• historianinthekitchen on April 27, 2024

  If you’re interested in Italian cooking, or Neapolitan cooking specifically, it’s an approachable and fun entry into the subject. It’s also like a fun little Italian beach vacation for your brain when you read it. It’s not really a weeknight book, in my opinion, nor is it a book for anyone who doesn’t like seeking out special ingredients. It would be great for anyone with a thriving summer garden—there are lots of tomato, eggplant, and zucchini recipes—or anyone who likes to cook seafood. It is pasta heavy, too, if that is something you’re looking for. My full thoughts on the book here: https://historianinthekitchen.substack.com/p/a-weekend-in-naples-by-way-of-new?r=78in

Notes about Recipes in this book

• Pasta alla Nerano-ish

  • EmilyR on February 27, 2024

    We used chickpea pasta which I believe helped in making this light, yet flavorful and filling.

• Cheat tiramisu (Crema di caffè)

  • EmilyR on February 27, 2024

    Very rich as to be expected with copious heavy cream. Kids and adults enjoyed it.

• Herby roasted tomatoes

  • EmilyR on February 27, 2024

    simple yet flavorful. hiiro tomatoes are excellent for this.

• Crusted seared swordfish with green olive gremolata

  • nicolepellegrini on March 22, 2025

    This was pretty good - I made stovetop, just have to watch not to burn the breadcrumb topping.

• Zuppa di latte

  • EmilyR on February 27, 2024

    more of a nostalgic recipe than something necessarily for the pages of a cookbook, but I tried it so here we are.

• Melanzane a scarpone

  • Tinala523 on September 02, 2025

    This was an easy and delicious recipe. I happened to have all of the ingredients so I made this as a side dish, but it would work well as a main dish as well. I skipped the olives as a family preference, and used mozzarella cheese. Will make again.

• Grilled pollo al mattone

  • julesamomof2 on July 23, 2024

    First recipe from this book and it was time consuming (and also slightly dangerous) for the end result. I have long wanted to try pollo al mattone, but the thought of procuring bricks just for this purpose deterred me. I finally tried with this recipe and used a large cast iron skillet wrapped in foil to top the chicken on the grill. Sadly my chicken skin tore when I tried to flip it, but when intact it looked just like the picture in the book. Overall, the technique did deliver nicely crisp chicken skin and tender meat. Not sure if I will attempt this again.

• Tortellini in brodo di verdura

  • EmilyR on February 27, 2024

    This might be the Strega Nona of soups. It makes an inordinate quantity to the degree that I left out 750mL of water or my largest pan would be at the brim. While it's mainly vegetables and I realize it's the end of Winter and the vegetables aren't at their peak, but it really needs some direction in terms of seasoning. Mentioning kosher salt isn't sufficient when it needs a measurable quantity. Be prepared to doctor this up and also feed a church basement worth of people.

• Fresh pasta with pesto Genovese

  • EmilyR on February 27, 2024

    My kids love fresh pasta (especially helping to make it) and pesto so this was a crowd pleaser. Simplicity at its finest.

• Broccoli rabe

  • EmilyR on February 27, 2024

    A standard spruced up broccoli of sorts. I used broccolini as it's what was available and it felt a bit over cooked. I should have trusted myself rather than the recipe, but I was busy tending to the strega nona soup.

• Wine-roasted potatoes

  • julesamomof2 on July 23, 2024

    These potatoes were delightful and different and will definitely be made again. We devoured them.

• Zeppole San Giuseppe

  • gail_sheehq on June 03, 2026

    I baked them and fried them The baked ones were much better