Gusto Italiano

Book excerpt: With over 125 classic recipes, Gusto Italiano transforms a few staple ingredients such as pasta, rice, and beans into essential and enticing fare. Featuring stunning photography from the heart of Umbria, the book offers imaginative combinations of vegetables, cheeses, fruits, nuts, oils, herbs, and spices that emphasize ease of preparation - in the process disproving the cliché that vegetarian dishes can't be as tasty or satisfying as their meat-based counterparts. Dishes highlighting seasonal produce, such as Chestnut Soup with Chickpeas, Artichoke Hearts with Almond Sauce, Risotto with Shallots, Orange Zest and Mozzarella, and Warm Plum and Hazelnut Cake, are every bit as irresistible as they sound. Bookending the recipes are an introduction that explores and explains the Italian kitchen, and a chapter on the Italian pantry that covers all the necessary ingredients for cooks to make the most of this magical cuisine.