Notes about Recipes in this book

• Layered tomato salad

  • nicolepellegrini on August 19, 2020

    Very tasty and a lovely presentation. Nice way to use up some slightly old bread while taking advantage of summer tomatoes and basil.

• Spicy pork risotto

  • nicolepellegrini on March 24, 2021

    This actually wasn't that spicy? Though I may have toned it down a touch for my husband who can't really handle spicy dishes. The meatballs came out good and everything was relatively easy to throw together. Would make again.

• Tuscan chicken

  • nicolepellegrini on September 23, 2015

    Solid favorite in this house. Takes a while to put together and cook (about 90 minutes) but uses pantry basics and is great with various cuts of chicken. Meat comes out of the oven super-tender; great sauce so serve with crusty bread or some pasta.

• Pappardelle with chicken & porcini

  • nicolepellegrini on December 28, 2020

    I've made this a few times and always like it. Though there are only a few ingredients it comes out really rich from the porcini mushrooms and using their soaking liquid in the sauce. I only offer some caution on how much red pepper/chili you use - because it cooks down in the tomatoes for a while, the sauce can become quite spicy, so be judicious based on your tastes and sensitivity.

• Chicken, mushroom & cashew risotto

  • nicolepellegrini on March 02, 2025

    This is a very mild flavored (date I say bland?) risotto, not bad just lacking a bit of any punch flavor-wise. Perhaps adding some dried porcini would help if I made it again in the future.

• Red mullet with capers and olives

  • nicolepellegrini on October 07, 2020

    I made this with grouper fillets. Simple to prepare yet makes for a rather impressive presentation, nice for an evening when you want something lighter to eat.

• Swordfish with olives & capers

  • nicolepellegrini on October 19, 2018

    Made with mahi mahi instead of swordfish, very good. The rosemary gives it a nice touch.

• Linguine with anchovies, olives & capers

  • Gio on March 20, 2016

    We've cooked this recipe twice now, once according to the written instructions, the second time using our own tomato sauce, fettuccine, with pangrattato over top each serving. Quite a flavorful dish either way and very easy to prepare.

• Fillets of sole in tomato & olive sauce

  • nicolepellegrini on September 21, 2015

    One of my weeknight favorite dinners to make. It's done quick and has a lot of flavor thanks to the tomato sauce—in fact the sauce itself is my standby for a 30 minute or less tasty marinara. This recipe works well with other white fish fillets such as orange roughy, red snapper or tilapia.

• Sicilian tuna

  • nicolepellegrini on May 07, 2019

    Easy and tasty way to make tuna when you don't want to fuss too much. The grilled fennel and onion slices really work well with the marinated tuna steaks.

• Tuna with garlic, lemon, capers & olives

  • nicolepellegrini on September 21, 2015

    Can't go wrong with this simple, classic combination, especially if you love salty, sour, briny flavors like I do. Fast weeknight pasta dinner of pantry staples. It can be dressed up by using a piece of fresh cooked, grilled tuna instead of canned in oil, but both ways are great.

  • Gio on October 13, 2015

    Italian comfort food. Delicious ! Such an unassuming combination of ingredients created a tasty and satisfying evening meal.

• Risotto with tuna & pine nuts

  • nicolepellegrini on April 12, 2019

    Delicious! And despite a lot of ingredients it was not as hard to put together as I feared. Good use of some pantry ingredients livened up with fresh herbs and tomatoes.

• Baked eggplant & tomatoes

  • nicolepellegrini on July 30, 2019

    Tried this as it looked like a lighter/faster version of an eggplant parm. Interesting in that the tomato & eggplant slices are quickly pan-fried, instead of making a tomato sauce and then deep-frying the eggplant. I did add some extra seasoning of fresh basil and oregano as it seemed like it would be too bland without. S.O. liked it perhaps more than I did; I thought it was not bad, but next time I would slice the eggplant thinner than suggested to get them more tender and cooked through.

• Risotto pimavera

  • nicolepellegrini on April 21, 2021

    A good springtime risotto. I still cook my risotto first with some white wine instead of just using stock.

• Wild mushroom risotto

  • nicolepellegrini on February 07, 2025

    Well this was just yummy. I made it with dried porcini plus fresh shiitake and baby bella mushrooms.