Italian American Forever: Classic Recipes for Everything You Want to Eat

Food Network star and Manhattan chef Alex Guarnaschelli’s classical culinary training is overlaid on a base of Italian American home cooking. Raised in a household where her mom’s Sicilian heritage and her father’s family roots in Bari created an ongoing dialogue about what made for good food, she’s happy to admit they were each right, and to share what she learned from them.

So if that means there are three different marinara recipes, it’s because that’s how rich the Italian American tradition is. You’ll also find baked ziti, chicken Marsala, milk-braised pork loin, and a ricotta cheesecake, along with many other classics.

But Guarnaschelli is also comfortable offering some of her own ideas, based on her travels in Italy, and current tastes. There’s a chipped salad that could double as an Italian deli sandwich, cauliflower risotto, mortadella finger sandwiches with a kale and olive relish, and strawberries with lime curd, balsamic, and black pepper.

Engaging and imaginative.

Hardcover. Color photographs throughout.