Notes about Recipes in this book

• Roasted fennel soup (Vellutata di finocchio arrosto)

  • Lafro on April 25, 2024

    Made this using the really good vegetable stock from the same book. A nice creamy soup with subtle fennel flavour.

• Mario's baked mussels (Mussoli al forno)

  • Lafro on April 25, 2024

    These were tasty but I didn't enjoy them as much as I thought I would. Possibly the tomatoes and raw garlic made it taste a little too acidic. Would try again with riper tomatoes or possibly lightly cook the garlic first.

• Hand-rolled macaroni with asparagus, walnuts & mint (Macaruni con pesto di asparagi)

  • alysekstokes on April 26, 2022

    A beautiful spring dish! The macaroni come together easily and are a great pasta shape to pull out of your pocket when you don’t want to haul out a lot of equipment but still want something handmade. Made a double-batch of the pesto and served the rest with some dried pasta.

• Spaghetti with mussels (Spaghetti coi peoci)

  • Lafro on April 25, 2024

    So delicious for something so simple. The hardest part was preparing the mussels.

• Risotto with clams (Risotto alle vongole)

  • Lafro on April 25, 2024

    I used a non alcoholic wine to make this which I think made this taste too sweet. Recipe specifies use of a dry wine so would ensure this if trying this recipe again in the future. Also used aborio rice so not sure if this also impacted the flavour and texture.

• Chicken with roasted peppers (Pollo co'i peveroni)

  • caresan on May 04, 2026

    So simple but so good! Definitely pair it with the polenta recipe.

• Beef & pork goulash with sauerkraut (Szekely gulasch)

  • Lafro on March 26, 2022

    I used mince instead of the reccomended cuts of meat with the same cooking times. Was delicious and very comforting. Served with mashed potato.

• Alice's meatballs (Polpettine di Alice)

  • Lafro on March 26, 2022

    Surprisingly easy for a meatball recipe. Was simple comfort food.

• Pan-cooked cabbage with potatoes, speck & sausage (Verza e patate in tecia)

  • Lepa on March 29, 2022

    The whole family loved this comforting dish. The combination of sauerkraut, sausage and potatoes was delicious with the suggested dab of mustard. I have made this many times since I got this book.

  • Lafro on September 20, 2022

    Very simple, tasty and comforting. Made for some excellent leftovers too. I used chorizo instead of sausage and bacon instead of speck.

• Crumbed flathead with pecorino & parsley (Pesse apanado)

  • Lafro on March 26, 2022

    Delicious! Even my husband who doesn't enjoy fish said he would happily eat it again.

• Silverbeet & potato bake with roasted cherry tomatoes (Sformato di blede e patate con pomodorini)

  • EmmaJaneDay on July 16, 2023

    Error in this recipe possibly. Says to cut potatoes into 5cm dice, cook, cool, then layer with silverbeet. Hopefully this is really 5mm slices…

  • lkgrover on March 17, 2025

    Excellent potatoes & silverbeet (Swiss chard) casserole, with my modifications. I followed EmmaJaneDay's advice and used 5 mm potato slices instead of diced potatoes. I also reduced the eggs & the milk by 50% -- kept all other ingredients as written.

• Mushroom & capsicum goulash (Gulash di funghi e peperoni)

  • Lepa on August 07, 2023

    This is good but not great. I added the cream and it was too watery. Maybe creme fraiche would be better? We ate it with mashed potatoes, as recommended by the author. I doubt I will repeat this as it was a lot of work and results were only so-so.

• Braised zucchini with cinnamon (Zuchete in tecia con cannella)

  • lkgrover on September 24, 2024

    This is an upgraded version of the common Italian side dish zucchini with cinnamon. Significantly more complex in preparation (and extra store-cupboard ingredients), but the results are excellent.

• Spiced chocolate & sour cherry cake (Focaccia nera alle visciole)

  • Lafro on September 20, 2022

    Very simple to make. The spices were a stronger flavour than the chocolate and cherry. Almost tasted a bit like a variation a fruit cake but very tasty.

• Sweet Easter bread (Pinza)

  • katherine_oavzt0 on April 08, 2026

    Took way longer to bake (almost 2x as long as recipe stated and did not have dark color ?(maybe do egg yolk wash next time)? Used 2x lemon and orange and would do so again. RJC liked it. I thought it was dry

• Plum cake with a streusel topping (Torta con susine)

  • Lafro on March 26, 2022

    This was simply wonderful. So simple to make (other than the joys of deseeding plums) and so delicious. As the author said, it's best on the day it's made. Served it warm with custard.