Peace, Love, and Pasta: Simple and Elegant Recipes from a Chef's Home Kitchen

by Scott Conant

From award-winning chef and Food Network personality Scott Conant, Peace, Love, and Pasta is a cookbook of restaurant-quality Italian meals that you can make easily in your home kitchen.

“Behind his universally loved charisma, Scott Conant is one of the best cooks I know. His gutsy, Italian-inspired recipes on these pages will make any home cook’s mouth water.”—Bobby Flay

Thirty-five years into an illustrious career of restaurant openings across the country, widespread acclaim, and frequent appearances on the Food Network’s Chopped and many other shows, Scott Conant has returned home to create his most personal cookbook yet. Meals cooked from simple, fresh ingredients were staples of Conant’s childhood in a New England family with roots in Southern Italy. From his grandparents’ garden to the dinner table, Conant’s recipes appreciate the nuances of different flavors and ingredients, and the strong connection between food and Focusing on these foods Conant grew up with and the ones he makes for his loved ones today, Peace, Love, and Pasta compiles simple, fresh, and flavorful Italian recipes for the home cook to bring to their own family’s table. These recipes are built on the art of cooking for love, fascination with flavors and ingredients, and the simple pleasures of taste and conviviality.

Includes Color Photographs

Genres: Cookbooks, Cooking, Food, Nonfiction, Italian Literature, Italy

240 pages, Hardcover

Published September 14, 2021

About the author

In 2008, SCOTT CONANT opened Scarpetta restaurant in New York City and received three-star reviews from the New York Times. Conant often appears as a judge on the popular Food Network show Chopped as well as Today and Bravo's Top Chef.

Reviews

[Leslie aka StoreyBook Reviews · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is my 4th year as part of the Abrams Dinner Party which is great for me as much as I like to cook and try new recipes. Pasta is always a good fallback because there are so many amazing things that can be made and this new book from Scott Conant will delight everyone because it is so much more than just pasta. There are beverages, soups, meat dishes, sweets, and even a Turkish section. It is all about simplicity and I can tell you from the few dishes I have made so far, they are definitely not complex and great for any level of cooking skill you might possess.

When I first opened the book, it opened to the Roasted Garlic, Parmigiano-Reggiano, and EVOO Spread. I happen to LOVE garlic so I knew this was a MUST to make. Now you can put it on crostini or use it as a dip, but I knew it would be delicious spread on some chicken and put under the broiler to finish off the dish. Let me tell you, it was divine!  I didn't use as much EVOO as it called for since I wasn't using it as a dip and didn't need it running out all over the dish. This is definitely a spread that I plan to make multiple times in the future.

The second dish I tried was the Sausage and Porcini Ragu. This is another simple dish that I happened to have all of the ingredients on hand. It came together pretty quickly and the taste was outstanding. I am not a mushroom fan but it worked in this dish (plus there were not a lot of mushrooms). This dish is going into our rotation.

I have several other recipes bookmarked including one of the Turkish dishes, Sigara Börek. It is a pasta dough filled with feta cheese and pan-fried. I found the Yufka dough at a Middle Eastern grocery store and plan to try it out very soon. 

Overall, this cookbook has a lot to offer everyone from the amateur to the more professional chef. Plus the recipes are great for bringing family together to try new dishes and even cook together.

[Susan · Rating 4 out of 5]

Not really "simple" recipes, but interesting to read about Conant's journey.

[Jessica · Rating 3 out of 5]

I love Scott Conant from watching him as a judge on Chopped, so I definitely wanted to check out his newest cookbook. Despite the title the whole book isn't pasta recipes. It's organized like a typical cookbook with chapters like staples, soups, salads, and antipasta, vegetables, etc. I did like that he included a chapter on Turkish cooking since his wife is from Turkey and he's grown to love many of the recipes and food from that area. He also tells some crazy stories from his life in the description of some of the recipes - like in the recipe for pork schnitzel he talks about working at a restaurant in Germany and Michael Jackson and his pet monkey coming in for a meal! Overall, there weren't a ton of recipes I wanted to try, but it is a good overall cookbook with a wide variety of recipes.

[Pattie Tierney · Rating 4 out of 5]

For the third year in a row I am representing Abrams Books as a part of their Abrams Dinner Party. The first batch of books has arrived, and they all appear to be winners. One of the beauties of reviewing books is that I get to try a lot of new recipes and share them with you. Last week, I shared the recipe for Pasta e Fagioli, a restaurant quality soup that can double as a meal. Today I’m going to tell you a little bit more about the book.

Peace, Love, and Pasta: Simple and Elegant Recipes from a Chef’s Home Kitchen by Scott Conant, may initially appear not, as the title as the subtitle would suggest, simple. In quite a few cases, there are lengthy cooking processes, hard to find, perhaps unfamiliar ingredients, and techniques that may be foreign to the average home cook. That said, anyone who has a working knowledge of cooking, or the desire to turn everyday food into something restaurant quality, this book is for you.

The recipes are plentiful and varied; the photos are positively mouthwatering. The desserts will make your eyes roll back in your head. The introductions to many of the recipes are both helpful and informative. You’ll feel as though you are sitting down with an old friend with whom you often exchanged culinary tips and ideas.

In addition to a cookbook, you will also get an education in Italian cooking, taught by the chef and owner of Italian-American dining destination, the Americano in Scottsdale, Arizona, Mora Italian in Phoenix, Arizona, and Cellaio, an Italian steakhouse in the Catskills. This book focuses on the dishes of Conan’s childhood, the ones that he makes for his loved ones today. These recipes combine sophistication and comfort to bring the absolute best to your table.


Disclosure: I received a complimentary copy of Peace, Love, and Pasta from Abrams Books as a member of their Abrams Dinner Party 2021-2022.

[Chris · Rating 3 out of 5]

Looked forward to what Scott was going to share with us expecting simple dishes as the title said. Yes, he had the elegance down. But this book is not for a beginning cook. This is more intermediate to advance simply because of the ingredients and time many of them take. I loved how he talked about his family and there were some easier recipes like his lemon ricotta pancakes and whoopie pies. But then you get to the leg of lamb and the short ribs and many of the pasta dishes, including one with octopus. Great photos and the instructions are explicit so there is no confusion on how to make a dish.
Thank you for this book Scott.

[Budd Margolis · Rating 4 out of 5]

Some rather amazing recipes with very good instructions about how to prepare and cook them!
And some innovative Italian dishes as well as amazing Turkish fare.
Why Turkish food is not more appreciated I never understood but Scott offers up some real treats and the book is delightful, tasty, fun to read and full of family love which is what cooking should be about!
Really enjoyed and will recreate a few recipes asap!!

[Kristina · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book is definitely a love story. It’s clear that Scott Conant loves food & he loves his family. The recipes & endearing stories chronicle his career. His recipes were a little too complicated for my personal cooking style. The title lead me to believe it would be more traditional Italian. However, the unexpected last section of the book with his take on Turkish recipes was wonderful!

[Lcharlson · Rating 4 out of 5]

Enjoyed his restaurant in Miami and look forward to cooking from this book .

[Patricia · Rating 3 out of 5]

Some very interesting and different recipes, enjoyed reading them, unlikely that I will try them, (maybe 20 years ago, I would have.)

[Julie · Rating 5 out of 5]

Lovely-photos, stories, recipes. I can't wait to taste a few!

[Catherine · Rating 3 out of 5]

3*

[Beka · Rating 3 out of 5]

Nice. A bit chef-y, but I really enjoyed all the Turkish recipes that he's learned from his wife's family.

[Janet · Rating 3 out of 5]

Enjoyable read but I won't be making anything!