I have a pretty solid cook book collection with approximately 50 cookbooks sitting on my shelves. I have a core rotation of about 10 that I use regularly but every once in a while I will crack open a new one just for fun. I’m always on the lookout for a new cookbook, although I need a new cookbook like I need a hole in my head, and I know other people are too so why not spread my knowledge.
First Up…
Molto Italiano by Mario Batali
I figured why not start with my food crush Mario? I’m not sure where my love for Mario began. I’ve never been an Iron Chef chef fan and only started watching his show on the Food Network when I got TiVo a few years ago. I think my interest probably began by going to his restaurants. Otto was often in my rotation of restaurants when I lived in NYC and then discovered my love for Lupa, Esca, Del Posto and Pizzeria Mozza (yum!).
Molto Italiano is the only Batali cookbook that I own and has left me pretty fulfilled. It gives a good mix of recipes that are too ambitious for me (read: recipes that require me to source super specific things that my regular Italian market doesn’t carry OR things that are cost prohibitive) and recipes that are simple and delicious. One of my favourite things about this cookbook is that Mario is pretty good about substitutions. He often has very specific types of alcohol that he cooks with (say, Vin Santo) but then he’ll tell you that you can substitute something more accessible like Dry Sherry. I love tips like this because I don’t want to buy a new bottle of alcohol every time I cook and if I have something like Dry Sherry around already I’d much rather just use that.
This cookbook is more Italian rather than Italian-American so the alfredo sauce isn’t a thick and creamy mess and the lasagne isn’t a bajillion layers of cheeses and meats – it’s a lot more simple. This could be frustrating for some people who are out to find a recipe for lasagne like you’d find at Olive Garden or Maggiano’s or something – this is definitely not the place for that.
Batali does a great job of categorizing the recipes and organizing the various sections of the cookbook. In the table of contents there is a heading for Antipasto, however once you get to the section you see that it’s broken down by vegetable, seafood and meat antipasto. Similarly, the pasta section is broken down into dried and fresh pasta dishes.
I tend to draw from the starchy areas of this cookbook. I’ve made great risottos, pastas, and polentas. I don’t tend to cook a lot of meat or poultry so I haven’t really touched on those areas although there are a bunch of recipes that sound delicious.
Interestingly enough I haven’t really blogged on here about any Batali recipes but there are many that are near and dear to my heart. Such as…
Risotto with Mushrooms and Vin Santo
Polenta with Salt Cod
Baked Ziti
Baked Penne with Eggplant
Tagliatelle with Mushroom Ragu
Definitely a great addition to my collection!
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Watch your show love it keep showing that there is more to food then just food.
Sounds like a real beauty of a cookbook! The thought of Tagliatelle with mushroom ragu is killing my right now as I eat my plain no fat yogurt (part of a new year’s resolution to get more calcium). too bad i didn’t make any ragu-related resolutions! Any chance of doing a share on that recipe?