Cookbook: Molto Gusto—Easy Italian Cooking

the appetizer:

Molto Gusto: Easy Italian Cooking by Mario Batali and Mark Ladner, includes recipes like Spaghetti with Glass Eels; Sunchokes with Walnut Gremolata; and Quattro Stagioni (Pizza).

Molto Gusto:
Easy Italian Cooking

by Mario Batali and Mark Ladner

Click to buy Molto Gusto

Chef Mario Batali's zest for life infuses the casual Italian fare that has made his restaurant Otto Enoteca Pizzeria a perennially popular New York City destination. Now, you can have the flavors of Otto at home, with Molto Gusto: Easy Italian Cooking, a collection of recipes for everyone's favorites from pizza, pasta, and antipasti to gelati and sorbetti.

Mario has written the definitive book on great pizza making for the amateur, the novice, the foodie, and the gourmet cook—teaching how to make really great pizza at home without any special equipment. Recipes range from mouthwatering classic Neapolitan pizza to Otto's special thin crust pizzas, focaccia and even kids' pizzas with savory toppings such as Quattro Formaggi, and Pesto.

Looking for something on the lighter side? Try the antipasti with seasonal vegetables, seafood and meat for a delicious snack or an entire meal. Molto Gusto includes recipes for spring favorites such as Fresh Fava Beans with Ricotta Salata with Lemon Vinaigrette, Spring Peas with Mint, Shaved Asparagus with Parmigiano-Reggiano, and Artichokes with Grana Padano. Delicious seafood and meat antipasti recipes include Anchovies with Fried Bread, Mussels with Peperonata, Preserved Tuna and Coppa Bresaola.

When it comes to salads, Molto Gusto proves the possibilities are endless—from uncooked, crisp Asparagus and Pecorino Salad to warm salads with wilted greens such as Arugula with Tomato Raisins. Three-Bean Salad, Misticanza and recipes for both Winter Caprese Salad and Summer Caprese Salad are but a few of the tantalizing salads in the book.

Molto Gusto also features simple, easy to make pasta dishes from dried Italian pasta. Mario shows that when it comes to great pasta, oftentimes less is more! Almost all of the book's pasta recipes can be made in less than 20 minutes with easy to find, reasonably priced ingredients. Try Spaghetti with Garlic and Oil, Linguine with Cacio e Pepe, Linguine with Lemon, Pennette with Walnut Pesto, Pennette with Cauliflower Ragu, Linguine with Zucchini and Bottarga and Spaghetti all'Amatriciana.

But man or woman cannot live on antipasti, salads, bruschetta, pasta and pizza alone...you also need gelato! In Molto Gusto, Mario teaches how to make creamy gelato with intense flavors such as Caramel Coppetta, Ricotta Coppetta, Olive Oil Copetta and Sweet Corn Copetta. Or, why not blow your guests away with a grand finale of mouthwatering Roasted Figs, Caramelized Bananas, Pine Nut Brittle, Macerated Strawberries or Polenta Cake. Molto Gusto will help you do all of this in no time.

About the Author

With fifteen restaurants, eight cookbooks and a host of television shows, including the ever-popular Iron Chef America, Mario Batali is arguably one of the most recognized and respected chefs working in America today. This, combined with his larger-than-life personality is the reason that he has received accolades like GQ Magazine's Man of the Year and the James Beard Award for Outstanding Chef.

Mario is also the author of the James Beard Award Winning, Molto Italiano: 327 Simple Italian Recipes and the New York Times Bestseller Mario Batali Italian Grill. Mario's newest New York Times Best Seller, Spain...A Culinary Road Trip is the companion book to his prime-time PBS series Spain...On The Road Again. Mario splits his time between New York City's Greenwich Village and northern Michigan with his wife and their two sons.