This risotto primavera recipe has a bit of a twist. It is cooked in a pressure cooker. The rice turns out nice and soft.

If you don’t have a pressure cooker, cook the risotto the usual way, by gradually adding the chicken stock and letting it cook in before adding another large spoonful

1 tbsp olive oil
1 large onion, chopped
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 1/2 cups arborio rice
4 cups hot chicken stock
- salt –
1 lb asparagus, cut in pieces
1/4 lb sliced prosciutto, chopped
1 cup peas
4 green onions, sliced
1/4 cup fresh basil, chopped
2 cups parmesan cheese, freshly grated

In a pressure cooker; heat oil over medium heat.  Add onion and garlic and cook for 2 minutes.  Stir in rice to coat well.  Stir in 3 1/2 cups (875 ml) stock.

Lock lid in place, bring to high pressure over high heat.  Lower heat just enough to maintain high pressure, cook for 5 minutes.  Quickly reduce pressure.  Remove lid carefully.

Stir in asparagus and half of prosciutto.  Cook over medium heat, stirring constantly and adding more stock if needed to keep it soupy for 5 minutes or until rice is tender but slightly firm and mixture is creamy.  Stir in peas and green onions.  Cook, stirring, for 2 minutes.

Stir in half of basil, remaining prosciutto and 1 1/2 cups (375 ml) cheese.  Season with salt and pepper to taste.  Sprinkle with remaining basil and cheese.

Serve

I tried making homemade pasta with my new Kitchen Aid Stand Mixer and pasta maker attachments this weekend.

Wow! What a machine! I loved using this machine. Previously I had tried making homemade pasta just twice and it was dismal each time – exactly like elastic bands. So this time, I was less than confident that my efforts would produce anything worthwhile.

The machine was easy to set up and use. The dough came out much drier using the amount of water they call for in the recipe, so I added more per their instructions. Then I used the pasta attachments. The first tiny batch was okay but a bit elastic. Then I realized that the machine does a lot of the work for you and ran the next batch through the rollers a lot less. Almost perfect on the second try.

To read the whole process to go the main site at:
Making Pasta with the Kitchen Aid Pasta Maker Attachments

Simple Italian Sandwiches Recipes from Americas Favorite Panini Bar

With nothing more than a panini grill, a toaster oven, and a few simple ingredients, Jennifer and Jason Denton bring the fresh, robust flavors of Italy to your home table in Simple Italian Sandwiches.

Eating in Italy is all about simple pleasures, relaxing with good company, and savoring fresh, no-frills foods like traditional toasted panini, crustless tramezzini, and crunchy bruschetta. In Simple Italian Sandwiches, Jennifer and Jason Denton offer up a collection of recipes for these classic bread-based dishes, plus condiments, antipasti, and salads that are easy enough for the novice cook yet tasty enough for anyone with a sophisticated palate. From Soppressata, Fontina, and Arugula Panini, to Mozzarella and Basil Pesto Tramezzini, to Roasted Butternut Squash, Walnut, and Asiago Bruschetta, the dishes can be prepared in minutes and require minimal cooking.

With simplicity the governing rule for today’s busy schedules, Simple Italian Sandwiches is the ideal cookbook for anyone who wants to prepare vibrant, flavorful food for family and friends, and then sit down and enjoy it with them.

User Ratings and Reviews

4 Stars Great Little Book!
I recently bought a pannini maker from Amazon and I am delighted and having a ball with it!..you can use your imagination and come up with lots of different variations to do what you want and make that special grilled sandwich…this book has some nice recipes for condiments and since I have a cookbook collection..this was a nice addition!..

Thanks Amazon!

5 Stars super book
I’d not heard of this panini bar but loved reading the history..

This is an adorable family who follows tradition; can’t go wrong with people like that.

Very good recipes, easy to follow,

would make a superb gift.

2 Stars You don’t need this book to make a panini
I do believe that at some point everyone will own their own restaurant, have a Food Network TV show and /or their own cookbook. This book is evidence of this.

The authors are friends and partner’s of Mario Batali. They are not Italian. They have been to Italy and had a panini. They opened up a cute little panini bar in NYC and charge way too much money I am sure for a simple sandwich. I think it is sweet how they try to pretend to be regular people with their no kitchen little panini place even though they are part of the Batali business empire. Strangely – even though the recipes are so simple a monkey could crank out panini’s they needed a co-author. I don’t know for what since almost all the recipes read like this:

Mozzarella, Tomato and Basil Panini

Put sliced tomato on ciabbatta roll with mozzarella and a few leaves of basil. Grill in panini press. Slice in half and serve.

It is a small book with only a few photos of food but a bunch of those arty photos of a restaurant chalkboard, a few people in the sandwich shop, a drizzle of oil, a close-up of a dining check. I mean – please. How about some photos of sandwiches? Duh?

Panini’s are really in right now and there are many books coming out this year on them. My recommendation is try to catch Wolfgang Puck on HSN when he is hawking his panini grill – he will show you more panini’s then you will ever need to know in about fifteen minutes.

5 Stars Delicious Panini and Tramezzini
I just returned from Roma. One of the things we ate the most for lunch was Tramezzini, due to the heavy availability of them everywhere. They almost always offer to grill it for you. We also noticed that nearly every one we saw had sliced boiled eggs on it. I had one that was a simple chicken salad with green olives, sliced hard boiled eggs, slice of cheese, and rocket (arugula). The sandwich was fantastic. My girlfriend had one that was just bologna and artichokes and it was out of this world. We don’t even like bologna but for some reason in Italy, it’s edible. I haven’t actually made a recipe from this book yet, for it is a gift for my girlfriend and she will be receiving it tonight. I did however read through it and was very happy to see the way it was written. From the basic ingredients list and the several trips I’ve taken to Italy in my life, I know that this is one great book. If I can remember that I wrote this, I’ll update it in a month or so.

3 Stars Not many paninis
I was a little disappointed with this book. I thought it would have more panini recipes, but there are other cold sandwiches featured, too.

The ingredients for the paninis are not commonly found and a special trip to the “gourmet store” is required. I did manage to find a few of the ingredients in one of the larger groceries in our area. The sandwiches that I did make, I had to substitute a few of the ingredients, but they were pretty good.

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Lidias Italy 140 Simple and Delicious Recipes from the Ten Places in Italy Lidia Loves Most

In this exciting new book the incomparable Lidia takes us on a gastronomic journey—from Piemonte to Puglia—exploring ten different regions that have informed her cooking and helped to make her the fabulous cook that she is today. In addition, her daughter Tanya, an art historian, guides us to some of the nearby cultural treasures that enrich the pursuit of good food.

· In Istria, now part of Croatia, where Lidia grew up, she forages again for wild asparagus, using it in a delicious soup and a frittata; Sauerkraut with Pork and Roast Goose with Mlinzi reflect the region’s Middle European influences; and buzara, an old mariner’s stew, draws on fish from the nearby sea.

· From Trieste, Lidia gives seafood from the Adriatic, Viennese-style breaded veal cutlets and Beef Goulash, and Sacher Torte and Apple Strudel.

· From Friuli, where cows graze on the rich tableland, comes Montasio cheese to make fricos; the corn fields yield polenta for Velvety Cornmeal-Spinach Soup.

· In Padova and Treviso rice reigns supreme, and Lidia discovers hearty soups and risottos that highlight local flavors.

· In Piemonte, the robust Barolo wine distinguishes a fork-tender stufato of beef; local white truffles with scrambled eggs is “heaven on a plate”; and a bagna cauda serves as a dip for local vegetables, including prized cardoons.

· In Maremma, where hunting and foraging are a way of life, earthy foods are mainstays, such as slow-cooked rabbit sauce for pasta or gnocchi and boar tenderloin with prune-apple Sauce, with Galloping Figs for dessert.

· In Rome Lidia revels in the fresh artichokes and fennel she finds in the Campo dei Fiori and brings back nine different ways of preparing them.

· In Naples she gathers unusual seafood recipes and a special way of making limoncello-soaked cakes.

· From Sicily’s Palermo she brings back panelle, the delicious fried chickpea snack; a caponata of stewed summer vegetables; and the elegant Cannoli Napoleon.

· In Puglia, at Italy’s heel, where durum wheat grows at its best, she makes some of the region’s glorious pasta dishes and re-creates a splendid focaccia from Altamura.

There are 140 delectable recipes to be found as you make this journey with Lidia. And along the way, with Tanya to guide you, you’ll stop to admire Raphael’s fresco Triumph of Galatea, a short walk from the market in Rome; the two enchanting women in the Palazzo Abbatellis in Palermo; and the Roman ruins in Friuli, among many other delights. There’s something for everyone in this rich and satisfying book that will open up new horizons even to the most seasoned lover of Italy.

User Ratings and Reviews

5 Stars Wonderful book
Lydia’s the best. Her recipes are great and if you follow her instructions, which are precise, you will have a great meal.

5 Stars Lidia’s Italy
Beautiful book – full color and nice pages. Great recipes. My mother and I love it!

5 Stars Amazing, I would love to be her neighbor!!!
Yummy!!! Insightful, interesting and a great companion to the PBS show. It’s great to watch her on tv and be able to open the book to the dish she’s featuring. Tu tian tavola a mangiare!

5 Stars Good basics
This is a good, basic cookbook with easy to follow recipes. Especially fun if you are a fan of her show. I read along and make notes in the book of additional information as I watch her prepare the dish on TV.

5 Stars Lidia is the Queen
The thing about Lidia’s books and cooking show is she actually teaches me something. She tells me about the regional cooking and how to prepare authentic recipes – simple and straight forward. I love that she’s not just another celebrity chef. She’s the real deal.

Lidia and Mario Batali are true teachers of their craft. I constantly learn from both of them.

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La Cucina Di Lidia Recipes and Memories from Italys Adriatic Coast

Now in paperback–the debut cookbook from the beloved Italian cook, restaurateur, and public television personality.

Lidia Bastianich is famous for her Italian-American cooking, but this cookbook–her first–captures the distinctive cuisine of her native Istria, located on Italy’s northeastern Adriatic coast near the border of the former Yugoslavia. This book is also her most personal; in addition to the recipes, she has included numerous personal stories, memories, and photographs from her childhood.

With La Cucina di Lidia, you can savor antipasti such as Polenta with Fontina and Mushrooms or Shrimp and Mixed Bean Salad. Rice and pastas include Plum Gnocchi, Risotto with Squash Blossoms, and Zucchini and Tagliatelle with Leek Sauce. Entrées feature fish (Swordfish in Sweet and Sour Sauce), fowl (Roast Chicken with Rosemary and Orange), meat (Stuffed Breast of Veal), and game (Duck Roasted with Sauerkraut). Desserts range from Chocolate Zabaglione Cake to Apple-Custard Tart.

Here is an Italian cuisine infused with the flavors of Eastern Europe, the early repertoire of one of America’s favorite chefs. Discover Lidia’s history and memories as well as the dishes from her homeland. The stories and tastes are unforgettable.

User Ratings and Reviews

5 Stars Home cooking, with elegance
This is really two books, largely interleaved with each other. The cookbook is the more obvious one. It’s where Lidia – never truly separable from her husband Felice – exposes the secrets of her kitchen. Correction: kitchens, plural. These are the recipes that have kept the lines long outside of her restaurants back to the early 1970s. Struggling against American palates trained on TV dinners, they addressed and quite possibly created a clientele who discovered that there was more to Italian food than tomato sauce.

Lidia has extensive professional education, undertaken while she was a young mother and beginning restauranteur (this is the weaker sex?!?). She and her husband traveled most of Europe, studying the national and even regional specialties of each culinary tradition. Although training and research inform this book, that’s not where it really comes from. It comes, through her personal alchemy, from her grandmother’s truck garden. That’s where the second book within this one binding comes in. That book is Lidia’s culinary biography, from her earliest girlhood in Adriatic Italy up to the book’s 1990 writing.

The family wasn’t rich. Meat was a rarity, and every part of the animal went into the pot: heart, kidney, liver, blood for black sausage, and (in this pre-BSE book) brain. Produce was fresh from the garden, though, and slaughtering the animal was part of cooking with meat. Plain cooking can be exquisite cooking, however. Lidia’s close contact with every aspect of the food gave her a bone-deep appreciation for unique character of ever plant and animalin her kitchen. Her secret is really no secret at all: it lies in using the finest and freshest ingredients, and in knowing the preparation that lets each be the best it can.

//wiredweird

5 Stars Peasant Cuisine from Europe’s Crossroads
This first book by Lidia Bastianich is both cookbook of recipes from the Istrian peninsula and Felidia Ristorante in Manhatten and a memoir of Lidia’s life and family in central Europe and in the United States. The recipes occupy by far the larger portion of the book and include all of the expected elements of Italian cuisine. The culinary chapters are:

Appetizers and Soups
Salads and Vegetables
Pastas and Sauces
Fish
Meats
Game
Breads and Desserts
Spirits and Infusions

The most valuable portions of the book deal with the recipes native to Istria, especially those dealing with game and foraged vegetables and mushrooms. As the book makes clear, Istria, located near the top of the Adriatic Sea, is very near the crossroads of Europe’s Roman, Slavic, and Germanic ethnic influences. The cuisine is all the more interesting for that fact. There are distinctly Austrian influences throughout the cuisine, including a recipe for an obscure Hungarian sweet crepe, palacinka, my Grandmother from Austria-Hungary would often make. The most vivid picture I get from the book is how food must have acquired the importance it has for many Europeans, since they spent so much of their time acquiring food and working with such inventive ways of making everything edible into something delicious.

The chapters on game cookery are expecially useful, including recipes for quail, Guinea hen, pheasant, squab, duck (with sauerkraut, of course), rabbit, venison, and wild boar. Of special interest is the technique, `Squazet’ which is an untranslatable word meaning a braising method used in Istria, suitable primarily to slow cooked meats. A good example of making the most of what you had.

All the recipes are good as well as interesting for being examples of Istrian cuisine. However, I would recommend that for breads and pasteries, one consult a specialist in these fields. These baking recipes will work, but I know there are better techniques to be had. The sections on fresh pasta are short, but they appear to give competant results. The sections on various types of gnocchi and it’s techniques are very good. I believe the recipes for mushrooms have much to offer which you may not find elsewhere.

The treatment of photographs in this book leaves something to be desired. All are presented in an old fashioned sepia tint and some, even some photographed specifically for the book by modern equipment seem to loose detail to shadows and haziness. Placing captions for chapter heading photographs strikes at the rear of the book in an appendix strikes me as a case of really poor judgement. I have a hunch the captions were forgotten until it was too late to include them on the same page as the photo. There are some lapses in copy editing. The Italian culinary term `sugo’ is used in the memoir and no explanation is given for the term. It does not even appear in the appendix and is arcane enough to be absent from Larousse Gastronomique and a reference on Italian cuisine. I would have been baffled by the reference had I not encountered in the book `Cooking by Hand’ by Paul Bertolli.

I give this book the highest rating because it’s shortcomings do not detract from it’s primary mission of being an engaging and accessible presentation of Istrian cuisine.

5 Stars Once you have one of her cookbooks you must have all!
All her cookbooks are great. They are filled with recipes that I must try and once I try them they become an instant favorite and then I start getting requests for them. You find yourself always cooking Italian, which is unsettling to my Scottish relatives. I’ve had to hide the fact I watch “The Sopranos” to keep the speculation to a minimum.

5 Stars LIDIA RULES Mia Cucina
I have ONE cookbook series in my kitchen. Its Lidia’s! Being Italian myself, I enjoy her cooking shows and find her cookbook(s) to be thorough, easy to follow and absolutely delicious! Bravo Lidia!

5 Stars MORE THAN RECIPES
I think Lidia has opened her heart and shared memories along with excellent recipes. I love this book and it is one I have out on my coffee table to just pick up and read when I have a few minutes. Her recipes are always so easy to understand and make – this cookbook is my favorite and she is an American treasure! I remember my grandmother making so many of Lidia’s dishes, but she was unable to read and write and her recipes went with her when she died. Lidia has some of them in her cookbook and I thank her for that!

This book also makes a wonderful gift to someone who is Italian or just loves Italian food! Thank you Lidia!

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Italian Classics Best Recipe

What’s the best way to prevent ricotta cheesecake from becoming watery? Is there a trick for coaxing more flavour from basil when making pesto? Does bread flour self-raising flour make better pizza dough? In an exhaustive effort to answer these questions and hundreds more, the editors of “Cook’s Illustrated” magazine have conducted hundreds of kitchen tests. The result is “Italian Classics”, a 496-page award-winning cookbook packed with recipes, food tastings, equipment testings, and cooking tips straight from the Cook’s test kitchen. Designed with the home cook in mind, this collection of classic Italian recipes has been stripped to the bone and then reworked, updated, and improved so that each recipe is as close to foolproof as we can make it. More than 300 recipes cover the wide range of Italian home cooking, from Tuscan pork roast, and risotto, to tomato and bread soup, vegetable lasagne, and strawberries with balsamic vinegar. Learn to cook less well-known regional recipes such as steak Fiorentina, baked peaches stuffed with amaretti, and stracotto, an Italian pot roast. “Italian Classics” also contains more than 225 illustrations that will show you techniques such as how to peel garlic cloves quickly, how to roll out pasta dough, and how to assemble tiramisu. The book also includes dozens of no-nonsense equipment ratings and taste tests of supermarket ingredients. Find out why American pastas are every bit as good as Italian brands, which grater makes quick work of Parmesan cheese, and which electronic scale is our “best buy”. You will also learn which type of pork chop – centre-cut or rib – is best for cooking and what the difference is between pancetta and bacon.

User Ratings and Reviews

5 Stars My favorite cuisine-specific book
Cooks Illustrated did an excellent job with this book. It is an invaluable reference to me because my knowledge of Italian fare is limited. True to form, CI takes the guesswork out of making the recipes and provides valid reasons why not to stray. If you are unfamiliar with CI methodology, each recipe comes with a background information regarding the failed tests that lead to the creation of the recipe. If you are not interested in this type of background, the recipes are still great so just skip the added info.

I really enjoy the tasting and equipment ratings that have been incorporated into the book. This is not an all-day recipe type of book. CI balances time with flavor. Many of the recipes can be used for weeknight meals and certainly for weekends.

My favorite pasta sauce recipes are from this book. They turn out perfectly every time.

5 Stars Excellent Italian reference for American cooks
A passionate home cook that has been honing her cooking skills for the last 25 years, concentrating on Italian cooking for the last 10 years, writes this review. My favorite cookbooks are “The Professional Chef” by the Culinary Institute and “Culinary Artistry”. With more than 500 cookbooks in my collection I am usually disappointed in my recent cookbook acquisitions. I am also very tough on Italian cookbooks in particular.

The “Italian Classics” by the editors of Cooks Illustrated Magazine pleasantly surprised me. I expected the typical Italian American recipes that I dislike. This book is much more authentic that I expected it to be. Even as an experienced Italian cook I find it difficult to criticize this book to any large extent.

The editors of Cook’s Illustrated write this book in the same manner as their other books. The writers tell you what they tried that didn’t work, before they get to the ingredients and techniques that did work. There are very few pictures in this book. The paper is not the glossy stock that you find in my cookbooks today. I would have appreciated if the book had included the Italian names for the recipes. Sometimes they include the Italian name of the recipes in the narrative about the recipe, and sometimes they do not. But, the recipes themselves more make up for these minor disappointments.

The book is outlines as follows:

1. Antipasti

2. Salads

3. Vegetables

4. Soups

5. Pasta

6. Risotto, Polenta, and Bean

7. Poultry

8. Meat

9. Fish and Shellfish

10. Bread and Pizza

11. Eggs and Savory Tarts

12. Fruit Desserts

13. Chilled and Frozen Desserts

14. Biscotti, Crostate, and Cakes

The first recipe that I check out in any Italian cookbook to gauge its authenticity is Spaghetti Carbonara. If this recipe has cream included the book is immediately put back on the shelf. Unexpectedly, the recipe is this book does not add the cream, as American books tend to do. As I looked further, I realized that the authors tried to make each recipe as authentic as possible. The reason for the qualifier is that it is always not possible to make a recipe 100% authentic. I for one have never found an American supplier of Guanciale (cured pig’s cheek), and Farro is also tough to come by. The writers did a very nice job substituting products that are easier to locate in the US.

If you are in need of comprehensive and reasonably authentic Italian cookbook, this will make a nice addition to your cookbook collection.

5 Stars Better than average reference for Italian dishes.
‘Italian Classics’ is a ‘Cooks Illustrated’ treatment of well known Italian recipes. I have reviewed a number of similar ‘Cooks Illustrated’ books and a fabulous number of Italian cookbooks, and I believe that this volume is both better than the average ‘Cooks Illustrated’ volume AND better than the average Italian cookbook.

Part of the value of this book is not due to the efforts of the ‘Cooks Illustrated’ staff, it is due to their applying their usual approach to a body of recipes which are well established and about which there is a great body of writing already available in English.

That means that when they evaluate a pasta Puttanesca recipe, there is little chance they will be going wrong, as they have the writings of Marcella Hazan, Lydia Bastianich, Mario Batalli, Giuliano Bugialli, and Michelle Scicolone to proof their researches against.

This is not to say that they sometimes go off the deep end of fussiness, as when they suggest parboiling the garlic in the pan before adding the oil and other ingredients so as to not burn the garlic when starting out on their Puttanesca.

Still, I am always guaranteed of seeing a highly reliable recipe for the Italian standards in this volume and while I have multiple volumes written by all those other authors, I still refer to this book first every time I want to do meatballs or lasagna or gnocchi or osso bucco.

Recommended for people who like to cook Italian.

5 Stars Excellent reference book on Italian Cooking
Would you like to learn all the tips and tricks about Italian Cooking? How about learning what is the best perfoming spaguetti brand, or different types of eggplant and how to work with it? Best garlic crusher, best pans, best everything – look no further: this is the book to get all the information you need.

The guys at Cooking Illustrated did an outstanding job researching for this book, I was very pleased and impressed. This is my first “The Best Recipe Series” cookbook! (and now I that I know the format of these books I want to buy the other ones too.!!)

This is a book you want to take to bed and read – recommended for both the amateur cook and for the professional – lots and lots of interesting facts and information about ingredients, techniques, products, equipment, utensils, you name it.

If you are a cookbook lover like myself, you will see the difference between this one and all the rest of the books you have read.

4 Stars Rich of great recipes and information
This is a great book for anyone interested in cooking italian. It provides very in depth discussions of many classic italian dishes and many possible variants. I agree with a previous reviewer that this book is not perfect and some dishes miss essential ingredients. But I still think it is a great book. Most of the recipes are excellent and, most importantly, this books provides a lot of information on why and how: once you will digest this type of information you’ll be able to even get creative a make your own italian style dishes.

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Everyday Italian 125 Simple and Delicious Recipes

In her hit Food Network show Everyday Italian, Giada De Laurentiis shows you how to cook delicious, beautiful food in a flash. And here, in her long-awaited first book, she does the same—helps you put a fabulous dinner on the table tonight, for friends or just for the kids, with a minimum of fuss and a maximum of flavor. She makes it all look easy, because it is.

Everyday Italian is true to its title: the fresh, simple recipes are incredibly quick and accessible, and also utterly mouth-watering—perfect for everyday cooking. And the book is focused on the real-life considerations of what you actually have in your refrigerator and pantry (no mail-order ingredients here) and what you’re in the mood for—whether a simply sauced pasta or a hearty family-friendly roast, these great recipes cover every contingency. So, for example, you’ll find dishes that you can make solely from pantry ingredients, or those that transform lowly leftovers into exquisite entrées (including brilliant ideas for leftover pasta), and those that satisfy your yearning to have something sweet baking in the oven. There are 7 ways to make red sauce more interesting, 6 different preparations of the classic cutlet, 5 perfect pestos, 4 creative uses for prosciutto, 3 variations on basic polenta, 2 great steaks, and 1 sublime chocolate tiramisù—plus 100 other recipes that turn everyday ingredients into speedy but special dinners.

What’s more, Everyday Italian is organized according to what type of food you want tonight—whether a soul-warming stew for Sunday supper, a quick sauté for a weeknight, or a baked pasta for potluck. These categories will help you figure out what to cook in an instant, with such choices as fresh-from-the-pantry appetizers, sauceless pastas, everyday roasts, and stuffed vegetables—whatever you’re in the mood for, you’ll be able to find a simple, delicious recipe for it here. That’s the beauty of Italian home cooking, and that’s what Giada De Laurentiis offers here—the essential recipes to make a great Italian dinner. Tonight.

User Ratings and Reviews

5 Stars Easy and Delicious
Not being an experienced cook I am always worried about some cookbooks being a little over the top for me. Not this one. Giada makes the written recipies just as easy to understand as she does on her show. Intimidation factor is low and I enjoy the book.

5 Stars Hungry Husband
My wife told me never buy her anymore cookbooks, but she liked this one because the recipes are realistic. They contain ingrediants you have in your kitchen and don’t take all day.

3 Stars Extreme Narcissism, Plus Many Good Recipes
There are SO MANY PHOTOS of the author in this supposed cookbook it’s laughable. And a little scary. And they are all cleavage shots. There are often as many as THREE photos of Giada splashed across just 2 pages {so that you are forced to see three shots of her just to look at one recipe…}. And there are full-page photos of her as well ! I was so sick of looking at Giada’s cleavage and her face I ended up tearing the recipes I wanted out of the book, and throwing the “photo album” part of it away. I think if you were to just clip all the photos out this book would weigh 60% less if you actually weighed it. Many of the recipes sounded just great and I can’t wait to try them though. Too bad Giada’s ego basically ruined an otherwise interesting cookbook. You’d have to see it to believe it.

4 Stars Excellent Italian

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/1400052580/ref=cm_cr_rev_prod_title

This is an excellent book. The food is easy to produce and very tasty. The instructions are easy to follow.

5 Stars Everyday Italian
I come from an Italian family, so sauce, lasagna, chicken cacciatore, were dishes we grew up with. But I longed for more, I wanted to know how to make marinara sauce, vodka sauce, risotto and many others. This fantastic book was just perfect for me. Many of the recipes are so easy and quick and delicious that for the first time I actually enjoyed cooking. I recently purchased three other cookbooks, but this one is by far my favirate.

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Rachael Rays Big Orange Book Her Biggest Ever Collection of All New 30 Minute Meals Plus Kosher Meals Meals for One Veggie Dinners Holiday Favorites and Much More

In the 10 years since she served up her first 30-minute meal—and thousands of delectable dinners later— Rachael Ray has learned just about all there is to know about getting a great tasting meal on the table in a hurry, whether it is one of her patented 30-minute miracles or something just a tad more involved for a special gathering. Rachael’s Big Orange Book is the ultimate resource for busy cooks. Need kitchen inspiration? It’s all here and it’s all new—and bigger than ever!

Just one for dinner tonight? Forget the cold cereal. Rach has a chapter of recipes that make dining on your own a thoroughly civilized occasion, with great meals that won’t leave you with a fridge full of leftovers. Vegetarians on the guest list? No problem! Choose from dozens of meat-free meals that are every bit as satisfying as your tried-and-true standards and savory enough to please the carnivores in your crowd. Observing a Kosher menu? Check out the selection of menus just for Kosher cooks, all ready in less than, you guessed it, 30 minutes. There’s even a mother lode of burger recipes for fans of the bun—so many options you could make a different burger every day for a full month!

In addition to her latest 30-minute creations, Rachael has put together an array of menus and recipes for easy entertaining, from quick snacks to serve for game night and easy hors d’oeuvres, to soup-to-nuts menus for her favorite holidays and special occasions. Whip up a pasta buffet for a special mom on Mother’s Day, please a crowd with a super-simple Oscar party menu, and give thanks for not one but four fantastic menus that keep holiday stress to a minimum by getting you out of the kitchen in record time.

Best of all, these recipes have all the huge flavors you’ve come to expect from Rachael, with something to please every taste—and every food budget. You’ll even find the treasured family recipes that Rachael and her husband, John, have enjoyed for years; see if they don’t become beloved family traditions in your home as well. Whether this is your first introduction to cooking the 30-minute way or you are a long-time convert, you’ll find irresistible new recipes here to make the most of every second you spend in the kitchen.

User Ratings and Reviews

5 Stars At Least You Can Read This One!
I like that this cookbook is actually one of hers that you can read. The print isn’t orange on a blue background. And the pages in this cookbook are heavy quality instead of that recycled, matte stuff.

These recipes seem a little better than some of her past productions in that these recipes actually have ingredients that you can buy. The Golden Ice Cream Cakes were very cute and tasty and easily made with store bought ingredients. She put these in the Oscar Night Party section but these would be very cute birthday cakes.

I also liked the red, white and blue slaw and thought it very tasty with the bleu cheese crumbles added. I would have not thought of that on my own. The recipe for the German Cheese and Beer Fondue I had made before from the food network website but am glad it’s in this cookbook. It’s a very good cheese fondue.

The Thanksgiving meal suggestion was Turkey Sweet Potato Shepherd’s Pie. It’s something I will definitely make but after Thanksgiving using the leftovers. It calls for a banana so we’ll see what twist that gives this dish. The butternut squash riscotto I had made from one of her other cookbooks so I see it’s included here as well.

This is truly a big book. Over 350 pages…worth the money per recipe unlike her little books she put out a couple of Christmas’ ago. The pictures are good quality though there are only a few.

This would make a great Christmas gift combined with one of her garbage bowls and Sutoku knife. What a cute under the tree gift. What I like about having the vegetarian section is that I don’t think it’s meant for vegetarians to purchase but for the meat eater who wants to eat less meat on occasion. We tried doing the “Meatless Monday’s” where the meal was completely vegetarian but it didn’t work out to every Monday, too many vegetarian recipes taste like “side dishes” and not “meals.” But this way the hubby sees you cooking out of this book and he’ll assume there’s meat in the dish even though he can’t necessarily see it. ‘Cause we all know Rachael is the queen of meat eaters. LOL. So the family is happy and you’ve gotten them to eat a little healthier with no one the wiser.

The roasted garlic and tomato Ratatouille pasta dish was very good. I would recommend it for the company pot luck. Would be very tasty and still not rock your budget for the company dinner.

All in all a lot better than several of her last cookbooks. Sell those on Ebay and purchase this one. You won’t be disappointed.

2 Stars The Big Orange Splot
Rachael Ray’s Big Orange Book is the Food Network/morning talk show diva’s attempt to compile her recipes. When Ray began, her 30 minute meals were doable by the average person, with a few ingredients. In her Big Orange Book, however, count on having TONS of ingredients, complicated directions, and unholy combinations. After all,she invented the “sammie” (sandwich) and the “stoup” (a hybrid of stew and soup)

In the Big Orange Book, there are specialized sections for those practicing kosher,vegetarians (look elsewhere-Ray is clearly out of her element when there’s no meat),Oscar parties (people still watch THAT?),Thanksgiving and Christmas. Of course,there are tons of artery-clogging hamburger recipes. There are few pictures of the recipes, and the recipes aren’t easy to find. She has her “rollover recipes” in which the same recipe gets reincarnated to pay off karmic debt,I think.

The Big Orange Book is NOT for those on a budget,don’t live in Ray’s enclaves of West Hollywood,Greenwich Village and Boston’s South End,and like something simple–like a 30 minute meal. It’s got some good recipes that somewhat redeem it,but it makes a good doorstop. YUCK-O!

5 Stars A Great Way to Manage Stress in the Kitchen
Orange is the color of cheerfulness and the “Big Orange Book” gets you ready to have fun in the kitchen and frees you up for more time to do what you really want – relax. This book is comprehensive including the fast and easy dishes which make a hostess shine. I love the veggie dinners because I’m trying to get my husband to eat heart smart and I am succeeding with Rachel’s excellent recipes. It’s about time we focused on food and mood because there is so much science nowadays to support this relationship. To learn how to shed stress by making that endless to-do list shorter, how to eat right to generate more positive energy instead of spinning your wheels – it’s time to take back your power read,Addicted to Stress: A Woman’s 7 Step Program to Reclaim Joy and Spontaneity in Life and don’t forget to put something orange in your home for a quick pick me up.

5 Stars Another Great Book from Rachael Ray
Excellent book containing wonderful, easy to make recipes. Who would expect anything less from Rachael. I’ve tried 6 of the recipes so far and what can is say- “Delish” I like it so much I’ve ordered 3 more to give as gifts!

5 Stars Rachael Ray ROCKS
Racheal Ray does it again…

Easy to follow recipes, and a great book.

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The Wise Guy Cookbook My Favorite Recipes From My Life as a Goodfella to Cooking on the Run

Henry Hill was a born wiseguy, and his love of food got him through both the good and bad times. Even cooking on the run in the Federal Witness Protection Program-where prosciutto was impossible to find and gravy was something you put on mashed potatoes-he managed to keep good Italian food on the table. He still brings this flair for improvisation to his cooking. No recipe is set in stone. And substitutions are listed just in case.

Now, in his inimitable style, Hill tells some spicy stories of his life in the Mob and out, and shows readers how to whip up his favorite dishes, Sicilian-style-recipes to make even the toughest tough-guy beg for more…

Mom’s Antipasto € Sunday Gravy (Meat Sauce) € Cheaters Chicken Stock € Striped Bass for Paulie € Fat Larry’s Pizza Dough € Henry’s Kickback Antipasti Hero € Sicilian Easter Bread with Colored Eggs € Clams Casino € Osso Bucco € Oven Penitentiary Sauce with Sausage € Michael’s Favorite Ziti with Meat Sauce € and many others

User Ratings and Reviews

4 Stars good cookbook, but
I’ve made a few of the meals in here, and they were very good. Not all that different from the way I cook anyway, but a few differences made the meals better. No problem with the recipes.

My problem is with the marketing of gangster life. This isn’t a merely an Italian cookbook– this is promoted as a MAFIA cookbook (“cooking on the run”?). His life stories are told in euphamistic and humourous fashion, but the reality is very different. The end of the book is almost enraging– Henry says he he sees pierced and tattoo’d kids eating dinner at McDonald’s, and wonders where their parent are– they ought to be having a nice family dinner at home.

PUHLEEEEZE!!! Read his childrens’ book– “On the Run–A Mafia Childhood”. Years of drinking and drug related abuse, not coming home for days at a time, turning his home into a drug and sex den, both before and after his bust– and much worse stuff– if you find yourself getting amused by his engagingly told tales of gangster glory or if you find his stories of his Broolyn childhood endearing, then you need to read his childrens’ book for balance. See the link below.

Buy this book used. I wouldn’t put a dime in Hill’s pocket.

On the Run: A Mafia Childhood

4 Stars wise guy cookbook
It was as addvertised, well written and interesting, there are many good recipes in the book, well worth the money

4 Stars wiseguy cook book
This had some great old school recipes. However, if you are an Italian American you do not need this book. Had stuff my Great Grandmother and Grandmother have passed down.

5 Stars The best Italian cookbook ever..
Henry writes a few pages about an event in his mafia life then, bam; he hits you with a delicious recipe that he made for the crew.

It’s more than just a cookbook, the recipes have history in them.

5 Stars Excellent
Im not a gourmet, and im about as far from Italian as you can get. I am however a huge fan of Italian cuisine and have sampled it coast to coast in many parts of the country (no im not talking about Olive Garden..im talking about Italian food..:))

Maybe its the satisfaction of creating ones own meal, or imagining what it would have been like to grow up in Brooklyn while the smell of mom’s “sunday gravy” on the stove (Henry is a good storyteller). Who knows, but I can honestly say I have yet to have an italian meal…and ive had many…that surpass the recipes in this book. Equal with once or twice…but never better.

One’s delicious is another’s un-appealing, but for me, these recipes are my reference for great italian.

Highly recommended whether you know (or care) who Henry Hill is or not.

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Simple Italian Sandwiches Recipes from Americas Favorite Panini Bar

With nothing more than a panini grill, a toaster oven, and a few simple ingredients, Jennifer and Jason Denton bring the fresh, robust flavors of Italy to your home table in Simple Italian Sandwiches.

Eating in Italy is all about simple pleasures, relaxing with good company, and savoring fresh, no-frills foods like traditional toasted panini, crustless tramezzini, and crunchy bruschetta. In Simple Italian Sandwiches, Jennifer and Jason Denton offer up a collection of recipes for these classic bread-based dishes, plus condiments, antipasti, and salads that are easy enough for the novice cook yet tasty enough for anyone with a sophisticated palate. From Soppressata, Fontina, and Arugula Panini, to Mozzarella and Basil Pesto Tramezzini, to Roasted Butternut Squash, Walnut, and Asiago Bruschetta, the dishes can be prepared in minutes and require minimal cooking.

With simplicity the governing rule for today’s busy schedules, Simple Italian Sandwiches is the ideal cookbook for anyone who wants to prepare vibrant, flavorful food for family and friends, and then sit down and enjoy it with them.

User Ratings and Reviews

4 Stars Great Little Book!
I recently bought a pannini maker from Amazon and I am delighted and having a ball with it!..you can use your imagination and come up with lots of different variations to do what you want and make that special grilled sandwich…this book has some nice recipes for condiments and since I have a cookbook collection..this was a nice addition!..

Thanks Amazon!

2 Stars You don’t need this book to make a panini
I do believe that at some point everyone will own their own restaurant, have a Food Network TV show and /or their own cookbook. This book is evidence of this.

The authors are friends and partner’s of Mario Batali. They are not Italian. They have been to Italy and had a panini. They opened up a cute little panini bar in NYC and charge way too much money I am sure for a simple sandwich. I think it is sweet how they try to pretend to be regular people with their no kitchen little panini place even though they are part of the Batali business empire. Strangely – even though the recipes are so simple a monkey could crank out panini’s they needed a co-author. I don’t know for what since almost all the recipes read like this:

Mozzarella, Tomato and Basil Panini

Put sliced tomato on ciabbatta roll with mozzarella and a few leaves of basil. Grill in panini press. Slice in half and serve.

It is a small book with only a few photos of food but a bunch of those arty photos of a restaurant chalkboard, a few people in the sandwich shop, a drizzle of oil, a close-up of a dining check. I mean – please. How about some photos of sandwiches? Duh?

Panini’s are really in right now and there are many books coming out this year on them. My recommendation is try to catch Wolfgang Puck on HSN when he is hawking his panini grill – he will show you more panini’s then you will ever need to know in about fifteen minutes.

5 Stars super book
I’d not heard of this panini bar but loved reading the history..

This is an adorable family who follows tradition; can’t go wrong with people like that.

Very good recipes, easy to follow,

would make a superb gift.

5 Stars Delicious Panini and Tramezzini
I just returned from Roma. One of the things we ate the most for lunch was Tramezzini, due to the heavy availability of them everywhere. They almost always offer to grill it for you. We also noticed that nearly every one we saw had sliced boiled eggs on it. I had one that was a simple chicken salad with green olives, sliced hard boiled eggs, slice of cheese, and rocket (arugula). The sandwich was fantastic. My girlfriend had one that was just bologna and artichokes and it was out of this world. We don’t even like bologna but for some reason in Italy, it’s edible. I haven’t actually made a recipe from this book yet, for it is a gift for my girlfriend and she will be receiving it tonight. I did however read through it and was very happy to see the way it was written. From the basic ingredients list and the several trips I’ve taken to Italy in my life, I know that this is one great book. If I can remember that I wrote this, I’ll update it in a month or so.

3 Stars Not many paninis
I was a little disappointed with this book. I thought it would have more panini recipes, but there are other cold sandwiches featured, too.

The ingredients for the paninis are not commonly found and a special trip to the “gourmet store” is required. I did manage to find a few of the ingredients in one of the larger groceries in our area. The sandwiches that I did make, I had to substitute a few of the ingredients, but they were pretty good.

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