Notes about Recipes in this book

• Roasted red pepper & onion salad with mozzarella & basil

  • rmardel on December 04, 2021

    This is an excellent and beautiful salad. It would make a spectacular presentation for a dinner party and the flavors work very well together. The onions and peppers can be roasted in advance, and set aside, or even stored in the refrigerator and just brought to room temperature before serving. I admit that I have also used jarred piquillo peppers when I needed to finish off a jar. I prefer a vinaigrette made with sherry vinegar or ramp vinegar here. I think there is room to play with different vinegars and different cheeses, depending on mood and menu.

• Farinata

  • KevinSeattle on October 13, 2021

    I’ve made this maybe half a dozen times, it is flawless. I have added assorted spices to the Farinata. It’s not the same as Parisian gnocchis, but you can treat it as a platform for delicious things, like you would a Parisian gnocchi. This is a keeper.

  • KevinSeattle on October 13, 2021

    Excuse me: Roman gnocchi, not Parisian.

• Roast fig & pancetta salad with goat cheese

  • SheilaS on September 20, 2021

    I made this, substituting prosciutto for the specified pancetta, and it was delicious. The bitterness from the radicchio was a perfect contrast to the sweet figs, salty meat and creamy cheese. Perfect with some crusty bread.

• Spicy sesame cucumber with avocado

  • tarae1204 on July 10, 2021

    Tasty salad. To me it reads as a cucumber salad not a guacamole as author mentions. The quantities are really vague. I used a quarter of the quantity of jalapeño called for, & double the avocado.

• Braised lettuce & smoky bacon

  • rmardel on November 25, 2021

    This is wonderfully rich and savory. My romaine was perhaps more tender than the author's, as it cooked in a small fraction of the time, and I had to adapt accordingly, but the finished dish was wonderfully flavorful. I pretty much stuck to the recipe except for timing with the actual lettuce itself. And I used guanciale instead of traditional slab bacon, as it was what I happened to have in the fridge. I'm not convinced I would be inclined to try this any other way now, it was the perfect marriage of flavors or pork, savory lettuce, and walnuts.

• Summer squash with canned sardines

  • SheilaS on August 26, 2021

    This is a great little dish. I had it for lunch with some crusty bread but because it's so pretty and can be done ahead, it would be a great starter for a dinner party, assuming you have fridge space for all the plates. The thin lemon slices add a great citrusy punch. Make sure there's at least one for each bite of sardine!

• Crispy fingerling potatoes, crispy fried eggs with capers, olives & breadcrumbs

  • SheilaS on September 20, 2021

    Loved this. Tons of flavor and texture. I made a full batch of the caper/olive/breadcrumb mixture and am curious to see if the fried breadcrumbs retain their crunch when stored in the fridge.

• Herbed goat cheese & chorizo tartine with honey

  • pattyatbryce on January 02, 2022

    If you have the cookbook - AMA - use their chorizo. AMAZING.

• Bucatini with canned sardines & capers

  • SheilaS on May 13, 2021

    So quick and easy that it barely needs a recipe but I'm glad I tried it because it's delicious. He says this pairs well with "Too Much Time" by Captain Beefheart and His Magic Band so I queued it up and had to laugh at the "can of sardines" reference!

  • friendlytoast on April 23, 2026

    Quick and delicious!

• Penne with a walnut sauce

  • SheilaS on December 02, 2021

    I needed to perk this sauce up with lemon juice and zest but after that, I really liked it and was able to use it in several ways besides the pasta: on crostini, as a dip with fresh veggies and as a sauce on grilled veg

• Salmon en papillote

  • foolstwist on August 11, 2024

    So simple but truly delicious. My salmon was cooked perfectly at the recommended time!

• Duck breast with braised red cabbage & dried figs

  • jfleissn on December 11, 2022

    I thought the red cabbage was great, even though we did not bother marinating it beforehand. My husband was less happy with the method of cooking the duck, which left it underdone (he usually makes perfect rare duck breasts) and, I thought, quite underseasoned also. We skipped the shallots though might try them another time. Farro was a nice side.

• Lamb meatballs in an almond & pepper sauce

  • Sbilinski on April 12, 2023

    Followed the recipe exactly and this turned out perfect! The sauce is delicious and there wasn’t a speck left over after dinner. Highly recommend you double the sauce so you can keep it on hand.

• Spring peas in a casserole

  • sarah_gsvptu on February 16, 2026

    I LOVE this recipe. Make it all the time. I never knew peas could taste so good.

• Rich chocolate cake with sea salt

  • bwhip on June 24, 2021

    Well, this was an odd one. Really lovely flavor and texture, but I couldn’t believe how little batter the recipe produced - and hence what a tiny, thin cake it made. I double checked all the (weighted) measurements, all correct. Still good, but quite small.

• Classic Margarita

  • SheilaS on March 02, 2022

    This is a perfectly acceptable margarita but the instruction to add honey "to taste" doesn't work all that well in practice as the honey doesn't mix well into a cold drink. Make a honey syrup by diluting it with an equal amount of hot water and use that for sweetening.