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.

Spaghetti with meatballs, fettuccine alfredo, margherita pizzas, ricotta and parmesan cheeses—we have Italy to thank for some of our favorite comfort foods. Home to a dazzling array of wines, cheese, breads, vegetables, and salamis, Italy has become a mecca for foodies who flock to its pizzerias, gelateries, and family-style and Michelin-starred restaurants. Taking readers across the country’s regions and beyond in the first book in Reaktion’s new Foods and Nations series, Al Dente explores our obsession with Italian food and how the country’s cuisine became what it is today. Fabio Parasecoli discovers that for centuries, southern Mediterranean countries such as Italy fought against food scarcity, wars, invasions, and an unfavorable agricultural environment. Lacking in meat and dairy, Italy developed foodways that depended on grains, legumes, and vegetables until a stronger economy in the late 1950s allowed the majority of Italians to afford a more diverse diet. Parasecoli elucidates how the last half century has seen new packaging, conservation techniques, industrial mass production, and more sophisticated systems of transportation and distribution, bringing about profound changes in how the country’s population thought about food. He also reveals that much of Italy’s culinary reputation hinged on the world’s discovery of it as a healthy eating model, which has led to the prevalence of high-end Italian restaurants in major cities around the globe. Including historical recipes for delicious Italian dishes to enjoy alongside a glass of crisp Chianti, Al Dente is a fascinating survey of this country’s cuisine that sheds new light on why we should always leave the gun and take the cannoli.

An American chef will have to serve up more than good eats if she wants to establish a successful farm-to-table cooking school in Tuscany, in this charming first installment in a new cozy mystery series set in Italy. When Nell Valenti is offered a chance to move to Tuscany to help transform an aging villa into a farm-to-table cooking school, she eagerly accepts. After all, both her job and her love life in America have been feeling stale. Plus, she'll get the chance to work under the acclaimed Italian Chef Claudio Orlandini. But Nell gets more than she bargained for when she arrives. With only a day to go until the launch dinner for the cooking school, the villa is in shambles, and Chef O is blissfully oblivious of the work that needs to be done before a group of local dignitaries arrive, along with a filmmaker sent to showcase and advertise the new school. The situation only worsens when Nell discovers that the filmmaker is an ex-boyfriend, and he’s found murdered later that night. Even worse, Chef O has disappeared, and accusations of murder could shut the school down for good. As tensions reach a boiling point at the villa, Nell must throw her chef's hat into the ring, and investigate the murder herself. Because if she fails to solve the case, her career, or even her life, could be next on the chopping block.

“Domenica, at home in the tradition, reveals all: lore, history, tips, and, best of all, a thousand thrilling tastes from the garden that is Italy.” —Frances Mayes, #1 New York Times bestselling author of Under the Tuscan Sun This book is a tribute to Italy’s many glorious vegetables, from the bright, orange-fleshed pumpkins of autumn to the tender green fava beans of early spring. Organized by course, this lavishly photographed cookbook lauds the latest dining trend—the vegetable’s starring role at the center of the plate. Cooks of all skill levels will enjoy more than 100 recipes mixing tradition and innovation, ranging from the basics (Fresh Spinach Pasta Dough and Fresh Tomato Sauce) to the seasonal (Spring Risotto with Green and White Asparagus) to savory (Grilled Lamb Spiedini on a Bed of Caponata) and sweet (Pumpkin Gelato). This indispensable recipe collection will appeal to Italian cuisine lovers looking to celebrate vegetables in any meal, every day. “Marchetti’s Eggplant ‘Meatballs’ in Tomato Sauce is simply dazzling . . . rich, succulent, vibrant, satisfying . . . This simple, contemplative, seductive book offers Bread Soup with Summer Squash; Beet and Beet Green Gratin; Riccioli with Peas and Porcini; and staples like Basic Beans in a Pot.” —Scott Mowbray, editor of Cooking Light “Fresh vegetables, prepared so beautifully at the peak of ripeness, result in a book you won’t want to live without. The really special part is that Domenica creates a perfect marriage between classic Italian vegetable dishes and the seasonal abundance that is available at your local farmers’ market. This is truly an inspirational cookbook and one that I will enthusiastically return to for years to come.” —Tracey Ryder, Cofounder of Edible Communities

Public television cooking show host Christina Pirello is the woman who put the fun back into healthy cooking. In Christina Cooks she's responded to the hundreds of questions that her viewers and readers have put to her over the years-with lots of sound, sane advice, hints, tips and techniques-plus loads of great recipes for scrumptious, healthy meals with a Mediterranean flair. A whole foods cookbook, Christina Cooks offers inventive ideas for breakfast, special occasions, and what to feed the kids. Chapters include Soups, Breakfast, Kids' Favorites, Beans, Grains, Vegetables, Beverages, and Desserts-Christina addresses popular myths about dairy and protein amongst other often misunderstood ideas about healthful eating.

Want to cook Italian food but terrified by the complicated recipes? Exasperated because you can’t find the right ingredients? Wish you could eat chilli with your pasta? Ritu Dalmia, chef and owner of Diva, Delhi’s most beloved Italian restaurant, teaches you how to cook authentic, delicious Italian food in your kitchen that will have you begging for more. She tells you how and what to cook, from show-off dinner parties to a romantic supper à deux, from sharing your table with friends to cosying up on the sofa watching TV. Ritu writes of how regions in Italy differ in their cooking style, what wine to pair with what food, how to adapt Indian ingredients to Italian cooking, and also provides an updated list of suppliers in all the metros. Stylishly designed, with stunning photography, Italian Khana will be your guru and best friend in the kitchen.