Big Flavors from Italian America: Family-Style Favorites from Coast to Coast

I love America's Test Kitchen and own no less than a dozen of their books - which is sort of the problem. These folks like to do lather, rinse,repeat. From the minute I got the book I realized there were recipes of theirs that have appeared all over the place from television to issues of their magazine to other books I've already purchased. It's true that a lot of the Italian-American goodies are not all in one volume, but I feel like I bought something I already have - just not collected.On a personal note, I also like Jack Bishop but to say in the book he has "red sauce running through his veins" - I also am part Italian and Jack doesn't even pronounce the names of Italian foods like "bruschetta" and "ricotta" correctly!

I’m an Italian-American, Heinz 57 variety; my dad was a first-generation American. Unfortunately, Mama was a horrible cook (please don’t tell her that I said that). Some of the few dishes she was good at included spaghetti and pizza. Unlike the author, my veins did not run with red sauce, but I do have an overwhelming addiction to garlic and an affinity for Italian dishes. Due to my mom’s lack of skill, I had to learn Italian cooking on my own, finding dishes I loved at wonderful Italian restaurants and researching recipes that I could tweak until they tasted the way I wanted them to.In this collection, I have just about every single recipe I could ever want. (Well, where’s the manicotti? Not here, sadly. Thankfully, I have my own recipe, but really… how could they leave out manicotti?) From my experience with other America’s Test Kitchen cookbooks, I know I can trust these recipes. One thing that frustrates me about a lot of modern cookbooks is that the cooks never seem to have tested or even tasted the recipes they’ve included. Nothing worse than working your way through a recipe and wasting ingredients because it turns out inedible. ATK cookbooks take away that uncertainty. If there’s a recipe included, it’s tried, tested, refined, and perfected.I love this cookbook as it includes some of my favorite ATK design elements: a full-page, full-color picture of each dish, a brief explanation of why each recipe works, clear ingredient lists, and comprehensive and accurate directions. Awesome!Mama may not have taught me to cook Italian, but with this cookbook, I am left with a wonderfully complete and helpful resource to make up that lack. I found myself poring over each recipe in anticipation and delighting in the variety of dishes included.Very pleased with this cookbook. Just don’t tell Mama.Let Amazon donate to your favorite charity! Use Amazon Smile (smile.amazon.com) when you order and Amazon will donate to the charity of your choice when you make a qualifying purchase. Check out how Amazon Smile works at https://smile.amazon.com/gp/chpf/about/ref=smi_se_rspo_laas_aas. My shopping is donating to my favorite charity, Canines for Independence at no cost to me. Awesome!

This is a wonderful Italian cookbook. It contains a wide range of recipes, including some that I have not made before. As with all ATK books the recipes are easy to follow and well laid out. However, unlike most ATK books it does not clearly state how long to complete the recipe. Another disappointment was that I really wanted a recipe to make cannoli. I looked at the table of contents on line before purchasing and cannoli was listed. However, when I received the book I realized it has a recipe for the filling but relies on store bought shells which are not available in my area.

I only tried one recipe. The Italian sausage sauce. Made with fennel. Boy that was good. In a food processor you put half an onion and half a fennel bulb. Give it a spin. Remove from processor. Then do the same with a can of tomatoes, then the Ialian sausage. Everything chopped. Into a pot. Cool altogether. I've never made anything that good. Great cookbook.

I have been looking for a pizza recipe close to Vito and Nick's delicious signature cracker crust pizza in Chicago. We've left the state of IL and the pizza where we live just does not cut it. I was overjoyed to find the Vito and Nick's pizza recipe in this book! I made the pizza recipe the day the book arrived and my family agrees that life just got better in the northwoods because we can now enjoy Vito and Nick's Pizza! Can't wait to try more recipes from this wonderful cook book!

I should have not ordered this as I have spent my life around Italians and learned to cook Italian food very earky on.I guess really it is just more American or East Coast for me as I am in California. I preferred Stanley Tucci's book. Generally I am a big fan of the Test Kitchen Books. This one, not so much.

good book, good recipes in it. there should be something for every Italian cook. pretty straight forward instructions and grocery lists. even points out a few step saver tips, and those seem to work well, with out messing up the recipe.. only when you are comfortable with the recipe, should you try alterations to them which can be done to a cook will get to know some of these ins and outsole's taste, when you know the recipe, and what you can and can not do, and, still have it come out correctly. .

First I'll own up to being a big fan of America's Test Kitchen cookbooks. Although I own a bunch of them, I often borrow new to me titles from the library. Often I'll only want a recipe or two. But with this book, there were so many recipes that I wanted, I had to order my own copy. I've made several recipes from this book and we have been really impressed with the results.I highly recommend this book.

Love this book! I have tried several recipes and all met my expectations. Given a long line of Italian ancestors, I was impressed by the assortment and variety of classic Italian dishes