Lidia's Favorite Recipes

September 17, 2012
In her latest cookbook, Bastianich, combines more than 100 of her signature dishes with new and old favorites. Her coauthor is daughter Tanya, who also manages her mother’s product line. Bastianich encourages readers to cook for family and friends, and each recipe makes family-sized portions. Dishes are simple, pleasing, and accessible. Straightforward sections such as appetizers; sandwiches and pizzas; pastas, polenta and risottos; seafood, poultry, and meats include every Italian recipe you would imagine finding in a “Favorite recipe” book. Readers will find typical crowd pleasers like baked clams oreganata, pizza Margherita, spaghetti and meatballs, and veal scallopine. The authors also include traditional Italian dishes for the more adventurous chef like octopus and potato salad and lamb stew with olives. The final chapter is a roundup of delightful desserts, like chocolate biscotti pudding and limoncello tiramisu.

September 15, 2012

Celebrity chef and restaurateur Bastianich (Lidia's Italy in America) has written eight cookbooks, many of them coauthored with Manuali, her daughter. Organized by course, their latest contains both new and previously published recipes for favorites such as Eggplant Parmigiana, Beef Braised in Barolo, and Limoncello Tiramisu. Seeking to make these recipes affordable, accessible, and nutritious, the authors emphasize seasonal ingredients and simple preparations. VERDICT More compact than Bastianich's other titles, this practical collection is perfect for families as well as readers who enjoyed Viana La Place and Evan Kleiman's Cucina Rustica.

Copyright 2012 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

September 15, 2012
A one-woman juggernaut of culinary and business acumen, Bastianich has attracted a national following, thanks to her public television shows, cookbooks, and restaurant empire. Beloved by audiences for her family-oriented, down-to-earth approach, she has become one of America's leading champions of Italian cookery. She may possess erudite command of the history and preparation of hundreds of regional Italian foods, but she has never snobbishly rejected America's attempts at Italian cooking, even when they deviate from classic European originals. Thus, she offers spaghetti and meatballs as well as an elaborate dish of veal shanks and barley risotto. Bastianich's concise instructions call for readily available ingredients. So whether a cook wishes to whip up a quick supper of pasta with olive oil and garlic sauce or spend hours composing an elaborate stew of beef braised in the finest Italian red wine, Bastianich has a recipe at hand.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2012, American Library Association.)