JustLaura's Reviews
20 recipe(s) reviewed. Showing 1 to 20Sort by: Title 
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Giada at Home: Family Recipes from Italy and California
By Giada De Laurentiis
Clarkson Potter - 2010
Caponata Panini : page 68
This is excellent. I wondered how the eggplant, capers, and raisins would be together and they were wonderful!! Such a lovely combination of salty and sweet. This makes a lot which means you may have some leftover - it would be great over pasta! I'll definitely be making this again.
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We loved this dish. The sauce was a HUGE winner and could be used on so many things. In fact one of our non-meat eating guests just ate the sauce! This is a winner!
There are several steps to this as there are to any breaded chicken - but it was crispy and delicious and worth every step.
I will be making this again.
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Chocolate Honey Almond Tart : page 194
Very thin tart. The crust was nice and crumbly and the topping was smooth and rich. A great combination. Had a hard time finding the chocolate graham crackers and had to use Chocolate Teddy Grahams but it was still great. I'll have to keep my eye out for the regular chocolate grahams so I can make it again.
I would make this again. Very thin slices work very well with a glass of port.
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Fresh Mushroom and Parsley Salad : page 147
Very good and very easy! Just a quick little salad to add to your meal when you just need a little something more.
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Fusilli with Spicy Pesto : page 88
This was a very tasty and unusual pesto, but we all agreed it was not spicy at all. The next time I made it I would spice it up with an extra pepper or all of the seeds or something. I will definitely be making it again.
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gorgonzola and porcini mushroom risotto : page 97
Made this for a group of 7 and everyone liked it.It was rich and filling. It would make a great side dish in the colder months.
I had to use dried chives and I used veggie stock to make it vegetarian but other than that I followed the recipe exactly. I love risotto and this is a good one. I will definitely make it again.
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Grilled Salmon with Citrus Verde : page 132
We LOVED this salmon. This is my new favorite salmon recipe. Between the capers, citrus and red pepper flakes in the sauce it was absolutely full of flavor.
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Italian Fried Olives : page 18
These were fabulous! Once I got my technique down for filling the olives the rest of the steps went very quickly. I filled 30 large olives and could have easily filled 30 more with the filling I had left. I would get double the olives and make more next time since they went very quickly!
They looked beautiful and were delicious. I will definitely make these again.
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Italian Lentil Salad : page 162
A very different lentil salad then what I am used to. Very good crunch and texture's with the grapes, cucumbers, and peppers. Very light and tasty. I will make this again.
I made it to keep some for myself and send some back to school with my college age vegetarian daughter. She said she didn't like lentils - until she tasted it! She liked it too!
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Nonna Luna's Rice : page 95
This was very easy to make and tastes much better than it looks. You can spice it up and give it a good kick if you want. I will make this again.
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I liked this salad. This is a good one for me when my meat eating husband is out of town. Leftovers were good too! I love the amount of greens in here, feels like I'm definitely getting my vitamins!
I used Pecorino Romano instead of Ricotta Salata since it was what was available to me and it was fine.
I will make this again.
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Pasta Ponza : page 85
This is the first recipe out of 15 that I have made from this book that is only so-so. I really was indifferent about this. My husband and son seemed to like it but I was not crazy about it.
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Pecorino and Bean Salad : page 143
I had a hard time figuring out if this should be served hot or cold. I would do cold next time for sure.
This was very tasty and will definitely be made again. Although next time I would use half the called for Pecorino Romano. It is a strong cheese and overpowered a lot of the other flavors.
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Raspberry Pound Cake with Vin Santo Cream : page 187
How could this be anything but wonderful with all of that sugar and butter? It was delicious and enjoyed by everyone we served it to. In fact our guests took the leftovers home.
We used Moscato for the whipped cream since the Vin Santo we brought back from Italy was gone and the only bottle we found in our liquor store was $56. That was a bit steep for needing 3 Tablespoons. The Moscato was fine and the whipped cream was delicious!
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Rigatoni with Creamy Mushroom Sauce : page 80
Another great recipe! The flavor of the mushrooms really stands out.
It makes a good breakfast cold in the morning too!
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Roasted Halibut with Pea and Mint Salad : page 134
I made this to recipe with the exception that we grilled the halibut instead of baked. This is a great dish and the Pea and Mint Salad was a hit!
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These did have a few steps to make (have to cut, core and dry the tomatoes) which took a little while - but other than that were easy to make. A decorative side dish and tasty too.
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Spaghetti with Olives and Bread Crumbs : page 90
This was very unusual and just wonderful. We love olives and what a great way to highlight them in a dish. The olives and breadcrumbs on the pasta were a great combination. The leftovers were delicious too.
I will be making this one again.
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Tomato Basil Tartletts : page 26
This recipe was very easy and absolutely delicious. There were 5 of us eating this and we all agreed it was one of the best appetizers we had ever had. I will definitely be making this one again and again.
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Vegetable Parmesan : page 160
This was fabulous. I followed the recipe but you could easily substitute different vegetables. Great in the winter on a cold day - or awesome in the summer with summer's veggies!
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