Emilia-Romagna, Friuli, Sicily, Liguria, Piedmont, Apulia -- the names trip off the tongue and conjure seductive images of deeply satisfying food. In Bugialli's Italy, companion cookbook to the new twenty-six-part public television series, cooking teacher and food historian Giuliano Bugialli presents the reader with an irresistible banquet of all Italy has to offer.
The more than 150 recipes collected here span the boot from north to south east to west. You can take your grand tour from antipasto to dessert (how about Pizza with Tomato Pockets from Apulia, Pureed Chick-Pea Soup with Mushrooms from Umbria, Lamb in Peppery Wine Sauce from Abruzzi, String Beans in Caper Walnut Sauce from Lombardy, and, to finish, Peach Cake with Almonds from Piedmont?). Or why not plan a regional tasting of pastas -- Stewed Sardinian Pasta, Pasta Stuffed with Eggplant from Tuscany, Tagliatelle and Zucchini Blossoms from Lazio, and Pasta with Sicilian Winter Pesto? Even gnocchi flies the regional flag-Red Beet Gnocchi from Piedmont and Potato Gnocchi with Ligurian Pesto and Tomatoes.
