Almonds, Anchovies, and Pancetta

2019 James Beard Award Nominee
From the author of the New York Times bestselling, IACP Award-winning Twelve Recipes comes a charming vegetable-focused cookbook with sixty recipes that add depths of flavor using three key ingredients: almonds, anchovies, and pancetta.
Celebrated chef and home cook Cal Peternell likes to eat today the way people have been eating forever: with vegetables at the center of the plate, seasoned with a little bit of meat or fish to make a meal savory and satisfying. A little of the right kind of meat goes a long way, and in this book, the right ones are anchovies and pancetta, along with almonds, because nuts are the meat of the plant world. Cal uses them first for flavor, but also because it makes sense: taking savory little bites is inarguably better than big meaty mouthfuls. The salt in anchovies and pancetta draws out and enhances flavors, enriching the rest of the dish, and almonds compare favorably fat-wise and can bring a major flavor boost, especially when they’re ground up. This kind of cooking is healthy, leans toward sustainability, and is economical in a way that pleases both palate and pocketbook.
The simple, flexible recipes in this book include Baked, Stuffed Vegetables with Almonds, Currents, Saffron, and Breadcrumbs; Steamed Clams with Almond and Parsley Butter; Roasted Sweet Pepper and Egg Salad with Anchovies, Olives, and Capers; Penne alla Tuna-nesca; Bacon-wrapped Potato Gratin; and Creamy Salsa Rustica with Egg and Pancetta. Cal’s old-new way with vegetables gives them small gifts of tasty goodness that will inspire readers to their own mealtime creativity.
 

Reviews

“A pretty little illustrated book of dishes that are ‘vegetable-focused,’ inspiring and spiked with intensely flavored ingredients…If you have an appetite for dad jokes and cannabis references along with egg-herb-anchovy toasts and eggplant al mattone…this is the fall cookbook for you.” — New York Times“What makes this book special—…Combine the rambling prose with Peternell’s practical advice and delicious flavor combinations and cooking through the recipes feels like having a personal cooking lesson—and a long chat—with the chef himself.” —Bon Appetit (November Cookbook Club Pick)“Reading chef Cal Peternell’s cookbooks is like having a conversation with the Chez Panisse alum and Cooking By Ear podcaster. He’s a wickedly funny, Mediterranean food expert and father of two who tells great stories.” —The Mercury News (6 Sensational New Cookbooks for Fall)“Cal Peternell’s cooking is very traditional, drawing on how people have eaten for generations, using vegetables as the center of the plate… The revered chef’s method is all about emphasizing the flavor of food, but it’s so much more.” — Brooklyn DigestFall 2018 Cookbook Preview: All the new cookbooks we’re excited to buy, read, and cook from this season. —Epicurious “An extremely good read, with recipes that have a charmingly loose-limbed sophistication. . . . Peternell explodes the formulaic recipe format, speaking directly and affectionately to his readers to help them use every sense—and every last anchovy—to become better, more instinctive cooks.” — New York Times Book Review “Almonds, Anchovies, and Pancetta focuses on three ingredients, yet they impart so much flavor that they satisfy the soul.” —Atlanta Journal-Constitution