Wolfgang Puck's Pizza, Pasta, and More! (Hardcover)

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Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com Review

Since the 1982 opening of his L.A. restaurant Spago, Wolfgang Puck has become a household name. Several restaurants, TV appearances, and cookbooks later, Puck has put together Wolfgang Puck's Pizza, Pasta, and More, a collection of his favorite and most popular recipes. "Eating with family and friends is like having a little party," says Puck. "It is pure pleasure, a relaxing and fun experience. Casual and easy to prepare, these are dishes everyone can make and enjoy."

Puck starts with the basics--stocks, sauces, dressings, and condiments. With chicken or vegetable stock fresh made or stored in your freezer, you have the base for Hazelnut Brown Butter and Herb Sauce (toss with wild-mushroom ravioli and dust with Parmesan) or Tomato Garlic Basil Sauce (good for pasta or pizza). The salads range from a classic Caesar with Homemade Tapenade Croutons to a Grilled Ahi Tuna Niçoise Salad to a colorful stacked Roasted Beet Napoleon. Thin-crust wood-oven pizzas are Puck's signature and he does not disappoint. The Herbed Artichoke Pizza is studded with sautéed artichoke bottoms, niçoise olives, and caramelized onions and the Tangy Chicken Pizza features peppers, eggplant, and chicken marinated in olive oil, lime, jalapeños, garlic, and cilantro. Try the brunch pizza with scrambled eggs and smoked salmon on a leisurely Sunday.

The pastas are equally as enticing. Puck suggests making your own and includes his fail-safe recipe. Particularly temping are Angel Hair with Wild Mushrooms, Asparagus, and Shaved Parmesan Cheese, Crispy Calamari with Chinese Noodles and Spicy Garlic Sauce, and Gnocchi with Braised Veal Shank.

Besides alluring photos of many of the dishes, pictures of Puck and his staff preparing for the 2000 Academy Awards post-party are included (FYI: Haley Joel Osment's favorite pizza is Pepperoni and Mushroom). --Dana Van Nest

From Publishers Weekly

Entrepreneurial chef Puck (Adventures in the Kitchen) presents a lively and inspired collection of popular recipes guaranteed to leave his many devotees sated. Puck, whose vast empire includes the acclaimed Spago restaurants, lets readers in on the secrets behind his justifiably revered pizzas as well as other inviting dishes that he says are easy enough for anyone to prepare. If he perchance exaggerates the simplicity of some recipes, there are plenty of others that cry out to be replicated in the home kitchen. His signature Caesar Chicken Pizza (from his restaurant at the Forum at Caesar's Palace in Las Vegas) is a study in contrasts: tangy saut?ed chicken, oven-dried tomatoes and cheeses topped by a reinterpreted Caesar's Salad. Spinach, Mushroom and Blue Cheese Pizza combines flavors fearlessly. A delectably effortless Black and Green Olive Tapenade includes oven-dried tomatoes, fresh thyme and oregano. Although it's no longer on the menu, Puck brings back a simple customer favorite in Angel Hair with Goat Cheese, Broccoli and Toasted Pine Nuts. Less intrepid cooks may bypass Roasted Squab on Pan-Fried Noodles with Spicy Mushroom Sauce after they read that the bird (except for the legs) should be butterflied and boned. But then there is Chicken Bolognese, which takes under an hour to prepare and can be done in advance. Recipes for pizza and pasta are popular enough, but Puck's appearances on Good Morning America and the Home Shopping Network will certainly get viewers' attention. 5-city author tour. (Nov.)
Copyright 2000 Reed Business Information, Inc.

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 224 pages
• Publisher: Random House; 1 edition (November 7, 2000)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0679438874
• ISBN-13: 978-0679438878
• Product Dimensions: 9.2 x 7.4 x 1.2 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.8 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.6 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (7 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #741,286 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

52 of 53 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Definitely Worth Buying, November 23, 2000

By	Deb Mele (Toronto, Ontario Canada) - See all my reviews

Although Wolfgang Puck has become one of America's best known chefs, I have not been overlly impressed with either his restaurants, nor his prior cookbooks. This cookbook was in fact for me, a very nice surprise. Mr Puck shares with us his secrets for his famous pizza and pasta recipes, and every recipe I have tried from this book so far has been great. One favorite is his Savory Squash Soup, and another his Herbed Artichoke Pizza. The recipes are easy enough for a novice cook to follow, and the food photos are truly inspiring. It is difficult not to run to the kitchen after browsing through this book. This cookbook has definitely given me a more favorable opinion of Mr. Puck.

25 of 27 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Wolfgang Puck's Pizza, Pasta, and More!, September 4, 2001

By A Customer

As always, Puck gives us clever and innovative recipes, but this time they're better suited to professional chefs and restaurant budgets. I particularly point to recipes like the one for balsamic shallots which calls for a whole pound of shallots and one-and-a-half cups of balsamic vinegar. That much supermarket balsamic vinegar would be harsh and unpalatable, while a decently-aged balsamic from a specialty shop would take this dish, just a side dish after all, out of range for the average budget.

Also, I don't think his testing team did a thorough job. I found several errors, obvious to me because I'm a professional too. Regardless of these points, I think Puck is a terrific chef and teacher, although he just may have lost touch with what people will cook at home as opposed to what they would rather eat in a restaurant.

10 of 10 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Puck is a master, and this book proves it!, May 23, 2001

By A Customer

Wolfgang Puck's skills as a chef and restauranteur are well established, but with this cookbook he joins the select group of food professionals (like Perla Meyer, Caprial Pence, and Alice Waters) whose knowledge translates beautifully into recipes a home chef can prepare readily. The recipes are not only well thought out and obviously thoroughly tested under home kitchen conditions, but the mix of flavors and textures is sublime. Puck's sensitivity to his ingriedients and his innovative flair for marrying ingriedients stand out: the dishes are exciting to eat and easy to prepare.

We've prepared probably 20 or more of the recipes in this book so far, and we find it perfect for those evenings when you want something pretty wonderful for dinner but you're played out from a hard day at the office.