Italian Recipes

You don’t have to live in Italy to live like an Italian. In Cooking Up an Italian Life, an inviting collection of meals and stories, well-known food writer Sharon Sanders unites an Italian sensibility to an American lifestyle. Sanders lived, worked, and married in Italy—one of the few foreigners ever to wed in the celebrated Church of Santa Croce. With “What I Learned About Life from the Risotto King of Milan,” “I Brake for Italians,” “My Dinner with Luciano,” and other spirited essays, Sanders escorts us to the Italy that is in everyone’s kitchen. Keenly aware of how sharing food enhances daily living, and in tune with the simplicity people crave today, she shares nearly 200 recipes made from seasonal produce, imported basics, and ingredients found in any supermarket. Most recipes are designed as complete meals at a glance. For special times, dozens of appetizer and dessert recipes may be added to the core dinners. Cooks ready for more ambitious projects may turn to “Making Rustic Bread,” “Capturing Summer Flavors for All Meals,”

“Making Fresh Egg Pasta," or other lessons. The affordable wine recommendations enable everyone to raise a glass and offer a hearty salute to the spirit of Italy within all of us.

When it comes to Italian cooking, Biba Caggiano ranks right up there with the best of the best. In this newest book, Biba has once again written a book that will delight anyone interested in Italian Cuisine.

Seafood is an important part of Italian food, and is both nutritious as well as delicious if prepared simply. Here is an easy menu that would be perfect for entertaining, or for a special family celebration.

this new Italian cookbook written by a renowned chef and cooking instructor which has won a coveted Gourmand World Food Cookbook Award. This book is as much a culinary journey through Italy's many regions as it is a collection of traditional Italian recipes. With her husband's help, Anna Maria shares a good deal of regional history, as well as many very interesting excerpts on the origins of specific foods. For example, there is an entire page devoted to the history of polenta, followed by complete recipes for Basic Polenta, Polenta With Mushrooms And Gorgonzola, Polenta With Cheese, and Polenta With Pork Ribs.

The book begins with a chapter entitled “What Is Italian Cooking?” which explains the regionalism of Italian cuisine to non-Italians, and gives a brief synopsis of how the book builds from chapter to chapter to cover the most of the major regions. There is also a section in this chapter titled “Mapping Italian Food” which lists many of the typical ingredients important to each region as well as some of the famous regional dishes.

Having grown up in Italy with a Roman father and a Sicilian mother, Anna Maria learned to appreciate authentic regional cuisine within her own family, and generously shares her favorite family recipes throughout the book. Nicely illustrated throughout, there are numerous drawings that show how many of the dishes should be put together. I particularly appreciated the fact that almost all of the recipes are traditional, and I believe that cooks of any skill level would enjoy reading this book and would be able to create all of the recipes very successfully.

Anna Maria Volpi began her culinary education in her native Italy as a child. Today Volpi is a well-known teacher and culinary master living in Los Angeles, California where she teaches traditional Italian home cooking to groups, in private classes and for special events. Volpi and her husband, co-author, research master of the historical portion of the book Pietro Mascioni have co authored a wonderful addition to any kitchen.