Verdura: Vegtables Italian Style - Hardcover

LA Place, Viana

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0688087647 ISBN 13: 9780688087647

Publisher: William Morrow & Co, 1991

Synopsis

An inspired collection of nearly three hundred classic and original recipes, Verdura translates the Italian passion for food into an endless celebration of vegetables.

"A good salad tomato should be firm, plucked from the vine just before it is fully ripened, and heavy with the spicy scent of its foliage." With exquisite attention to the pleasures of cooking fresh food, Viana La Place introduces the basic Italian principle of cooking with herbs and vegetables. Many of these recipes pair simple vegetables with unusual preparations, transforming classic dishes into new masterpieces. Here you will discover revelatory antipasti, like Baby Artichokes Marinated in Lemon and Herbs (Carciofini al Limone e alle Erbe); innovative salads like Romaine and Gorgonzola Salad with Whole Wheat Crostini (Lattuga Romano e Gorgonzola con Crostini al Pone Integrate); and such tantalizing pastas as Butterfly Pasta with Fennel and Balsamic Vinegar (Forfalle ai Finocchi) and Tiny Pasta with Ten Herbs (Tripolini alle Dieci Erbe)--dishes characterized by their earthy, intense fragrance. Viana La Place's brilliant and original recipes will make Verdura a permanent guide to cooking vegetables the Italian way in your kitchen.

About this title

Review

Since its 1991 publication, Viana La Place's Verdura has become a classic. And with good reason: Its 300 accessible recipes represent the best of the Italian approach to vegetable preparation, an earthy yet spirited technique that celebrates fresh ingredients simply treated. Many readers have made the book their vegetable cooking bible; those who have not yet added it to their kitchen libraries will want to do so. Contending that eating well-prepared vegetables helps us to appreciate life's natural cycles, La Place presents recipes for antipastos, salads, soups, sandwiches, pasta, risottos, pizzas, and more. The vegetables she explores run the gamut from the familiar--artichokes, eggplant, radicchio--to the more exotic, such as chayote, cardoons, and brocciflower. (La Place sautés this cauliflower-broccoli hybrid in garlic and oil, then strews it with pungent provolone.) Other recipes, such as Soup of Dried Fava Beans with Fresh Fennel, Fettucine with Peas, Green Onions, and Mint, Grilled Bread with Mushrooms and Herbs, and Baked Red Pepper Fritatta, give further evidence of La Place's original yet thoughtful way with the earth's bounty. Desserts are also included, among them Watermelon with Bittersweet Chocolate Shavings, Grilled Figs with Honey and Walnuts, and Lemon Granita and Brioche. With a vegetable and herb guide and an ingredient glossary, Verdura provides comprehensive information while exciting the mind's palate. --Arthur Boehm

About the Author

Viana La Place is the author of numerous books on Italian cooking, including Desserts and Sweet Snacks, Rustic Italian Style, and Panini, Bruschetta, Crostini. She lives in San Francisco and spends part of each year in Italy.

Edition details

• Publisher: William Morrow & Co
• Publication date: 1991
• ISBN 10: 0688087647
• ISBN 13: 9780688087647
• Binding: Hardcover
• Language: English
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 388