The best-selling author of Trattoria Cooking and From Biba's Italian Kitchen introduces some of her favorite dishes from the great cities of Italy, with recipes for Rome's Veal Scallopine with Prosciutto, Sage, and Wine; Florence's T-Bone alla Fiorentina and Ribollita soup; and Shellfish stew from Venice.

Even if your mama wasn't born in Italy, you know how authentic Italian food is supposed to taste -- fresh, flavorful, rich and bursting with that special ingredient: love. Italian-born Biba Caggiano takes you under her wing with over 200 recipes from Northern Italy in Biba's Northern Italian Cooking. Simple-to-master recipes will have you making tortellini from scratch, authentic pasta sauces, savory meat dishes and luscious desserts in no time. Soon you'll be cooking as if you had grown up in a Northern Italian home. Your kitchen will be filled with the aromas of homemade Minestrone, Tagliatelle Bolognese Style, Shellfish Risotto, Bruschetta with Fresh Tomatoes and Basil and Roasted Leg of Lamb with Garlic and Rosemary, just as if you had learned to make them all at the side of a real Italian mama. Everything from simple dishes for a family meal to more elaborate recipes for special occasions are here in this new edition of a classic that has sold more than 400,000 copies.

From Biba Caggiano Come all the rich, flavorful recipes and The warm good fun of her sensationally popular cooking show, Biba's Italian Kitchen, which has been called the most delightful cooking show on the air. Following a childhood spent in Bologna, and an adulthood in the bosom of an Italian family in New York, Biba Caggiano found herself in Sacramento, California, in 1968, unable to find the food that was familiar to her palate--and essential to her heritage. Working from memory, Biba recalled her roots and recreated authentic Italian flavor in this most American of cities, and quickly became a local legend for her cooking classes and, ultimately for her famously delicious restaurant, Biba. Biba's fantastic, simple dishes represent what the Italians call la buona cucina casalinga--more commonly known as "good home cooking"--and are now available to all in From Biba's Italian Kitchen. Biba's foolproof method relies on the senses, not on the repetition of rigid recipes. Do the tomatoes at the market look particularly fresh? Then it's time to whip up a quick puttanesca sauce to top practically any pasta or meat dish. Are the porcini mushrooms especially eye-catching today? A tangy and woodsy sauce of porcini and tomatoes for. delicate spinach-ricotta gnocchi is just minutes away. Did a batch of walnuts just arrive from your aunt out West? Walnut pesto is the only proper reply. Biba trusts her (and your)impulses, and encourages a casual but committed approach to food, two hallmarks of la dolce vita, the sweet life that From Biba's Italian Kitchen promotes on every page. Biba starts with a staple of Italian cooking: the elegant, integral antipasti. Simple or sophisticated antipasti show the instruments of the Italian symphony tuning up before the first act. Gorgeous red bell peppers nestle with hunks of Italian bread and are topped by verdant parsley to make luscious bruschetta, plump little artichokes nuzzle with sun-dried tomatoes for sun-drenched carciofini all'olio; and fresh eggs with earthy potatoes and onions blend to create rustic fritatta di patate e cipolle. The harmony continues into the main dishes, a cavalcade of pasta, meat, and fish dishes that catch attention without disrupting a schedule. Prepare in haste and enjoy in leisure such delicacies as seafood cannelloni, delectably bitter pasta with broccoli rabe, succulent osso buco, veal shank with tomatoes and peas, or classic tagliatelle with sweet prosciutto and fresh tomatoes. A chapter on vegetable side dishes (whether grilled, sautéed, baked, stuffed, roasted, braised, or steamed) shows how primizie--the first, freshest produce of the season--bring the vegetable garden to the urban table. Complete sections on pizza (of course!),risotti, the light yet hearty dishes, made from Italian arborio rice, and polenta, the scrumptious cornmeal preparation that is the perfect foil to vegetable and meat alike, round out Biba's memorable tavola calda. And dessert!Italian desserts! Juicy fig and jam tart, sinful mascarpone-zabaglione mousse, juicy strawberries in red wine, and apple and amaretti cake serve as an elegant, graceful cadenza to the mellifluous meals in From Biba's Italian Kitchen.Striking every grace note, Biba conducts her culinary symphony, Biba conducts her culinary symphony with verve, and makes a maestro of every cook.

The award-winning chef and author of Northern Italian Cooking shares her spaghetti sauce secrets with 80 authentic Italian recipes. Biba Caggiano’s Spaghetti Sauces are sure to entice everyone at the table with palate-pleasing flavor. From traditional recipes passed down from her mother in Bologna, to mouth-watering favorites at her award-winning restaurants, or featured on her cooking show Biba’s Italian Kitchen, this beautifully illustrated book shows off the range and creativity of Italian pasta sauces. Twirl your fork into a plate of spaghetti topped with Pecorino Romano, Black Pepper, and Crisp Garlic; Mediterranean Pesto with Tomatoes; Prawns with Broccoli Florets and Paprika; Tomato Sauce with Goat Cheese and Basil; or Roasted Vegetables with Balsamic Vinegar.

Advance Praise for Trattoria Cooking "Who wouldn't love doing Biba's research, tracking down the simple, down-to-earth, tasty food that makes Italy such an irresistible destination? For everyone who wishes to know how it is done (and where to go in Italy to find it), she's written a cookbook full of delicious-sounding recipes from the trattorias where real regional cooking goes on. Her recipes are straightforward and easy to follow, and I particularly like all the good tips she gives, like little asides to good friends in the kitchen." --Carol Field, author of The Italian Baker "My friend Biba has done it again with her new book in which she brings the trattoria scene to vivid life." --Giuliano Bugialli "If you are an insatiable cookbook collector, as I have been for the past thirty-odd years, you may feel that the last word has been written about all categories of food. I felt that way until I browsed through Biba Caggiano's Trattoria Cooking and was positively impressed that she does have a great deal of admirable things to add to the subject of Italian cookery. Her book is marvelously inspired and original and it would be an asset to anyone's library." --Craig Claiborne "Biba Caggiano's Trattoria Cooking brings out the Italian in all of us. Her simplicity of method and use of fresh wholesome ingredients make every recipe exciting. Trattoria Cooking has Old World quality and authenticity, making every dish a winner." --Bradley M. Ogden

Pasta, polenta, gnocchi, risotto, soup--these are the heart and soul of Italian cooking. Simple, hearty, and filling, these dishes can satisfy any craving, any time. Do you like pasta? Biba gives you pasta--three chapters of pasta, eighty-seven recipes in all. Prefer your pasta stuffed? How about Eggplant-Goat Cheese Tortelli with Fresh Tomatoes and Black Olives or Spinach Cannelloni with Duck and Wild Mushroom Stuffing? Want to try a new spin on lasagne? Lasagne with Walnut Pesto and Ricotta might be just the thing. If you like to keep it simple, Biba can feed your hunger with inspired but quick-to-the-table recipes like Spaghetti with Hot Anchovy Sauce or Pasta with Spicy Broccoli. Polenta and gnocchi are the quintessential Italian comfort foods and Biba's hearty recipes serve up satisfaction and surprising variety--Potato Gnocchi with Osso Buco Sauce; Saffron Gnocchi with Mushrooms, Prosciutto, Asparagus, and Cream Sauce; Polenta with Fontina, Butter, and Sage; and Soft Polenta with Pancetta, Garlic, and Hot Pepper, to name only a few. Risotto and soup--what better choices can one have on a cold, wet evening? Whatever you're in the mood for--or have on hand--there's a risotto to fit the bill. Savor Risotto of the Fisherman; Risotto with Roasted Butternut Squash; Risotto with Three Cheeses; or Risotto with Sausage, Beans, and Red Wine. And soup lovers will delight in what Biba has to offer--from thick vegetable minestre like Tuscan Chick-pea and Pasta Soup and Artichoke, Leek, and Rice Soup to lighter fare like Angel Hair in Broth. Italy at Dente keeps the flavors direct and the recipes simple. If you like Italian, this is a cookbook for the kitchen counter. Italy al Dente is Italian food that is "just right." There singular recipes are perfectly on target -- precisely the food we want to eat every day, day after day: the simply perfect pasta, flavor-filled gnocchi, hearty soups, steaming risottos, and comforting polenta -- the tastes we crave when we think Italian. Legions of Biba admirers -- who have brought hundreds of thousands of copies of her cookbooks -- know that no one hits this high note quite as well as she does. Recipe after recipe, each is a peak moment, with dishes like Simmer Spaghetti with Uncooked Tomato Sauce Squash-Eggplant Tortellini with Butter and Sage, Ricotta Gnocchi with Walnuts and Gorgonzola, Barley and Porcini Mushroom Soup, Soft Polenta with Bolognese Meat Sauce, and Risotto with Roasted Butternut Squash. This is simple cooking at its best.

Several years ago, on a break between theatrical gigs in Alabama, Mark traveled to Italy and fell in love with the people, food and culture. Armed with just enough courage, minimal Italian language skills, and a certain proficiency in the kitchen, he enrolled in a full-immersion cooking and language program. He would travel to Viterbo, Italy and live with an Italian family. His teachers were beyond his wildest dreams-he learned to cook from the grandmother, or Nonna, of the family, who prepared every meal in a bustling, busy household, as women in her family have done for generations. Her daughter, Alessandra, taught him the language with patience and precision. Besides culinary secrets and prepositions, they opened their lives to him, and made him a real part of their extensive family. Though the book contains authentic, delicious family recipes Nonna shared with Mark, Beyond the Pasta delves into food memoir subject matter not found in a typical cookbook. It was the day-to-day shopping with Nonna, exploring the countryside and le gelaterie, where he truly developed his language skills, and a new, more joyful and uniquely Italian way of looking at the world.