Customer Reviews

Ciao Italia Pronto!: 30-Minute Recipes from an Italian Kitchen

5 star:		(2)
4 star:		(0)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

"Ciao Italia Pronto!" is a better cookbook in theory than in practice.

Italian food? Check! Thirty minute meals? Check! Sounds like just the thing to make a nice meal and still have some time between getting home from work and bedtime. That would be a false assumption.

American kitchens are certainly more sophisticated since the days when Chef-Boy-Ar-Dee owned the Italian cooking franchise. However, many of the ingredients called for in these recipes are still on the exotic side in my corner grocery. Sure, we have farmers markets, Whole Foods, Trader Joe's, even an Italian specialty market or two but, if I have to fight traffic gridlock after work to go destination shopping for ingredients, it defeats the purpose of the Thirty Minute meal. The author recognizes this problem and provides a four page directory of mail order houses to obtain some of the required ingredients. This immediately makes about 40 percent of these recipes more trouble than they're worth.

If you do manage to find the ingredients, know that these recipes are neither simple, nor fast.

The recipe for "Lazy Lasagne" requires eight ingredients, and bakes for 30-35 minutes. That's cooking time only, and does NOT include prep time. Oh, and the tomato sauce for the lasagne is a recipe on a separate page. The sauce requires an additional eight ingredients and 20 minutes of cooking time.

Another main dish, "Fresh Tuna with Artichoke, Capers and Chickpeas," requires 12 ingredient and we're advised to make it early in the day, or a day ahead.

Some of the dishes are unfamiliar and pictures of the prepared food would have been a big help. There are only eight full page color pictures located in the center of the book, one appetizer, one soup, two main dishes, two salads, and two desserts.

If you're interested in this book for quick, convenient recipes, look elsewhere. This is far more complicated and time consuming than the advertised "....30 Minute Recipes from an Italian Kitchen." Not recommended.

I'm really surprised by the bad reviews. There is nothing wrong with this book. It's full of simple, delicious recipes that work and I don't find that the ingredients are too difficult to find. Granted, I have an extensive pantry full of Italian products so I don't have to work as hard as some because I already have most of the ingredients on hand already. That's the point though, isn't it? If you have a well-stocked pantry, you'll probably only have to get your proteins and produce. If you grow fresh herbs like I do in the summer, you'll have to work even less. She has a whole section in the beginning of the book that discusses what types of products to have on hand, and if you do, it's rather easy to whip up a meal. Maybe the book is not for people unwilling to hunt down and keep good Italian products around. I cook Italian food most of the time so for me, this book works. I find the recipes to be rather easy as well.

I subscribe to a few cooking magazines...and very much look forward to curling up on the couch and browsing for new recipe ideas. I have a dear friend who is an accomplished cook and loves authentic Italian food. After her husband was in a tragic accident, I purchsed this book in hopes of finding ideas for easy italian meals that I could bring to her family. But, I guess I just took for granted that this cookbook would live up to its name. I saw the television show, and they made it look so easy! It would help a lot if there were pictures in the book to give you some idea of what the final product should look like. The meals are neither quick, nor easy. I was very disappointed in this purchase. This book will not last long in my kitchen. Sorry!

I have seen many Ciao Italia shows with Mary Ann and her love of food and easy steps can make anyone an Italian cook. All her books are well written and easy to follow, so enjoy!

a nice addition to the library but not as essential as her other books.

Recipes are very easy to follow and to prepare in limited time.