Bill's Italian Food

Book excerpt: BILL'S ITALIAN FOOD is simple, relaxed and entirely delicious. With more than 100 original recipes, BILL'S ItALIAN takes inspiration from the diversity of Italian regional food to make the most of fresh seasonal produce. Concentrating on simple, flavoursome dishes with short ingredient lists and uncomplicated methods, the recipes in this book are divided by solution-driven chapters that embody Bill's casual cooking and his spirit of generosity and sharing-approaches that perfectly reflect the Italian lifestyle. "As our pace of life gets ever faster and cooking for friends and family takes on the same hectic anxiety, why is it that a holiday in Italy sends me home optimistic, revitalised and striving to be a 'little bit more Italian'? It can't be simply the great coffee (although that's certainly revitalising), the crisp pizza and fritto misto, or the antipasto platters shared under wide blue skies... there is something about the joyfully uncompromising Italian lifestyle, the stubborn refusal to hurry (over lunch, or to catch the autobus), and the sacrosanct importance of sitting down to dine with family that I always resolve to bring home to my kitchen. (And, of course, the golden rule of travel applies: never mention politics, money or sport. Stick to food - in Italy it's always a winner.)" Bill Granger