Product Description

This collection of the best vegetarian recipes from the kitchens of the Country House Montali is truly inspirational. Here, the Italian classics calzone, ravioli, gnocchi and lasagne are transformed into stylish, contemporary dishes, while Fagottini di Pasta Sfoglia Farcite con Couscous (Puff Pastry Envelopes Filled with Couscous) or Cappucini di Asparagi (Asparagus Cappuccino) reveal just how exciting vegetarian cuisine has become. Recipes are divided into chapters mainly corresponding to courses. The first chapter - Basics - encourages you to make your own sauces, stocks, pesto and other essentials. This is followed by Breakfast recipes that include wonderful fruit dishes and muesli. The 'Antipasti' section has a variety of dishes that stand alone or can be mixed together to make a fun platter. 'Primi', 'Secondi' and 'Dolci' chapters all include unusual and outstanding recipes, including soups, risottos, pasta dishes, tarts and pastries and wonderful desserts. Chapters on Sides and Breads finish the book off with more inspiring ideas.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #25251 in Books
• Published on: 2008-03-03
• Original language: English
• Binding: Hardcover
• 296 pages

From the Publisher
It has recently been announced that Vegeterranean has been voted best UK vegetarian cookbook in the prestigious Gourmand 2008 World Cookbook Awards. it has been nominated for the 'Best in the World' award to be announced in May.

About the Author
Malu Simones and Alberto Musacchio are the owners of the Country House Montali hotel in Italy. They firmly believe that vegetarian food is something that should be exciting and delicious. Originally an architect, Malu is Brazilian-born but has lived in Italy for most of her adult life. She has also been a vegetarian most of her life and is passionate about gourmet vegetarian cooking. Alberto has been in the hospitality business for many years, running a hugely successful pub and gourmet restaurant from his early twenties onwards.

Customer Reviews

Beautiful book - even a treat just to read and look at the pictures
I have been a vegetarian for nearly 15 years now and own at least a hundred veggie cook books, but this one has just become my favourite. It is a large format book (A4) with many beautiful photographs accompanying all the recipes. One of those books that you enjoy taking to the sofa for a read and a look through rather than just to the kitchen.

The recipes in here are quite time-consuming and very chic, but worth every minute. But the layout is fantastic - each recipe is divided into separate little sections so that you can easily do everything step by step which I found very useful for those rather complicated dishes that include a base, a sauce and a main "bit." This layout also lets you improvise and leave out some bits if you like...for example, most pasta recipes in this book call for freshly made pasta which I don't always have the time for, so I find it very convenient to have the sauce in a separate section rather than having to read the whole recipe to find the part I am looking for. And although MOST of the recipes are quite complicated and time-consuming (perfect to really wow your guests with on a Saturday night) there are some quick and easy recipes for pasta sauces, tarts and risottos as well, whcih have all without exception been delicious. The book has even converted me to aubergine with its original recipes which really surprised me as I used to have a particular dislike of aubergines for many years, and despite countless other veggie books and recipes, nothing else has managed to convince me that an aubergine CAN taste great...until The Vegeterranean came along.

I think the only down side of this book is that it does require a number of specialty ingredients which you won't get at your local Sainsbury's. They have started to stock '00 flour' but there are quite a few other products that I can't find anywhere in the small town where I live. But I have been able to substitute, although this always leaves me wondering whether the dish would have been even better if I had followed the original recipe. Despite this, I would really recommend this book for its creativity with food and I think that anyone who is bored of Typical vegetarian food will love everything in here.

The best cover ever- but not so sure about the contents.
I've never seen such tempting food on a book cover...I just longed to eat it at once! The recipes are all of a high standard, and the photography glorious. I have to admit that I have not warmed to the authors to anything like the same degree: their personal anecdotes seemed smug and self congratulatory, and I won't be booking a holiday with them! The excellent recipes are frequently fairly complex and time consuming, with many stages in each dish, and the book is probably one for the more experienced cook and not for a novice

Stunning Vegetarian Food
Having eaten at Alberto & Malu's hotel, one of the best vegetarian hotels in the world, this book is the best way to sample their fantastic & unique food again and again. Recipes from breakfast to dinner with plenty of advice, techniques and step by step instructions to follow along with stunning photography this book is a must for any vegetarian and the dishes would surprise even the most hard set meat eater.