Lidia Cooks from the Heart of Italy: A Feast of 175 Regional Recipes [Hardcover]

Lidia Matticchio Bastianich (Author), Tanya Bastianich Manuali (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: October 20, 2009

In this inspiring new book, Lidia Bastianich awakens in us a new respect for food and for the people who produce it in the little-known parts of Italy that she explores. All of the recipes reflect the regions from which they spring, and in translating them to our home kitchens, Lidia passes on time-honored techniques and wonderful, uncomplicated recipes for dishes bursting with different regional flavors—the kind of elemental, good family cooking that is particularly appreciated today.

Penetrating the heart of Italy—starting at the north, working down to the tip, and ending in Sardinia—Lidia unearths a wealth of recipes:

From Trentino–Alto Adige: Delicious Dumplings with Speck (cured pork); apples accenting soup, pasta, salsa, and salad; local beer used to roast a chicken and to braise beef
From Lombardy: A world of rice—baked in a frittata, with lentils, with butternut squash, with gorgonzola, and the special treat of Risotto Milan-Style with Marrow and Saffron
From Valle d’Aosta: Polenta with Black Beans and Kale, and local fontina featured in fondue, in a roasted pepper salad, and embedded in veal chops
From Liguria: An array of Stuffed Vegetables, a bread salad, and elegant Veal Stuffed with a Mosaic of Vegetables
From Emilia-Romagna: An olive oil dough for making the traditional, versatile vegetable tart erbazzone, as well as the secrets of making tagliatelle and other pasta doughs, and an irresistible Veal Scaloppine Bolognese
From Le Marche: Farro with Roasted Pepper Sauce, Lamb Chunks with Olives, and Stuffed Quail in Parchment
From Umbria: A taste of the sweet Norcino black truffle, and seductive dishes such as Potato-Mushroom Cake with Braised Lentils, Sausages in the Skillet with Grapes, and Chocolate Bread Parfait
From Abruzzo: Fresh scrippelle (crêpe) ribbons baked with spinach or garnishing a soup, fresh pasta made with a “guitar,” Rabbit with Onions, and Lamb Chops with Olives
From Molise: Fried Ricotta; homemade cavatelli pasta in a variety of ways; Spaghetti with Calamari, Shrimp, and Scallops; and Braised Octopus
From Basilicata: Wedding Soup, Fiery Maccheroni, and Farro with Pork Ragù
From Calabria: Shepherd’s Rigatoni, steamed swordfish, and Almond Biscottini
From Sardinia: Flatbread Lasagna, two lovely eggplant dishes, and Roast Lobster with Bread Crumb Topping

This is just a sampling of the many delights Lidia has uncovered. All the recipes she shares with us in this rich feast of a book represent the work of the local people and friends with whom she made intimate contact—the farmers, shepherds, foragers, and artisans who produce local cheeses, meats, olive oils, and wines. And in addition, her daughter, Tanya, takes us on side trips in each of the twelve regions to share her love of the country and its art.

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com Review

From Lidia Cooks from the Heart of Italy: Soup with Bread & Fontina Pasticciata (Seuppa ou Piat)

This might seem like an unusual dish, a pasticciata (a layered casserole) of bread and cheese that's baked, cut into portions, and served in a bowl of hot broth. Yet the tastes and eating pleasure of seuppa ou piat will be completely familiar and welcome to anyone who loves the gratineed crouton of French onion soup or enjoys a crispy grilled-cheese sandwich with a bowl of rich chicken broth alongside. This is a good dish for company, because you can have both the broth and the pasticciata hot and ready to be put together when your guests come. (Chicken stock is my preference, but a savory vegetable stock or a meaty beef broth is just as good.) --Lidia Bastianich

Ingredients

• 8 cups tasty chicken broth (or clear beef or vegetable stock)
• Kosher salt to taste
• 1 tablespoon soft butter for the baking dish
• 1/2 pound fontina from Valle d'Aosta (or Italian Fontal)
• 1 cup freshly grated Grana Padano or Parmigiano- Reggiano, plus more for passing
• 18 slices Italian bread, cut 1/2 inch thick from a long oval loaf, left out to dry overnight*

Recommended Equipment: A baking dish or oval gratin dish, 3 quarts or larger; heavy aluminum foil

Directions

Arrange a rack in the middle of the oven, and heat to 400 degrees. Heat the broth almost to a simmer--season with salt to taste--and keep it hot. Butter the sides and bottom of the baking dish. Shred the fontina through the larger holes of a hand grater and toss the shreds with the grana (grated hard cheese).

Arrange half of the bread slices in one layer in the baking dish. Ladle out 1 cup of broth, and drizzle it on the bread slices, slightly moistening them all. Sprinkle half of the cheese on top of the bread in an even layer. Cover the cheese with the remaining bread slices, filling the entire surface of the dish. Moisten these slices with another cup or so of stock; top the bread with all the remaining cheese, scattered evenly.

Tent the pasticciata with a sheet of heavy aluminum foil, arching it so it doesn’t touch the cheese topping, and pressing it against the sides of the baking dish. Set the dish in the oven, and bake until heated through, about 25 minutes. Remove the foil, and continue baking for 10 minutes or more, until the top is golden brown and bubbly. Take the dish from the oven, and let it cool and set for 5 minutes or so.

To serve: Cut out large squares of pasticciata and, with a spatula, transfer them to warm shallow soup or pasta bowls. Ladle a cup of hot broth over each portion and serve immediately, passing more grated cheese at the table.

*Country Italian bread is best for this pasticciata. The width of the bread can vary since it is layered snugly in the baking dish, then cut in squares when served.

---

From Publishers Weekly

Starred Review. Bastianich, acclaimed restaurateur, star of a PBS cooking show and author (Lidia's Italy, etc.), and her daughter Manuali offer a stellar array of regional Italian recipes in this tantalizing and lavishly photographed collection. They serve up authentic, hearty fare including such favorites as wedding soup from Basilicata, braised veal shanks from Lombardy and spaghetti with clam sauce from Le Marche. They celebrate and honor the cuisine of lesser-known parts of the country including Emilia-Romagna's sweet and sour little onions, Molise's braised octopus with spaghetti, Calabria's spicy calamari and Liguria's stuffed vegetables. In her trademark style, Bastianich places each recipe in the context of its Italian heritage, sharing insight into the people and highlights of the region. Offerings run the gamut from fish and beef to pasta and vegetables and provide insight into the traditional Italian kitchen and lifestyle. Readers will enjoy this volume not only as a cookbook but as a vicarious travel guide, flipping the pages to take in the culture as well as the cuisine. Bastianich's fans will delight in this superb volume, which no kitchen should be without. (Sept.)
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 432 pages
• Publisher: Knopf; First Edition edition (October 20, 2009)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0307267512
• ISBN-13: 978-0307267511
• Product Dimensions: 8.4 x 1.1 x 9.4 inches
• Shipping Weight: 3 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (64 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #18,565 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
  • #15 in Books > History > Europe > Italy
  • #24 in Books > Cookbooks, Food & Wine > Regional & International > European > Italian
  • #27 in Books > Travel > Europe > Italy

More About the Author

Lidia Matticchio Bastianich was born in Pola, Istria on the northeastern coast of the Adriatic Sea. She is a cookbook author, restaurateur, and one of the best-loved chefs on television. Cookbooks include her latest, Lidia's Italy--a companion book to her new television series, Lidia's Family Table, Lidia's Italian-American Kitchen, Lidia's Italian Table, and La Cucina di Lidia. She is also founder and president of Tavola Productions, which produces quality broadcast shows, like Lidia's Italy.

Lidia is the chef/owner of acclaimed New York City restaurants Felidia, Becco, Esca and Del Posto as well as Lidia's in Pittsburgh and Kansas City. Along with her son Joseph, Lidia produces award-winning wines at the Bastianich and La Mozza wineries in Friuli and Maremma. With her daughter, Tanya Bastianich Manuali, and Shelly Burgess Nicotra, she heads an exclusive travel company that implements excursions to Italy that combine gastronomy with art history.

Lidia stays active in community service on behalf of the James Beard Foundation and Public Television. More information can be found on her website: www.lidiasitaly.com. Her signature line is 'Tutti a tavola a mangiare!' meaning, 'Everybody to the table to eat!' This simple phrase epitomizes Lidia's true recipe for success.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

82 of 84 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Another exquisite culinary journey through Italy!, November 28, 2009

By 

Toni "the bookworm" (Chicago, Illinois United States) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)   

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Lidia Cooks from the Heart of Italy: A Feast of 175 Regional Recipes (Hardcover)

Once again, without any hesitation, this is a most fabulous cookbook/tour guide/education of the Italian experience through the most capable palate of Lidia and her daughter, Tanya. They are becoming synonomous with each other as this is another collaboration of love from this most lovely mother-daughter team of experts.

For anyone who knows of Lidia, she does not just give you recipes and photos; you can get those from any Italian cookbook, and there nothing wrong in that. But I truly feel that her purpose in all her books and endeavors is to appreciate the Italian history and culture hence her books are three-fold: you are given a geographical and culinary education along with the historical education so that you will be able to appreciate how, why, and where the recipes have been given.

So in essence, you are educated on the past history and influence that brought certain dishes to that region and how the geographical region lent itself to encourage certain meals and traditions due to the hard work and joy of the people who lived there. It is through the collaboration of Lidia and her lovely daughter Tanya, that we are given not just the standard information and recipes but instead, the food history, the rich culture, and the appreciation for what you are preparing so that you are not just cooking; you are creating the generations of family joy and culinary history that was passed on from parents to children and to which we need to cling to especially today.

In this particular book, her dedication is to her father, Vittorio. Her childhood and coming of age in this country leaves you with the sincere appreoiation of Lidia's need for acknowledging all who helped to shape and influence her ideology and vocation to this culinary artform. Her parents very humble beginnings started in the former Yugoslavia and have brought her to New York today.

The book is a heavy, well-printed and sectioned gift of love with its text printed on high-quality paper and with exquisite photographs of the Italian regions that she presents to us through her recipes. There is a particular photograph of a shepherd and his flock that is amazing; it will remind you of a Renaissance painting. I felt that her Acknowledgment page was just as wonderful to read as the rest of the book in that she has many gifted and loved people in her life whom she revolves her life, most notably her family as well as all the talented people whom she met and worked with to produce this latest offering.

There are 175 recipes selected within the 12 regions of Italy which are:
Trentino-Alto Adige
Lombardy
Valee D'Acosta
Liguria
Emilia-Romagna
Le Marche
Umbria
Abruzzo
Molise
Basilicata
Calabria
Sardinia

Each section gives you her history with that region whether personal or professional. Each recipe has a short introduction of sorts along with hints and suggestions in both preparing and serving the dishes. Throughout the chapters are wonderful photographs of the meals and people and countryside that the recipes come from; I could not imagine a more enjoyable journey in making this book albeit the hard work and energy it took in legistics, transportation, compilation of information, etc. At the end of each chapter is the wonderful listing of places and sites to see particular to that region that you would not want to miss should you be blessed enough to be able to travel to this glorious country. A small legendary map of sorts is posted at the start of each region with that region being highlighted so as to know from which area you are taking the recipes.

I particularly appreciated the actual ingredients of the recipes highlighted in red; I can't seem to quite put my finger on why that seemed to make the reading and preparation easier but it did.

The recipes themselves are full of the foods that are both expected and indigenous to Italy such as pastas, breads, wines, seafood, desserts, etc as well as others that some may not know as part of the Italian culture. There are even vegetarian recipes to choose from if you, or someone within your circle, prefer to stay away from meats, though many of the pastas and soups will fare well with vegetarians also. For those recipes which require standard preparations such as sauces and stocks, there is a short section at the end of the book that one can reference to in a quicker mode. Her sources for many of the ingredients are listed as well are sources for specific items that you might not find within your area. She also broke down the dishes by course so as to help section them for easier reference.

And last, but certainly not the least, is a listing of what can be found on her accompnaying series that began this month on local PBS stations. Each region and what she will be cooking on each episode is listed along with corresponding page number so that you could read along while watching her show.

You will truly enjoy this book for many reasons, therefore you will be most pleased. Peace.

43 of 46 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Italy in a plate, October 27, 2009

By 

Vladimir Vladimir - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Lidia Cooks from the Heart of Italy: A Feast of 175 Regional Recipes (Hardcover)

The food pictures in this book make me salivate and the pictures of Italy show the true Italy. I have tried the recipes and they are easy and extremely flavorful. I love Lidia's cookbooks because they allow for some personal interpretation and they really bring the flavor of Italy to my kitchen and family.

25 of 27 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A good, simple, home-cooking take on Italian food, November 17, 2009

By 

Michael A. Duvernois (Minneapolis, MN United States) - See all my reviews
(TOP 500 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Lidia Cooks from the Heart of Italy: A Feast of 175 Regional Recipes (Hardcover)

We'll see if this becomes an Italian home cooking standard, but it's a beautiful mix of recipes (with a real eye towards fairly simple preparations, though delicious), excellent food photography (better than any other Italian cookbook that I have), and some text and photos of Italy to inspire the connections between the food and the land.

The writing is casual and friendly, and the photos genuinely enhance the cookbook. But mostly we're here for the recipes. And they do not fail us. We have a roasted lobster dish from Sardinia, heading north to polenta with white beans and black kale from Valle d'Aosta, and finally beer-basted roast chicken from Trento. The regional cuisines of Italy, local ingredients and preparations, are on display here, and with the wonders of the American grocery store, are quite accessible.