Notes about Recipes in this book

• Spaghetti alla carbonara

  • tekobo on June 19, 2025

    Tasted great with home rolled tagliatelle. Would let down with a little water as it was slightly sticky.

• Focaccia with salt (Focaccia al sale)

  • Soosie on May 14, 2026

    Very nice. I made the dough and left to double in size, then bunged it in the fridge as I didn’t have time to cook it. Next morning brought it back to room temperature and continued with the baking. I used bacon fat to smear over the top instead of olive oil and added rosemary sprigs and coarse sea salt. Threw over 50 ml water and into the oven it went for about 25 mins. Drenched it in olive oil while still hot. It was delicious, although I still prefer the nigella version.

• River Café pizza dough (Impasto per pizza)

  • okcook on January 06, 2019

    There is not enough water for the first phase of the dough making. The 'polish' did not start to ferment due to lack of moisture. Once I added more water from the second phase of the dough making process it did produce a nice bubbly starter. The dough wasn't that chewy texture of pizza dough that we like and I think it was due to the use of olive oil, milk and a little rye flour in the dough. It was decent but not what we like.

• Rare roast beef with raw vegetables (Arrosto Fiorentino)

  • tekobo on June 30, 2022

    Simple tasty and different way to cook roast beef for a crowd

• Deep-fried zucchini (Zucchini fritti)

  • AllieTaylor on September 16, 2025

    This batter makes LOTS! I used a half recipe for 6 flowers and the chunks from 3 small/young zucchini. And I have lots left over. It should be possible to make this with one egg (¼ recipe, although it will be difficult to well whip one egg white). I didn’t even beat the egg whites until stiff (we were hungry and wanted to get on with things!). But it was excellent! For a ½ recipe, I needed about 500ml of warm water. I guess how much one would need might also depend on the weather but this will give an idea of how much needed.

• Deep-fried zucchini flowers (Fiori fritti)

  • AllieTaylor on September 16, 2025

    I made a riff on this. 1. I had only 6 flowers, instead of the 24 required. I used a half measure of the batter (the page before and I’ll put a note there too). I could have used less, say ¼ of the recipe, instead of ½ 2. I added a chunk of anchovy as well as a bit of Camembert cheese. I wanted taleggio cheese but it wasn’t available on the day 3. I also had enough batter to do zucchini chunks from 3 small/young zucchini, with leftover for the next day — more zucchini chunks… Overall, it was excellent! I was very nervous as this was my first time deep frying solo. Honestly, it was easy and totally delish! Oops! I don’t think that I made it clear that I stuffed the cleaned flowers with the anchovy and the bit of cheese. The Camembert melted well but lacked the zing I wanted from the taleggio. Too bad but the anchovy helped!

• Marinated fried zucchini (Zucchini scapece)

  • Soosie on May 14, 2026

    I make this regularly. Always delicious. I never bother to drain the courgettes after frying in olive oil; what a waste!

• Roast potatoes from Lucca (Patate da Lucca)

  • Breadcrumbs on March 21, 2016

    p. 319 – Simply outstanding. I couldn’t help think that these Italian potatoes might have been what inspired Jill Dupleix’s Crash Hot Potato recipe as they are very similar. What we loved about this version in particular was the addition of the onions and garlic. The method of steaming the veggies prior to roasting worked beautifully as the potatoes were infused with the flavours the herbs in the pan. The only issue with this recipe is you can never seem to make enough of it since folks love it so much! Photo here: http://www.chowhound.com/post/show-winter-2016-meals-1030300?commentId=9827344