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Product Description

"The trick to cooking is that there is no trick." ¨C¨CMario Batali

The only mandatory Italian cookbook for the home cook, Mario Batali's MOLTO ITALIANO is rich in local lore, with Batali's humorous and enthusiastic voice, familiar to those who have come to know him on his popular Food Network programs, larded through about 220 recipes of simple, healthy, seasonal Italian cooking for the American audience.

Easy to use and simple to read, some of these recipes will be those "as seen" on TV in the eight years of "Molto Mario" programs on the Food Network, including those from "Mediterranean Mario," "Mario Eats Italy," and the all¨Cnew "Ciao America with Mario Batali." Batali's distinctive voice will provide a historical and cultural perspective with a humorous bent to demystify even the more elaborate dishes as well as showing ways to shorten or simplify everything from the purchasing of good ingredients to pre¨Cproduction and countdown schedules of holiday meals. Informative head notes will include bits about the provenance of the recipes and the odd historical fact.

Mario Batali's MOLTO ITALIANO will feature ten soups, thirty antipasti (many vegetarian or vegetable based), forty pasta dishes representing many of the twenty¨Cone regions of Italy, twenty fish and shellfish dishes, twenty chicken dishes, twenty pork or lamb dishes and twenty side dishes, each of which can be served as a light meal. Add twenty desserts and a foundation of basic formation recipes and this book will be the only Italian cooking book needed in the home cook's library.

Customer Reviews:

• 'Molto' indeed!
  Caveat: This book is NOT for those who aren't already comfortable in the kitchen or willing to have a go at something more complicated. This book is NOT primarily for those looking to whip up a quick 'Italian dish' after work. Yes, this book is weighty....but yes, this book is VERY worth it if you are looking to take your basics to the next level. I adore that fact Mario uses the authentic ITALIAN names for the dishes. It's evidant Mario's book references from his restaurants, but that's what I enjoy about it. It's full of easy to read recipes divided nicely into workable sections, and it also includes photos OF THE FOOD. This book, in my opinion, is a MUST for those of us who LIKE spending time in the kitchen.....those who have time to put towards creating quite authentic dishes that are guaranteed to please....more info
• Simple, fast - perfect for getting the gist of Italian food
  I got this book for Father's day last year and we've been cooking out of it every week since. Batali's recipes are simple - typically no more than two to four main ingredients each - and require standard kinds of prep, like dicing onions and parsley or simmering a sauce. There's not a lot of work to do, if you know how to let go and allow things to brown. The recipes are close to no-fail, and everything has been delicious. The deserts are excellent too.
  
  I've learned as much as I can about cooking Italian food since my oldest daughter was born, studying everything from details anthropological studies of Italian cuisine to massive hotel cookbooks. The cuisine is simple and tasty, with easy-to-find ingredients, and there's so much regional variation I can cover virtually every dietary preference or season. This is a perfect addition to my library. First, its easy to use. Second, and more important, it makes the variations in regional cuisine clear without being heavy on the pedantry. Northern Italian cooking is heavy on the meat and the butter, for example, except for the Friuli area, but the further south you go the lighter the food, the more emphasis on tomato, fish and olive oil. You can find recipes in this book that match those variations, and its easy enough to translate that into menus that match seasonal or personal preferences. Its a good book to get kids involved with too: the recipes are simple enough that my three-year-old can be involved from start to finish.
  
  Two quibbles, which I find in almost every modern cookbook I look at, including the good ones. First, there's no wine recommendations. Some of the regional dishes taste so much better with the matching wine (and Batali certainly knows which, given wine importing is one of his sidelines) that I'm often left wondering what would work, aside from the obvious. Second, there's no menus - there's the primi/secondi-contorni/dolce distinction, for sure, but no suggested sequences. What are his service suggestions? Maybe I have to go to one of his restaurants to get that level of detail, but the book would become a thorough classic - on the level of Olney's books - if he included some wine suggestions and possible menus.
  
  But all in all, you can mine this book for dinner parties and Tuesday nights alike for years....more info
• Molto Mario
  The best cookbook he has done to date. Simple and fabulous recipes . I have tried some and they have all been very good....more info
• Molto Italiano
  Wonderful addition to any cooks collection. Great recipes, awesome illustrations of the delicious food. 327 recipes from simple to fancy and the photos make you want to try them all! It even has a ribbon bookmark. This book looks like a coffee table book in addition to being a great cookbook....more info
• Masterful!!
  Well, done. The simplicity of the recipes caused me to "scratch my head" at first. But, the underlying philosophy is sound. Fresh & "what is available" cause them to be simple, not to be confused with boring. This is a great cook book....more info
• Excellent recipes
  I just made polenta with salted cod and it's extremely addictive; I am on my third bowl. Some readers complained that it has too many recipes with "odd" ingredients. This book does have many recipes with octopus and squid and anchovies, and sardines. I think "odd" ingredients is what makes this book stand out. This is the kind of stuff I absolutely love to eat. And yes, they eat octopus and squid and fresh anchovies in Italy , not just meat balls and spaghetti.
  
  If you want just standard meatball, then this book is not for you. But if you want to try something new, I highly recommend this book....more info
• Simple Italian
  I would not consider these recipes to be for everyday meals. These are definetly special occasion meals. They contain ingrediants that I would have to go to a gourmet store to buy. ...more info
• Good; but not quite great.
  Were do I begin. I guess that first I will say that I love Mario batali. His recipes are great and come close to "just like grandma used to make". The only disappointing thing that i find is that the description of the cooking processes(as well as times and yeilds) somtimes leave a little to be desired. If your a fan of his shows "Molto Mario" you now that he goes into great detail about the most important parts of the cooking process. This book doesn't really do that. For example taking the lasagna bolognese recipee (which is fabulous). You need beciamella at 3.5 cups (this i believe is the right amount maybe you can go as little as 3 cups) but the recipe in the book says it yeild 3.5 cups from only 3 cups of milk (if you look up mario recipe on food tv he uses 4 cups of milk and says it only yeilds 3 cups) so somthing is wrong there. Then on the bolognese sauce, again amazing recipe. But, if you look uo his wine spectator video (uses a little diferent recipe) but watching the technique and browning the meat, just isn't descrobed well in the recipe, but is of extreme importance. he doesn't actually finish the meat until an hour into it pushing the cooking time to a 2.5 hour mark instead of the 2 hour mark in the book. I blieve the yeild here was different as well but i didn't actually measure out the sauce. Next the lasagna call for 2.5 pound of dough. Which would be 2 batches of dough I only made 1 becasu I wanted only 1 9x12 pan of lasagna (the recipe says it would make 2. the dough recipe was right on my yeild was exactly as it should be 1.25 pounds. So I now had dough for 1 pan but sauce for 2 pans of lasagna. Lol rolling the past to the thinist setting i got enough dough for over 1.5 pans, it would have probably been close to the 1 pan but i only did 4 layers (as i ran out of sauce). Asumming that there should have been enough sauce for 2 pans i was putting very thing layers ( i shouls have half the left over after all). anyway, in doing it again it seems to me that it would make a good sigle 9x12 with 6-7 layers. not the 10 x 20 or 2 9x12 the book would advertise.
  
  so be cautious of the yeilds and the cook times. that being said the recipes are great....more info
• The Best cook book that I have ever owned
  This book is so Mario... simple easy recipes that resulting in spectacular dishes...they plate just like at Babbo... ok, well almost... I find myself reaching for this book every Friday for our Bocce Ball dinners... Molto Bene!...more info
• Simple Italian Recipes to Cook at Home
  These recipes may be simple, but they are not ingredients that one would find at the local grocery store.
  I purchaced this cook book because I thought that it would be simple and "every-day" user friendly;not so simple. ...more info
• requires effort, commitment
  i guess you could say calling this "simple italian recipes" could be a bit misleading. going into this expecting 300 recipes that you can whip up in 15 minutes with $10 worth of ingredients from a run of the mill supermarket could leave you a bit disappointed.
  
  the first thing you need to know is that batali is fanatical about quality. this means that while some of these recipes may not call for a laundry list of ingredients, getting the quality he's looking for is going to cost you either time, money or both. for instance, he's not telling you to buy the $2 can of 4c grated cheese - it's the $15 a pound stuff imported from italy. and when it's time for a special cut of meat, you need to be prepared to make a trip to a butcher. depending on what part of the country you live in, some traditional ingredients could occasionally be hard to come by, so be prepared.
  
  the second thing you may want to know is that if you're expecting a lot of traditional italian-american style dishes, this book doesn't have them. for the most part these recipes are straight from different parts of italy, unaltered unless stated otherwise. if you're not familiar with what constitutes different types of authentic regional italian cuisine, it would make sense to read through some of the recipes to decide whether or not this book is really going to give you what you want.
  
  these 'warnings' aside, this book is amazing for several reasons. first, the aforementioned commitment to quality and effort that batali is so hung up on. in a society where quick fix foods are replacing any semblence of respectable authentic cuisine, batali's call to arms on this subject runs a lot deeper than your local grocery store. it's a call to a different way of life. you could say he comes off as a bit of a snob, but i think that would be inaccurate. he clearly has a passion for the art of italian cuisine, and almost begs the reader to share that passion with him.
  
  with regards to the physical book itself, i have no real complaints. there are many useful photographs of the dishes - not all of them - but i wouldn't say it's lacking. the layout is logical and easy to negotiate. batali adds on plenty of little asides to mention things that are important to specific ingredients - like how to select a good eggplant or how to make sure your octopus isn't rubbery (boil it with a cork!).
  
  and last but not least, the food. what can i really say here? the recipes are authentic, delicious and most of all inspiring. they make you want to make them - especially the simplest recipes. and this is where the beauty of these dishes shows through - the simplicity of the ingredients. with the exception of a few things that have many ingredients, batali tends to send you to the store to buy five or so items that you can turn into an authentic dish that lets you appreciate the flavors of the ingredients you bought. and since you bought only the best as i mentioned earlier, it tastes pretty darn good.
  
  this book requires that you give in order to get back. incorporating this way of cooking into your life will most likely mean you have to change the way you do some things. change the way you shop. change how much time you get to watch tv at the end of the day. change how much time you spend in the kitchen. but something tells me these tradeoffs will be worth your while at the end of the day.
  
  great book. recommended....more info
• JUST A BEAUTIFUL BOOK!
  Mario Batali has really done a just beautiful job with this book.The recipes are outstanding yet simple to follow.
  The pictures are outstanding.
  This just goes to show how brilliant this chef is and his knowlege of Italian cooking and why I think he is one of the most incredible chefs of italian cooking in the country....more info
• Great everyday italian book
  This Batali book is probably the best. It is a great book to have for everyday Italian cooking. The instructions are easy and the food great. This and Julia Child's The Art of French Cooking are the two books I bought for my girlfriend when she showed an interest in cooking. ...more info
• Classic Molto
  Classic Molto - great recipes for everday, many great soup recipes as well as regional Itialian fare. My husband really enjoys this book. ...more info
• Five stars to me, but probably 3 or 4 stars to other folks.
  I just got this book for Christmas, and frankly, I was not as impressed as I thought I would be. First, there seem to be A LOT of eggplant and anchiovy recipes in this cookbook, which I dislike intensely. (There are a few sardine recipes too, but I love sardines.) Second, many of the recipes call for hard to find ingredients. However, after reading the text before the recipes, I am inspired enough to locate some of the hard to find ingredients. The reason I would have given 5 stars, if I were reviewing it just for myself, is the focaccia recipe. It is based on the focaccia made by Liguria Bakery in San Francisco. It is absolutley the World's BEST focaccia. Since I no longer live in the Bay Area of California, and can only indulge when I visit once a year, I am hoping to recreate Liguria's focaccia right here in Washington State. All in all, it is a fine book for the more experienced or adventurous chef--especially if you like eggplant and anchovies!...more info
• Easy to follow
  The recipes in this book were very good, most of the ingredients were available, an overall great Italian cook book....more info
• Italian??? Not!
  The majority of the praise for this book is coming from non-Italians so they're bound to think that anyone putting themselves under the banner of an Italian cook is bound to be the real thing.
  
  Batali's speciality is cuisine from remote parts of Northeast Italy (especially from the region of Friuli-Venezia Giulia). The names of those dishes are a dead giveaway that they're not Italian and it gets tiresome real quick how much he talks about the Austrian-Hungarian empire. I thought he was supposed to be one of the top experts on *Italian* cooking.
  
  He and Giada De Laurentiis's specialities are Americanizing Italian dishes and Italianizing American dishes.
  
  Bottom line: There is no such thing at *the* definitive Italian chef or cookbook. Italy hasn't been united since Roman times (and even then it was splintered). There are heavy French, German, and Slavic influences in the North that shows in their cooking - cream, butter, lard, polenta are staples of Northern Italian cooking while there's Greek, Albanian, and Middle Eastern influences in the South: Pizza, spaghetti, olive oil, and peppers are indicative of those influences.
  
  I can't get into Batali at all because his dishes are so fusion they may as well not be Italian.
  
  If you're into noveau fusion cuisine, then this is the book for you. If you're looking for something authentic, don't bother wasting your money or time....more info
• Superb, but sometimes misleading...
  I've put the word "misleading" in my review because I agree with others who note that this book is not a presentation of everyday meals. Batali likely has access to ingredients that the at-home, everyday cook does not. From where I write, in Tucson, Arizona, it's not as easy to just step out and pick-up calf tongues to make "Sweet-And-Sour Calf's Tongue" (pg. 116), as well as numerous other specialty recipes. Nevertheless, Batali is clear in calling this book your muse (pg., 14), and this is precisely what he goes on to do-- inspire our creative juices. This is wonderfully magnificent cookbook by a man and brand that is at the top of its game. ...more info
• Very very good
  I enjoyed this book so much I recommended it to my friends. Almost everyone I know loves pasta and this book contains lots of wonderful comfort food.
  
  Janet Sue Terry author of "A Rich, Deliciously Satisfying, Collection of Breakfast Recipes". ...more info
• A Fine Chef
  Please do not listen to a fool of Donna DiGiacomo's ilk. Chef Batali is a fine Italian chef. I am a chef myself and Italian and can say his food is true to the regions of Italy. Italy as any other country has been influenced by the areas around them. This book is a good start to see what you like and add ingredients of the season to change the dish here or there. If you want to have fun in the kitchen buy this book....more info
• Molto Italiano
  This is a beautifully produced cookbook with an abundance of photos. I find that this makes me far more likely to try a new dish when I know what it is to look like. Great recipes....more info
• Great Italian cookbook
  Batali uses lots of pictures and gives you so many dishes. Great book - he has three different gnocci recipes!! ...more info
• very useful if you can find the right stuff
  This review is for cooks who shop in stores like whole food, kroger, HEB, and Randalls.
  
  Pros:
  The recipes in the book are very good. You start from the basic sauces and stocks. It has a variety of easy to make, tasty, and pretty dishes. Instructions are percise and accurate. I find it interesting to read this book even when im not cooking.
  
  cons:
  well, as I said, the ingredients in the book are lil bit hard to find in general grocery stores. I'm not italian, and sometimes it's hard to understand what Batali wants. I also like to eat healthy, but Batali's recipes simply uses too much oil, butter, and cheese in my opinion. I like olive oil and cheese and enjoy them tremendously, but i prefer those greasy food in moderation.
  
  bottom line:
  it's the perfect weekend meal cookbook if u have time to shop around and can take alot of greasy food. I use it once in a while, but reading it is very enjoyable ...more info
• Disappointment! Do not bake from this book!
  I love Mario's restaurants, loved the Babbo cookbook, and was really excited about cooking out of this book. However, the focaccia recipe which was a disaster - the dough never came together, was very dry. I had to toss it before a dinner party and switch to another cookbook (The Best Recipe by the Cooks Illustrated people - fabulous). Then I tried the cannoli recipe and again the same problem with the dough - even repeating and weighing the ingredients on a different day with different weather again led to dry pasty dough that did not hold together. Did the reviewers on this site actually make any of the dishes from this book or are the reviews based on a quick read of the recipes and pictures? I would recommend this book for the fresh pastas (all are excellent, and very easy) and braised meats - maybe for some inspiration as the flavor profiles are very interesting - but would be recommend a test run of any baked goods before inviting friends over for dinner. ...more info
• Huge let down!
  I love Chef Batali's TV show and I have lived in Italy on and off for years, so I was really looking forward to this cookbook. I've tried enough of the recipes now to call it quits! Fettuccini al Liimone with red onions and 3 jalepeno peppers?? It seems like the Chef allowed someone else to create a book and use his name, such is the discrepancy between the obvious knowledge of regional Italian cooking this chef possesses and the awful recipes in the book....more info
• Great Service
  Fast service and book was exactly what I ordered. Great book by the way!...more info
• Molto Italiano is a winner!
  You're going to have fun with this book...it is colorful, illustrative, detailed and above all, the recipes (and there are many of them) are simple to make!
  
  The risottos are flavorful and Mario's recipe for Besciamela (B¨¦chamel sauce) is the most tasty version I've ever had. Sure, several of the recipes are not for dieters but for those special occasions, date nights or weekends when you have more time, give these a try. This book is the perfect choice for those chefs who deem themselves experimental and are willing to step out of their cooking comfort zone every once in a while....enjoy!...more info
• Intelligent Italian Cooking
  Based upon my assessment of Mario Batali from his TV programs, I expected an intelligent, well considered, useful book. I have not been dissappointed. In fact I have found the book most helpful in presenting recipes that can serve as starting points for a number of recipes beyond the specific ones in the book. The reviews that suggest that many of the ingredients "required" by the recipes are esoteric and difficult to obtain, in my view, are mistaken. Just find suitable substitutes. In fact some of the methods are easily modifiable without sacrificing the wonderfull flavor combinations Batali uses. I recommend the book highly to anyone who enjoys fine food and wants to know how to make it....more info
• Super Book!
  Actually, this cookbook was purchased for my husband's birthday--he is the cook in our household. Mario is the chef he admires the most since he has a love for Italian cooking. Regarding the book, it's "wonderful!" and he can't wait to try all the recipes. (You can see how this was a left-handed gift!)....more info
• LIBRA MOLTO BUON!
  Mario Batali shows us all just how it is done with this superlative cookbook. Three hundred plus recipes with the clever and most wonderful addition of a ribbon page marker.
  
  It is well laid out with a good supply of supplementary information at the back of the book. This wonderfully energetic man blesses us with his obvious love and enthusiasm for his passion in life. Cooking Italian. He does it very well indeed and tranfers much of the verve and style of his television work to this book. Most of the recipes can be done at home and while not necessarily in 30 minutes they can be completed in a reasonble amount of time, especially with a little common sense preparation. A nice little bonus is a section on wine. Very easy to read and use.
  
  Great recipes and a great book!! A must have for your cookbook library shelf. ...more info
• Love Mario, Hated This Book
  Fusion is right..ingredients I'd never use, actually ingredients I'd never HEARD of and I've studied Italian Cuisines extensively.
  
  He rocks on television...but..
  
  As much as I enjoy watching Chef Batali on Food Network, I absolutely despised this book. I'm giving it away, I couldn't find a single thing I'd like to make....more info
• Another winner from the American Italian cooking master
  If you love to cook and eat Italian food this is the book for you!
  
  To put this review into perspective for you, it is written by a serious student of cooking that has been actively studying food on their own for 25 years. I have been focusing on Italian food for the last 10 years. My favorite cookbook is "The Professional Chef" by the Culinary Institute of America.
  
  Each trip my husband and I take to Italy we find new dishes to love that we want to recreate at home. With Mario's book you can bring your vacation home to your own kitchen. His directions are extremely easy to follow, dare I say they appear to be foolproof.
  
  My husband loves to look at the glossy pictures in the book and pick out dinner. If you like to see pictures of the finished dishes this book has plenty of pictures to satisfy that desire.
  
  I use this cookbook on a weekly basis and have been pleased with every recipe that I have tried. Mario's recipe for Osso Buco (page 363) is worth the price of the book alone. My husband loves the Chocolate Hazelnut fritters (page 477). I believe that there is something for everyone in this book.
  
  If you are looking to expand your Italian cookbook library, take a look at the "Harry's Bar Cookbook". It is written by the owner of the famous bar in Venice, and is a fabulous addition to any cookbook library for those that love authentic Italian food.
  
  You cannot go wrong with this book if you love serious Italian food. This is one of the most used books in my cookbook collection. Even with 500 cookbooks to choose from I frequently find myself reaching for this book. Unlike other cookbooks, this one obviously had all its recipes tested many times. I have made more than 50% of the recipes in this book and everyone has turned out well. Kudos to Mario for a fantastic effort and an exceptional end result.
  ...more info
• Excellent addition for cooks of all skills
  My favorite clog shod Italian cook is back with a winner. I like that these recipes are simple and easy to make but taste like grandma's been cooking all day. I like, too, the cultural bits and pieces Mario tosses in while he's describing a recipe. There are plenty of new pasta recipes and a section on desserts which is not often seen in Italian cookbooks. I found the book very easy to read and almost all of the ingredients should be at the corner grocer. ...more info
• Wonderful Chef, Wonderful Book
  The recipes in this book are not only tasty, they are perfect for those nights when you're not sure what to make and relatively budget-friendly. I find that most of them draw on items that are already staples, so I don't feel that I am going out of my way to get ingredients that won't be used, with few exceptions (saffron? really, Mario...). The book also includes helpful little sections for reference, such as the doneness temperatures for various meats. I really like to have this sort of support when venturing out into things I wouldn't normally prepare. What I really delight in are the bits that tell you how to do things like make your own guanciale, though until I get a bigger fridge I'd rather just order from Salumi. ...more info
• MARIO GOT ME ON THIS ONE!
  This is the first book I've read from Mario and I have to say he got me hooked. As a sporadic watcher of his show I admit to being somewhat intimidated by his recipes and never saw them as things I'd want to make at home. But I guess the simple in the title snared me and the title is true. These are simple and delicious recipes that anyone can make at home. The book features recipes various regions of Italy which I really liked since the food does tend to vary often greatly from region to region and all of them are very authentic.
  
  Then the book is section by type including anti-pastas, soups, pasta, fish, chicken, beef, pork, vegetarian, etc...over 300 recipes in all. There are over 60 anti-pasta recipes and over 50 pasta recipes. The side dishes are rich enough that they can be light meals themselves. You'll find classic dishes like Baked Zita, lasagne, and Veal Marsala and wonderful soups. It's a beautiful looking book and you can tell that Mario has put a great amount of effort into the presentation. His enthusiasm is very much appreciated....more info
• It's ok
  I thought this book was ok in the sense it had some good recipes but if you don't live in a city like me I would rather have picked some of his recipes from the food network. I'm also a picture freak when it comes to cooking. Even though I don't follow a recipe to a tee I like to see what it looks like for each of the dishes. He only has a picture for every 2-3 recipes. Also, many of the recipes, unless your a true-italiano, i wouldn't cook a lot of what he has printed. But obviously my opinion only and everyone has different tastes...more info
• great book
  excellent cook book for beginners or pros...love it and love shopping on amazon...more info
• molto bene
  As a chef it's rare to find such a gem as mario batali. This is some of his best work, easy to use beautifully shot cookbook. fantastic...more info
• Best of the Batali cookbooks
  I own Batali's "Simple Italian Food" (which I keep meaning to sell, because its recipes are too clunky and its design totally unappealing) as well as the Babbo Cookbook (which I find gorgeous and inspiring but too high-end for anything but show-stopper dinner party dishes -- the oxtail ragu being the notable exception).
  
  Having cooked out of this book almost every week for 6 months now, I think Molto Italiano is the best of Batali's cookbooks. It's well-designed, the recipes work well and taste great, and it doesn't seem the least bit dumbed-down for the Food TV cadre. I'm also a sucker for the bookmark ribbon bound into the spine.
  ...more info
• Molto Magnifico
  This is a marvelous cookbook...incidentally it contains the best lasagne recipe in the world! Hats off to the author! His instructions are easy to follow...I encourage you to get this book and go for it! If you love great Italian food this is the book to have. If you only purchase one Italian cuisine cookbook let it be this one....more info
• Always an ingredient thats not right
  I'm an accomplished "home" cook. First I made "St Johns' Eve Pasta" which had easily a half cup more breadcrumbs that needed in the recipe.
  It made the recipe. "Way too Dry"
  Secondly, we spent an hour making Malloreddus with Fennel Seeds and Tomatoes with the saffron semolina pasta. The pasta is terrific, but once again 1 TB of red pepper flakes made me choke.
  
  DIANE FRIEDMAN...more info
• I'm ordering 3 today
  I have Mario's other cookbooks and this one is definately the best. It is clear, simple and easy too use. I love the fact that some of the recipes have very basic ingredients that I actually have on hand and don't need to make a trip to the store. I was thrilled on a cold snowy Sunday when I realized I had all the ingredients to make "risotto with Winter squash" and boy was it delicious! I am giving this cookbook to at least three friends for Christmas.
  I will always be grateful to Mario for teaching my husband the basics of how to cook on the grill....more info
• Great cookbook. One of the best!
  For as complicated as some of the recipe names sound, don't be put off. Most of them are simple, easy to prepare, and easy to acquire ingredients. Really great flavors, and terrific meals to serve to family or guests. Highly, highly recommended!...more info
• Overall, Not Worth the Dough
  I hate to be the one to say it, but this cookbook is one of those grand collections of recipes that aren't worth the amount of dough you will have to lay down for it. While yes, Italians enjoy sardines and smelt, most people do not. Exactly how often does one serve whole Eel? While this book is chocked full of recipes, most of them tend to be for a certain type of cook, one who is highly experienced and has the time and energy to hunt down strange ingredients. If you love Mario and find yourself in the aforementioned culinary category, then by all means, add this book to your collection. If you're looking for simple and fast Italian, try Giada's Everyday Italian. ...more info
• MOLTO For Sure
  This is an enormous book of recipes with a broad mix of regional and even microregional dishes. I ordered the book after realizing that my wife and I have about 6 months until we head off to Italy on vacation. I've watched and enjoyed Mario's Food Channel show, Molto Mario!, and decided that the best way to truly experience the trip would be to try a few recipes out.
  
  I've noticed that other reviewers have complained about the scarcity of ingredients, but I've found no problem hunting down all but the most obscure ingredients here in suburban San Diego County. And Mario suggests worthy substitutes for ingredients in many of the recipes (you don't REALLY need Porcini mushrooms for the soup, button mushrooms will do).
  
  Truth is, I'm not going to make 90% of the dishes in the book, but my curiousity of the regional dishes and the knowledge gained by leafing through the recipes will serve me well when I dine at Italian restaurants.
  
  The book is huge, with well written (and concise) recipes, and beautiful photography. Mario writes a nice introduction for each food type (for example, wet pasta, complete with methods, ingredients, and variations).
  
  This book is one of the pillars of my cookbook collection. ...more info
• Another wonderful Italian book!
  My Mom is Italian and her parents were from Italy. I recently went to Italy and realized how fresh and simple ingredients make a difference. This book is full of wonderful recipes using just that!...more info
• A Major Disappointment
  This is the first Batali cookbook I have purchased and I have to say that I am really disappointed. What a major mistake to prioritize quantity of recipes over quality. Yes, there are 327 recipes in this book, but I found that the recipes are bland or at the other end of the spectrum, too unusual. I prefer Lidia Bastianich instead. Her style of writing is more precise, and the results are absolutely spot on. The only reason why I have not given this book a lower rating is because I have certainly not tried the majority of the recipes. However, I am not sure that I want to waste my time....more info