Hasta La Ideas

A mouth-watering book of Italy’s warm-weather recipes from the authors of the Italian cooking bible

For Italian food fanatics, the new cookbook “Recipes from an Italian Summer” culls the country’s famed culinary delights, gathering together a collection of warm-weather dishes that go far beyond flavored ice. Spanning lesser known North African-infused Sicilian cuisine to more traditional Tuscan fare, the recipes and photos alike are a gorgeously inspiring journey through Italy’s diverse terrain and its seasonal produce.

Chapters dedicated to usual summer affairs such as picnics, barbecues, entertaining and more help put the pretty pictures and mouth-watering recipes to use. Compiled by the authors of the “The Silver Spoon“—the magnum opus of Italian cooking—the book serves up over 380 newly-sourced recipes dedicated to more daring chefs. Dishes such as ham and kiwi mousse, veal roulades in aspic and Trieste-style potato gnocchi with plums appear next to classics like piadina, Florentine T-bone steak and gelato in flavors from rose petal to jasmine flower.

Colorful photographs of the dishes and ingredients by Andy Sewell are interspersed with hazy scenes of the nation’s countryside shot by Joel Meyerowitz. The book also includes a calendar of seasonal produce, a schedule of summer food festivals, a directory of specialty stores stocking items used in the cookbook and Italian translations of all the recipe titles for a little passive learning.

“Recipes from an Italian Summer” sells from Barnes & Noble and Amazon.