One of my very favorite Italian cookbooks. Actually more a collection of the author’s thoughts on cooking, the Italian way, and life in the kitchen. The author was born and raised in Italy, but moved to London to work at the prestigious Savoy Hotel, the same hotel that Gordon Ramsay is offering head chef position at a restaurant on his show Hell’s Kitchen. Some of the stories in the book, which are each one or two pages and scattered among the recipes, describe differences between cooking and eating in Italy and London.

A great introduction to regional Italian cuisines. The book explores the food of five Italian culinary cities: Rome, Florence, Bologna, Milan, and Venice. It features recipes from all types of eateries, from wine bars and trattorias to upscale restaurants run by well-known chefs. Most recipes are traditional; some are given contemporary twists. Also includes a dining guide for each city, as well as an introduction to the wines of each region. The author grew up in Italy and has traveled and dined extensively throughout the country. She is the chef-owner of Biba Restaurant in Sacramento, CA.

An overview of Southern Italian cuisine, including an introduction to ingredients used throughout the Southern regions. Great pastas, vegetables, fish, meat. Simple recipes, as are most Italian recipes.

Great general pasta book. Begins with a glossary of pasta shapes and basic pasta recipes, followed by pasta recipes from all the regions of Italy. You will learn that Italian cuisine is much more diverse and regional than many people realize. In the north, dairy is plentiful, and most pasta dishes are creamy, with a lot of cream, butter, and cheese. In the south, there’s more tomato-based sauces. Along the coast, there’s of course lots of seafood pastas. Lots of delicious pasta sauces, using a variety of fresh and dried pasta shapes.

All types of Italian soups. The book is divided by the type of soup: legume soups, “big” vegetable soups (minestroni), broth soups, vegetable soups (including one main and mixed vegetable soups, zucchini and pumpkin soups, mushrooms soups, and soups of leafy greens), grain and bread soups, fish soups, and meat soups.

The recipes and ingredients list are arranged in four elements: battuto (aromatics – onion, carrot, celery, garlic, etc), sapori (main ingredients), brodo (liquid component), and condimenti (garnishes and other elements added at the end, like pasta and rice). The use of these four elements simplifies the recipes, and creates a pattern among all the recipes, and all soups in general, that makes it easier to prepare any soup once you’ve got a bit of practice. Easy-to-follow recipes, delicious soups, and not too many ingredients.

Recipes from Liguria, a province in Northwestern Italy bordering France. Liguria is a hilly region with a long coastline. The cuisine is full of seafood, vegetables, and herbs. Genoa, the capital of Liguria, is well known for its pesto. The cuisine is similar to the more well-known cuisine of Tuscany, its neighbor to the southeast. There are also, as might be expected, similarities to nearby Provence.
For more on Liguria, see my Ligurian Cuisine page.

An invaluable collection of Southern Italian recipes arranged by course (appetizer, entree, etc). Recipes feature background information and the author’s personal anectdotes. Very well-researched recipes – the author knows Italian food inside and out.

Good general purpose Italian cookbook. Useful recipes for pastas, soups, meat and vegetable dishes. I made the Pappardelle with Rabbit and Sausage Ragu, and it was a great recipe.

This little book might be hard to find, but it’s a good buy if you see it at a used book store. Good recipes for classic Italian antipasti, pastas, and entrees. Simple, well-written recipes. I made my first ravioli from a recipe in here.

True to its title, the recipes in this book are authentic Tuscan, simple, and delicious. Tuscan cuisine is straightforward, rustic fare, and its guiding principle is to let the flavors of each ingredient come through in a dish, rather than blend together. The recipes, therefore, are easy to prepare, and call for only a small handful of ingredients. One nice recipe is this Lamb Stew with Artichokes.

For more on Tuscany, see my Tuscan Cuisine page.

An excellent collection of pasta sauce recipes, for both fresh and dried pasta. Tomato sauces, olive oil sauces, butter sauces, and purees. Also includes recipes for different types of dough – green dough made with spinach or herbs, saffron dough, tomato dough, etc. Almost every pasta shape is represented, and recipes come from all across Italy. One of the best parts of the book are the variation ideas included in each recipe – different herbs, add olives and capers, anchovies, etc. This book is great for moving beyond following a recipe word for word, and beginning to create pasta dishes spontaneously, based on what you have available and what’s in season.

Recipes from Mario Batali’s restaurant Babbo, in New York’s Greenwich Village. Amazing pastas, antipasti, meat and fish entrees, and contorni, or vegetable side dishes. Babbo’s cuisine is based on Italian techniques and traditions, but utilizes American ingredients in several dishes, in keeping with the Italian ideal of cooking what grows locally. Although Babbo is a 3 New York Times Star restaurant, the recipes are straightforward and do not call for a lot of exotic ingredients.

By same author as Biba’s Italy, this was one of her earlier works. Includes great recipes, and complements her other books. She is very thorough and gives great background information for her recipes.

A survey of each of the regional cuisines of Southern Italy, including the islands of Sicily and Sardinia. Each region has its own chapter, with background information on the geography of the region, as well as an overview of the cuisine – key ingredients, flavors, historical influences, etc.

General Italian cookbook organized by region. Each chapter includes a brief overview of the region’s cuisine, and recipes arranged in menus for different occasions, based on the tradition of the recipe or on the author’s personal experience traveling and dining in Italy. The selection of recipes is not as good as other Italian cookbooks, in my opinion, but it’s a good, brief survey of Italy’s diverse regional cuisines.