BOLD ITALIAN
BY SCOTT CONANT
Review by Barb & Ron Kroll
Bold Italian
(Broadway Books) ISBN 978-0767916837 0767916832
Chef Scott Conant offers 125 recipes for Italian food for North American cooks to make at home. Several of the Italian gourmet dishes are from two of the best Italian restaurants in New York City.
Chapter introductions describe each category of Italian food. For example, the starches chapter (Pasta, Risotto and Gnocchi) discusses how to make fresh pasta by hand and how to flour and roll it.
In the introduction to each recipe, Scott Conant offers cooking, serving, garnishing and substitution information. Recipes range from easy (e.g., chilled crab salad with ginger and chives) to complicated (e.g., chicken-filled gnocchi dumplings with lentil sauce).
Twenty appetizing color images depict Italian dishes made with the delicious recipes in this 257-page cookbook.
The Introduction defines a few basic cooking terms such as chiffonade (a way to thinly slice large leaf herbs like basil), julienne (cut into matchstick-size pieces) and pinch (between 1/8 and 1/4 teaspoon).
Scott Conant explains how to serve a cheese course as an alternative to or in addition to dessert. Using three or more cheeses with condiments like pears and almonds, he serves them with a flavored bread, like walnut currant bread, which goes great with cheese.
The Sources section of Bold Italian provides websites and names of stores selling Italian ingredients like burrata cheese, white truffles, capers, wild mushrooms and Trucioleto vinegar.
A Basics chapter has recipes for homemade chicken reduction, chicken broth and lobster broth.
Eggplant caponata. Clams guazzetto. Herb goat cheese and ramp salad. Almond gazpacho. Cavatelli with wilted greens, crispy pancetta and chickpeas. Roasted lobster with peperonata. Sweet and spicy roasted butternut squash. Nutella panini with ice cream and espresso. Chocolate biscotti. Ricotta with lemon and poppy seed marmalade.
Contents
- Introduction
- Piattini
- Light Salads and Soups
- Eggs, Panini and Healthy Salads
- Pasta, Risotto and Gnocchi
- Main Courses
- Sweets, Cheese and Breads
- Basics
- Sources
- Index
Authors
Scott Conant co-authored this cookbook with Joanne McAllister Smart. Scott is a James Beard Award winner and founder of L'Impero and Alto Italian restaurants in New York City. He is also coauthor of New Italian Cooking.