Mario Batali

Mario Batali, host of Food Network's Molto Marzo and Mediterranean Mario and chef/owner of Po' and Babbo, the popular New York City restaurants in the West Village, has been asked the same question for years: When are you going to write a cookbook? For all of his fans and everyone who loves innovative Italian food, this celebrated, larger-than-life chef has written the year's most highly anticipated and appealing cookbook.

In Mario Batali Simple Italian Food: Recipes from My Two Villages, Mario combines the spirit of old-world cooking with new-world flair, showcasing rustic Italian food at its most irresistible. In nearly 250 recipes, home cooks will learn how to duplicate Mano's assertive approach to combining flavors, capturing all of the exuberance of the best Italian and American cooking. Because his dishes are based more on superior ingredients than on fancy techniques, Mario proves that they are easily adaptable for any home kitchen and that when these ingredients are combined sensibly and cooked properly, the end result is great tasting food.

"What I hope you'll learn from this book is that Italian food is all about style, good ingredients, and simplicity, not necessarily the ingredients in Rome or Venice but the ingredients native to your village, where you are cooking, where you are eating," says Mario. "And that is cooking and living and loving in Italy, where the day's offerings from the market or the garden changes from region to region, from city to city, from gardener to gardener, from tiny little town to tiny little town, and, hopefully, from my two villages to yours.

In chapters covering "Antipasti," "Pasta and Risotto," "Pesce" (Fish), "Carne" (Meat), "Contorni" (Vegetable and Side Dishes), and "Formaggi and Dolci" (Cheese and Sweets), Mario offers the signature dishes that epitomize his cooking philosophy, a blend of rustic classics coupled with the innovative dishes originated for his restaurants. Some of the familiar favorites include Rolled Flank Steak with Green Olives and Oregano; Spaghettini with Rock Shrimp, Anaheim Chiles, and Arugula; and White Bean Ravioli with Balsamic Brown Butter. Marinated Calamari and Artichokes in a Spicy Olive Vinaigrette; Tagliatelle with Fresh Tuna Ragu; and sautéed Japanese Eggplant with Scallions and Thyme are examples of some of his newer dishes.

Complete with Mario's advice on techniques and ingredients, 32 pages of full-color photographs and with dozens of black-and-white pictures of his two villages-Borgo Capanne in Tuscany and Greenwich Village in New York-and humorous anecdotes from Mario himself, Mario Batali Simple Italian perfectly captures the informative tone of his television series and is sure to be a hit among Mario's fans, Food Network fanatics, and lovers of Italian food.

Mario Batali Simple Italian Food:
Recipes from My Two Villages
By Mario Batali
Clarkson Potter/Publishers
Hardback, Price: $30.00
288 pages, 32 full-color photographs
ISBN: 0-609-60300-0
Information provided by the publisher.