Italian Cookbooks

Recipes for lasagna, polenta, risotto, and other authentic dishes can be found in many Italian cookbooks.

What makes food Italian? Italian food consists of spices and herbs like oregano, parsley, basil, and garlic and sauces rich with cream cover pasta. Varieties of cheeses are also included and many dishes are fragrant with tomatoes, olive oil, and olives. Pork and beef are the most common meats you will find in an Italian baked entree. Throughout the decades, Americans have come to think of spaghetti and meatballs and pizza as common Italian fare, however, the truth is, these dishes have been Americanized.

Cookbooks capture the culture of a country, for as nations have flourished, so has their cuisine. The following are a sampling of some of the fine Italian cookbooks on the market today. Purchase one of these and begin the journey of cooking Italian or give Italian cookbooks as gifts to your family and friends so that they can experience the richness of authentic dishes from Italy. All of these cookbooks can be purchased online at Amazon.

The Classic Italian Cookbook by Marcella Hazan has earned a reputation for bringing Italian cuisine into the homes of American cooks. Gnocchi, risotto, squid braised with tomatoes, and white wine are included in her masterpiece. She has other cookbooks on the market as well, each loved by those who enjoy cooking Italian meals.

Marguerite DiMino Buonopane lives and writes in Boston's North End, an area famous for its Italian-American neighborhood. This cookbook takes the reader from antipasto through dessert. Buonopane captures old-world Italian cooking as well as the new traditions of the North End.

Mario Batali, the superstar TV chef and author of many cookbooks, fills his newest Italian Grill with simple ways to make great smoky Italian food. The cookbook provides cooks with grilling techniques and equipment needed to produce delicacies like Guinea hen breasts with rosemary and pesto and Italian-style ribs.

Sons of Italy are a distinct organization representing American men and women of Italian descent. For decades, the Order of Sons of Italy in America (OSIA) has been involved in the promotion of educational excellence through scholarship programs. Since 1968, OSIA has awarded more than $25 million. The organization has 750 chapters.

Risotto is a popular dish, flavored in many ways.

The following cookbooks have been published by various Sons of Italy chapters or lodges across the United States.

• Preserving Our Italian Heritage

• A Taste of Italy: A Collection of Favorite Italian Recipes

• Cucina Classica

• Taste of Our Italian Heritage

As the title says, this book by Lidia Bastianich contains more than 200 recipes for those interested to try their hand at creating Italian cuisine, plus a little more. The author has published more than ten cookbooks. In this one, she lovingly guides cooks with easy-to-follow directions on how to make these tasty dishes:

• Bow ties with sausage and leek sauce
• Shrimp risotto
• Braised venison with polenta
• Roasted guinea hen with balsamic glaze
• Baked squid and potatoes

Gina DePalma is the pastry chef at Babbo, the Italian restaurant in New York City owned by Mario Batali. DePalma divides her cookbook of desserts into three sections:

• Traditional Italian, such as polenta cookies from the Veneto
• Italian-American, desserts she learned to create at the elbow of her Calabrese grandmother
• American-Italian, such as a yogurt cheesecake with pine nut brittle

Of course, there are many more Italian cookbooks available online and at your local bookstores. Some say the market is saturated while others feel that when it comes to explaining how to make Italian cuisine, there can never be too much of a good thing.

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