Notes about Recipes in this book

• Pot-roasted artichokes with white wine and capers

  • FJT on June 16, 2023

    My dish looked nothing like the picture and if I'd tried to get the level of browning shown the garlic, mint and capers would have been burnt to a crisp. This was less than the sum of its parts.

• Salt-crusted potatoes with herbed vinegar

  • Zosia on May 05, 2015

    The potatoes were sweet and creamy with a salty crust and though the vinaigrette (I used sherry vinegar) went a long way in countering the saltiness, these were just too salty for me. If I were to make them again, I would use only 1 tbsp salt.

  • billcranecos on February 10, 2021

    I love this technique that produces creamy potatoes with a salty crust.

• Roasted carrots with carrot-top pesto and burrata

  • patioweather on March 04, 2022

    I didn't have walnuts, so I used pine nuts instead. There was enough basil in this that it just tasted like normal pesto and I did not notice the bitterness of the carrot tops. I'll make the pesto again but I'm not sure I will make the overall recipe. There's too much fussiness. Peel some carrots and not others. Peel some garlic and not others. Cook it on the stove and then the oven. Etc. I did find multiple versions of this recipe, though, and some were more fussy than others.

  • Zosia on July 06, 2016

    Really delicious! The rich cheese, slightly bitter pesto and lemony greens were the perfect complements to the sweet carrots. I made a mistake and purchased crema di burrata, the creamy interior of burrata cheese without the mozzarella shell....a happy mistake in the end since I think it accomplished what it was supposed to do in this dish and made a fabulous white pizza topping!

  • consortiumlibrary on July 05, 2016

    Really loved this. Made with fresh baby carrots (greens attached) from farmers' market. Was out of walnuts, so substituted pine nuts. Next time will double recipe - everyone wanted seconds. Use cast iron pan for better browning of carrots. The finished plate is picture perfect.

• Grilled whole Tokyo turnips

  • wcassity on July 30, 2015

    Note - this recipe is "ROASTED Whole Tokyo Turnips," not grilled. We had them at Tosca Cafe in San Francisco at loved them - one of my most memorable restaurant vegetable sides ever. I was excited to see that this recipe was included when this book was released. As prepared, they taste exactly the way they did in the restaurant. The turnips are roasty, a bit soft and sweet, and very salty. My family and I loved them (though don't make my mistake of pairing them with a very salty main).

  • Kattancock on May 16, 2021

    Really good! I didn't add the second teaspoon of salt, which I think was the right decision. Don't let a lack of parsley stop you from making this either.

• Bitter leaves with pomegranate and grilled-vegetable vinaigrette

  • DKennedy on April 05, 2016

    The salad dressing is so spectacular I double batch it and use it on everything.

• Roasted cauliflower and grain salad with pistachios and pomegranate

  • meggan on February 28, 2021

    We also used farro which I cooked in a rice cooker as if it were brown rice. It came out less firm than I would normally cook farro but I liked it. I used cashews instead of pistachios and left out the mint. I thought this came together nicely.

  • bwhip on April 23, 2018

    This was really good! A flavor and texture explosion in every bite. We used farro for the grain, which I toasted a bit using the method from the Six Seasons cookbook. We also used pine nuts instead of pistachios, and currants in lieu of the golden raisins (as those are what we had on hand). We really enjoyed every bite.

• Bean and mushroom salad

  • Zosia on July 06, 2016

    Very tasty! The treatment of the beans sets this salad apart from similar recipes. I used the book's simple beans (page 244).

• Piedmontese peppers with tomato, basil, and anchovy

  • Zosia on July 14, 2016

    Sweet red peppers act as little vessels for garlic, fresh basil, anchovies and juicy tomatoes, allowing their flavours to mingle and meld during roasting. Fantastic hot or at room temperature as a side dish or a starter. I used oil-packed anchovies and they dissolved in the roasting time given adding their unique non-fishy flavour but no discernible texture.

• Summery ribollita

  • Zosia on July 21, 2016

    Several components, each cooked separately, come together beautifully to create this taste of summer in a bowl. Typical of ribollita, it's a very rich, hearty soup, and for me, something best enjoyed in cooler weather so most of it is in the freezer, sans greens, until we get some!

• Stewed zucchini with basil

  • Breadcrumbs on May 18, 2015

    p. 112 - First use of this recipe and this book. A simple stew prepared with summery ingredients, what’s not to like? Turns out, nothing! The author writes of first discovering this dish at a tea shop near the Spanish Steps in Rome. It was served to her as a snack along with a pot of tea. Well, I couldn’t will the Spanish Steps into my backyard but we did have a warm spring breeze and enjoyed this al fresco along with some warm garlic-smeared bruschetta. We opted to serve this with wine vs tea. Delicious! Photo here: http://chowhound.chow.com/topics/1013034?commentId=9568454#9568454

  • Mango725 on September 03, 2017

    On the repeat list! Great depth of flavor from just a handful of ingredients.

• Zucchini bread

  • bktravels on August 31, 2021

    This recipe calls for a sprinkle of Maldon salt and demerara sugar on top before baking. The salt was like a small flavor bomb. It was a great addition!

• Corn soup with cream and chanterelle mushrooms

  • bching on August 15, 2017

    Really delicious soup and a perfect seasonal recipe for August in the upper midwest when chanterelles are popping and sweet corn is at its peak. It's a cheffy recipe creating lots of dirty bowls and pots but worth the trouble. I think cherry tomatoes or bean and zucchini blossoms would be good garnishes if chanterelles aren't available.

• Tagliatelle with asparagus and Parmesan fonduta

  • consortiumlibrary on July 06, 2016

    Rich and filling - in a very good way. Made with dried truffle pasta. Liked the truffle flavor so much, I uncharacteristically stirred in a little high quality truffle oil just before serving. Be careful not to cut asparagus too thick.

  • Astrid5555 on May 10, 2015

    This is delicious, husband wanted to lick the plate. I cheated and used regular spaghetti pasta instead of the book's fresh egg pasta, which makes the dish weeknight-dinner friendly. Will go into regular rotation when asparagus is in season!

• Swiss chard cannelloni

  • wcassity on July 26, 2015

    Fantastic. Really delicious. I used pre-made shells, otherwise followed the recipe.

• Lumaconi stuffed with summer vegetables

  • wcassity on September 05, 2016

    Super delicious - creamy flavorful sauce that isn't too heavy. But a ridiculous amount of time, to me - around 2.5 hours. Using good canned tomatoes would save a few steps.

  • Zosia on July 31, 2016

    Stellar dish! The filling of fresh tomato sauce combined with a mix of vegetables that included corn and green beans was sublime especially when combined with the corn-infused cream "sauce", and I can never resist crunchy bits of baked pasta and this dish produced a pan full of them.

• Kale polenta

  • Melanie on September 05, 2015

    This dish needed more of the kale purée. It wasn't green enough - certainly didn't look like the picture and I didn't think there was enough kale flavour coming through. Interesting idea though, will try again with different ratio.

  • radishseed on January 14, 2020

    This was excellent. I used a strong aged cheese made from sheep, goat, and cow milk instead of Parmesan, which gave it some extra punch. The polenta was more dry than I'm used to, and I did add a little extra water near the end of the cooking time to loosen it up.

• Broccoli with bacon

  • mharriman on April 14, 2020

    We very much enjoyed this vegetable side dish. I mostly halved the recipe: used 1/2 of a medium broccoli head, 4 slices of cut up bacon, 2 T of olive oil, and 1/4 cup of young spring onions in place of the Spanish onion. The directions were easy to follow. Will repeat.

  • Zosia on May 05, 2015

    Tasty way to serve broccoli. I omitted the olive oil and used slightly lower heat but followed the timing in the recipe - it worked perfectly.

• Steamed eggplant with ground pork and Thai basil

  • Lucylew on September 14, 2019

    This was a really good, fast dinner. I used a globe eggplant and I peeled it as I don't enjoy eating the skin. Used regular basil. I will make this again.

  • mharriman on October 01, 2019

    We thought this was very good. It is indeed an easy weeknight meal! At the cooking end time, my pot of ground pork, eggplant, liquids, and other vegetables was still cooking in more liquid than I wanted. I just used a slotted spoon to separate the mixture from the liquid. Served the mixture over rice in bowls. We added a few shakes of soy sauce to add depth to the flavor.

  • wcassity on August 11, 2019

    Great! Deep flavor and good texture - everyone liked. Good use of summer Japanese eggplant and Thai basil.

• Roasted mushrooms with pancetta, pine nut breadcrumbs, and goat cheese

  • alex9179 on April 10, 2016

    Adaptable for any combination of mushrooms, soft cheese, and nuts.

• Curried cauliflower with peas

  • Melanie on September 05, 2015

    While I didn't love this, I thought it made for a tasty, quick and healthy curry and would make again - maybe with more coriander?

• Morels with Madeira cream on toast

  • adrienneyoung on November 15, 2020

    This is very promising, but REALLY needs dry (not sweet) Madeira. A worthy use of a good home made boule.

  • adrienneyoung on November 17, 2020

    Made 2 nights ago, with mostly white button mushrooms. Very promising, even without lots of morels, but much more liquid than in the photo. I used the leftovers (very soupy), along with a couple of ladles of stock and some more cream for cream of mushroom soup today. FABULOUS! Next time, I'll make double with intent to have leftovers for soup.

• Sweet corn ice cream with butterscotch

  • Zosia on July 31, 2016

    The ice cream was very sweet, rich and buttery and rather than bringing balance to it, the butterscotch sauce amplified these characteristics. I would have preferred a tart fruit compote as topping.

• Carrot top pesto

  • Zosia on July 06, 2016

    Predominantly basil flavoured but with a slight bitterness from the carrot tops and the walnut skins. It did go beautifully with the intensely sweet roasted carrots but I think I would use almonds or pine nuts next time to reduce that bitter flavour a bit.

  • e_ballad on January 20, 2018

    The author is right - this pesto is quite ‘briny’. I might up the nut or cheese ratio next time to see if this counters it a bit.

  • consortiumlibrary on July 06, 2016

    Delicious! I used pine nuts and it was just lovely. Not bitter at all. I'll make this often.

• Kale puree

  • Melanie on September 05, 2015

    Easy and tasty. Made this as the first step for the kale polenta but it tasted great by the end of this step.

• Grilled-vegetable vinaigrette

  • DKennedy on April 05, 2016

    You roast fennel, red onion, and radicchio (I also roasted an endive) until charred, and then you put them in a covered bowl to steam through and become limp. The roasted veggies are then cut into bite size pieces and added to a simple sherry vinaigrette. I added the garlic, marjoram and black mint last minute. I made the roasted veggies the day before serving this meal and added it to the oil and vinegar last minute, this worked well and I would suggest doing this to prolong the shelf life of this vinaigrette. In the book @ p. 80 April pairs this dressing with a bitter green salad topped with pomegranate seeds. In the notes for the dressing on p. 238, she recommends serving it over lamb chops and feta, so I did a little of both. I made a red leaf lettuce arugula mix, tossed that with the roasted veggie dressing, topped it with the pom seeds, and then topped the salad with two grilled lamb chops and feta. It made for an outstanding meal.

• Simple beans

  • Zosia on July 06, 2016

    Cooked beans made incredibly flavourful with the simple addition of lots of garlic to the cooking water. I used them and their delicious liquor to make the bean and mushroom salad and the summery ribollita from the same book.

• Caramel popcorn with nuts

  • Zosia on July 31, 2016

    I've tried a few caramel popcorn recipes and this one is the best by far. The caramel coating was thin and not overwhelmingly sweet and the salt and nuts (I used peanuts only) balanced it out even more. I removed it from the oven when it was still a little wet and before it was as crunchy as I thought it should be - it had baked for 30 minutes - but it was beginning to scorch in spots so I was quite happy that it crisped up nicely once it was fully cooled.

• Food52

  That’s because it’s written by a chef who isn't afraid to get reckless with vegetables until a good dish presents itself... This is what we need. We already have precious love songs about vegetables.

  Full review