Most of us know Chef Giada De Laurentiis from Food Network’s Everyday Italian, but the Emmy Award-winning celebrity chef and New York Times best-selling author has just embarked on a new venture with her first-ever restaurant self-titled Giada. The beautiful, sexy new space, which debuted on June 3, is the cornerstone of The Cromwell, Las Vegas’s new boutique hotel by Caesar’s Entertainment.
Upon entering the restaurant, guests are greeted by the aroma of delicious food, an antipasti bar, a wood burning oven, cooks in the kitchen, food and friendliness all the way around. Â It’s like walking into Giada’s personal kitchen!
“I wanted to create a home feeling to this place. I wanted people to feel what it would be to come to my house for dinner. That accessibility and that chicness, and I also wanted to bring a little bit of Italy. You see people making food first thing when you walk in, and it’s very much what you would see at my house for dinner,” says DeLaurentiis.
When she’s not dining or eating at her own restaurant, she enjoys Estiatorio Milos, CarneVino and B&B Ristorante (both by Mario Batali), Bobby’s Burger Palace and Old Homestead at Caesar’s Palace and Joel Roubichon’s restaurant at the MGM Grand. For brunch, she loves Bouchon or Mesa Grill, and says “Mesa Grill has the best little blue corn muffins that I just adore.”
Here, Giada shares one of her most delectable recipes on her own dessert menu, her signature Lemon Ricotta Cookies.
GIADA’S LEMON RICOTTA COOKIES
INGREDIENTS
Cookies
2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour 1 teaspoon baking powder 1 teaspoon salt
1 Â stick unsalted butter, softened
2 Â cups sugar
2 eggs
1 (15-ounce) container
whole milk ricotta cheese
3 tablespoons lemon juice
1 lemon, zested
For the Glaze
1 1/2 cups powdered sugar
3 tablespoons lemon juice
1 lemon, zested
DIRECTIONS
Heat oven to 375 degrees F.
Cookies
In a medium bowl combine the flour, baking powder, and salt. Set aside.
In the large bowl combine the butter and the sugar. Using an electric mixer beat the butter and sugar until light and fluffy, about 3 minutes. Add the eggs, 1 at a time, beating until incorporated. Add the ricotta cheese, lemon juice, and lemon zest. Beat to combine. Stir in the dry ingredients.
Line 2 baking sheets with parchment paper. Spoon the dough (about 2 tablespoons for each cookie) onto the baking sheets. Bake for 15 minutes, until slightly golden at the edges. Remove from the oven and let the cookies rest on the baking sheet for 20 minutes.
Glaze
Combine the powdered sugar, lemon juice, and lemon zest in a small bowl and stir until smooth. Spoon about 1/2 teaspoon onto each cookie and use the back of the spoon to gently spread. Let the glaze harden for about 2 hours. Pack the cookies into a decorative container.
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