Italian Cookbooks

Marcella Says...: Italian Cooking Wisdom from the Legendary Teacher's Master Classes, with 120 of Her Irresistible New Recipes
by Marcella Hazan

Marcella Hazan is acclaimed for her trailblazing cookbooks, but first and foremost she is a teacher. From cooking classes held in her small New York City apartment kitchen in the 1960s to the avidly sought after Master Classes she led in her beautiful Venice home, Marcella has been the authoritative guide to Italian cooking.

This much-anticipated follow-up to Marcella Cucina offers 100 new tantalizing recipes that bring Marcella's warm, conversational, and illuminating teachings into home kitchens everywhere. The legendary author and cooking teacher shares invaluable lessons in Italian cooking, including mastering traditional techniques, selecting and using ingredients, and planning and preparing complete Italian menus. Drawing on her unique ability to present each recipe as a narrative with subplots, characters, and rich history, Marcella demonstrates just how many delicious new stories she still has to tell.

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Pastas, pestos, risottos, sublime cheeses, scintillating seasonings, superb wines, and of course delectable desserts: no wonder the first known food writer was Italian. With fish from the port of Ostia, game from the hills near Rome, and the freshest fruits and vegetables, nature has blessed the country with delicious bounty. Prepare your own Italian feast with luscious recipes that range from antipasti, soups, and seafood to sauces, breads, and pizzas. Background information will acquaint you with the cuisine's development, and the different regional specialties (such as Emilia-Romagna's prosciutto di Parma). Bring to your table a Frittata al Formaggio, the perfect light main course; Mozzarella in Carrozza, or a fried mozzarella sandwich; Anolini alla Piacentina, small ravioli stuffed with braised beef; and Gelato di Crema, a smooth, fresh, lemony custard ice cream. With an A-Z of ingredients and, of course, a wine list from this land of vines!

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The Food of Italy
by Waverly Root

The Food of Italy is the book to get if you're traveling there. You know about the Coliseum, you've heard about the canals of Venice, but what should you order? Waverly Root supplies the answers in this travelogue focusing on the foods of various regions in Italy. Root, who made his living as a foreign correspondent and has written several volumes on his penchant for food, is an excellent guide whose descriptions will convince globetrotters that there's much more to travel than sightseeing. Along with The Food of France, this book won the 1990 James Beard Cookbook Award.

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Talisman Italian Cookbook
by Ada Boni, Mathilde La Rosa (Translator)

Il Talismano is and has been for over 50 years the one great standard Italian cookbook. It is to Italians what Joy of Cooking is to Americans. Containing in simple and clear form the best recipes for all the foods that we associate with Italian cuisine, it covers all the regional variations of Italian cooking: Milanese, Bolognese, Venetian, Neapolitan, Sicilian, Veronese, and Florentine.

Appetizers range from the simply elegant, like Cantaloupe and Prosciutto and Artichoke Hearts in Olive Oil, to the sublime, like Tunnied Veal and Crostini of Mozzarella and Anchovies. Soups include Stracciatella, Fish Brodetto Rimini Style, and Tuscan Minestrone.

No part of Italy is very far from the sea, a fact reflected in the variety and quality of Italian seafood preparations: Flounder with Black Butter Sauce, Lobster alla Diavolo, Mullet in Piquant Sauce, Scungilli Marinara, and Shrimp Buongusto. For the landlocked there are recipes for Beefsteak alia Pizzaiola, Ossobuco, Saltimbocca, Scaloppine al Marsala, Loin of Pork with Milk, Chicken Cacciatora, Chicken Livers with Sage, Wild Duck with Lentils, and Rabbit in Egg Sauce.

Pasta is perhaps Italy's greatest contribution to world cuisine, and The Talisman contains dozens of authentic recipes like Homemade Ravioli, Green Lasagna Modena Style, and Spaghetti Marinara. There are recipes for Polenta, the Italian cornmeal preparation, as well as rice dishes and pizza.

Finally, Italian desserts are explored in full: Almond Macaroons, Pine Nut Cookies, Ricotta Pie, Zeppole, and Zuppa Inglese. There is also a glossary (complete with pronunciation guide) to Italian cooking terms.

For the American edition of The Talisman, all weights, measurements, instructions, and ingredients have been adapted to American usage. The result is a collection of recipes that are as easy to prepare as they are delicious to eat.

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The Best of Bugialli
by Giuliano Bugialli, John Dominis (Photographer)

Award-winning cookbook writer Bugialli (Giuliano Bugialli's Foods of Italy) returns here to home turf to offer new recipes from all over Italy to his fans. The book is divided into sections on breads, main courses, vegetables and desserts, and Dominis's color photos are chipper and spruce-even sometimes witty, as when six pale amber pears sit upright in chocolate sauce, a tantalizing and somehow sober mirage. Directions are straightforward, though the fare can be elaborate; care is taken to bring complexities into the common kitchen. Some of the standouts: rolled stuffed swordfish cutlets on skewers; schiacciata with fresh grapes; lamb with herbed horseradish sauce. Compact and colorful, the book will find its way onto many American shelves, especially after the debut of a new PBS cooking series to be hosted by Bugialli.

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Festa: Recipes and Recollections of Italian Holidays
by Helen Barolini

Born of Italian-American parents, Helen Barolini rediscovered her culinary heritage when she married Italian writer Antonio Barolini and lived for some years in Italy. Festa is a year-long feast of memories and delicious, traditional Italian dishes-from St. Nicholas sweetmeats in December and perciatelli with sardines and fennel for March's St. Joseph's Day, to figs with prosciutto for summer's Ferragosto and pumpkin gnocchi for an American Thanksgiving in Italy.

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Italian Food Artisans: Traditions and Recipes
by Pamela Sheldon Johns, John Rizzo (Photographer)

The traditional food products of Italy are world treasures. From aged balsamic vinegar to creamy buffalo-milk mozzarella, from Parmigiano-Reggiano to mellow extra-virgin olive oil, these classic ingredients, lovingly crafted for centuries, form the backbone of a great cuisine. Pamela Sheldon Johns's Italian Food Artisans introduces readers to the men and women who, despite the press of modern industrialization, make these edible wonders today, while offering 50 simple but delicious recipes that use them. Readers interested in Italian food culture and those seeking accessible recipes for authentic Italian dishes will want this book.

Arranged by general topics such as condiments, breads, rice, and pasta, the book profiles the artisans in words and evocative color photos; recipes follow. We meet, for example, the Mori family of Tuscany, whose farm factory has produced extra-virgin olive oil for over two centuries. Recipes include the enticing Penne Santo, a cabbage, pancetta, and olive oil-topped bread, and Torta di Capezzana, a delicious olive oil cake, among others. We journey also to the tiny village of Piantella in Abruzzo, among other places, where Gianluigi Peduzzi oversees the pasta-making business started by his great-grandfather; recipes include Orechiette with Clams and Broccoli Rabe, and Shells Stuffed with Spinach and Ricotta in Asparagus Sauce. We also encounter makers of chestnut flower honey, chocolate, vin santo, and wild boar prosciutto, among other ingredients, and are given recipes for their use. A list of resources for finding the products both here and in Italy concludes the book, which, in its evocation of venerable traditions still practiced, is also heartening. It's good to know the modern world, so geared to homogenization, still contains them.

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Gelato!: Italian Ice Cream, Sorbetti & Granite
by Pamela Sheldon Johns, Joyce Oudkerk-Pool (Photographer)

Johns has made a specialty of single-subject cookbooks on Italy: her other titles include Balsamico! and Parmigiano! She starts with the history of Italian ice cream and its cousins, then moves on to frozen desserts ranging from Chocolate-Hazelnut Gelato to Caramel Semifreddo. But there are fewer than 50 recipes in all, and some are for cookies and other accompaniments, so the stars of her book don't really get to shine: only three granite recipes, a dozen for sorbet, and 17 for gelato.

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A Treasury of Italian Cuisine: Recipes, Sayings and Proverbs in Italian and English
by Don Peppino Privitera, Sharon Privitera (Illustrator), Joseph F. Privitera

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Trattoria: The Best of Casual Italian Cooking (Casual Cuisines of the World)
by Mary Beth Clark, Peter Johnson

Part of a series launch, this celebration of Italian-style comfort food offers a sophisticated range of recipes from Bocconcini Salad to Sweet Gorgonzola with Baked Figs and Honey. Aiming to highlight straightforward, uncomplicated flavors, the recipes are comparably direct. Penne with Arugula in Tomato Cream Sauce is a quick first course; Eggplant and Walnut Ravioli in Tomato-Pesto Sauce (made with one's own pasta dough, for which a recipe is included, or with purchased fresh pasta sheets) and Spinach Gnocchi in Gorgonzola Cream Sauce will require more time. Such main courses as Duck with Vin Santo and Monkfish with Potatoes and Artichokes are, like most of the dishes throughout, for home-style Italian cuisine, not a hybrid American-Italian fare. While a considerable number of recipes call for heavy cream in substantial quantities, there is plenty here for those who hope to cook low-fat Italian food. Each recipe is faced by a full-page color photo; a discussion of wines and a glossary are also included.

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Trattoria Italia: A Gastronomic Tour of Italy
by Giulia de Franceschi (Editor)

In Italy, the trattoria is a casual restaurant where diners go for typical home-style food made with local ingredients. From region to region, the meals change to reflect the specialties of the area: The olive in Puglia, prosciutto di San Daniele in Friuli, truffles in Piedmont.

" Trattoria Italia: is a fascinating book of food from the eighteen regions of Italy with up-to-date listings for each region's best restaurants, wines, cheeses, and markets. Each chapter presents the beauty and bounty of the region's landscape, followed by the favorite recipes of its people-Italian soul food such as Ligurian fish stew cacciucco, herbed fava bean, sausage and polenta gratin with tomato sauce, and sweet fried ravioli. Each chapter also offers a detailed essay on the production and uses of a particular regional ingredient.

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Trattoria: Casual Italian Cooking at Home (Caf Series)
by Isabelle Sensi, Michael Roulier (Photographer)

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Trattoria Pasta
by Loukie Werle, Peter Johnson (Photographer)

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Lorenza's Italian Seasons: 200 Recipes for Family and Friends
by Lorenza De' Medici Stucchi

Contemporary studies of Italian cooking cite regionality and seasonality as driving forces that make the peninsula's foods so refreshing, satisfying, and popular. The inimitable Lorenza de'Medici follows a year's seasons and shows how her Tuscan cooking changes from month to month as available produce matures. Lorenza's Italian Seasons begins in spring with the tenderest, most delicate vegetables mixed into ethereal minestrone. Summer brings on heartier dishes, such as a salad of duck breast and fresh horseradish. Fall's abundance yields fettuccine with hazelnuts and many game dishes. Winter calls for hearty fare: lasagna noodles formed into cups and baked with a ricotta and cream filling.

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Italy Today The Beautiful Cookbook: Contemporary Recipes Reflecting Simple, Fresh Italian Cooking
by Lorenza De' Medici, Fred Plotkin

Italy Today, the Beautiful Cookbook is the third volume on Italian cooking to join the popular Beautiful series of large format, lavishly illustrated books from HarperCollins. It is more than just a pretty book to set on the coffee table; this is a book cooks will enjoy and one that makes good reading if you are planning a trip to Italy.

Fred Plotkin's text covers the history, economy, and particular ingredients important in each of Italy's culinary regions. He also explains how changes in the way Italians live are affecting how they eat. Meals, for example, now follow the traditional structure less rigidly in most parts of the country, with the southern areas holding closest to the old ways. Also, while cooking in Italy is still remarkably regional, people are enjoying recipes less tied to their locality. Use of fresh and local ingredients, however, remains strong.

The recipes are by Lorenza De' Medici, who also did the food for Italy, the Beautiful Cookbook and Tuscany, the Beautiful Cookbook. Here she offers 220 dishes. Some show how Italians are modifying classics; others illustrate the living quality of Italian cooking in its acceptance of new ingredients and in new ways of using familiar ones. Perfect examples of this are Eggplant with Yogurt and Mint and Rice Salad with Pesto. Beyond all the handsome photographs, this is a source cooks really can use.

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La Bella Cucina: How to Cook, Eat, and Live Like an Italian
by Viana La Place

In La Bella Cucina, Viana La Place instructs us to look to Italy to discover how to live the good life--la bella vita. She paints a picture of generations gathered together around a table abundant with bowls of pasta, bright platters of vegetables, glistening olives, ripe fruit, and crusty peasant bread. The image poses a sharp contrast to American society, where most of us rush along spending many hours at work and the rest isolated in suburban homes or city apartments.

La Bella Cucina is not just a cookbook, but a guide on how to live la bella vita no matter where you call home. La Place--celebrated author of several Italian cookbooks, including Cucina Rustica and Verdura--details not only the essence of true Italian cooking but also the way of life so profoundly connected to it. She even includes a blueprint for eating like an Italian--from a breakfast of espresso and biscotti to pranzo, the hearty Italian lunch, to cena, the late, light dinner typical in Italian households.

In keeping with the traditions of true Italian cooking, La Place relies on simple, earthy ingredients to create evocative recipes that are at once rich in flavor and simple to prepare. Her soulful recipes like Summer Barley, Tomato, and Basil Soup; Dried Fava Bean Purée with Leeks and Bitter Greens; Sunday Meat Sauce; Spaghetti with a Mountain of Tiny Clams; and Roast Pork with Wild Fennel are more than sufficient for feeding the good life.

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Cucina Rustica: Simple, Irresistible Recipes in the Rustic Italian Style
by Viana La Place (Author), Evan Kleiman (Author)

Cucina Rustica,"the rustic 'kitchen,"is Italian food at its simplest and freshest. With more than 250 recipes that use readily available ingredients in deliciously creative combinations, La Place and Kleiman offer a style of cooking and eating that's inviting, easy, and elegant.

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Cucina Fresca: Italian Food, Simply Prepared
by Viana La Place (Author), Evan Kleiman (Author)

Amazon Reader's Review: "Make the Yellow Bell Peppers in Vinegar, Sugar and Oregano. I have made this dish many times to take to parties, and there hasn't been a single occasion on which I haven't been asked for the recipe. People GORGE themselves on this stuff. They love it. Another consistent winner is the White Bean, Red Onion, Tomato and Oregano Salad; it makes a terrific side dish with a broiled flank steak - the entire dinner can be ready in 15 minutes. The Torta Rustica takes some effort, but it really is a showstopper. More importantly, the authors' concept of simple foods prepared with top-quality ingredients makes a wonderful philosophy. Their emphasis on olive oil yields a cookbook full of delicious recipes low in cholesterol, and tons of fresh vegetables. Healthy, sophisticated and delectable. These are ideal recipes to take with you to a picnic or party, since they can be served cold or at room temperature."

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Verdure: Simple Recipes in the Italian Style
by Gioietta Vitale, Robin Vitetta-Miller (Contributor), Gioiotta Vitale

The recipes in this slim, very pleasant book "dedicated entirely to vegetables" take the familiar concept of Italian simplicity to a refreshing extreme. Most of them, like Sautéed Cucumbers which has four ingredients, including salt and pepper, and Fresh Tomatoes with Mozzarella and Basil, are impeccably brief and uncomplicated. Chapters, which are arranged by vegetable, open with amiable introductions and list cooking times for basic preparations like boiling, microwaving and roasting. Interestingly, there are more salads (Fennel Salad) and sautéed side dishes (Sautéed Radicchio in Olive Oil) than pastas. In the occasional headers, Milan native Vitale (Riso) provides personal anecdotes she used to make English Muffin Pizzette for her children as an after-school snack and likes to take Spinach Frittata when she goes sailing on Long Island Sound. In the recipe for Potatoes with Pesto, for example, Vitale recommends including parsley, and, in the introduction to zucchini, she notes that Italian cooks consider zucchini to be past its prime unless the blossom is still attached. With clear, simple instructions, Vitale offers enticing fare, much of it of particular interest in these hot summer days.

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Italian Farmhouse Cookbook
by Susan Herrmann Loomis, Anne Smith (Illustrator)

For the third book in her farmhouse series, Loomis traveled all over Italy, meeting and talking with vintners, cheese makers, olive growers, balsamic vinegar makers, and farmers, gathering delicious recipes and picking up invaluable culinary secrets, or segretos. There are Stuffed Sage Leaves from Tuscany, Lush Tomato Salad from Sicily, Pasta with Fava Beans and Basil from Liguria, Braised Artichokes from the Amalfi peninsula, and more. Thoughtful wine suggestions are included with many recipes, and there are dozens of boxes and sidebars about the people Loomis met and all sorts of other topics. Lynne Rosetto Kasper explored some of this same territory in The Italian Country Table. In fact, some of the same people are mentioned in both books. Loomis, whose ties are more to France, lacks Kasper's authority on the subject; however, she ventured farther afield than Kasper and her recipes represent a greater range of Italy's regional cooking. With its 200 simple but mouthwatering recipes, readable and informative text, and charming illustrations, her book is highly recommended.

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The Dictionary of Italian Food and Drink: An A-To-Z Guide With 2,300 Authentic Definitions and 50 Classic Recipes
by John F. Mariani

As more and more Italian foods and wines cross the seas, you may need to know the difference between terms like "passito" and "passato." According to the Dictionary of Italian Food and Drink, the first is a type of sweet wine, the second a puréed soup or smooth tomato sauce. Within the 2300 definitions, John Mariani includes the history of many items in this comprehensive yet concise guide. He explains the origins of popular dishes and why, for example, you won't find Veal Parmigiano in Italy. Along with information that will help cooks in tracking down ingredients there are recipes for Spaghetti Carbonara, Pasta & Fagioli, Zuppa Inglese, and other classics. The entries for regional Italian foods make this book a useful companion for travelers, and it's compact enough to fit in your carry-on bag.

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Rustico: Regional Italian Country Cooking
by Micol Negrin

Italy, a country half the size of Texas, is composed of 20 regions, each with its own distinctly marvelous food. In Rustico, author Micol Negrin offers 10 recipes from each region--from the Alpine Val d'Aosta to the southernmost islands of Sicily and Sardinia. Other cookbooks serve up Italian regional dishes, but few American ones, if any, provide such a sweeping tour of authentic fare. Readers will be captivated instantly by dishes such as Lombardy's Butternut Squash Gnocchi in Rosemary Butter; Emilia-Romagna's Veal Roast Stuffed with Spinach, Pancetta, and Frittata; and Latium's Pike in Velvety Egg-Lemon Sauce, among many others--appetite-whetting food that cries out to be made. The key to Negrin's success is that she has chosen her recipes beautifully, and has presented them accessibly, illuminating relevant techniques and ingredients throughout (Negrin encourages cooks to find the real stuff, but also offers sage substitution advice). She also provides fascinating cultural illustration (for example, cheese production and meat curing throughout Italy are complementary activities, as the former means excess whey which, combined with bran and corn, becomes perfect porcine nourishment).

The rustic dishes range from antipasti to dolce, and include more familiar "specialties" such as Tuscany's Summer Bread and Tomato Salad and Milan's Saffron Risotto, and the excitingly unexplored, such as Molise's Hand-Cut Pasta Squares in Asparagus Cream and Apulia's Orecchiette with Wilted Arugula and Tomatoes. Baked goods are particularly irresistible and include Basilicata's Smoked Bread with Sweet Onion, Tomato and Basil, and herb-showered Griddle Bread from Romagna. Sweet lovers will delight in the likes of Calabria's Chocolate Covered Roasted Figs and Mint-and-Lemon-Laced Cheese Pillows in Warm Chestnut Honey from Sardinia, among other simple desserts. With a section of basic recipes, a fine ingredient glossary, and photos throughout, the book is a true tour de force.

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Every Night Italian: 120 Simple, Delicious Recipes You Can Make in 45 Minutes or Less
by Giuliano Hazan (Author)

In Italy there are no mothers who are bad cooks. Can this be possible? In the case of Giuliano Hazan, whose mother is Marcella Hazan, yes. Marcella is the doyenne of Italian cookbook authors published in the United States. And Giuliano is no slouch, either. Though his first cookbook, The Classic Pasta Cookbook, is lamentably out of print, it is a laurel upon which he could have rested. Fortunately, Giuliano Hazan appears to be a restless man. "I learned to cook because I like to eat well," he writes in Every Night Italian. "Satisfying food does not have to be complex or take a long time to prepare. Often the simpler it is the better it tastes, and simplicity is what Italian cooking is all about." To this end, Hazan has compiled a collection of Italian recipes any cook can serve to any family every night of the week.

He wisely opens his book with two sections: "The Italian Pantry," a list of all the basic ingredients to have on hand, and "Some Essential Techniques," such as chopping an onion, cutting a pepper, trimming an artichoke, and boning and filleting a chicken breast. The book is then divided by appetizers, soups, pasta and rice, fish and shellfish, meats, vegetables, salads, desserts, and menus--120 recipes total, all flavor-heightened and with an eye cocked at the clock. Chicken Braised with Porcini Mushrooms has a substantial sound, and yet you are only looking at 20 minutes of prep time and 60 minutes from start to finish, leaving plenty of time for a Insalata Caprese with tomatoes, mozzarella, and basil. Hazan's version of Ribollita, the classic Tuscan soup, takes two-and-a-half hours from start to finish, but only 30 minutes to prep. The Bucatini with sausage and onions is a straight shot at 30 minutes, start to finish. Spend a little time with this book, master the recipes, and you will no doubt find yourself agreeing with Giuliano Hazan that Every Night Italian is a perfectly plausible idea.

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Cucina Amore
by Nick Stellino

The launch of Nick Stellino's "Cucina Amore" on public television stations marked the debut of a new kind of television chef and a new style of cooking show. The authentic trattoria setting and casual, relaxed atmosphere allow viewers to feel as if they are actually dining with their host while being entertained with stories about his beloved grandmother, Nonna Maria, his perfectionist father, Don Vincenzo, his mother, Massimilliana, and his brother and partner-in-mischief, Mario--all the while learning how to re-create the authentic Italian dishes he was taught to make at home.

This companion cookbook, Cucina Amore, brings you all the warmth, love, and culinary delights that have made Nick Stellino so successful. Here you will find one hundred simple and delicious recipes--ranging from Caponata to Wild Mushroom Salad, Ossobuco to Country Style Roasted Potatoes, and Sicilian Cheesecake to Tiramisu--along with all of Nick's wonderful family memories, and the secrets he has learned both at home and as a professional chef to make the cooking both simple and foolproof.

And for the first time in any cookbook, the publishers have included a CD of delightful Italian dinner music to inspire the cook's creativity and enhance the diners' pleasure. For Nick Stellino, cooking for others is a joy and a celebration, and with this music he is inviting all home chefs, their families, and their guests to join in the festivities.

With the versatility and perennial popularity of Italian food, and the growing awareness of the Mediterranean diet as a healthy way of eating, Cucina Amore is a cookbook you will turn to again and again.

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Lidia's Italian Table: More Than 200 Recipes From The First Lady Of Italian Cooking
by Lidia Bastianich (Author)

Lidia Bastianich moved to the United States in 1959 from Trieste in northern Italy. She was 12 years old. Her actual home was over the line, in what became Yugoslavia after World War II. So food, for Bastianich, was both what made her family different from everyone they lived around in their new home in New York State and the anchor that held her family together. Bastianich calls this visceral sense of food "Lidia's Italian Table." It's the name of her PBS series and of this book, which accompanies the series.

In sections that include antipasti, soups, pasta, risotto, gnocchi, polenta, vegetables, game and chicken, meats, fish and shellfish, and sweets, Lidia sweeps readers up into her arms and hugs them with the likes of Baked Onions with Butternut Squash Filling; Sauerkraut and Bean Soup; Bow Ties with Sausage and Leek Sauce; Shrimp Risotto; Fennel, Olive, and Citrus Salad; Braised Venison with Polenta; Baked Squid and Potatoes; and Zucchini Cake. Notice how most of these dishes have a familiar "Italian" ring, yet stretch beyond whatever that notion typically includes--the soup with sauerkraut, for example. Lidia's table is set in a part of Italy that doesn't get a lot of ready play. It's Italian, but then some. A little extra. If you try it, you may find it difficult to get up from Lidia's table. You may just want to stay.

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La Cucina Di Lidia: Recipes and Memories from Italy's Adriatic Coast
by Lidia Matticchio Bastianich, Bastianich Matticchio, Jay Jacobs

Lidia Bastianich is famous for her Italian-American cooking, but this cookbook-her first-captures the distinctive cuisine of her native Istria, located on Italy's northeastern Adriatic coast near the border of the former Yugoslavia. This book is also her most personal; in addition to the recipes, she has included numerous personal stories, memories, and photographs from her childhood.

With La Cucina di Lidia, you can savor antipasti such as Polenta with Fontina and Mushrooms or Shrimp and Mixed Bean Salad. Rice and pastas include Plum Gnocchi, Risotto with Squash Blossoms, and Zucchini and Tagliatelle with Leek Sauce. Entrées feature fish (Swordfish in Sweet and Sour Sauce), fowl (Roast Chicken with Rosemary and Orange), meat (Stuffed Breast of Veal), and game (Duck Roasted with Sauerkraut). Desserts range from Chocolate Zabaglione Cake to Apple-Custard Tart.

Here is an Italian cuisine infused with the flavors of Eastern Europe, the early repertoire of one of America's favorite chefs. Discover Lidia's history and memories as well as the dishes from her homeland. The stories and tastes are unforgettable.

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Enoteca: Simple, Delicious Recipes in the Italian Wine Bar Tradition
by Joyce Esersky Goldstein, Evan Goldstein, Angela Wyant (Photographer)

DDating back to ancient Rome, the enoteca, or wine bar where people gather to relax, chat, taste regional wines and munch on bruschette is popular again. Goldstein (Sephardic Flavors) captures this slow, sociable way of life with over 70 recipes from more than 30 enotecas in Italy, from Fried Zucchini Blossoms from Osteria del Vicolo Nuovo (near Bologna) to Roman Meat Loaf, from Rome's Bottega del Vino di Anacleto Bleve. Each recipe comes with suggested matching wines chosen by the author's son, sommelier Evan Goldstein which are adequate, but not exhaustive. Tantalizing finger foods such as Meat-Stuffed Deep-Fried Olives and Saffron Rice Croquettes are the book's strength, but there are plenty of entrées, too, such as Sicilian Swordfish Rolls and Baked Clams with Oregano. Crab Salad on Polenta Crostini or Sweet Pepper Ragout serve as lunches, with Mascarpone and Fruit Tart or even Fig Salami with cheese to finish it off. One could make a meal, too, out of Stuffed Pasta Rolls although time-consuming homemade pasta is required. Home cooks will appreciate Goldstein's glossary of Italian cheeses and her impressive bibliography. Overall, this is an elegant, charming and easy-to-use book, with well-chosen recipes for light meals or snacks. The book will be nearly irresistible to wine lovers, but any cook with a passion for Italian food will find it enticing. Luminous color photos. With wine bars enjoying increasing popularity in urban areas, in the United States as well as in Italy, this visually pleasing book with accolades from Robert Mondavi and Francis Ford Coppola should be a hit.

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Vegetarian Table: Italy
by Julia Della Croce, Deborah Jones (Photographer)

"An exciting new perspective on a cherished cuisine" (The San Francisco Chronicle), Vegetarian Table series celebrates the rich diversity of flavors, fruits and vegetables, grains and legumes, and the variety of enticing spices found all over the world, providing the perfect opportunity for indulging the vegetarian palate. Lavishly illustrated with stunning full-color photography and text by some of the finest food writers in the industry, this popular Chronicle Books series is now available in paperback. Featuring distinctive vegetarian recipes for appetizers, soups and salads, pastas and noodles, main dishes, breads, and desserts, the cuisines are as delicious as they are exotic. The Vegetarian Table series offers an enticing and nutritious way to bring the sumptuous food and flavors from around the globe to any vegetarian table--wherever it may be.

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Saveur Cooks Authentic Italian: Savoring the Recipes and Traditions of the World's Favorite Cuisine
by Saveur Magazine (Editor)

In this beautifully designed and printed volume, the editors of Saveur magazine bring to the American kitchen the flavors and liveliness of Italy's food and wine, as well as its people. Colman Andrews, editor-in-chief of Saveur, has compiled contributions from such noted authorities as Marcella Hazan, Lidia Bastianich and Vincent Schiavelli, as well as many regional cooks, who provide not only recipes but also insights into the Italian way of life. From antipasti and salads to pasta and risotto, and from poultry and meats to desserts, the recipes make use of seasonal, local and often simple ingredients. Many are robust examples of home cooking, from the straightforward Tonno e Fagioli (Tuna and White Bean Salad) to the intensely flavored Crostini with Porcini Pƒt‚. The Pollo alla Cacciatora (Hunter's Wife's Chicken) is another example of these full-bodied tastes; text accompanying the recipe explains that the dish should be called the feminine cacciatora, rather than the masculine cacciatore, because the hunter's wife would have cooked it "on the eve of the hunt as fuel for the chase." Sidebars throughout provide explanations and enlightenment about the ingredients, as well as about Italian customs and people. With explorations of salt cod and oregano, pasta sizes and Missouri's Little Italy, this book is a fascinating read, as well as a fine culinary resource.

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Cucina di Magro: Cooking Lean the Traditional Italian Way
by G. Franco Romagnoli, Margaret Romagnolis' Meatless Cookbook Romagnoli

Cucina di Magro shows that cooking lean does not necessarily mean skimping on flavor or elegance. Originating around the fourth century in response to a Roman Catholic tradition, "cucina di magro" - the meatless meal - has had 16 centuries to perfect its gustatory and salutary attributes. With 21 completely new recipes, Cucina di Magro is a cookbook that brings together Italy's diverse regional cuisines, honoring tradition as well as health. This revised edition features ingredients currently available including fresh artichokes and tempting Italian cheeses. The book outlines special techniques for the savvy home chef, such as making pasta in a Cuisinart. Featuring such classic dishes as fettucine pomodoro e basilico, flounder with capers, savory risotto in red wine sauce, and fresh fig pie, the book satisfies every expectation of Italian eating while respecting the principles of lean cooking.

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Avventura: Journeys in Italian Cuisine
by David Rocco

Through full-color photos, captivating descriptions, and mouthwatering recipes, Avventura treats readers to the sights, sounds, tastes, and traditions of Italy. Author and series host David Rocco takes readers on a fun-filled journey through Italy's most fascinating food centers and reveals the secrets behind the most popular Italian dishes. Seafood bought fresh from La Spezia fishermen becomes a mariner's dinner of Antipasto di Mare. Truffles picked in the forests of Umbria are turned into the sumptuous Frittata al Tartufo. And a tour of the baroque city of Arona on the alpine Lago Maggiore is topped off with a dessert once created for the queen of Italy. In its mix of culture and cuisine, Avventura is perfect for armchair travelers and hands-on adventurers alike.

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In Nonna's Kitchen: Recipes and Traditions from Italy's Grandmothers
by Carol Field

IIn Italy, the Nonna is vanishing. These grandmothers have lived through hard times and devoted their lives to feeding their husbands and children. When they are gone, valuable links with the past will vanish with them unless their children or grandchildren take time to learn from them. Only then will someone continue to know where to find wild greens, how dough looks when it is just right, and how to prepare the dishes these inexhaustible women have made for decades.

In Nonna's Kitchen is Carol Field's recording of the lives of some of these women and the food they cook. Whether they live in the countryside, in a small town, or in a big city, their dishes are specialties found only at home, where everything is made from scratch and it does not matter if a favorite recipe takes hours or days to make. As the title indicates, these women's stories are as important as their food. Putting the two together, Field captures both the essence of the Italian spirit and the soul of Italian cooking.

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Make It Italian: The Taste and Technique of Italian Home Cooking
by Nancy Verde Barr

Barr, who cooked alongside Julia Child and authored We Called It Macaroni, shares her nonna's wisdom in a book organized by traditional Italian courses. Adjusting for Americans, Barr portions pasta and soup as whole meals. She provides extensive information on everything from shopping and tools to terminology to how to make scaloppine. The strength is in her unique approach to the recipes: instead of a rigid prescription, ingredients are categorized yet flexible. For example, ingredients for Spicy Bay Scallops with Capers and Lemon are under headings for the fish, the aromatic, the deglazing liquid, and the finish. There are four variations on this recipe alone. Cooks get license-and the tools-to experiment. The soup section is especially strong, with a table on how to create your own and examples such as Fennel Soup with Ham and Soup with Porcini and Cornmeal. Chapters begin with a "primary recipe," such as Tomato, Mozzarella, and Basil Pizza, and advance, for example, to Potato Pizza. The only drawback to this approach is the cross-referencing necessary. Barr provides just enough guidance, writing, for Nonna's Chicken with Garlic and Rosemary: "Don't be alarmed by the large amount of garlic" because it will sweeten. Recipes are traditional Southern (her family is from Ischia) with some surprises (e.g., Roasted Monkfish with Roasted Red Pepper Sauce and Sweet-and-Sour Lamb Stew from Apulia). The salad chapter ("the stomach's toothbrush") is straightforward-the way it should be. The dessert section emphasizes puddings (Lemon "Cooked Cream" with Berries) and mix-and-match sauces (Chocolate-Espresso Sauce and Dried Tart-Cherry Sauce for puddings or ice creams). This book is worth having for anyone who loves Italian food.

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Italian Festival Food: Recipes and Traditions from Italy's Regional Country Food Fairs
by Anne Bianchi (Author)

Italy is a land of feste--religious and secular festivals featuring wonderful food. Whether held in honor of a patron saint or dedicated to food itself (the town of Piediluco celebrates fish, for example; Massarosa, the crab; Bozzello, chestnuts), these events take local bounty to great culinary heights.

Italian food writer and cooking teacher Anne Bianchi has visited Italy's 18 regions and returned with over 200 festival recipes. These are not only uniquely good, but illuminate vital culinary traditions. Lovers of authentic Italian cooking and food culture will find Italian Festival Food a treasure.

The recipes, which are organized by course, from appetizers to desserts, remind one constantly of the great integrity of Italian home cooking: its commitment to impeccable ingredients treated as simply as possible to achieve the most pleasurable result. Irresistible examples of this wisdom include Lazio's Walnut, Mozzarella, and Prosciutto Sandwiches; Baked Rice Casserole with Zucchini and Potatoes from Calabria; the Veneto's Spaghetti Tubes with Duck Sauce; Swordfish Steaks Baked with Tomatoes, Raisins, and Olives from Sicily; and Butternut Squash Bread from Friuli--one of many mouthwatering recipes included in a chapter devoted to soups, breads, focaccias, and pizzas. Bianchi also provides a level-of-difficulty notation for all of the recipes, most of which rate--and truly are--"easy." Recipe headnotes offer relevant celebration profiles, while photos depict the events themselves. Not the least of the book's pleasures are nine adroit essays, woven throughout, that explore the people of the feste--remarkable culinary legacies, skillfully shared.

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The Kitchen Garden: Fresh Ideas for Luscious Vegetables, Herbs, Flowers and Fruit
by Norma Coney

Think of it as fresh food for the gardener's table--kitchen gardens, recently pushed aside for flowerbeds, are enjoying a spirited renaissance. But, long gone are the straight, strict rows of tomatoes and zucchini: The updated garden borrows from the formal French potagers and the personalized jumble of the colonial gardens, adding new superior varieties and hybrids. You'll find everything you need for a perfect culinary patch, from the basics of site, soil and planting to the elements of design, along with illustrated garden plans that can be tailored to your own backyard. And, special boxes even suggest ways to use the produce, from recipes and handicrafts to creating herbal tea, salad and potpourri mini-gardens. Bonus: tips on hardiness, reliable flowers, cultivars coveted for their early harvest, and much more to make a jewel out of the little plot outside your window.

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The Authentic Pasta Book
by Fred Plotkin

Amazon Reader's review: "I bought this book years ago when I bought my pasta machine (Atlas hand powered roller and cutter) The few things I have tried were great, but they took a little time to make."

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The Pasta Book: Recipes in the Italian Tradition
by Julia Della Croce, Laura Cornell (Illustrator)

Della Croce pays tribute to dried pasta, with 28 classic pasta dishes from Italy. She gives helpful and instructive information describing the differences between dried and fresh pasta, and the best ways to cook and sauce each variety. Many of these recipes are well-suited to people who are health-conscious and time-short but still want delicious meals with fresh, wholesome ingredients. The Spaghetti with Tuna (white version) is awesome.

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The Fine Art of Italian Cooking
by Giuliano Bugialli

This is considered the definitive cookbook on Italian cuisine, and Giuliano Bugialli is one of the foremost teachers of that country's revered cooking techniques. Now, this incomparable cookbook has been updated, expanded, and beautifully redesigned. With over 300 recipes, including 30 specially researched for this edition, and 75 detailed easy-to-follow line drawings, this complete revision has made the classic cookbook even better.

Bugialli focuses on the extraordinary range of Tuscan cooking and includes popular recipes from the other regions of Italy. The book's extensive chapters cover every kind of pasta -- fresh, dried, stuffed -- breads, sauces, antipasti, meat and fish, poultry, risotti, vegetables, and the wonderful range of Italian desserts -- from simple poached fruit to magnificent filled pastries and tortes. Among the dishes are: risotto with spinach; ossobuco with peas; Florentine style polenta with meat sauce; Italian spongecake.

Bugialli has refined and corrected the entire text. The ingredients lists, instructions and cooking times for all the recipes have been improved and clarified, wine lists have been revised, and notes on such staples as olive oil, dried Italian herbs, and cheeses have been updated to reflect the public's increased knowledge of and interest in Italian cuisine.

In its elegant modernized format, loaded with expert advice accumulated in Bugialli's nearly twenty years of teaching and cooking experience, the revised Fine Art of Italian Cooking will continue to bring the great Italian culinary tradition to the American table.

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The Gastronomy Of Italy
by Anna Del Conte (Author)

This is a revised, expanded, and reorganized edition of a reference work first published in 1987. The original was an A-Z glossary of all aspects of Italian food, from ingredients to techniques to regional specialties. Now the different topics have been given their own sections, and the number of recipes has risen to 200, many of which are shown in full-page color photographs. The book opens with a brief illustrated history of Italian cuisine and a guide to the various regions, which focuses on their culinary contributions. This is followed by the recipe section, which emphasizes regional dishes; a 115-page glossary of ingredients, with colorful and amusingly dated labels from various food products dotting the pages; a shorter glossary of terms and techniques; and an abbreviated wine guide. The recipes are given greater emphasis in this edition they are good, and many will be relatively unfamiliar to Americans but the most valuable part of the book remains Del Conte's (The Classic Food of Northern Italy) authoritative text.

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Bugialli's Italy: Traditional Recipes From The Regions Of Italy
by Giuliano Bugialli (Author)

Bugialli's Italy is a delicious culinary tour. This well-known chef travels throughout "the boot," presenting the best dishes from each region. Star of his own PBS television series, Giuliano Bugialli is an expert on all things Italian and all things gastronomic. From Tuscany and Naples to Sardinia and Sicily, the quintessential dishes from each area are all here for your eating pleasure. There are antipastis and desserts; a plethora of pastas, sauces, and soups; delicious risottos and fresh, crispy salads. Bugialli is passionate about his love for authentic Italian cooking, and faithfully reproduces recipes that have been passed down through the generations. In Italy, a meal is a long, lavish affair not to be rushed, and Bugialli's Italy mimics the structure of a traditional meal: the first chapter is for antipastis; next come soups, pastas, and risottos--right through to final chapter and the last course of dessert. Each chapter and each course reflects the eclectic mix of Italy's regional cooking. For a main course, Campania offers a Monkfish in Savory Sauce--making good use of this Mediterranean region's love of fresh fish. From Piedmont, a region famous for its vineyards, Bugialli presents a Rump Roast Cooked in Barolo Wine, a succulent dish combining meat, garlic, nutmeg, and fresh rosemary with a whole bottle of full-bodied wine.

Remaining true to the traditions of Italian cooking, many of the recipes are quite complex, and aren't for cooks in a hurry. Poached Bone Chicken dates from the Renaissance, when it was served at lavish banquets. Consequently, this dish requires more than 25 ingredients! This said, cooking Bugialli style does guarantee high rewards. Here are wonderful-tasting, exquisitely presented dishes that will whisk your palate away to the real Italy.

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The Splendid Table
by Lynne R. Kasper (Author), Louis B Wallach Inc. (Author)

This collection of recipes, history, food and folklore--surrendered by a tiny yet culinarily fertile region of Italy--was ably amassed by cooking teacher and writer Kasper. Even people "with only a passing interest in food" are likely to "recognize . . . this region's products." Among them are: Balsamic vinegar, Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese and prosciutto di Parma. Northern Italy is also where the renowned rich Ragu Bolognese comes from; Kasper includes both a historical and a modern version, as well as a selection of kindred sauces, such as game ragu and an unusual ragu of giblets. She pays homage to recipes ranging from the 16th century (rosewater maccheroni Romanesca) to the 18th (a Cardinal's favorite baked penne), but pays equal and fascinating attention to modern inventions: tagliatelle with carmelized onions and fresh herbs, and a lasagna of wild and fresh mushrooms. Nor does Kasper omit recipes incorporating the most famous native products. Balsamic roast chicken and sweet peas with prosciutto di Parma is an outstanding example. Rounding out various virtues are easy rules of thumb for making fresh pasta and a reliable guide to ingredients

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The Italian Country Table: Home Cooking from Italy's Farmhouse Kitchens
by Lynne Rossetto Kasper, Dana Gallagher (Photographer), Stephanie Tevonian (Designer)

Lynne Rossetto Kasper's authoritative first book, The Splendid Table, explored the food and culture of Emilia-Romagna, Italy's culinary heartland. In The Italian Country Table, a collection of 200 regional recipes gathered from farmhouse cooks, Kasper once again provides cultural investigation and authentic, workable recipes. The resulting cookbook-cum-chronicle will appeal to anyone seeking delicious, down-to-earth dishes and an introduction to cherished culinary traditions.

Covering every course of an Italian meal--from antipasti through pasta to vegetables and, of course, dessert--the book weaves recipes with vignettes exploring, for example, Puglia's ritual drying of winter tomatoes. Included also are notes on buying tips, special cooking techniques such as glazing, and discussions of culinary moment, like the nature of a true risotto Milanese. The immediately inviting recipes include such temptations as Mushrooms Stuffed with Radicchio and Asiago, Hot and Spicy Eggplant Soup, Leg of Lamb Glazed with Balsamic and Red Wine, and Espresso Ricotta Cream with Espresso Chocolate Sauce. Kasper also offers a chapter on focaccia, pizza, and bread, as well as menus, shopping sources, and a useful discussion of ingredients. (Taste before you buy, and then pause, she advises. "Aftertaste can reveal how a food's been stored, careless production, or foods going from mature to over the hill.") Concluding with a guide to Italian guest farms, folk life museums, and places to eat and shop, the book is a comprehensive introduction to basic but inspired home cooking and the traditions that both contain and nurture it.

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The Four Seasons of Italian Cooking: Harvest Recipes from the Farms and Vineyards of the Italian Countryside
by A. J. Battifarano, Editors of Time Life Books (Editor), Alan Richardson

The Four Seasons of Italian Cooking is a handsome reminder of the simplicity and splendor of rustic Italian food. To demonstrate the regional nature of Italian cooking, A.J. Battifarano traveled around Italy and met with fascinating characters in Tuscany, Umbria, the Piedmont, Lombardy, Campania, and Apulia. In each region, we learn the story of families and individuals involved in the food industry, perhaps as a farmer or as the owner of an inn or restaurant. Meet Franco and Esther Carnero, a couple who restored an old house in the Piedmont region of northern Italy, developed a vineyard and garden, and then opened a small inn, La Luna e i Falò, or the Moon and the Bonfires. Here Esther serves dishes based on old, local recipes (which she shares with us), including roast veal accompanied by a sweet red pepper and fig sauce, and a hazelnut cake made with the locally grown crop of nuts. Throughout this Italian adventure, we are introduced to satisfying, yet simple to prepare, dishes. Misticanza is a splendid example--a dish of dark leafy greens, just boiled and simply dressed with extra virgin olive oil and fresh lemon juice. In addition to 125 charming recipes, and personal narratives, Battifarano also presents expert advice for storing and preparing fruits and vegetables from the four seasons. In true Italian fashion, it is the flavor of each ingredient that matters. This means the freshest ingredients are required for reproducing the profoundly satisfying flavors of Italy's farmhouse cooking.

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Italian Family Cooking: Like Mama Used to Make
by Anne Casale

Anne Casale invites you into her kitchen to share the special secrets behind hundreds of home-style recipes that have been part of her family's heritage for years and years.

A second-generation Italian American and the head of her own cooking school, she takes you by the hand and shows you how to make her father's succulent veal roast, her Nonna Louisa's very own homemade pasta, savory soups based on her mother's perfect broth, sumptuous desserts from her pastry-chef father-in-law, and scores of her own wonderful originals. Best of all, she explains the recipes so carefully and clearly that you are sure to start your own new tradition of delicious Italian Family Cooking.

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