Two weeks ago, the team was eagerly taking notes and happily trying recipes from GP’s newest (and quite possibly most gorgeous) cookbook, It’s All Easy, in the Williams-Sonoma test kitchen. On the menu? The Zuni Sheet Pan Chicken and Zucchini Cacio e Pepe.
The entire cookbook is written for the super-busy home cook (I’ll raise my hand to that!). And it was easy to see the book’s dedication to fresh, rich, simple flavors in the sampling of recipes we experienced. Both dishes were equally dinner party-worthy, equally easy, and extremely approachable using easy ingredients from the pantry and grocery store.
The Zuni Sheet Pan Chicken was inspired by San Francisco’s Zuni Cafe (at the top of my list for the next visit!) and its world famous roasted chicken dish. GP put her own spin on it to become a go-to weeknight meal with roasted garlic, lemons, anchovies, and giant pieces of french bread that caramelize with the juices of the pan and quite possibly make up my favorite crunchy, gooey bite. I was so impressed that this one-pan/one-sheet dish can be finished in under an hour (which is pretty rare in my kitchen when roasting such a large bird), and being made in only one dish it makes cleanup sooo much easier. The beauty of this recipe too is it’s truly a complete meal; a tender roast chicken atop crispy, toasted bread and a bed of fresh, seasonal greens. I followed the recipe to a tee, adding just a bit more garlic and bread, because in my world you can never get enough garlic and bread. Ever.
The second recipe we learned while in the WS test kitchen was GP’s Zucchini Cacio E Pepe. It’s almost not even fair to call this a recipe because it’s so, so easy. If you haven’t used or thought of using a spiralizer, this recipe alone is reason to take the plunge. Beautifully simple, yet classic made in under 15 minutes which means it can be made in a pinch, any night of the week. Think of it as your new favorite summer pasta dish; healthy with its zucchini noodles and light with a dusting of salt, pepper and Parmesan cheese. One great tip we learned during the class; when spiralizing make sure to spin about four times and tear the noodles. If you spiralize the entire zucchini in one go you’ll have one giant zoodle making it more difficult to eat.
Next up for me I plan to make GP’s black bean soup and taquitos, but I’d love to know if you’ve checked out the book and what successes you’ve had with the recipes? Truly, MKR
P.S. Hop over to yesterday’s post to read about our team’s recent cookbook club experience at Williams-Sonoma and enter to win your own copy of It’s All Easy and GP’s favorite tool, the spiralizer. xo
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