• Eat Your Books

  See Lisa Is Cooking's take on Clams in cartoccio and Calamari spiedini in lemon leaves and Charred tuna spiedini with spicy peppers from this book.

• Breadcrumbs on July 25, 2011

  A wonderful book for summer grilling. This was a "Cookbook of the Month" - (COTM) selection on Chowhound so we took a deep dive into this book along w Molto Gusto in July 2011. Many reviews and photos of dishes on that site as well. By mid-month, I'd tried over 20 dishes from this book and we enjoyed all of them. Most are quick and easy to prepare and, don't require a ton of attention on the grill either. Recipes work and instructions are clear. Mario's footnotes are helpful and interesting. My only issue w this book is the photography as is doesn't always depict the recipe as written. This seems to be a trend w Beatriz da Costa's work. With solid recipes, I'm not sure why Mario Batali would bother w photos like this. Maybe Quentin Bacon got to be too expensive but his photography was infinitely better and, accurate.

Notes about Recipes in this book

• Olio piccante

  • Breadcrumbs on July 19, 2011

    p. 33 - The recipe yields such a delicious, versatile oil. As MB indicates this oil would be great drizzled over grilled veggies, seafood pastas, pizza and grilled bread. This morning we served a little atop our cheesy scrambled eggs w basil and it really elevated and brightened the dish. Ideally you want to make this a day ahead of needing it as the flavours need to develop overnight. Prep is super quick and easy. Coarsely chopped jalapenos are combined w red pepper flakes and paprika then simmered over medium heat before transferring to a heatproof bowl to cool. The next day the oil is strained and, ready to use. MB notes that it will keep in the fridge for up to 10 days. The finished oil has a brighter flavour than jarred chili oils and, the paprika seems to add a unique depth that we found very appealing. Happy to recommend this one.

• Corn as Italians would eat it

  • Breadcrumbs on August 03, 2011

    p. 221 - I followed in the footsteps of Gio and LN above by making this dish to serve along side the Sausage & Peppers dish (p. 193) in this book. We also enjoy our corn straight-up w just butter and salt so this recipe was a departure for us. We enjoyed it for a change of pace.

  • Gio on July 12, 2010

    Made this 7.11.10. It was easy and a different way to serve the first corn of the season. We loved it.

  • L.Nightshade on July 25, 2011

    We usually eat our corn pretty naked, but this was something different, easy, and very very tasty. We had this with the sausage and peppers dish in the same book.

• Waxy potatoes in Chianti vinegar

  • Breadcrumbs on June 28, 2011

    p. 230 – Waxy Potatoes in Chianti Vinegar What a delightfully different dish, we absolutely loved this! I must confess though, we didn’t have Chianti Vinegar so I used Pinot Noir vinegar which worked well since we were serving Pinot Noir w the meal as well. Prep is straightforward. Potatoes are scrubbed and par-boiled then cut into slices and tossed in a mixture of olive oil, celery seeds and scallions then placed on a skewer. I made some substitutions here, since I have a massive crop of chives this year, I used chives in place of the scallions and, I used fennel seeds instead of celery seeds. Skewers are then grilled until potatoes are browned and tender. The book has you toss hot potatoes in a mixture of Dijon, EVOO, vinegar, scallions, salt and pepper yet if you look at the photo in the book, you’ll see that the potatoes are actually plated on the their skewers w the dressing drizzled over the top. We opted for the latter approach. This was absolutely fabulous.

  • L.Nightshade on July 27, 2011

    I had small fingerling potatoes, so I didn't parboil or quarter them. I treated them as called for, only substituting Burgundy vinegar for the Chianti. Since they were so small, I didn't skewer them, but placed them in a grill basket instead. I dressed them as written, and we enjoyed the taste of these potatoes quite a bit. With the vinaigrette, it does remind one a bit of a warm potato salad. Our main dish had pancetta in it, which would have been better placed in these potatoes.

• Monkfish in prosciutto with pesto fregola

  • Breadcrumbs on July 21, 2011

    p. 121 - Wonderful! We’ve always enjoyed monkfish for its flavour and, meaty texture so the notion of wrapping it filet-style in a pork product made total sense and, had tremendous appeal. What we hadn’t anticipated was how much we’d love the new-to-us fregola pasta. Together these two dishes made for a quick, easy and unexpectedly delightful weeknight meal. Mario intends the fregola to be served as a salad however we served ours hot, as a pasta side so I cooked my veggies, including the bell peppers. Mario cooks his fish on a piastra however we don’t have one so we cooked our fish directly on the grill – it took about 20 mins. This really is delicious and we especially enjoyed the tender, chewy texture and nutty flavour of this lovely pasta.

• Veal chops with flash-pickled mushrooms

  • Breadcrumbs on July 19, 2011

    p. 195 - This recipe exceeded our expectations. The grilled veal chops were fabulous but it was those incredible flash-pickled mushrooms that really made this dish special.MB provides instructions on roasting garlic he mentions that the cloves should be soft but not mushy. Well, I missed that part and made my garlic per usual and of course, it is always mushy . . . a paste texture. Needless to say, once the vinegar hit the pan, the garlic dissolved and created a thick sauce. Obviously I realized that wasn’t what Mario intended but I made the best of it and simply loosened it a bit later on w a bit of pasta water. We really enjoyed this gravy-like texture. Everything about this dish appealed. The veal chops were perfectly cooked, tender and delicious. The tangy mushrooms boosted the flavour of the meat and the sweet, nutty flavour of the roasted garlic tied this all together beautifully. I could have eaten the mushrooms and not even missed the meat!! This is a winner!

• Pork tenderloin with Jerusalem artichokes and Negroni vinaigrette

  • Breadcrumbs on August 02, 2011

    p. 179 - We made the pork tenderloin only. A simple rub is made by combining porcini mushroom powder, brown sugar, pepper flakes and crushed fennel seeds. I opted to use fennel pollen in place of the seeds. I halved the rub as we were making just one, large tenderloin. Meat is well covered then wrapped in saran for 12-24 hrs. Ours went for 24. We then grilled ours over charcoal until just cooked. The aromas from the grill were intoxicating, very heady w the earthiness of the porcini and the sweet scent of anise. We loved this dish, the porcini/fennel combination was just lovely on the sweet, tender pork and we enjoyed the slight kick the chili flakes added. I’ll happily make this again. It would make a great company dish for its ease and advance prep. Delicious!

  • L.Nightshade on July 27, 2011

    After rubbing the meat with fennel, pepper flakes, and (pricey) porcini, all we could taste was the pepper flakes. Rather a disappointment there. The sauce never came together properly for me. It is supposed to be thick, but the longer I tried to reduce it, the thinner it seemed to become! I also didn't think the rather sweet sauce worked very well with the green beans. This is the second dish I've made that stipulates placing the meat over beans, and I don't really see the point. Maybe someone told MB he needed to incorporate more vegetables into his dishes. The beans would have worked better as a side with a different treatment. Also, there seems to be a lot of oil in this dish. Pancetta is sauteed in oil, then releases its own fat, then the oily vinaigrette is added. Just a bit too much for me. Full disclosure: I actually cut back on the oil a bit, which may be why my sauce didn't take on the specified texture.

• Sausages and peppers

  • Breadcrumbs on August 03, 2011

    p. 193 - I used spicy Italian sausage vs the sweet, substituted a sprig of oregano for the rosemary since I intend to use leftovers in a pasta w a tomato based sauce. I also added some sliced garlic to the peppers since a day without garlic is like a day without sunshine!! The spicy heat of the sausage was really nice w the sweetness of the onions and peppers. A really yummy dish!

  • L.Nightshade on July 25, 2011

    Sausages and peppers are not uncommon in the Nightshade house, especially for busy days. I liked the additions to the pepper and onion mix, a little balsamic and rosemary, some fresh marjoram at the end. Different from our normal treatment, and a nice change.

  • chawkins on June 19, 2015

    I used hot Italian sausage, as mentioned in the previous comment, the spiciness balanced the sweetness of the peppers and onions, the balsamic vinegar also cuts the sweetness a little bit. The use of multi-color peppers made for a very pretty dish.

• Beef braciole "pinwheel-style"

  • Breadcrumbs on July 17, 2011

    p. 172 - A deliciously decadent riff on braciole that tantalized our taste buds and delighted our guests! Next time I’d rub the roast w garlic as the beef is not on the grill long enough cook the stuffing ingredients. I used extra-old provolone vs fontina. Mario suggests you may need two people to aid in the rolling/tying of the braciole however I found this process to be surprisingly effortless. Once I’d sliced the pinwheels, I secured each w 2 skewers – NB there is a photo of this method in the book but no mention of it in the recipe’s directions. This is one of those dishes that’s an explosion of flavours with the tang of the cheese, smokiness of the salami and richness of the meat. It’s also very, very filling so you definitely want to slice the pinwheels accordingly. Decadent and definitely not something you’d be eating on a regular basis but it sure is nice for a special meal. Another winner!

• Grilled lamb chops scottadita

  • Breadcrumbs on July 24, 2011

    p. 177 - In the footnote to this recipe Mario explains that, loosely translated, scottadita means burn your fingers – an apt description given how delicious these chops smell on the grill, you can’t wait for them to cool down to eat them! Prep is simple. Lemon zest, mint, sugar and salt are combined in a food processor until they are the texture of course sand then the mixture is rubbed on the chops which are set aside at room temp. Mario suggests you combine ground cumin seeds w goat’s milk yogurt as a dressing for this dish but since we had Tzatziki, I skipped this step. Chops are then grilled on 2 mins per side until medium-rare. These were really yummy and disappeared quickly. I made 1 batch w the mint mixture and another w rosemary in place of the mint, I also added some garlic to this batch. Both were delicious. A perfect, quick summer dish. Happy to recommend this one.

  • fprincess on March 19, 2013

    Fresh mint, lemon zest and sugar (s+p) are chopped in a food processor and the mixture is spread onto the lamb chops. I grilled the lamb chops on a charcoal grill which only took a few minutes. On the side, yoghurt with cumin from freshly-ground & toasted cumin seeds. I opted to serve this dish with broccoli rabe from my CSA, blanched and then sauteed in garlic, olive oil and shallots. Simple and flavorful. Photo here: http://forums.egullet.org/topic/131552-cooking-with-the-babbo-cookbook/?p=1912740

  • fprincess on June 18, 2013

    Recipe http://www.today.com/id/25784586/site/todayshow/t/grilled-lamb-chops-scottadita/#.UcEpl8u9KSP

• Turkey sausages with sage flatbreads and mostarda

  • Breadcrumbs on July 21, 2011

    p. 149 - Scrumptious! I must say, I was apprehensive about the make your own dough part since up to this point in my life, I’ve managed to avoid bread making for lack of time and fear of failure. That said, given that Mario hasn’t been letting me down with the other dishes I’ve made this month, I decided to forge ahead and I’m sure glad I did, not only was our dinner wonderful but, I LOVED making these yummy little flatbreads. I was unable to find mostarda so I turned to a recipe from Marcella Says by Marcella Hazan and it was delicious. My dough took 1 hr 20 mins to double initially and smaller dough balls took 40 mins on second pass. The flatbreads were divine. Crisp on the outside and tender w a little chew on the inside. The fennel pollen was a great addition to the dough (as there was no fennel in my sausage), the aroma was so enticing! This is one of our favourites thus far from this book. I’d use fennel pollen vs thyme again.

• Spit-roasted turkey breast porchetta-style

  • Breadcrumbs on July 30, 2013

    p. 156 – I’ve had my eye on this ever since the book was a Chowhound COTM and finally we had an opportunity to make it. It’s surprising how porchetta-like the flavours and textures of the final dish are. If I were blindfolded I doubt I’d have known I was eating turkey. The key to the success of this recipe is the pork sausage in the stuffing. The stuffing adds moisture and tremendous herby flavour to the finished dish. A skin-on breast is a must as well. Aside from presenting beautifully, the skin also protects the meat from toughening over the grill. My only issue with the recipe was that it produced far more stuffing than we could reasonably roll into the turkey. I would half the stuffing ingredients for a 4.5 lb breast next time around. Also our bird took just under 2 hours to cook with a constant grill temp of 350° whereas MB suggested 1 hour would do the trick. Nevertheless, an outstanding dish! Photos here: http://chowhound.chow.com/topics/793276#8229042

• Quail with artichokes vinaigrette

  • Breadcrumbs on July 25, 2011

    p. 144 - Actually, this was Quails without Artichokes Vinaigrette in our case since there are no decent artichokes to be had here at the moment. A marinade is made by combining EVOO, balsamic vinegar, honey, dried thyme (I used dried oregano) and black pepper. The quail is left to marinate for 4 hours or, overnight. Ours marinated for 8 hours. These emerge from the grill with a beautiful caramelization and definitely have visual appeal. I must confess, try as I might, I’m not really a big fan of quail. I find their size to be a little disconcerting and, their flavour to be a little gamey for my taste. I thought I’d give these a try since I was able to find semi-boneless quail and hoped that since these would be less fussy to eat, they might have more appeal for me. They did not. I did taste a bite and loved the flavour of the marinade and crispy, caramelized skin but, that was enough for me. K thought these were outstanding, the best he’d had to-date.

• Guinea hen breasts with rosemary and pesto

  • Breadcrumbs on July 19, 2011

    p. 147 - Mario notes that chicken can be used in place of Guinea Hen so that’s what we did. My chicken breasts were on the bone vs MB suggested boneless version but, this didn’t seem to have any detrimental impact as this was a delicious, bright tasting grilled chicken dish. The recipe calls for 1/2 cup of the wonderful basil Pesto (pg 50).These were really delicious. The pesto mixture was fresh and flavourful and, served to keep the breasts very moist. I spritzed the chicken w some lemon prior to plating. I’d highly recommend this one, we were happy to have extras for weekday lunches!

• Chicken thighs with snap peas and agliata

  • Breadcrumbs on August 10, 2010

    p. 141 - Aug 2010 - first use of this rec. Recipe calls for too much evoo and unfortunately I'd added it prior to realizing this. As a result the breadcrumb mix was a soggy mess. I rectified by adding more bread until mixture was salvageable. Next time I'd drizzle in until desired consistency is reached. To my surprise, the breading did survive the grilling process. We used a charcoal grill and I felt that the grilled flavour over-powered the flavours in the breading so that was disappointing. Next time I'd use the gas grill. All that said, I'd make this again as I liked the idea of serving something a little different off the grill. Chicken was tasty.

  • L.Nightshade on July 25, 2011

    I followed the wise words of Breadcrumbs by adding olive oil sparingly to the breadcrumb mixture, and by adding a bit of lemon into the mix. I had made olive oil infused with lemon zest earlier in the day and used this in the mixture. I loved the crusty, flavorful coating on the chicken. I liked the peas just fine, but next time I'd also serve something that would be a better foil for the chicken, a simple pasta or maybe a garlic mashed potato. Mr. Nightshade declared that he preferred the chicken under a brick, but this is something different, and easy to scale down for two people.

• Spicy black pepper-coated drumsticks

  • Breadcrumbs on August 20, 2010

    p. 142 - Aug 2010, first use of this rec. Photo in book looks delicious, described as "Buffalo wings go to Italy: drumsticks in a spicy buttermilk marinade..." I had 8 pieces of chx, recipe called for 12 yet amount of marinade was inadequate. I doubled and had just enough. Unusual prep method. Chx is baked, unseasoned w the exception of salt (I did add some garlic powder), then placed in marinade (similar to how you would treat fried buffalo wings w final saucing). Here marinated drums are then placed into the fridge until you're ready to grill. Our chx was not spicy at all however the fennel seed flavour came through beautifully and we definitely enjoyed them. I noticed that the photo in the book shows lots of red flecks on the final chx leading me to believe chili flakes should be used. I may do so next time however this was delicious as is. Only disappointing because we'd planned the meal around spicy chx.

  • chawkins on June 29, 2015

    Like breadcrumbs in the previous comment, I also had only 8 drumsticks, but I had more than enough marinade, perhaps my drumsticks were smaller, the amount would have been perfect for 12 drumsticks. The technique of marinating half-baked items is truly unusual. The grilled drumsticks were not spicy at all even with 2 tablespoons of tabasco sauce in the marinade. I did not serve the chicken with fennel batons but celery batons becuase that's what I have in my crisper. The Gorgonzola dipping sauce, essentially a blue cheese dressing, was delicious. I used lemon juice instead of the red wine vinegar in the dressing because of my husband's aversion to vinegar.

• Chicken alla diavola

  • Breadcrumbs on July 11, 2011

    p. 138 - Really nice flavourful dish. To ensure the (very plentiful) marinade flavours had impact, I used a fork to pierce the chicken pieces to allow them to absorb it. We also marinated the chicken for 10 hours. Not sure if I just had juicy fruit but I halved the ingredients since we only had one bird and I definitely had enough of the marinade for 2 birds. Instead of using one orange and two lemons I used the orange, a lemon and a lime. The recipe calls for hot pimenton to be sprinkled on the cooked chicken but since we were a bit concerned that the meat may not have a prominent citrus flavour, we decided to skip that step. No worries though, the dish was absolutely delicious. The flavour of the citrus definitely came through and, mr bc said it was quite prevalent through the grilling process as well. This was light, bright and perfect for an al fresco dinner. I’d highly recommend this dish.

  • TrishaCP on July 29, 2015

    I thought this was a good, solid and easy chicken dish. We dialed back the heat (as permitted in the recipe), and that was probably a mistake because my red pepper flakes are more smoky than spicy, and it was a little bland. My husband erroneously bought boneless and skinless thighs, and they stayed pretty moist, but we adjusted the grilling time accordingly.

• Il galletto al mattone (chicken cooked under a brick)

  • Breadcrumbs on June 28, 2011

    p. 136 Super-simple to prepare and big on flavour, we loved this chicken and will happily make it again. Chicken is flattened by removing the backbone and pressing down to crack breastbones. We found it simpler to remove the breastbone at the top as well. A rub is made by combining ground, toasted fennel seeds (or fennel pollen), salt, pepper and thyme. The mixture is patted on the bird then the chicken is wrapped in Saran and refrigerated for 12 hours. An hour prior to grilling chicken is removed from the fridge. Chicken is then grilled under a brick until done. We didn’t have issues w flare-ups though they are mentioned as a potential issue in the book. Prior to serving, I spritzed the chicken w lemon-juice. This was a delicious, flavourful dish. We grilled over charcoal.

  • L.Nightshade on July 25, 2011

    I used coarse sea salt, but the amount concerned me, so I used half the written amount of salt, without changing the pepper, fennel, or thyme. I still felt it was too salty and would use less next time, or use the mentioned alternative of kosher salt. Anyway, aside from the salt question, this was a huge success. Actually, even with the salt it was a success. We used a gas grill, which I don't think gets as hot as charcoal, so the cooking time was a bit longer for us. But the chicken was perfect. Crispy skin, tender and juicy meat. I actually don't like chicken skin, so I loved that the flavors of the rub penetrated into the meat. And the aroma was intoxicating. Mr. N wasn't so sure about the brick method, but he's sold now.

• Salmon in cartoccio with asparagus, citrus, and thyme

  • Breadcrumbs on July 07, 2011

    p. 130 - We thought this was a good, tasty dish though I do question what the grilling process adds since the foil packets are so tightly sealed that no smokiness was imparted to the fish. As expected, since the fish steams in the foil, it was moist and flaked beautifully. The tight seal of the packages also ensured that the herbs infused the salmon w their flavours. We served this with some steamed brown jasmine rice. If I were to make this dish again, I'd do it in the oven in parchment as I'm not a fan of cooking wine in aluminum foil, somehow I feel that the foil alters the flavour of the wine. I also would skip any advance cooking of the asparagus as it was overdone after the intense steaming. Good but not remarkable, I may make this again with the modifications noted above.

  • fprincess on June 02, 2014

    Recipe online: http://abc.go.com/shows/the-chew/recipes/mario-batali-salmon-asparagus-citrus-mint

  • fprincess on October 22, 2015

    Simple no-mess way to prepare fish. A tad bland maybe. Picture: https://forums.egullet.org/topic/148424-dinner-2014-part-3/?do=findComment&comment=1973109

  • bgood on July 24, 2012

    Tasty, not sure what the point of the asparagus was in this dish. Maybe colour contrast but it's under the fish. Lemon and orange mellowed nicely. It started raining just as I was getting ready so did it in a 450 oven for 12 minutes, could have done with less time but it was still good.

• Fennel with sambuca and grapefruit

  • Breadcrumbs on July 24, 2011

    p. 46 - This was so outrageously good, an absolute flavour explosion. Everyone raved about this dish. Definitely one of the best salads we’ve ever had. A scrumptious dressing is made by combining olive oil, sliced garlic, anchovies, sambuca and balsamic vinegar this is then spooned over the fennel, taking care to get the dressing deep in the crevices of the bulbs. Ours marinated for about an hour at room temp. Prior to grilling, the dressing is drained from the fennel and reserved for plating. I left as much of the sliced garlic on the bulbs so it would cook. MB suggests you add 2 tbsp to the dressing at this point, along w the fresh tarragon. Since the dressing already had a nice balance of flavours, I skipped this step and simply added the two to the finished dish. I likely used about 2 tsp of oil to drizzle over top. Our ruby grapefruit was especially sweet and the subtle anise flavour of the tarragon just added another layer of freshness to the dish.

  • L.Nightshade on July 30, 2011

    Parboiled fennel for the full 20 minutes but it was still hard after grilling. Enjoyed the flavors quite a bit, need to try it again with longer parboil or grilling. My fennel bulb was pretty large, though.

• Pesto

  • Breadcrumbs on July 19, 2011

    p. 50 - This delicious recipe is identical to the Pesto recipe that appears in Molto Gusto. My review appears there.

• White bean bruschetta with grilled radiccchio salad

  • Breadcrumbs on July 13, 2011

    p. 62 - Wonderful! Mario notes that the beans can be made up to a day ahead and says that in fact, they will be even more flavourful if you do this. I’m sorry to report that I can’t comment on this since there are none left for tonight’s meal! Needless to say this dish was a huge success. In my view, this would make a perfect dish for entertaining a plated meal as it can be made ahead and the plated dish has high visual appeal. Since the beans were dressed and a little wet I decided to allow everyone to assemble their own bruschetta so I served the bean salad atop the radicchio leaves with a basket of the grilled bruschetta on the table. Lovely, delicious and I’m happy to recommend this. Photos here: http://chowhound.chow.com/topics/793280#6674671

• Tomato, mozzarella, and basil bruschetta

  • Breadcrumbs on July 13, 2011

    p. 63 - In addition to the usual suspects noted above, Mario also includes dried oregano, hot red pepper flakes, kosher salt for seasoning and, coarse sea salt for plating. I had some Buffalo Mozzarella so that’s what I used. MB calls for a 1/4 " dice which was impossible w my super-soft centred cheese so I chopped it to be a just a little smaller than the sliced cherry tomatoes. We loved the chili flakes in the mix for a change of pace. Funny I’ve never tried that before but I’ll definitely do it again or, at least offer them tableside when I make Bruschetta again. Surprisingly , we also really liked the addition of the dried oregano. Somehow it just made things taste more Italian and the fresh basil did its usual job of brightening the mix with its fresh flavour. Definitely didn’t like the buffalo mozzarella mixed in with the other ingredients. The cheese was just too tender and soft. After a few tosses, most of the cheese had melted into the juices of the dish.

• Grilled scamorza with olio piccante

  • Breadcrumbs on July 19, 2011

    p. 33 -This dish takes grilled cheese to a whole new level! This ain’t your school-day sandwich!! Once you’ve made the Olio Piccante the rest of this is a no-brainer! A scamorza is cut in half lengthwise and brushed w EVOO. Sun-dried tomatoes are slivered. Instead I decided to use the truly scrumptious oven-dried Tomato Raisins from Molto Gusto. I was surprised just how much we all enjoyed this dish. The best bites were the ones w a bit of bread was dunked in the spicy oil then smeared w the cheese and tomatoes and topped w a couple of marjoram leaves. Simply delicious! Marjoram is rarely available in our supermarket here and I have to say, we were so glad to have it w this dish, it’s fresh anise flavour was a perfect accent.

• Fresh robiola wrapped in mortadella

  • Breadcrumbs on July 09, 2011

    p. 34 - These incredibly tasty, unique little bundles were a huge hit, I’ll happily make them again. No Robiola to be found so, I mixed fresh ricotta, mascarpone and for some tang, a little Parmesan. The cheese mixture was very soft and the burrito-style assembly ensured it stayed securely inside the Mortadella. I’d also suggest that it makes sense to place the cheese mixture slightly off centre and commence rolling from that side as the Mortadella is quite thin and doesn’t easily tuck under the cheese mixture. We used the gas grill but feel we could achieve a better char on the charcoal grill and will use that next time as those charred bits were absolutely scrumptious! We served this with some baby arugula tossed in a light dressing of balsamic vinaigrette. The slight bitterness of the greens and, the subtle acidity of the vinegar contrast beautifully w the richness of the meat and cheese. The basil leaf infused the cheese with its flavour and offered a nice textural element.

• Portobellos with arugula and Parmigiano

  • Breadcrumbs on July 17, 2011

    p. 28 - A meaty grilled Portobella plated atop of a lightly dressed handful of arugula made for a delicious, satisfying lunch on a hot summer’s day. Prep is very quick and easy. Mushrooms are grilled until softened then arranged gill side up on a plate. While the mushrooms are grilling a vinaigrette of EVOO, anchovy paste, balsamic vinegar and dried thyme is made. I also added a smidge of crushed garlic and, substituted dried oregano for the thyme. Once the portobellos are cooked, they are dressed w the vinaigrette and left to stand for 30 mins. Right before serving, arugula is tossed w some EVOO and lemon juice and seasoned w S&P (I skipped the salt since there were anchovies in the vinaigrette). Arugula is divided amongst the plates and topped w a mushroom and, a shaving of Parmeasan. The anchovies and mushrooms are such a wonderful pairing and of course, the grilling process gives the portobellos a steak-like texture and taste.

• Asparagus wrapped in pancetta with citronette

  • Breadcrumbs on June 28, 2011

    p. 30 -I’ve made similar versions of this in the past however they’ve called for prosciutto so I was keen to try this Pancetta version. So happy I did as we loed this dish. The fattiness of the pancetta adds a richness to the dish which is perfectly balanced by the delicious, tangy Citronette Sauce. Loved the sweetness of the caramelization on the asparagus as well. Simply prepared by wrapping asparagus stalks in the prosciutto. The colder your meat the better here I think as you can press and hold it in place as you go. I did this step in advance and refrigerated until it was time to grill. The Citronette is made by whisking together orange juice, mustard and olive oil then seasoning to taste. I had some extra lemon juice on hand so I did a 50/50 blend. The plated dish is topped w some zest as well. Wonderful, we served this as a side dish however it would also be excellent as part of an antipasti spread.

• Mint pesto

  • fprincess on May 28, 2013

    I had a lot of mint so I decided to try this mint pesto. I used it in a dish that incorporated English peas which was a nice pairing (Homemade cavatelli with English peas, almond and mint pesto, and homemade ricotta - photo here: http://flic.kr/p/e8fRyF). It's an interesting change from basil pesto, but to be honest I still prefer the traditional one. I noticed that mint pesto is not as stable and browns after just one day in the refrigerator without the vitamin C.

• T-bone Fiorentina with sauteed spinach

  • L.Nightshade on July 25, 2011

    Two thumbs up on this dish. The herbs make a crusty, flavorful coating on the meat, with just the right touch of salt. The lemony greens are a great accompaniment, but this steak would easily work with the side dish of your choosing. We plan to try this recipe again using different herb combinations, and different cuts of meat. The steaks don't marinate for too long, so this dish can be started less than an hour before dinner.

• Tuscan-style crostini with chicken livers

  • L.Nightshade on July 30, 2011

    This was sooo good, I'm glad I've got leftovers! The grill in this recipe is only used for toasting the bread, so it is not really necessary to fire up the grill unless it's needed for other dishes. This is in the pizza and flatbread section, but it is more of an antipasto, at least on the tiny bread slices I used. Just lovely. I'm going to have chicken liver crostini for lunch tomorrow. I'd like to try it with sherry instead of the wine/vermouth also, but it's pretty darn good as is.

• Spit-roasted leg of lamb with mint pesto

  • L.Nightshade on August 01, 2012

    We don't currently have a spit, and there were just two of us for dinner last night, so Mr. NS took a slice off the leg and cooked it on the regular grill. Garlic cloves were inserted into the lamb, and it was marinated in a wild mix of lemon juice, red vinegar, balsamic vinegar (the recipe actually calls for white and balsamic vinegars), olive oil, parsley, paprika, curry powder, and black pepper. The pesto is made with all the usual suspects: garlic, salt, olive oil, pine nuts, cheese, and mint instead of basil. Batali calls for parmigiano-reggiano and pecorino, we had only the former. He also calls for the addition of ground vitamin C, which we did add. The minty aroma called to my mind that awful mint jelly that came with lamb in my childhood, but this is a far cry from that: a great mix of flavors. We were quite happy with this recipe, and would do it again.

• Asparagus with lemon-prosciutto vinaigrette

  • twoyolks on May 26, 2016

    This is a great grilled asparagus recipe. The vinaigrette really compliments the asparagus as opposed to overpowering it. It's definitely not an everyday recipe because of the use of prosciutto.

• Tuna like fiorentina

  • twoyolks on May 10, 2017

    This can get very salty if the spice mix is liberally applied to the tuna.

• Grilled lobster with lemon oil

  • Frogcake on January 30, 2017

    While I liked the idea of lemon oil with grilled lobster, I prefer my lobster with traditional clarified garlic butter and a squeeze of lemon. The lemon oil wasn't really an oil but a lemon vinegrette, which I didn't expect. I adapted it by using two instead of three lemons -this is still REALLY lemony! I would recommend not omitting the limoncello that provides a lovely, unique taste. I would make the lemon "oil" again with fewer lemons, and use it as a marinate for lamb steaks, salmon fillets, or chicken breasts, but not for lobster. Delicious!