• Eat Your Books

  1998 International Association of Culinary Professionals Award Winner

• nicolepellegrini on November 19, 2018

  A book that's taken me a while to truly appreciate...perhaps because my cooking skills have improved significantly in the 20 or so years since this book came out, as has my appreciation for what makes Italian food truly shine. As much as I'd loved Marella's earlier books this one sat unused and unloved on my shelves until recently when I decided to take it back out and look through it, and now I practically want to cook it all, front to back.

• rees.linda on January 15, 2015

  My father's next door neighbour, Annie, who was a cook at the castle where he worked in Wales, gave this to me. First time I ever heard of Marcella and since then I've sought out her books. One of my favourite cooks. Have three other books by her so far. If you haven't tried her recipes, I recommend you do. Some have few ingredients that they initially appear at reading stage to be lacking. But believe me they deliver taste. Good home cooking and authentic, as far as I can tell.

• jdepaula on May 22, 2010

  Simple, yet extraordinarily flavorful recipes. A "must have" in any cookbook collection.

Notes about Recipes in this book

• Basil frittatas

  • Clarityandstatic on May 27, 2026

    The flavor was good but the texture was odd. It felt like it needed more eggs. It was quite potato and cheese heavy.

• Frittata with potatoes, onion and rosemary

  • DLC on June 12, 2016

    May also layer potatoes to brown, add onions and other sauteed vegetables on top before adding eggs. Flip onto a large dish to serve.

• Barley, broccoli and cannellini bean soup

  • LeannCO on January 16, 2026

    Marcella shines again with this high fiber quotient of vegetables, beans & grains for a healthy yet satisfying light meal paired with a crusty yeasted bread. Used the Instant Pot to cook the dried cannellini beans, steamed the broccoli/reserved remaining stock added a bit more to make 1 cup to then cook the barley ~ true time-saver and perfect cook on each item. For the IP beans, no-soak method adding 3 smashed garlic cloves, 2 bay leaves, tablespoon of EVOO for 35 minutes/high, natural release for 10 minutes. Definitely a cold weather soup added to our rotation.

• Mussel soup with cranberry beans, celery and basil

  • mcvl on August 27, 2014

    My rendition was about 50% Marcella, 50% me. Beans -> lentils. Onion -> shallot. Mussels -> very good canned salmon. Cut basil leaves -> whole basil leaves. My version was good everyday fare, fast and easy; Marcella's may be amazing, I just don't know.

• Spring onion, cherry tomato and chilli pepper pasta sauce

  • totoro on August 15, 2020

    More than the sum of its parts (as with most of Marcella's pasta dishes), so long as you use decent olive oil and plenty of it. I make this often in spring and summer.

• Sardinian-style raw tomato sauce for pasta

  • totoro on August 15, 2020

    So happy to discover another great Marcella pasta sauce. Perfect for hot weather and a great use of cherry tomatoes. Just combine the sauce ingredients and cook pasta an hour later. Don't skimp on the olive oil/cheese and it's delicious. You could definitely play with this, using different herbs or perhaps a little chilli.

• Spinach and tomato pasta sauce, Romagna style

  • totoro on August 15, 2020

    Comforting, rich, and full of goodness. Great alternative to a meat sauce. Definitely benefits from egg pasta (decent store bought does the trick for every day). You need to use the whole amount of butter and cheese - but it's not that much really if you don't drown your pasta in sauce. I tried reducing once on a more weight-conscious day and it was not a success!

  • metacritic on February 12, 2022

    While so many people celebrate the butter tomato sauce, this is my favorite of all the Marcella pasta sauces. It is savory, almost healthy, and certainly spinach forward even as it makes good use of pancetta, carrots, and plenty of butter. I tend to cook this dish until the spinach breaks down, though i don't know that this is intended. I've cooked it more and less, and while i prefer the spinach cooked to the point where no piece is distinct from another and all is almost closer to brown than green, it is good (but different) if cooked just to the point of being wilted and then following the steps as she lays them out.

• Broccoli and mozzarella pasta sauce

  • nicolepellegrini on January 10, 2021

    I made a few small changes in the preparation - mainly, I used the same water to boil the broccoli that I cooked the pasta in, and reduced the broccoli cooking time so it wouldn't be total mush. The flavor was good - very garlic-forward. Main issue I had was the sauce basically clumps all up due to the mozzarella and doesn't stick/mix very well with the noodles. In the future I might just top the final serving bowls with shredded mozzarella instead of trying to mix diced pieces into the sauce.

• Hunter-style pasta sauce with herbs, pancetta, tomato and white wine

  • runoutofshelves on May 03, 2022

    We loved this unusual pasta sauce. We were confused by the massive amount of juniper berries required - 45 grams, and after comparing with other recipes, we only added 20 berries in total.

• Ligurian-style pasta sauce with courgettes and carrots

  • runoutofshelves on June 08, 2022

    This is a sweet and warming pasta dish. Takes a bit of time to finely cut the vegetables but worth the effort.

• Courgette sauce for pasta with tomato, parsley and chilli pepper

  • twoyolks on July 12, 2015

    The zucchini didn't really have much flavor and neither did the sauce.

  • nicolepellegrini on July 12, 2019

    We liked this quite a bit. I think it's success depends on using only the best, freshest ingredients and not going light on the seasoning (I might have even upped the garlic amount). I used local yellow heirloom tomatoes which added to the sweetness of the sauce, and I did cook the zucchini a little less so that it retained some firmness.

• Courgettes and thyme pasta sauce

  • nicolepellegrini on July 02, 2019

    A pleasant and light sauce, good for summer when fresh tomatoes and tender young zucchini are in abundance. Be sure to season it well or else it will be bland.

• Pasta sauce with peas, ham and cream

  • nicolepellegrini on November 18, 2018

    Classic favor combination. You can't go wrong with this, especially when you've got leftover holiday ham to eat up...

  • twoyolks on December 26, 2018

    This is a classic but I didn’t really find it any better than one I normally whip up.

  • swiand on January 22, 2026

    Easy weeknight dinner that was a hit with the kids. As Marcella says the sweetness of the peas was brought out in this humble pasta sauce. We loved it.

  • ksg518 on January 31, 2026

    Very nice way to use up ham in the freezer since the holidays. The recipe said this is enough sauce for a pound of pasta but I thought it worked for a half a pound.

• Peppers and goat's cheese sauce for pasta

  • totoro on August 15, 2020

    Great! Especially if you use a fresh goat's cheese rather than something more firm, as otherwise it can be a little too rich.

• Quail sauce for fresh pasta

  • thennek on June 29, 2013

    Essential to have good quality quail. Recipe easy to do but takes some time to strip the meat off the quail. Very tasty.

• Venetian-style milk polenta

  • JKDLady on January 25, 2016

    Maybe I did something wrong, but there did not seem to be enough liquid.

• Fish in crazy water

  • elizabeth_lf73mu on February 16, 2026

    Deceptively simple. Outstanding flavors.

• Steamed salmon steaks with radicchio and balsamic vinegar

  • nicolepellegrini on July 18, 2025

    Shockingly good for a recipe that is so incredibly simple, but I should know by now to trust Marcella when it comes to this kind of thing! One of those recipes to be immediately added into my regular rotation of salmon dishes.

• Scallops with tomato, garlic and rosemary

  • L.Nightshade on November 06, 2013

    This was a surprising dish for me. I don't associate scallops with the profound piney aroma of rosemary, and this recipe calls for a good helping of it. Hazan states that the rather liberal use of rosemary here "is an exception to the restraint that most Italian cooks exercise when working with fragrant ingredients." Very simple, tasty, and fragrant. Makes a great weeknight meal, and would also be a nice first course for a dinner party.

• Swordfish-Sardinian style with mint and saffron

  • nicolepellegrini on July 02, 2018

    Quick and super-easy! The tomato-mint-white wine broth is refreshing and a nice twist on the typical tomato-basil or tomato-oregano flavor and the swordfish came out tender.

  • perrylessing on March 06, 2022

    We have made this a gazillion times (and it has passed muster with a Sardinian from Cagliari). Unlike Marcella and Victor, however, we prefer it WITH the pasta and thus we use more tomato and cut the fish into chunks. We usually eat this with fettuccine or linguine. Substituting halibut or other white fish is quite successful.

• Pan-grilled swordfish steaks with warm salmoriglio and capers

  • nicolepellegrini on May 29, 2021

    Solid version of a standard Italian swordfish preparation. As always, be very careful not to overcook the swordfish or else it will dry out.

• Sauteed fresh tuna cubes with smothered onion, tomato and chilli pepper

  • nicolepellegrini on March 06, 2019

    The slow-cooked onions give this a rich flavor even with very few ingredients. SO declared this one a "keeper".

• Fricasseed chicken with garlic, capers, white wine and Jerusalem artichokes

  • stockholm28 on January 24, 2021

    This dish was simple and delicious. The nutty sunchokes cooked with wine, lots of garlic, and briny capers were the star of the dish. The chicken was also very flavorful. The recipe calls for one 3.5 lb chicken cut into 8 pieces. I had just two large chicken thighs (about 1 lb), but I still used the full amount of the remaining ingredients. I cooked for about 35 minutes rather than the 45 minutes called for on the recipe. The wine had basically cooked off at about 20 minutes so I added more. The skin was flabby at the end, so I removed it. I’d never cooked sunchokes before and a search on EYB led me to this recipe; the sunchokes were easier to peel than I thought and I would not hesitate to make this again.

• Fricasseed rabbit with herbs, tomato and white wine

  • nicolepellegrini on August 19, 2018

    I love cooking rabbit and this is a very nice way to do it, especially when it's summer and fresh herbs and tomatoes are in ready supply.

• Breaded veal patties with sweet pepper, spring onions and tomato

  • nicolepellegrini on October 11, 2020

    These are very good and simple to throw together - sort of like a cross between hamburgers and meatloaf, but more delicate being made exclusively with veal. Husband loved them a lot and had sandwiches from the leftovers for days.

• Stewed beef cubes with pickles, capers and red wine

  • Bloominanglophile on December 04, 2013

    This recipe is a bit long for a weeknight (browning the beef takes a bit of time in a small pan, as she recommends, as well as simmering the stew for 1 hour). However, it was delicious and hit the spot this snowy day. The cornichons and capers are an interesting twist to this dish--a first cousin to beef bourguignon as it were! I served it over German egg noodles accompanied by steamed cauliflower tossed with butter, a sprinkling of pecorino romano, and topped with toasted breadcrumbs.

• Stewed shoulder of lamb Marches-style with potatoes, rosemary and chilli pepper

  • nicolepellegrini on July 24, 2021

    This was very tasty, and filling. I liked the meat cooked down to fork tender mixed with the whole small potatoes.

• Sauteed cauliflower with green olives and tomato

  • mjes on March 07, 2019

    Sauteed cauliflower with green olives and tomato (rustic winter version). I used the specified ingredients using a sweet onion, castelventrano olives, and petite cherry snacking tomatoes as they were the only truly ripe tomatoes available. As a result, I adjusted the recipe from chopped tomato pulp to blistered tomato halves which worked well. Unfortunately, I followed the directions which led to the cauliflower being overcooked to my taste. I tried it both hot and at room temperature. It really sings at room temperature. Simple and well worth repeating.

• Breaded and fried portobello mushroom cutlets

  • bellatavia on April 09, 2012

    This is a solid recipe. Quick, delicious. Maybe baking the breaded portobellos would make it a bit healthier. (I didn't bake them, though.)

• Mashed potatoes with sauteed courgettes

  • nicolepellegrini on September 05, 2020

    This was delicious - some of the creamiest mashed potatoes I've ever made, and the sauteed zucchini was an interesting touch.

• Sauteed radicchio and Jerusalem artichokes with olive oil and garlic

  • debwfrank on February 27, 2010

    This was bland and lost its color. I liked the technique, so I'll try to think of how to flavor it up.

• Baked cauliflower Tuscan-style

  • Tommelise on August 13, 2011

    A very easy dish. Good comfort food. I used bacon insteed of ham.

  • kelly_ml41l9 on May 28, 2026

    Def project. Learn the slow cook. With optional ham suggest for brunch addition. Like most Italian, prob even better made ahead. Cozy.

• Artichoke and Swiss chard pie

  • Toppermom on May 01, 2012

    This has been a family favorite for years. I usually double the amount of filling as we like a larger tart. I use frozen artichoke quarters when fresh artichokes aren't available.

• Stuffed courgettes Pesaro-style, with minced meat, tomatoes, Parmesan and white wine

  • nicolepellegrini on July 05, 2020

    Husband absolutely loved this - and was rather shocked that he did! It was easier to hollow out the zucchini than I expected, and the veal filling was very delicate and flavorful, lighter than doing with pork as Marcella explains it will be. Made a lot so we'll be eating this for a few days.

• Roman puntarelle chicory salad

  • Omsafeeya on November 15, 2021

    Perfect. Classic, fresh and delish.

• Yoghurt and Sambuca cake

  • debkellie on October 21, 2024

    Very easy, simple cake.. the flavour becomes more pronounced as it ages. Kept nice and moist for 5 days. I'd imagine you could substitute any liqueur of your choice for sambuca.