Red, White, and Greens: The Italian Way with Vegetables [Hardcover]

Faith Willinger (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: September 11, 1996

Faith Willinger, a contributing editor to " Gourmet" magazine who was called "the ultimate source for information on Italian food" by the " New York Times ," here offers 150 simple, elegant, and diverse vegetable dishes that reflect the creativity and flavor of her adopted country.

Italians do the most exciting things with vegetables. The same ingenious creativity that resulted in some of the world's greatest art, architecture, design, literature, fashion, and music is also applied to vegetables." With this in mind, Faith Willinger, who has lived in Italy for more than 20 years, brings the honest and delicious vegetable recipes she has discovered there back to America. The dishes come from friends and family all over the Italian peninsula, from the Dolomites to the tip of Reggio Calabria, and showcase a wide range of ingredients, styles, and techniques. Each recipe highlights the Italian ability to create exquisite dishes out of the simplest, freshest foods.

The 150 sensible, delicious, and easy-to-follow recipes include Garlic Bread Soup, Raddichio Lasagne, Garlic-Parsley Braised Artichokes, and Asparagus Carpaccio. Willinger offers variations on the recipes--such as adding a piece of meat or fish to some dishes--as well as backgrounds and fascinating history and lore. "Red, White, and Greens" offers advice from a well-respected expert on how to make abundant, inexpensive, and healthy vegetables taste their best.

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com Review

For those who immediately associate Italian cooking with meatballs and red sauce, Faith Willinger has a treat. She has composed a cookbook of everyday, family Italian recipes that rely on vegetables and tradition. Each chapter features a specific vegetable, offering recipes and entertaining explanations on the traditional purpose of specific dishes. Try Carmignano fennel seed-spiced dried figs or Torquato's Rice and Cabbage Soup--her concoctions are creative yet simple to make.

From Publishers Weekly

Accomplishing what few, if any, have done before, Willinger (Eating In Italy) has made everyday, often spontaneous Italian vegetable recipes (rarely written down in Italy) accessible to American cooks. She arranges the recipes by vegetable (or vegetables, e.g., broccoli, cauliflower and broccoli rabe are grouped together) and opens each chapter with an entertaining, informative look at the use of the subject over time and its preparation today; a list of recipes in the chapter is a surprisingly helpful addition. Making the most of seasonal bounties, recipes are simple and often unexpected. Carmignano Fennel Seed-Spiced Dried Figs are stuffed with walnuts and fennel seeds and layered with bay leaves for flavor. Torquato's Rice and Cabbage Soup uses the same rice as risotto but does not require constant stirring. Pantelleria Potato Salad is dotted with capers and olives, and Chicken with Peppers, Piedmont-style substitutes chicken for rabbit in a traditional stew. In Italy, pasta often serves as a last-minute meal or first course, and most chapters include a few quickly prepared pasta recipes: Giuliano's Garlicky Artichoke Spaghetti, Signora Ada's Penne with Squash Sauce and Pasta with Mushroom and Chicken Liver Sauce. An "Italian Pantry" section covering pasta, rice and other essentials rounds out this authentic and practical effort.
Copyright 1996 Reed Business Information, Inc.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Hardcover: 352 pages
• Publisher: Morrow Cookbooks (September 11, 1996)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0060183667
• ISBN-13: 978-0060183660
• Product Dimensions: 9.3 x 7.4 x 1.3 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.8 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (11 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #828,268 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Discover books, learn about writers, read author blogs, and more.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

9 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Now what should we do with this vegetable?, August 3, 1999

By 

Dr. Aeyal M. Gross - See all my reviews

This review is from: Red, White, and Greens: The Italian Way with Vegetables (Paperback)

The other day I opened the fridge and discovered that I have some zuchhini. I opened up Red White and Greens under "zuchhini", and within a little while I was eating wonderful zuchhini carpaccio. The next day I found out I still have some leeks from my last shopping. I opened the book under "leek", and discovered how simple it would be to make roasted leek. It was delicous. And when I had some pecorino romano --- well, just look under garlic for a beautiful salad. Faith Willinger, who took us thorough Northern Italy in her "Eating in Italy", here gives simple and delicous Italian recipies for vegetables. Everything I tried is easy to understand and prepare, and became an instant "classic" in our household. Some of the recipies are from Firenze's wonderful Cibreo restaurant, and they are definitley clearer here than they are in the little Cibreo cookbook. Anyone who likes vegetables and loves Italian food will delight in this book. It's a real asset to have. And yes, as some have complaines, some of the ancedotes are repititve, but they still provide fun reading, and even more fun cooking. So get this book, and start maybe with the leek and lemon sauce for pasta. Can I have some more of that, please?

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Lots of Facts and Recipes, but not essential., July 24, 2005

By 

B. Marold "Bruce W. Marold" (Bethlehem, PA United States) - See all my reviews
(TOP 100 REVIEWER)    (HALL OF FAME REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)   

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Red, White, and Greens: The Italian Way with Vegetables (Paperback)

`Red, White & Greens' is on `The Italian Way with Vegetables' by one of the leading distaff Anglo-Saxon interpreters of Italian cuisine, Faith Willinger, who joins Joyce Goldstein, Lynne Rosetto Kasper, Nancy Harmon Jenkins, and Claudia Roden in the very demanding footsteps of Elizabeth David in providing us with an understanding of Italian cuisine.

Unlike many of the superb books by the likes of Marcella Hazan and Lydia Bastianich, these authors, like David, want to go behind the recipes and give us some feel for the analysis, history, geography, botany, and culture of Italian cuisine. Ms. Willinger in this book is focusing on vegetables in a way that is somewhat different from her closest competitor, Jack Bishop, with his book, `The Complete ItalianVegetarian Cookbook'. And, before I go any further, if all you want is Italian recipes with vegetables, then Bishop's book will definitely give you more of what you want than Ms. Willinger's older and shorter volume.

When I started in on Ms. Willinger's book, I quickly became wary of her statement that the Italians like vegetables because they taste good. Almost every authority I have read on the matter, including some which go back to Renaissance cooking, are pretty clear on the fact that Italians like vegetables because they were poor and so many good vegetables could be gathered from the wild.

As I was docking the author for her faulty history, I largely gave her back most of her points when I saw how she treated her subject once we got into the individual vegetables. Unlike Mr. Bishop who organizes his recipes by type of dish, Ms. Willinger treats each of her nineteen headline vegetables in a separate chapter. Note that while there are only nineteen chapters, many more species are discussed. The chapter on artichokes, for example, also deals with cardoons and there is but one chapter on all of mushrooms.

The selection of recipes is not meant to be complete or even a selection of the most popular dishes. The chapter on artichokes, for example, does not include the famous `carciofi alla giudea' of Rome. In fact, most of the recipes are identified with the name of the individual from whom Ms. Willinger cribbed the procedure.

This book is a bit of a lightweight compared to many, but it has a lot of historical and botanical information you may not find elsewhere. It is an excellent addition to any library on Italian cuisine, but if you have Elizabeth Schneider's `Vegetables from Amaranth to Zucchini' and Jack Bishop's book, you will probably not miss this volume.

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Sensational and easy!, October 8, 1997

By A Customer

This review is from: Red, White, and Greens: The Italian Way with Vegetables (Hardcover)

I just love this book - the recipes make the best of great produce, are well written and easy to follow. As the Cookery Editor says most of the recipe are easy but rely on quality produce. I'ave cooked at least 10 recipes from this book and have not been disappointed. A couple of weeks ago when I was having a lunch party for 40 I made the Sicilian Potato Salad - it was sensational. If you are looking for a potato salad without a creamy dressing this is definately worth considering. Also it is so easy that it managable to make in quantity.

The other appealing feature of this book is the information section at the beginning of each chapter/section. For anyone interested in food and its history these section make great reading.

If I had to choose only 10 cookbooks this would be one of them.