Recipe Weekend/ Book Review/Giveaway/CLOSED: Ciao Italia Five-Ingredient Favorites: Quick and Delicious Recipes from an Italian Kitchen by Mary Ann Esposito

FSB Associates always gets some interesting cookbooks for me to repview and this one (Ciao Italia Five-Ingredient Favorites: Quick and Delicious Recipes from an Italian Kitchen by Mary Ann Esposito) is no exception!

In Ciao Italia Five-Ingredient Favorites, Esposito shows home cooks how to turn just five ingredients into an easy, delicious, and economical Italian dish for the family dinner table. She shows how the genius behind great Italian cooking, is the simple philosophy of using just a few quality ingredients, to create something delicious. In Ciao Italia Five-Ingredient Favorites she shows home cooks how to make that philosophy work for them, so that they can save time, and money, without sacrificing flavor. With seventy-five authentic Italian recipes -- from antipasti to pastas, main courses to desserts -- Esposito draws on the Italian culinary tradition of simplicity in the kitchen to create such effortless and tasty dishes as:

• Prosciutto di Parma, Fontina, and Fig Wraps
• Spicy Soppressata Tartlets
• Cheesy Stuffed Meatballs
• Pistachio-Dusted Pork Chops
• Oven-Poached Halibut with Shallot and Fennel
• Escarole Salad with Mustard Dressing
• Chocolate, Hazelnut, and Banana Tartlets
• Buttermilk Panna Cotta with Vanilla

The recipes are simple as stated and intriquing in their own way. As an Italian cookbook I only had three complaints.

• I really felt like more recipes could have been added, as the book seems VERY small at only 75 recipes. But it would be a great STARTER book.
• While there are some color pictures, they are placed in 2 sections of the book, and some of the pictures are repeated! I'm a purist, either put the picture WITH the recipe, or DON:T bother with picture in the back of the book- too much having to go back and forth.
• While her ingredient listed IS simple and her thoughts on a well stocked pantry are co-existant to my pantry, I know that it can be hard to find some of the ingredients she uses at local stores, if you aren't in a major metropolitan area. Some of the ingredients, yes you can order on online, others need to be fresh. So I wish she mentioned more substitutes and understood that not all cooks live in NYC or LA and have great ingredients so readily at hand.

Here's a sample recipe from the book!

RECIPE FOR COAL MINERS STYLE SPAGHETTI CARBONARA

Spaghetti alla Carbonara (pictured on cover of the book and on pix at top of post)

Ingredients:

* 1 tablespoon extra-virgin olive oil
* 4 ounce chunk pancetta, diced
Fine sea salt
* ½ pound spaghetti
* 3 large eggs, at room temperature and lightly beaten
* ¾ cup grated Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese

Instructions:

1. Coarsely ground black pepper
2. Heat the olive oil in a small sauté pan, stir in the pancetta, and cook until crispy. Set aside the pancetta, still in the pan, and keep it warm.
3. Cook the spaghetti in 4 quarts of rapidly boiling salted water. Al dente means still firm to the bite but no uncooked flour is visible in the center when a strand of the spaghetti is broken in half.
4. Drain the spaghetti, reserving 2 tablespoons of the water. Immediately return the spaghetti to the pot and, keeping the heat very low, rapidly stir in the eggs, reserved water, and half the cheese. Toss to combine. Add the reserved pancetta and any pan drippings. Stir well. Add a generous grinding of coarse black pepper. Transfer the pasta to a platter and sprinkle it with the remaining cheese. Serve immediately.
5. Serves 4

Now, don't you want to win a copy of the book?????

Here's how!

Giveaway:

One review copy of  Ciao Italia Five-Ingredient Favorites: Quick and Delicious Recipes from an Italian Kitchen by Mary Ann Esposito

Entries:

Make sure I have an e-mail address, with your comment, so I can contact you, if you win!

If I don't have a way to contact you, you will forfeit your win!

Requirements: must be over 18, resident of US

4 day winner's rule : for win verification. You either need to verify your address (happens when you've recently won a different giveaway), or provide me with your mailing address within 4 days of my sending you the first email notification. I will send a 2nd notification the next day. You have 2 days after that one to acknowledge the win or forfeit the prize. Sorry guys, I am too busy to chase winners down!

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Contest will end on January 11th, at midnight. Winner will be picked by Random Number (random.org) on January 12th, and emailed. As soon as winner's info is received from winner, the book will be mailed to the winner by me!


Disclosure: FSB Assoc sent me this book, at no cost to me, for review purposes. I was NOT compensated in any other way, nor told how to rate or review this product!