• wester on February 27, 2018

  Browned cabbage with hot pepper, p. 289. Three and a half stars. Basic but good. I prefer to brown my cabbage faster, but that's mainly because it's less work.

• wester on February 27, 2018

  Pork chops in red wine and juniper, p. 253. Four stars. Simple and very tasty. I thought cooking pork chops for an hour would be too much, but they are excellent, tender and flavorful. The sauce/gravy is great as well. A pity the children didn't like it.

• MaryMM on June 11, 2016

  The chocolate cherry biscotti recipe from this book is one I make over and over again.

Notes about Recipes in this book

• Mozzarella-stuffed cabbage (Involtini di cavalo)

  • wester on March 15, 2021

    Simple and good. Do make sure you cook long enough - I did it for shorter on higher temperature (it was sharing the oven) and the cabbage was a bit undercooked.

• Three mushroom risotto (Risotto ai tre funghi)

  • nicolepellegrini on January 14, 2021

    This is definitely a mushroom-lovers mushroom risotto! :) Very rich and filling, perfect for a night I needed to use up a lot of mushrooms in my fridge. Extremely filling as well.

• Roasted cod with potatoes and mushrooms (Merluzzo al forno con patate e funghi)

  • nicolepellegrini on December 27, 2025

    Simple, filling and excellent! I used baby potatoes sliced super-thin on the mandoline, so I cut out the second stage of cooking (ie, 20 minutes, stirred, and then topped with the fish for an additional 12 minutes.) Also subbed baby bellas for shiitake as that's what I had on hand, I think any mushroom with some substance in texture and flavor would work well.

• Pork chops with pickled peppers (Braciole di maiale con peperoni)

  • nicolepellegrini on January 08, 2023

    I'm usually wary of recipes that have you cook pork chops this long, but this time actually worked. I think the combination of wine and vinegar really did add moisture to the meat and tenderized it.

• Pork chops in red wine and juniper (Braciole di maiale al vino rosso e ginepro)

  • nicolepellegrini on July 02, 2021

    Probably the best version of this standard recipe I've made - quite often the pork comes out dry but this cooked just right.

• Veal stew with tomatoes and olives (Spezzatino di vitello)

  • nicolepellegrini on March 28, 2021

    A tasty if rather "dry" stew that doesn't produce a lot of gravy/liquid - but the flavor is quite concentrated in the veal meat.

• Spiced venison or beef stew (Stufato di cervo)

  • nicolepellegrini on February 28, 2021

    The apple added a nice touch to this venison stew. Meat came out extremely tender.

• Broccoli rabe with garlic and hot pepper (Cima di rape col peperoncino)

  • nicolepellegrini on January 08, 2023

    Super simple yet maybe also the best I've ever had broccoli rabe come out for me.

• Cabbage and caper salad (Insalata di cavolo e capperi)

  • nicolepellegrini on February 25, 2025

    Surprisingly good for such a simple salad? I did use savoy cabbage instead of basic green, which I think made it a bit more delicate as well.

• Crusty potatoes with tomatoes and onions (Patate gratinate)

  • Kag2020 on October 25, 2024

    This was delicious. I used a slightly narrower pan then the recipe suggested and I'm assuming because of the thickness it took at least another 20 minutes to cook through. I did cover it for a portion of the time to speed up the cooking of the potatoes. I also added a bit of extra cheese and olive oil on the top. A great side dish.

• Fennel mashed potatoes (Purè di patate e finocchio)

  • nicolepellegrini on March 23, 2022

    I'm not a big fan of plain mashed potatoes, so this was a nice way to lighten them up a bit and add some more flavor.