Giada de Laurentiis's Penne with Spinach Sauce

When I first started this blog, I never imagined I'd be cooking any of the recipes from the more grating personalities on the car wreck that is the Food Network. From Rachael Ray to Paula Deen to Sandra Lee to Giada de Laurentiis, it's a veritable horror show of lip-smacking, thigh-slapping excess. I confess that Alton Brown's show, with its cameo appearances from the grande dame of food science herself, keeps me entertained at times, and that Ina Garten's cooking holds a certain appeal (though her increasing girth has me perpetually worried she'll die of a heart attack on my television screen one day). But Emeril? George? And the rest of the girls? Not my cup of tea.

And yet. When the LA Times reviewed Giada de Laurentiis's new book last week, I couldn't help myself. The description of a pasta dish slicked with spinach sauce didn't sound half bad. Some raw spinach and garlic whirled into a pesto of sorts with goat cheese to punch up the flavor and Parmigiano to smooth out the edges couldn't be terrible. When the article quoted Giada's foreward explaining how the food in her new book is "unpretentious, authentic, down-home Italian cooking", I had to hold back a bit of a snort (aren't I a snob). I know Italian down-home cooking and it has nothing to do with raw spinach or goat cheese or low-fat cream cheese (in the original recipe) or even whole wheat pasta. But this wasn't the time for splitting hairs. It was a time to get over myself and try the food of a best-selling cookbook author.

So, I chopped and I whirled and I boiled and I stirred and before too long I had a plate of pasta looking much like it was coated with pesto, but tasting nothing of that springy, herbal sauce. The spinach sauce was harsh with raw garlic, and the raw leafy greens had a flat, disappointing taste. Just thinking of it makes my stomach turn a bit. Ah, and here's the problem. A few hours after I ate my dinner, I became violently ill. For two days. It's taken me four days to even be able to look at the photograph without throwing up a little in my mouth. So, I'd say I should have just listened to my gut. Just because those slick little people in the television box are pretty to look at (an arguable point, I know), it doesn't mean they aren't out to reduce you to a sweating pile of misery lying on your tiled bathroom floor at 2 am in the morning, begging for someone to please just let you die.

Comments

[Rebecca Pollak]

Check out my post on "Pesto my way" on my son's and my blog--a lot like you make here with a solution for the raw garlic problem.

I couldn't agree with you more about the personalities on the Food Network--don't you hate that orgasmic look Rachael Ray gets on her face when she first tastes something?! I do like Alton Brown, though, and actually went to see him when he came to Pittsburgh to promote a book. I hate to see him pander himself on "The Iron Chef" show.

[David]

Girl...get yourself some basil! (and change the channel too...)

[lindy]

I actually thought Sandra Lee was a joke the first time I saw her.Her handy shortcuts took longer than making real food, and they were so perverse. She took packaged caramels, rolled them out with a rolling pin, and fit them into mini muffin cups!Whew!
A lot of things a person sees on the food network could make a person pretty queasy.Hope you're feeling better.

[The Pearl Onion]

Okay, I will just go ahead and say it...I love the Food Network! Sure, it isn't as "sophisticated" as say the cooking shows on PBS, but in the end I do think the dishes are similar and I think the Food Network is much more entertaining (and this is coming from someone who loves PBS!). I also have to give credit to the Network for getting people in the kitchen with their un-intimidating shows.

That having been said, Sandra Lee has GOT to go. And George does give me the creeps.

[gemma]

I don't watch the food network so I can't comment on any of these personalities but I have to believe that ANYTHING that encourages people to get excited, interested in making their own food rather than picking up some fast food on the way home has to be a step in the right direction...

[Madeline]

I own cookbooks from Rachael Ray, Giada, Ina Garten, and George Stella, all food network chefs. I really enjoy being able to watch them make something to hear the little tips and tricks that are not in the cookbooks. The only one whose recipes I make all the time is Rachael Ray, mostly because of the whole 30 minutes thing, my demanding boss, and my desire not to eat fast food. Also, her recipes tend to turn out really well.

[Gwen]

You have made (some parts) life easier for me.
I take both L.A. & NY Times (live in L.A , lived in Soho in the late 80's) I started to make Giada's Fennel with Parmesan & realized that it would be practically impossible to cook without some sort of liquid. I added a bit of white wine still took forever & was pretty tastless. I have made the Buckwheat Cookies twice. Great. Used the Food Processor method. Rolled up the dough and put in freezer. Just soften,slice &bake.
Cream of Celery Soup good! I also had trouble with Mark Bittman's Fennel Stuck pot rice. Amy Scattergood had a good bunch of quick dishes March 15th. Halibut Provencal,Sauteed escarole & Canned Cannellini Beans
Cooking has pretty much become a voyeur sport.
Thanks,
Gwen

[andrea]

Hi,

I have been enjoying your blog for some time now, and i love it! as someone who buys the LA Times on wednesdays just for the food section, i love reading your take on things. i felt the same way as you about that article on giada's book, and i thought, but hey that spinach pasta might be somewhat good, so i clipped it...but, now i don't think i'll bother making it--it doesn't sound very appetizing at all! and so i guess my disdain for the food network continues.

[Ivonne]

Ciao Luisa,

Thank goodness someone feels the same way about so many of the "characters" on the food network as I do!

I swear if I hear EVOO one more time ...

I commend you for at least trying Giada's recipe!

[shauna]

Luisa, you're killing me! I'm sorry you were so sick, but honestly, this post made me laugh out loud. I never thought I'd see a food blog post with the phrase "...throwing up a little in my mouth." Brava for your stance and your fierce words. (As always, your fan.)

[Julie]

Who knew the life of a food blogger could be so dangerous? Hope you're feeling better. Being violently sick to your stomach for two days sounds like pure misery.

[Melissa]

Oh, you poor thing! I hope you're over it by now - those spinach bugs are the worst! The funny thing was that I had just gone into drool mode over the picture before starting to read... needless to say that dried up pretty quickly. I guess I'll stick to my pesto! p.s. Sometimes I miss having the food network over here, but all it takes is something like this to remind me how lucky I am to not be wasting my time on that nonsense...

[Bonnie]

I also had a bad experience with Giada. Her first book had a recipe for vodka sauce, which had a crazy amount of vodka in it. She must be an alcoholic because the stuff never boiled off and the sauce tasted like rubbing alcohol. Yuck!

[pam]

ew, i hate rachel ray with a passion. someone gave me a cookbook of hers as a wedding gift but i can't bear to go near it. at least i can't hear her in the cookbook though. blech.

[R]

I adore Giada. I've made many of her recipes from her first book. She's a great cook and has wonderful and creative flavor ideas. Can't eat Italian every day, but she's the bomb.

Sorry to learn your spinach was a disaster, tho. Sounds like a bad batch of greens or the uncooked garlic disagreed with you.

[yoony]

"car wreck" - love that. it is really becoming a wreck. a very annoying wreck. i always feel a little bit guilty when i resort to one of the more stupider hosts.

[Luisa]

Rebecca - blanching garlic might be a good idea. I'm really not a fan of it raw.

David - yes sir!

Lindy - That made me laugh, thank you. And I'm feeling much better!

Gemma and Kristen - that people should be cooking and not eating fast food is absolutely right!

Madeline - I'm glad to hear Rachael's recipes are reliable. I'm such a stickler about unreliable recipes ;)

Gwen - what a lovely thing to hear! Thank you. I'm so glad you're finding the blog useful (and that you liked those buckwheat cookies - it's high time I made another batch).

Andrea - thank you! good to know other people had the same impulse as I did.

Ivonne - they do seem like actors sometimes, don't they.

Shauna - grazie, bella.

Julie - willingly, I sacrifice myself. All for the blog! :)

Melissa - stick to your pestos, by all means. Do you ever watch food shows on BBC 4 or other British stations?

Bonnie - that doesn't sound pleasant at all. But vodka sauce has never made sense to me, really.

Pam - oh dear! Give it to the Salvation Army.

R - I really don't like uncooked spinach or garlic (the exception being in pesto, and I eat that about twice a year), but had so hoped this recipe would change my mind! Oh well.

Yoony - it's funny, I used to like Food Network more back when the Two Fat Ladies and Jamie Oliver were on, and people like Sandra Lee were but a glimmer in some deranged person's eye. It seemed a lot less gimmicky and greedy then.

[Grant]

No one's mentioned Tyler Florence. I think the recipes he does on "How To Boil Water" are quite good, although some are a bit simplistic. His cookbooks are great too. I've made a number of recipes from them and found them to be very flavorful.

[Ralph]

Hi,

I agree for most of the socalled chefs on the Food Network ( I can't stand Emeril, Sara Lee and, of course Rachael ), though i have to say, I love to have the TV, tuned to Food Network, running in the background.

One Chef, I really like, is Michael Chiarello. I tried many of his recipes, and any single one worked great :-)

Ciao. Ralph.

[Anne Nodar]

I made a pesto-like sauce substituting kale for the basil. It was based on a recipe that came with my Urban Organics box. It was surprisingly good, although I prefer the herby flavor of basil.

I'm not very picky about where I get my cooking advice from. I feel the whole spirit of cooking is about being warm and open, so I'll listen to anyone on the Food Network or elsewhere who seems to have a good idea. And they all have a good idea once in a while.

[Kim Walker]

I actually have the ingredients for this recipe in my FreshDirect cart, waiting for the next time I order. Thanks for the warning. I'm always looking for ways to sneak spinach into my toddler's diet, but it sounds like something a picky toddler won't touch.

[Mauree]

Some people just don't have the ability to cook...even with all the ingredients and step by step instructions. I have never made a dish using Giada'a recipes that didn't turn out flavorful and delicious. Maybe its a personal problem.

[Julie B]

I must admit it, I'm a food network whore. I watch it, with almost a morbid fascination. I find a lot of the personalities to be so over the top that watching them is a little like watching interpretive dance. I do however love to watch Paula Dean, simply because she is the grandma everyone wishes they had, although, since she got married I must say that she is expanding to enormous proportions.

Anyway, I also made the penne with spinach sauce from the Giada collection, except I left out the garlic and added chicken. I really do not like the flavor of raw garlic, so I knew it would turn the dish sour for me. My post also describing my distaste for Giada is attached.

http://urbandrivel.blogspot.com/2006/04/penne-with-spinach-sauce.html

[laura]

I also got sucked in by this recipe and tried it in spite of its source. It definitely fell flat and harsh at the same time and I will never try anything by a skinny photogenic wannabe (Good thing Nigella isn't too skinny.)

[Chancy Gardener]

Regarding Giada de Laurentiis, check out this web site:
www.igordelaurentiis.741.com
CG

[Mel]

You're kidding? You chopped and whirled and boiled? Folks here are the ingredients to this mysterious, difficult meal
1 pound whole wheat or multi grain penne
3 garlic cloves
2 ounces goat cheese
1 ounce reduced fat cream cheese
3/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
6 ounces fresh baby spinach leaves
2 tablespoons freshly grated Parmesan

Nothing foreign, nothing out of the ordinary-not sure what the big chopping and whirling and ordeal was- nor am I sure what Giada introduced you to that would make you sick. It's not as if she called for raw oysters, clams or duck livers. It's hilarious to think that your illness was caused by er recipe. I actually laughed outloud when I read that.

On a separate note, I was was simply surfing the internet to find Food TV personality cookbooks, and doing a Google search on some of the cook's names reveals hatred that is just unbelivable. You'd think that you all know these people personally. I mean- Giadas big bobble head? Scary face? Raytard? Are people that jealous- and bored? If you don't like them, turn the channel. Why be so vicious? There are actually websites dedicated to the hatred of Rachael Ray? Are you KIDDING me?

Of course I'm sure you are all professional chefs cooking in France, Italy and other top places around the world to be so critical- and know so much about what the Food TV celebs don't.

[Julie]

I love the food network, but not all of it's shows or people. Giada is a bit to perfect for me, but hey, food is food and I don't care who has the good recipes just as long as it's quick and tasty. I love the spinach pasta dish and was just looking up the recipe to make it again. Your sickness was most likely unrelated to the recipe and more to do with a virus you caught somewhere or contaminated ingredients. A saying comes to mind...something about letting he who is pure cast the first stone...

[sarah]

How can you be so vicious on her recipe... I have cooked all of her recipes and noting has made me as sick as you have claimed to be. Maybe you should have yourself checked out becuase like one person said its not like she was making uncooked clams. her dishes are delicious and her personality is amazing and why even began to hate on all the chefs on food network when they are making more money then you ever will. Being jealous is an illness and someone seems a little angry....

[Tom]

Yikes! That's rough. Giada is still one of my favorites!

Tom
GiadaDeLaurentiis.info

[Victoria]

Giada is a personality that I simply cannnot come to terms with I don't know if it's her oversized head or that enormous mouth that over emphasises all italian words... I use to LOVE food network and most all it's cooks/chefs but now the producers have managed to produce a top-rated flop....Can they just get back to cooking and not acting or over-entertaining us, with such personalities as Ina and racheal, the giggle twins, Sandra the lush,and Robin, is she actually a cook... Come on FN get your act together....

[Samantha]

This recipe may not be the best, but throwing up from it? I could see if she cooked it for you - you may be able to complain about being sick then. However, you were the chef. Yes, food may disappoint, but it rarely makes you vomit from dislike - it's usually the quality of the ingredients at that point.

[foodnetworkfan]

i find rebecca's comment arrogant and misguided...though i respect her right to free speech...the Food Network is not a trainwreck....it is a smashing success...it has allowed those of us who are not chefs to cook like chefs...they are a mega-hit and transforming the dinner tables of everyday people...i give KUDOS to the Food Network...a revolution in cooking and ingenuity