Notes about Recipes in this book

• Tomato conserva

  • Jane on September 25, 2014

    Why have I never made these before? Probably the thought of the oven being on for 5-6 hours. But they cook at a very low temp and the end result is fantastic. My tomatoes from my local farmstand were good anyway but these were amazing. I'm going to freeze most of them so I have great tomato flavors all winter. And I'm off to the farmstand to buy a lot more tomatoes.

• Halibut with peas

  • nicolepellegrini on August 22, 2019

    Relatively simple and tasty - one of the more successful recipes I've made from Vetri's books.

• Eggplant fries

  • nicolepellegrini on January 06, 2015

    Incredibly easy and delicious! The fries come out nice and crispy, lots of flavor...I will definitely make these in the future as a nice alternative to typical french fries.

  • twoyolks on September 26, 2016

    The fries were crisp on the outside but very soft on the inside. The flavor of the fries is mostly a generic "fried flavor."

• Rigatoni with chicken livers, cipollini onions, and sage

  • nicolepellegrini on January 03, 2015

    I love chicken livers. Like totally love. I have had this recipe at Vetri's Osteria in Philadelphia and also made it at home. Somehow I continually find it lacking, both at home and at Osteria, in *something*. It's just not liver-y enough for my tastes (and I did prepare it at home with my own extruded pasta, and more chicken liver than called for), I just feel it needs something else to give it more depth of flavor.

• Candele with duck Bolognese

  • nicolepellegrini on November 26, 2016

    As with many of Vetri's recipes I've tried so far, there seems to be something lost or missing in the translation of this dish from the restaurant to the home kitchen. I followed it to the letter and it came out with a delicious flavor to the duck meat, but extremely watery and oily from all of the fatback used and water added. I had to first chill the sauce to let the fat congeal on top, so I could remove it, and then strain out some of the watery "broth", and reduce it further uncovered, before serving. If I make this again (which is questionable, despite the rich flavor), I would use less fatback, less water, and cook it at least partly uncovered so that it can reduce and thicken as when I make meat-based bolognese sauces.

• Fennel gratin

  • jenmacgregor18 on November 07, 2021

    absolutely amazing. anise flavor is tamed and excellent with parmesan.

• Corn crema with corn sauté and scallions

  • twoyolks on July 13, 2017

    This was a lot of work and it turned out quite nicely. However, I didn't like it anymore than a regular creamed corn that's a lot easier.

• Spinach and ricotta gnudi

  • twoyolks on January 07, 2013

    I was unable to pipe out the gundi into balls. Instead, I had to cut them with a knife similar to what is done with Parisanne gnocchi. Half a recipe served two for a light dinner. I assume that the number served is for a first course.

• Strawberry pâté di frutta

  • twoyolks on May 26, 2015

    These tasted like gelled strawberry jam.

• Chicken halves on the grill

  • twoyolks on April 21, 2013

    Per suggestions in the book, I added several soaked wood chips to the charcoal in the grill which gave the chicken a nice hint of smokiness. Also, with the large amount of olive oil that the chicken is marinated in, there is a high likely old of a lot of flare ups when it's first put on the grill. I had to turn it several times as well as finish it over indirect heat to prevent the chicken from burning.

• Ciabatta

  • twoyolks on March 26, 2013

    The flavor of the bread is very good but the texture is too dense. The crust also was almost too thick to eat.

• Romana pizza dough

  • twoyolks on September 27, 2014

    The pizza dough had a tendency to form bubbles when I made it. It also was hard to get it crisp without burning it.

• Semolina gnocchi with oxtail ragù

  • twoyolks on March 13, 2013

    The semolina gnocchi are excellent. They would be very good topped with a simple marinara sauce. The oxtail ragu is also good but could be replaced with another sauce to good effect.

  • JKDLady on January 05, 2013

    I did not make the semolina gnocchi as I wanted the standard potato ones, but the oxtail ragu was excellent. Will make this again, but would still use potato gnocchi.

• Veal cannelloni with porcini Béchamel

  • JKDLady on January 05, 2013

    I wanted to like this recipe, and I did, but the overwhelming taste and smell of the porcini béchamel made it impossible to enjoy. The taste was good, but too strong. Would make this again, but would alter the béchamel.

• Porcini Béchamel

  • JKDLady on January 05, 2013

    This recipe was good, but I thought it was too strongly flavored of mushroom. I know, I know. That's what you want, but it was too overwhelming. Even the smell was too overwhelming. I like the idea, but maybe half of the porcini?

• Eggplant lasagnette alla Parmigiana

  • Kduncan on October 22, 2019

    Overall a very complex recipe, that has lots of steps to make. It was worth it though, great flavor with the mix of ricotta and eggplant.