Notes about Recipes in this book

• Carrots in scapece with cumin and honey

  • JKDLady on January 07, 2016

    I made this without changes to the recipe. I loved it! I did make it a day ahead.

  • Riccardo on May 04, 2013

    I used half red wine vinegar and half balsamic, also a bit more honey than called for, to make a richer, sweeter glaze. The cumin adds a nice flavor. Definitely make a day ahead for fully developed flavor.

• Neapolitan-style broccoli

  • JKDLady on January 07, 2016

    I really liked this technique of cooking broccoli. It did take longer to cook, but adding water seemed to steam the pieces and help it cook faster. We did like that it was al dente instead of soft. I wonder if it is meant to be eaten even more al dente.

  • Delys77 on November 30, 2011

    Pg 23 This is a great little side dish. I went with some shallots instead of red onion and cooked a little longer, till the shallot actually started to brown. It was a flavourful and very healthy side.

  • twoyolks on January 27, 2013

    It took about twice as long to cook the broccoli as the recipe specified.

• Broccoli and white bean soup

  • Delys77 on December 06, 2011

    Pg 29 I love this soup, and S quite liked it as well. The idea of actually eating the parmesan rind was a little unappealing at the beginning but it worked out very well. The rind is slow simmered in the soup to give the broth flavour and then diced into very small cubes and re-simmered, the result is a lovely umami flavour in the broth and nice soft little pieces of parmesan peppered throughout. I did go with stock and I decreased the beans by about half and the result was just right for me.

• Corzetti with green ricotta

  • Delys77 on June 03, 2013

    Pg. 31 I used Fusili as I couldn't find corzetti, and it worked very well. I did go with about 30% less pasta to sauce and I was happy with the balance. Season relatively heavily as my commercial ricotta wasn't very salty. Overall a very simple, healthy, and tasty dish. Similar to the Conchiglie with Spinach from Vegetable from an Italian Garden. Might be a bit better than that one actually.

• Braised chicken with sweet onions and Parmigiano

  • Delys77 on November 13, 2011

    Pg. 41 Absolutely delicious. Similar in some sense to coq au vin without the garnish. The bread base is delicious and goes perfectly with the sauce. I would suggest a little less stock next time and I would also cook for closer to 10 minutes after adding the flour. Great winter evening meal.

• Parsnip frittata with chives and pecorino

  • bellatavia on January 18, 2016

    This recipe is delicious and easy! The parsnip cooks up tender and sweet. I didn't have chives so I improvised with parsley and a little minced garlic -- still a winner. No need for the non stick pan if you use the full 1/4 cup of olive oil Mario calls for.

• Spaghetti with cauliflower and coppa

  • sosayi on February 18, 2021

    Very good, and quick, weeknight pasta dish. Can use salami, too, in place of coppa.

• Mostaccioli with fennel and chiles

  • Delys77 on November 28, 2011

    I used orrechiette instead as I couldn't find the mostaccioli but I cubed the fennel instead of julienning so that it would fit with the shape of the pasta. The fennel took a bit longer than suggested but did give a nice flavour. I used a bit of chicken stock in addition to the pasta water to loosen it and give a bit more flavour. In the end I served wtih the breadcrumbs as well as a little parmesan. Overall a pretty good vegetarian pasta.

• Escarole soup

  • sosayi on November 06, 2022

    Good and perfectly lovely, but not earth shattering soup. Probably would not bother making again.

• Stuffed shells with the resti

  • JKDLady on January 13, 2016

    We did not like this at all. I used roasted chicken instead of ham, which the recipe says you can do, but it just wasn't good.

• Farfalle with sun-dried tomatoes and arugula

  • Melanie on February 19, 2012

    I thought this was ok but not quite fantastic – this was probably just due to my slightly different version though and I would make this again anyway. I didn’t have any white wine open so I used water which would have upset the balance of flavour a little. My sundried tomatoes came presliced – next time I would slice these down further as it would have been nice to get lots of small hits of flavour instead of just occasional bites. I also substituted pasta spirals for farfalle.

• Spring onion frittelle

  • JKDLady on January 21, 2016

    I thought these were pretty boring as just a side dish. Perhaps under something? Poached egg or under sautéed veggies.

  • lhudson on April 14, 2015

    I cut this recipe in half and then used one egg and then for the second egg I used egg beaters. The pancakes turn out great. They had a nice texture and easy to prepare.

• Fettuccine with peas and pancetta

  • Delys77 on February 17, 2023

    Made this with spaghetti and it went over well. The garlic and pancetta make for a nice base, but it does say to toss all the fat, which I think must be a typo. I discarded most of the fat but kept a few tablespoons to make something of a sauce. Overall not bad and quite simple.

• Brand new potatoes alla Savonesa

  • Tinala523 on May 22, 2022

    Family fav, with or without the cheese

• Wilted arugula with pine nuts and lemon

  • Melanie on February 21, 2012

    Simple - nothing amazing but very easy to put together as a side salad for pasta (I skipped the chillies as I was feeding a non spicy food eater). I would probably wilt the rocket for a little less time or just leave it raw. I served this with another Batali recipe – fettuccine style pasta with potatoes and homemade pesto.

• Pea "hummus" with focaccia crostini

  • Breadcrumbs on July 28, 2013

    p. 148 – This was a nice, summery change of pace from our usual chickpea hummus. The sweetness of the green peas balanced the tartness of the lemon and tahini. This spread is also much lighter in texture than the chickpea version. We grilled our Crostini for added flavour. I used 2 cups of green peas and felt that the juice and zest of 2 lemons would have been far too much. I used 4tbsp lemon juice and needed to add a little evoo to the spread. Likely 3tbsp would be ideal. Well worth repeating. Photos here: http://chowhound.chow.com/topics/910580#8224105

• Penne with turkey sugo

  • Delys77 on February 23, 2012

    Pg 157 I love pasta with sausage and greens and this one is pretty good. I would say his cooking times are a little long for the browning of the sausage and the simmering of the sauce. You could probably shave 25 % off both times. The addition of the starch water does bring the sauce together a bit but it is still not a very saucy dish to my taste, perhaps one could up the tomato sauce a bit to compensate. The overall result is good but I prefer his mezzo rigatoni with radicchio and sausage as well as the proper blokes Fusili from Cook with Jamie.

• Cellentani with kale and sausage

  • twoyolks on June 08, 2015

    I would've liked more sauce for the pasta; it seemed dry. This was probably my favorite preparation of kale (but I'm not a fan of kale normally).

  • Breadcrumbs on July 28, 2013

    p. 181 – A hearty, delicious pasta dish – true comfort food. I used my own marinara for this vs MB’s basic tomato sauce. I noticed that there were chickpeas in the photograph of the dish that appears in the book so I elected to add some to ours as well. I had a huge bunch of kale (first of the season) and we really like the texture and oh so slightly bitter flavour the young kale brought to the dish. It also adds a splash of colour to an otherwise orangey coloured dish! We grated some Parmesan atop. Fabulous! K 9.5 Photos here: http://chowhound.chow.com/topics/910580#8224105

• Fregula with clams and chiles

  • Breadcrumbs on July 28, 2013

    p. 182 – This dish reminded me how much I love fregula. The risotto-like preparation was a perfect way to compliment the delicate sweet flavours of the clams and their briny broth adds just the right amount of salty, seaside emphasis to the dish. Perfectly suited to al fresco dining. I added a big handful of chopped fresh basil since it’s abundant at the moment. A truly lovely dish. Photos here: http://chowhound.chow.com/topics/910580#8222412

• Warm polenta with spinach and robiola

  • JKDLady on January 05, 2013

    This was part of a buffet, so it was set on a warming tray and eaten over the course of hours. I decided to mix the cheese and spinach together and top the polenta. This worked well I thought. It held the spinach on the polenta. Lots of compliments on this. I couldn't find Robiola, so I used Taleggio.

• Romanesco alla diavola

  • Breadcrumbs on November 06, 2011

    p. 223 -This afternoon when searching EYB for a use for a stunning Romanesco I picked up at a local farm I was delighted to see this recipe from Mario’s new book. I chose to roast vs boil my Romanesco and garlic and, I did add lemon juice to taste but otherwise, I followed the recipe to the letter and we LOVED this dish. Romanesco is dressed with chopped green olives, capers parsley, lemon zest, EVOO, red pepper flakes, S&P and, lemon juice. The oil is warmed w the chili flakes prior to adding the remaining ingredients. I just can’t describe how lovely this dish was. A perfect antipasti that I could easily have made a meal out of.

• Kohlrabi al forno

  • Breadcrumbs on July 08, 2012

    p. 244 Like Delys, this was my first attempt w kohlrabi and I gravitated towards Mario since he rarely disappoints. I do agree w Delys in that my veggies took longer to caramelize around the edges and cook through. Now my kohlrabi was 'just picked' and I noticed that it gave off a lot of moisture (steam) in the oven so this may have contributed to the issue. Somehow I’d expected these to be crispy like roast potatoes however that wasn’t the case. That said, the edges did caramelize and took on a smoky flavour. This sweet smokiness was a nice contrast to the peppery, somewhat bitter flavour of the kohlrabi. The parmesan was a nice touch and a must in our view.

  • Delys77 on November 13, 2011

    Pg. 244 My first experience with kohlrabi and it is very tasty. The flavour is much like a blend of cabbage and celery, very interesting. My only gripe is that Mario's cooking time seems short given gow crunchy the kohlrabi was when it first came out. I ended up roasting a little longer but it was still a bit on the crunchy side, but I'm not sure if this s intentional or not since I'm not familiar with kohlrabi.

  • KissTheCook on July 03, 2017

    Like Breadcrumbs & Delys's comments, roast time is 35-45 min. total, adding parmesan 10 min. before finish. I backed off on sage using 1/2 amount called for, but then couldn't taste it at all. Will try again with full amount.

• Mezzi rigatoni with sausage and radicchio

  • Delys77 on January 20, 2012

    P 258 This is in he similar vein to a few other sausage and fennel pastas you have tried recently (ie proper blokes pasta from cook with Jamie), and it definitely ranks up there. It has more vegetables than most and the flavour s rich and a bit spicy. Great fall pasta that delivers the heartiness of a Bolognese with some great veggie additions.

• Spaghetti grossi with hen ragu

  • twoyolks on October 29, 2012

    This takes longer to make than it appears to by skimming the recipe. It took about 3 hours to make.

• Farfalle Abruzzese with veal, porcini, and spinach

  • Delys77 on November 19, 2012

    Pg 287. Overall this was a fair dish but it is a bit lacking in complexity and texture. I think there are too many dried mushrooms, which while they lend a nice flavour add too much of a squishy texture. Otherwise the flavour notes are nice but simple. Perhaps a bit more acid and some Parmesan mixed into the sauce.