Review of Italy On A Plate

"In her debut cookbook, Susan Gravely celebrates 40 years as Founder and Creative Director of VIETRI, a lifestyle brand offering handcrafted Italian tabletop and home and garden accessories." 

So begins the description of this beautiful cookbook, Italy On A Plate,  that I won as a giveaway from my favorite website The Book Club Cookbook. 

Information from the VIETRI website: 

"When Susan, Frances, and their mother, Lee Gravely, took their first trip to Italy in 1983, they fell in love with the Italian culture. During their stay at the San Pietro Hotel in Positano, they went to lunch and found themselves captivated by the hotel's colorful, handcrafted dinnerware. The next day they arranged to meet the artisans at a nearby factory in the town of Vietri sul Mare. As they watched the artisans paint, glaze, and fire each piece by hand, they were inspired to share the treasure they had discovered. The Gravelys returned home with an array of pieces with mixed patterns all related to nature. The collection would become known as Campagna, VIETRI's flagship dinnerware."

Italy On A Plate is a compilation of Susan Gravely's memories and recipes that she collected in her travels in the various regions of Italy to add to her line of fine dining ceramics and resulting friendships. I love a cookbook such as this that not only is comprised of delicious recipes but also stories of the people behind them.  The photography inside is exquisite, with each completed recipe presented on a piece of her company's dinnerware.

 

There are many recipes I'd like to try but this recipe for "Zucchine Al Gorgonzola--Zucchini With Gorgonzola" on page 38 caught my eye and was the first recipe I made.  Comprised of zucchini, eggs, sour cream, gorgonzola cheese, and spices, this is cooked up with a souffle-like top with a buttery sliced zucchini bottom.  It was delicious and made such a pretty presentation.

I paired the dish with roasted trout and salmon, as well as steamed asparagus and broccoli. The addition of Zucchine Al Gorgonzola provided a luxurious touch to the meal. My son-in-law was so pleased with the dish that he asked if he could take the remaining food home.

The second recipe I tried was "Involtini Di Melanzane--Eggplant Rolls," on page 156.

This is Susan's favorite dish!

I have made Eggplant Rollatini many times in the past--you can see my recipe that I blogged about a long time ago when I lived in Brooklyn, New York, on this link.  If you peek at that post you can see that I used to dip the eggplant slice in egg, then bread crumbs, and then fry them before stuffing them with a ricotta cheese mixture and then baking them.  Susan's recipe was lighter with no breading--the eggplant slices were brushed with olive oil and baked to soften them, and included a slice of prosciutto placed on the inside of each slice before stuffing them and rolling them up. Susan served hers with a hint of sauce on top,  but we like them smothered in sauce with mozzarella cheese on them. We did not miss the breading at all and the prosciutto gave the eggplant rolls an extra layer of flavor.  I'll never make them any other way from now on.

I've saved a lot of recipes that I'm excited to test out, ranging from soups and appetizers to main courses and desserts. 

Italy On A Plate is truly lovely and I plan on always cherishing it as part of my collection.

Thank you to The Book Club Cookbook for such a wonderful giveaway prize!

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