[.ca] Verdura: Vegetables Italian Style (ISBN 1904943454)

From Amazon.com:
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

Not just the two "sides" or a salad:
The nice thing about Verdura is that it has everything-- Antipasti, Salads, Grilled Breads/Sandwiches, Soups, Pasta, Rice/Polenta, Main Dishes, Sides, and Desserts--featuring vegetables cooked the Italian way. Other than the Chinese, I think the Italians have the best feel for how to bring out what's wonderful in a vegetable. I love the cauliflower with lemon dressing in particular, and the squash recipes as well. The pizza basic recipe is really great. We made it last night and it came out so well. (We did use a pizza stone, which really makes a difference.) Next time we will try the Arugula version of the pizza. Arugula is a pungent green, looking a bit like dandelion leaves and it not only tastes great, it is really good for you.

Great recipes but not all vegetarian:
There's some of everything in this cookbook but if you're vegetarian or vegan be prepared to alter the recipes here and there. There's a recipe for chicken broth and another for beef broth and they're used in a bunch of the recipes -not a big deal - I just substitite a nice vegetable broth and all is well. Anchovies are used here and there too. For the vegan - you'll need to do your own substititues where cheeses are called for and there are a few egg recipes. Anyway, that said, there are lots of great recipes in here. Here's a quick view of the table of contents and a few of my favorites: - Antipasti (vegetables, fruits, cheeses, marinated vegetables, hot antipasti) - Artichokes Griti Style is really tasty - it has olive oil and parm. cheese; also some really easy recipes for things like raw vegetables with olive oil, marinated eggplant, spicy carrots, etc - Salads (leafy, little, and salads as main courses) -lots of nice, mostly simple salads. I made the one called Warm Cannellini Bean and Herb Salad and served it at our Christmas dinner alongside raviolis etc and it was a hit - Grilled bread and sandwiches - haven't tried any of these but they look tasty - Soups for every season (minnestrone soup with rice was excellent - I did it in the slow cooker - yum! There's also an escarole soup similar to what my grandmother used to make - it was good but not as good as hers :) - Pasta Sauces (excellent, fresh ideas straight from the garden. pasta with 10 herbs was great. I haven't tried it yet but there's a recipe that uses tomoatoes and avocados that sounds really good. These sauces are pretty much all things you can whip up fast, no cooking for hours on the stove - its focus is fresh and almost raw - really good - and good for you :) - Rice and Polenta dishes (I haven't tried any of the polenta dishes - had some bad experiences with that so far) - A sampler of Main Dishes (many interesting recipes here like zucchini stuffed wit mushrooms, gnocchi, ftittatas.) - Side vegetables (I love side dishes and there are some good ones in here that I've tried and were great. The ones I've tried are: artichokes w. sundried tomatoes, artichokes braised with thyme, broccoli w. garlic and red chili pepper, etc. There are some tasty sounding bean dishes that I haven't tried yet but plan to) Overall great cookbook - I've tried a sampling of recipes and they've all been good, just need to modify ever so slightly to make them vegetarian. I'd buy it again!

Great book, brings out the essense of vegitables.:
Verdura is a great book which we have had for years now. Viana has a delightful cooking style which really focuses on the essense of vegitables... particularly fresh, in-season produce. Her recipes such as tomato and peach salad, or cucumber and orange opened our eyes to new combinations. One of our favorites.

An excellent resource:
This was purchased as a bridal shower gift for our future grandniece who is a vegetarian of sorts. The grandnephew likes Italian cooking and this is providing them with a wealth of recipes which will satisfy them both. The report I get is that the soups are excellent. In looking through the book, I found that I would like a copy myself in spite of my 50 feet of cookbooks.

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