kaye16's Reviews
8 recipe(s) reviewed. Showing 1 to 8Sort by: Title 
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Lorenza's Pasta: 200 Recipes for Family and Friends
By Lorenza De'Medici
Pavilion Books - 1997
Conchiglie con Broccoli e Zaffrano : page 88
Juding by the servings recommended, this is meant as a side or smaller course, rather than as a main. I made all the sauce with half the pasta (should have been only 6oz, rather than 8oz) as a main for two. It looked rather like the picture, so the proportions seemed ok.
It was an interesting combination of sweet (currants) and savory (anchovies) that worked surprisingly well together. (Once the fishy smell dissipates during cooking, there's just a savory richness that's hard to place.) The pine nuts added a nice crunch. Altogether, a keeper.
useful (1)
Fettuccine con Carciofi e Mozzarella : page 91
I made this with frozen artichoke bottoms, so comments should be taken with a grain of sand. Good but not wonderful.
- The sliced mozzarella clumped up; I think it would be better to grate it coarsely, then you'd have a better chance of making a "sauce" of it.
- I left the garlic in the pan; if you don't like garlic, you should take it out.
- Contrary to instructions, I stirred the thyme leaves (lemon thyme from the garden) into the sauce; much prettier if you sprinkle on top of the plated dish.
- Made more or less the whole sauce (only 3 artichoke bottoms) as a dinner for two over fresh fettucine from 1cup flour plus 2 eggs.
useful (1)
Half recipe was a nice, quick, easy dinner for two. Mind you, because I was short on time, I used store-bought "fresh" pasta rather than making it from scratch.
The fish flaked into big chunks rather than staying in whole strips. This is fine, but it would have like a word (or picture) to indicate this would happen.
useful (0)
Fusilli alla Siciliana : page 99
A tasty pasta dish, can be considered a one-dish meal, but goes nice with a salad.
- I usually make a half recipe for two, with 3-4cups of cauliflower bits.
-Sometimes I boil the cauliflower first, remove them with a spider, then boil the pasta.
- Green or mixed color pasta is pretty, otherwise it's white, white and black with a tiny bit of green (parsley).
- If you keep them out of the kitchen, people who say they don't like anchovies will still like the sauce. The smell a bit when they first go in the oil, but they dissolve and leave only a complex sort of taste.
This is a good dish when you've got a bit of cauliflower to use up.
useful (0)
If you're worried about your cholesterol count being low, this is the recipe for you. Chicken livers and lots of butter, cut by mustard and radicchio.
I made about a 3/4 recipe which served two generously. No radicchio, I used red endive instead.
We both thought this was a trifle dry as served. The butter-mustard mix was well-absorbed by the pasta (fresh, store-bought), and there is little moisture with the livers.
Pretty good taste. Easy to make.
useful (0)
Tagliatelle ai Funghi Porcini : page 91
On the weekend, I saw some beautiful cêpes (porcini) at a market, but hadn't made my weekly meal plan yet and didn't know I was going to want them. And I was trying to avoid filling the fridge with impulse buys. When we shopped this week, there were no cêpes at the grocery. But there were shiitakes, which are pretty tasty in themselves.
This is one of the simplest sauces ever. Cream is boiled up on the side. Unadorned mushrooms are quickly sautéed, S&Ped then tossed with the cream and pasta and topped with shredded parmesan. Deelicious!
I made a half recipe. Used my microplane to grate half the parmesan by weight. The volume was probably twice what was asked for the full recipe. We used a lot of it on the pasta and added the rest to the salad that followed.
Altogether a good recipe. Will try to keep this in mind for when I see more cêpes.
useful (0)
3.5, perhaps. Not bad. A very simple sauce with fennel, tomatoes, butter, S&P. Neither of us are big fennel fans, but this worked okay. I didn't enjoy the smell while it was cooking, but served and topped with smoked salmon it wasn't bad at all. Half recipe was dinner for two. I ran out of time today, so served over dried tagliatelle rather than fresh, as intended.
useful (0)
Taglierini agli Scampi : page 120
Tasty. Servings are a bit strange. Of course, pasta isn't really a main course in an Italian meal, but I served a full recipe as a main for TWO people, not four. Quite good, and easy. The brandy or cognac should be 1/4 cup, not "just under 1/3 cup". The brandy took a long time to boil off; I transferred the shrimp to the tomato sauce before it was finished to avoid overcooking them. Needed a bit of salt and lots of pepper at the table.
useful (1)