• slowfoodie on August 21, 2010

  Great go-to book for classic regional recipes.

Notes about Recipes in this book

• Casserole of noodles and vegetables (Pizzoccheri di Teglio)

  • Gio on February 13, 2016

    Pg. 42. Not as heavy as it would seem from the ingredient list. Definitely in the realm of Comfort Food, particularly in the dead of Winter and during a deep freeze. We used Parmigiano, and Fontina Val d'Aosta. Chunked up the vegetables per the recipe alternative, and cooked the pasta (soba noodles halved), staggered, in the same pot. I loved it, my husband liked it unenthusiastically. Perhaps it could use more spicy up but I loved it as is.

• Risotto Valtellina style (Risotto alla Valtellinese)

  • Yildiz100 on April 20, 2013

    Be generous with cabbage, the rice expands a lot. Not a spectacular dish, but a good one for winter pantry. Simple and nutritious. Makes a lot.

• Rice with peas (Risi e bisi)

  • Gio on May 30, 2016

    Pg. 68. Delicious version of Risi e Bisi. I loved every forkful. My subs were clarified butter, and pancetta instead of bacon. From now on it's my Go-To method for what could be easily one of my favorite dishes.

  • Yildiz100 on April 05, 2018

    I reduced the recipe to 60% of the original amounts hoping we could eat most of it since I did not expect leftovers to keep well. I found that there was too much broth but it is possible that had something to do with reducing the recipe (though I think I did the math correctly.) I had to skim off 200 ml of the 6 cups of broth that I used. I used chicken stock but think this would be much nicer and more subtle with a homemade pea stock. I would try this again when I can get my hands on some peas in their pods so I have the shells to make stock.

• Risotto with zucchini [courgettes] (Risotto con le "zuchete")

  • nicolepellegrini on February 13, 2026

    Sometimes the classic books get it so right, there's little to no room to improve or change things. This is one such recipe. The only thing I did differently was wait to add the butter until the final stage to get the desired creaminess, as the bacon I started with had plenty of fat for satueing the vegetables. The meat broth + long-cooked zucchini gave it a wonderful depth of flavor.

• Beef pot roast Veneto style ("Pastizada" alla Veneta)

  • nicolepellegrini on November 18, 2020

    Quite good, if a bit unexpected! The overnight vinegar marinade and spices made this rather like a sauerbraten to me. Husband liked it quite a bit. Served with polenta as suggested.

• Genoese vegetable soup (Minestrone alla Genovese)

  • MT747700 on March 29, 2025

    The most wonderful minestrone ever, complex enough to be interesting but still very fresh tasting. I always make it with fresh borage (sometimes available in farmers' markets), but it may also be good made with dried borage.

  • MT747700 on March 29, 2025

    The most wonderful minestrone ever, complex enough to be interesting but still very fresh tasting. I always make it with fresh borage (sometimes available in farmers' markets), but it may also be good made with dried borage.

• Genoese fish stew (Burrida)

  • Gio on October 20, 2015

    Pg 89. This was absolutely delicious. We used fresh Monkfish from our CSF share, Followed the recipe precisely, made no substitutions. Filling, great texture from the walnuts and various vegetables The anchovies melted into the background but added to the overall umami. Perfect for today's chilly Autumn weather. I'll try it again with other fish listed in the intro.

  • Avocet on November 13, 2020

    Excellent. Used a little over a pound of rockfish, kept the other ingredients about the same. served with a side salad of cucumber, tomato and lettuce.

• "Little hats" with pumpkin (Cappellacci con la zucca)

  • Yildiz100 on November 22, 2018

    Found this recipe after I had already "butchered" and roasted my butternut squash, so I don't know how much the squash weighed, but used this recipe as a guide for the filling. Just squeeze the excess liquid out first (use a flour sack) then season well with salt, add some nutmeg, and lots of parm.

• Lasagne Bolognesi

  • robm on April 16, 2012

    Delicious. Different than American lasagna, because it uses Béchamel sauce, which is the "authentic" way.

• Tuscan bean soup au gratin ("La ribollita")

  • Yildiz100 on April 25, 2017

    This is a fantastic version of ribollita. The toasts with parm and onion topping really make this far more decadent than you would ever expect from a bean soup. Go a little light on the beans to keep the soup from being stodgy. Can also try sauteeing the onions until somewhat softened before topping the soup with them and putting the dish in the oven. Need more onion if doing this.

  • Yildiz100 on February 24, 2018

    To avoid soggy toasts don't pour the soup over them as directed. Instead, assemble in this order: soup, float lightly toasted bread on top, add sliced onions, cover with garlic and thyme infused oil, then top all with the cheese.

• Pig's liver Tuscan style (Fegatelli alla Toscana)

  • nicolepellegrini on October 13, 2013

    This. Is. Amazing. If you fear cooking pig's liver, try this preparation. It will convert the unbelievers. My one note is that I did not have the caul fat called for, so I instead wrapped the liver sliced with some thin-sliced fatty bacon (from the same pig my liver came from). This meshed with a similar preparation I read in a different Italian cookbook, so I figured I would be ok. It totally was. Loved the note that the fennel seeds added, but do not over-season with them - a little goes a long way.

• "Twice-cooked" beans (Fagiolini rifatti)

  • Yildiz100 on August 24, 2019

    It looked like the tomatoes wouldn't be enough to make a sauce but they were. This was pretty good, but quite oily, like a Turkish olive oil dish.

• Chicken in tomato sauce (Pollo in potacchio)

  • jenburkholder on March 23, 2026

    This was delicious. I made with some nice small chicken thighs, some Campari tomatoes languishing on the counter, and a small amount of tomatoes frozen from last summer. The technique of braising the chicken in wine then adding the already cooked tomatoes and braising more was unusual, but resulted in a very tasty dinner. Served with a (nontraditional) side of parmesan risotto and salad, this was a perfect Sunday dinner.

• Spaghetti with chili (Spaghetti "alla puttanesca")

  • krista_jo on June 09, 2015

    Excellent! Seems like it would be too many anchovies, but just right.

• Baked zucchini [courgettes] with mozzarella (Timballo di zucchine alla pizzaiola)

  • Yildiz100 on August 23, 2019

    Leaked a lot of water even though the zucchini were salted and drained for an hour then fried first. Consequently was a little bland. Not bad but lots of work to fry so many zucchini, and it didn't really feel worth it in the end.

• Baby lamb chops with sweet peppers (Costolette di agnello ai peperoni)

  • nicolepellegrini on January 29, 2021

    Simple to throw together yet ends up looking and tasting quite fancy! Enjoyed the sweet peppers in contrast to the lamb, and the sauce/pan drippings were delicious to "mop up" with some toasty bread. Husband is not always a fan of lamb but he ate his entire serving, so I take that as a win.

• Fried swordfish steaks (Frittura di pescespada)

  • nicolepellegrini on May 20, 2021

    Very easy and tasty - came out surprisingly juicy for swordfish.

• Zucchini [courgettes] in sweet-sour-sauce (Zucchine in agrodolce)

  • nicolepellegrini on May 20, 2021

    I enjoyed this a lot - a nice and different way to prepare zucchini, especially when those bumper summer crops start coming in.

• Food52 by Celia Sack

  ...one of the first to focus on the food specific to each region of Italy, rather than the usual pan-Italian cookbooks that lumped the whole country's food into one volume...600 recipes within!...

  Full review