Good & Garlicky, Thick & Hearty, Soul-Satisfying, More-Than-Minestrone Italian Soup Cookbook (Paperback)

~ Joe Famularo (Author)
Key Phrases: holiday broth, nonreactive soup pot, steady simmer, Basic Beef Broth, Great Northern, Three-Egg Pasta (more...)

Editorial Reviews

From Library Journal

Both Famularo and Wasserman-Miller stress the regional nature of Italian soups, and both include dozens of traditional recipes for minestre and minestrone, brodo, and zuppe. But Famularo, who grew up in a large Italian-American household, has a more personal approach, while Wasserman-Miller, who fell in love with Italy on her first visit there and later opened a Boston food shop called Formaggio, takes a somewhat more formal one, with more explanations of basic techniques and culinary background. Famularo includes many fondly remembered family recipes as well as favorites from his travels to Italy; Wasserman-Miller's collection seems a bit more wide-ranging, featuring some less well-known recipes along with the classics. Although there is some overlap here, of course, the two authors' approaches and interpretations of the traditional recipes are different enough to make both these books worth adding to most collections; they're also good companions to Margaret and G. Franco Ramagnoli's Zuppa! (LJ 12/96).
Copyright 1998 Reed Business Information, Inc.

Product Description

From basic broth to simple pasta-and-bean soup to marvelous meals-in-a-pot, here are over 150 tasty soups for every appetite and every season--from the author of THE JOY OF GRILLING, THE JOY OF PASTA, and the James Beard Award-winning CELEBRATIONS. Try hearty, winter-weather soups from Northern Italy; Fresh Asparagus Soup for spring; Umbrian Roasted Tomato Soup in season; Garlicky Mussels in Broth anytime, and much more. Illustrated .

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Product Details

• Paperback: 304 pages
• Publisher: Workman Publishing Company (January 12, 1997)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0761101470
• ISBN-13: 978-0761101475
• Product Dimensions: 7.9 x 7.8 x 0.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.2 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.9 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (11 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #191,302 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

17 of 17 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Rich and Hearty Italian Soups!!!!, June 19, 2001

By	Teantae Turner "sistert" (Columbia, MD USA) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

This review is from: Good & Garlicky, Thick & Hearty, Soul-Satisfying, More-Than-Minestrone Italian Soup Cookbook (Hardcover)

Any excuse to buy another soup cookbook is a good one for me. The large words "Italian Soup" written across the cover was all it took for this one to end up in my shopping bag. Recipes range from amazingly simple to time consuming but worth the work. These are recipes that you'd expect to have passed down lovingly, with each recipient making it their own along the way.

There are no pictures in this cookbook but the descriptions do the recipes justice all on their own. Each recipe is listed by its English name, its Italian name shown underneath. Chapter titles, listed English over Italian, appear only in Italian on each page header. For visuals, a decorative green strip borders the page edges and there are drawings done in orange interspersed throughout. A very well done index is also provided at the end of the cookbook.

The "Sautéed Asparagus Soup" is a super simple soup that contains so few ingredients you wonder how it could possibly be any good. But it is! I found myself making it whenever I was short on time and ideas. Like most soups, it reheats well and tastes even better the next day. For the most part, soups contained here can be made in under an hour (after preparation of ingredients).

"Pasta and Beans with Fennel and Sausage" is great when company's coming and you don't want to have to fix a lot of food. A nice salad served along side this rich and filling soup and you'll elicit compliments and requests for seconds.

Soup is typical considered a great food for dieters though with these recipes, I would suggest going over the ingredients lists carefully. Many ask for a good helping of cheese in or on top of. Some use bread, rice, or potatoes as thickeners, the meat-based soups use fairly fatty meats, and butter is used most often to cook in.

If you are looking for meal type soups, miss your grandmother's Old Country cooking, or just enjoy soups like I do, this is a not to be missed cookbook. You can turn to any page and feel comfortable that the results will be fantastic.

11 of 11 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A downright miracle, February 10, 2002

By	Ernest Joselovitz (Rockville, MD USA) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

I'm not a cook. But during winter months especially, I do make a few soups to help in the household. And this book is the one I usually use as my guide. I need a recipe. I need recipes that are foolproof. And here is where I get them. Not only does every recipe end in a soup that is edible, but one that is tasty and repeatable. That, with this "cook", is downright miraculous! There is variety here, a learning experience, and in the end a soup that is invariably a tasty success. And I'm not even Italian.

11 of 11 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Dazzling, January 25, 2002

By	Westley (Stuck in my head) - See all my reviews (TOP 500 REVIEWER)

This collection is one of my favorite soup cook books (I have over 20). The recipes are outstanding and the variety is great. Who knew that there are so many different recipes for minestrone? This cook book is the type I love to just pick up and read, and the author includes many warm vignettes or his family memories associated with these recipes. Unfortunately, though, there are no pictures of these excellent soups.