, placed them on the grill and basted w the remainder. Loved this dish and we’ll definitely make it again!

  • Laura on November 13, 2012

    Pg. 253. We did not have the same success with this recipe as the previous reviewer. We marinated the lamb for 3 hours and followed the cooking directions exactly, even cooking for longer than suggested and letting them rest 5 minutes or so. Still, our chops were undercooked -- we like medium rare, these were closer to rare. Also, the marinade just didn't add that much. We would have preferred them without the marinade. We won't be repeating this one.

• Leg of lamb glazed with balsamic and red wine

  • Barb_N on August 21, 2014

    One of my favorite leg of lamb recipes- just be sure to heat the wine before adding. I lost a ceramic baking pan when I skipped this step.

• Tyrolean pot roast

  • ashallen on November 12, 2020

    We really enjoyed this (and my husband *loved* it). The sauce has nice brightness from the wine/vinegar/tomato that works very well with the meaty flavors. The herbs and spices were very aromatic early in the cooking process but mellowed considerably by the end. They may have mellowed more than the recipe intended since I simmered everything for a couple of additional hours (we like the meat to be very tender). Using a 6-quart dutch oven to both brown and simmer meat worked fine. Simmered in a 275F oven vs. on stovetop. Note that this recipe requires 2 days of prep if you follow its suggestion to marinate the meat overnight before cooking it. Recipe suggests skimming fat from sauce after reheating on Day 2, but it was easy enough before reheating to lift off the solid fat that formed on the sauce's surface after its overnight chill. The cooked vegetables in the sauce did a great job of thickening it once pureed. I reduced the cooking liquids to ~4 cups total for the sauce.

• Melting Tuscan kale

  • Barb_N on December 25, 2015

    I made this as a side for Christmas dinner, simple and flavorful.

• Skillet carrots with fresh sage

  • twoyolks on November 18, 2019

    I ended up with undercooked carrots with a weird wine note.

  • ashallen on December 11, 2019

    I really like this dish and make it frequently - the carrots have rich flavor from the sage, onion, and chicken stock. My husband's not as fond of sage as I am, however, so this isn't his preferred way of eating carrots. I've tweaked the cooking approach from what was specified in the recipe. During the first (uncovered) cooking stage, I cook at a lower heat than specified and for a longer period of time so the onions get deeply golden without scorching. I like the flavor that comes from using yellow onions best - red onions don't seem as flavorful. During the second (covered) stage, I cook the carrots until they're as tender as I'd like them to be - not sure how long that is since I haven't timed it in a while! I use a rich homemade chicken stock and frequently substitute additional stock for the wine if I don't already have an open bottle on hand.

• Roasted butternut squash with balsamic vinegar

  • nicolepellegrini on September 19, 2020

    Fine for a basic side dish, but not especially noteworthy.

• Roasted red onion wedges

  • DKennedy on August 22, 2011

    Made this on August 21st, 2011 - excellent. Dave really liked the burned pieces.

  • ksg518 on January 23, 2019

    This is a simple but delicious side dish. I'm surprised I never thought about roasting red onions on their own before but it results in a slightly sweet tender onion. The thyme is a must in this recipe.

• Lake Garda potatoes

  • ashallen on August 21, 2020

    Great potatoes! These take a bit of time to make, but most of it is unattended and the overall process is simple. Recipe doesn't describe how long the potatoes need to simmer uncovered -mine needed about 75 minutes to reach the "glaze" stage. The finished potatoes were thoroughly tender and the garlic-herb-wine glaze had a lovely flavor. I substituted dried mint for fresh - still tasted great. Leftovers held very well to the next day.