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| On Top of Spaghetti...: ...Macaroni, Linguine, Penne, and Pasta of Every Kind | 
 enlarge | Authors: Johanne Killeen, George Germon
Publisher: William Morrow Cookbooks
Category: Book
List Price: $25.95
Buy New: $12.05
You Save: $13.90 (54%)
New (34) Used (20) from $9.89
Avg. Customer Rating:  15 reviews
Sales Rank: 130174
Media: Hardcover
Number Of Items: 1
Pages: 288
Shipping Weight (lbs): 1.7
Dimensions (in): 9.4 x 8.3 x 1.2
ISBN: 0060598735
Dewey Decimal Number: 641.822
EAN: 9780060598730
ASIN: 0060598735
Publication Date: November 1, 2006
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
Condition: BARGAIN BOOK. Bargain books are new, unread books that may have a publishers mark on the edges of the pages because the publisher sells these to reduce excess inventory. 30-day guarantee. Ships in bubble mailer. Note: Standard mail can take 10-14 business days. Mail to HI and AK can take 3-6 weeks per USPS web site..
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| Customer Reviews:
| Showing reviews 1-5 of 15 | | NEXT » |
 Excellent book, superb recipes, rich insights to Italian cooking August 30, 2008
I grew up in Providence, RI. I knew about Al Forno and Lucky's restaurant when I came back. It is about a mile away from my brother's store in Providence next to the river.
Johanne Killeen and George Germon the couple that have inspired wood oven pizzas and much more. I were there before 1991 but all I can remember is a very hot orange harrisa sauce. Can't remember much else except we ate in Luck's upstairs and not in Al Forno side. Very good but I know I did not eat pasta, lasagna or something of the kind.
I was looking for special Italian dishes. I have not been to Lidia's in Kansas City (can't afford it) but I watch her TV show. My mother likes to try some of her recipes from the book I sent her. However, my mind stil drifted back to the very highly regarding Italian restaurnts in Rhode Island. While there are many, the one that stands out is Al Forno's .
While looking up what people thought about Al Forno's on Yelp and other sites for my blog (most said nothing but the best) , someone mentioned the latest new cookbook "On Top of Spaghetti" which was published in 2006. While I considered their first one Cucino Simpatica (which has become a classic) this new one sounded so good . Why? It seemed to offer recipes above the norm, taking a recipe and food to different levels. That is what I always look for in a restaurant, cookbook or meal.
What I liked about this book (once I got it) was the impressive different dishes that the couple placed in this book based on their travels, cooking experiences and trying out real different recipes and ingredients.
It arrived. You know when Billy Joel and Danny DeVita and Rera Pearlman rave about the chefs and the recipes then there is something great going on inside.
When I review a book, I start looking for many things. In this case, besides the interesting recipes, each one had a background, where and how they came to know this recipe. Special ideas about the ingredients, tips of all sorts abounded throughout the book. I immediately look through all the recipes to see which ones I want to try. I wan't try at least half of them but where should I start?
I has a bunch of cherry tomatoes so I started with Spicy Roasted Cherry Tomatoes. Roast the vegetables and peppers, I decided to puree them and toss with spaghetti. Very tasty. 9.4/10. So what is the next way to kick it up a level.
I wanted to make something that was different then what I have made before but has a different spin in their book. I chose Sgaghetti and Summer Chicken Cacciatori. Not to difficult to make it did not use tomato sauce but just tomatoes. I was skeptical. I did not use panecetta but included everything else, I let it go for 40 minutes. It came out awesome.
The chicken was juicy and the tomato and the ingredients permeated the chicken. I would rate it 9.8/10. While I did not include spaghetti this time, I will use the sauce and left over vegetables for tomorrow. This makes a fine spaghetti sauce. I might not want to buy canned spaghetti sauce again (well almost).
Excellent! August 28, 2008
I've just read the two worst reviews of this book got; the lowest one has nothing to do with the actual book - amazing. The other one is upset that rabbit is included as a meat in the book. Interestingly rabbit is normal fare in many parts of the world and especially in Europe. It's normal to see it on a menu in finer restaurants as filet and more traditional meats are considered boring. If this were an authentic East Asian book it may very have contained recipes for dogs and scorpions among other animals too numerous to mention. The world is getting smaller and smaller and it's time for America to wake up and see what the rest of the world was doing hundreds of years before we were even a country. Unless you've tried rabbit (and depending how it's cooked it's really good) don't knock it till you've tried it.
That said this book is absolutely wonderful. I've tried many of the offerings and with rare exception they were all outstanding. Which are the best? I'm not going to tell you. I would love to have had this book all to myself.
Still want a suggestion? OK, I'll give in and give you one - how about Pappardelle with Rabbit on pages 143-145. It's excellent. ;-)
David Malek
 On top of spaggetti August 24, 2008
0 out of 1 found this review helpful
So far have tried only oen recipe and it was good but the book is very good reading and I feel I will use it many times.
 good pasta but... July 16, 2008
0 out of 7 found this review helpful
Good pasta, but the fact that they put rabbit in this cookbook is repulsive to me. They couldn't stick with chicken? Gross.
One of my favorites! November 24, 2007
6 out of 6 found this review helpful
This is such a great book! I'm a huge pasta lover, and I love trying new and interesting recipes. This book has a wide array of options. I've tried a handful already and can't wait to try more. There are lots of recipes with very few, simple ingredients, and yet the results are incredible. You can make a lot of them with things you already have in your pantry. And of course, if you want to you can go buy a few more and try something entirely different. Definitely pick up this book if you want easy and fast ideas for pasta that will taste like you're eating at a restaurant.
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