Molto Buono! I grew up with an Italian mother and these recipes are very reminiscent of her recipes. Believe me that’s a compliment. The Sugo recipe looks really good if you don’t have a recipe passed down from an Italian Nonna.

I was not disappointed by the recipes. A wonderful recipe book, with simple and few ingredients, which makes a change from a long list of ingredients, I have to try them but must wait till I try them one at a time. I intend to use the kindle as a reference book, and do just that. Thank you to netgalley and the publishers for giving me an advance copy of this book.

Italian cooking is highly regional and varies from town to town, even from one village to the next only 3 km away. It is practically a language unto itself! As I live part time in the Mediterranean, looking at this book gave me joy. I love, love Italy! And the cuisine is pure magic. Several of my favourite recipes are included in this book and I've had some version of nearly all of them, many of them often. During covid restraints, it is lovely to be transported to Italy in an instant. It is a joy to prepare Italian recipes here in North America yet it is impossible to perfectly capture the essences and nuances of Italy. It's just not the same. However, the recipes can surely bring back wondrous multi-sensory memories. Cooking should be with and from the heart and a pleasure.

This extremely short book includes mouthwatering recipes such as Risotto con Spinaci, Pasta alla Norma, Pasta e Fagioli (one of my favourites), Linguine alla Genovese, Spigola all'acquapazza (Sea Bass Cooked in "Crazy" Water) and Polenta con Salsiccia (Polenta with Sausages). And that pizza....mmmm! I love that in Italy sauces are made to enhance, not to drown. There are even desserts such as Crostata di Ricotta (Ricotta Cake Roman Style).

My only complaint is that there are many spelling and grammatical errors which should have been caught during editing. However, I fully understand translation/language issues.

My sincere thank you to BooksGoSocial and NetGalley for the privilege of salivating over the e-ARC of this book riddled with nostalgia!

This short cookery book is beautifully illustrated, with full page colour plates of every item. Each recipe is neatly presented on separate pages, making it much easier if you wish to use, for example, a tablet device whilst you cook. It has a reasonable range of recipes.

However, I found the frequent errors (which have been mentioned by others) distracting. Some of them related to ingredients, which could lead to a bit of a disaster if you are not well-skilled in the kitchen - there's a huge difference between a teaspoon and a tablespoon, and when the "tsp" abbreviation is used for both, it could be a recipe for disaster! Readers will need to keep an eye on the alternative measurements (5ml or 15ml, for example).

Another (minor) problem for UK readers might be that oven temperatures are only given in centrigrade and fahrenheit, but not in suitable settings for gas ovens. However, obtaining a conversion chart is quite easy.

Nobody expects perfection from an ARC, but due diligence by the author shows a respect for the reader.
Here we have a cookbook with mouthwatering traditional Italian recipes for pasta dishes, mains and desserts. There is fabulous food styling, appetising images, great layout...and then you start reading.
The text is crawling with typos, grammar and punctuation errors, the instructions at times barely intelligible. Granted, the author is not a native speaker, but that’s where a proofreader/editor comes in.
Still gets three stars for the recipes/styling, but I leave you with a small selection of my finds:

“Now simmer it for 2 house, always stirring from time to time.”
“ (...) it became a signature dish of the middle-age Italian cuisine.”
“Serve the pasta alla Norma with the dust of Parmigiano.
If you want to stick to the tradition, though, you should swat the Parmigiano with the salty ricotta.”
“340 g Strong ( Bread) flour plus for dasting”
“8 tbsp Tomato passata or blended pilled tomatoes”
“Wait until the temperature riches 220C”
“milk in the cooked bechamel souse”
“Drain the pasta (...) but leave aside a cooking water cup.”
“Chili paper”
“In a saucepan, heat the 2 tbsp of on medium heat”
“By this mine pasta and vegetables should be ready.”
“Genoese linguine with potatoes and green beans are ready to serve.until it is no longer pink and lightly seared.”
“If you manage to safe some ‘ncasciata pasta for the next day, it will be even tastier.”
“Occasionally bedew fishes with sauce.”
“Add little by little water if you fill the mixture hard”
“Place in a large bawl grated courgettes”
“Simmer the sauce, occasionally tiring, for 30 minutes.”
“15 g raisings”
“Add salt (best to add salt to the end; otherwise, it may harden)“
“Beat the egg whites with the rest of the sugar until stiff picks.”
“250 g plane flour”