Cucina Povera

"Brava, Ms. Sheldon Johns, for bringing this cooking to us with such grace, and with a reverence that goes to the heart of the Italian cuisine." --InMamasKitchen.com "Cucina Povera is a delightful culinary trip through Tuscany, revered for its straightforward food and practical people. In this beautifully photographed book you will be treated to authentic recipes, serene landscapes, and a deep reverence for all things Tuscan." --Mary Ann Esposito, the host of PBS' Ciao Italia and the author of Ciao Italia Family Classics The no-waste philosophy and use of inexpensive Italian ingredients (in Tuscan peasant cooking) are the basis for this lovely and very yummy collection of recipes. --Diane Worthington, Tribune Media Services Italian cookbook authority Pamela Sheldon Johns presents more than 60 peasant-inspired dishes from the heart of Tuscany inside Cucina Povera. This book is more than a collection of recipes of "good food for hard times." La cucina povera is a philosophy of not wasting anything edible and of using technique to make every bite as tasty as possible. Budget-conscious dishes utilizing local and seasonal fruits and vegetables create everything from savory pasta sauces, crusty breads and slow-roasted meats to flavorful vegetable accompaniments and end-of-meal sweets. The recipes inside Cucina Povera have been collected during the more than 20 years Johns has spent in Tuscany. Dishes such as Ribollita (Bread Soup), Pollo Arrosto al Vin Santo (Chicken with Vin Santo Sauce), and Ciambellone (Tuscan Ring Cake) are adapted from the recipes of Johns' neighbors, friends, and local Italian food producers. Lavish color and black-and-white photographs mingle with Johns' recipes and personal reflections to share an authentic interpretation of rustic Italian cooking inside Cucina Povera.

Tuscan native and accomplished home cook Giulia Scarpaleggia shares the wholesome, comforting, and nostalgic recipes of cucina povera—Italian peasant cooking that is equal parts thrifty, nourishing, and delicious. The Italians call it l’arte dell’arrangiarsi—the art of making do with what you’ve got. They’ve been cooking this way for centuries, a unique approach to ingredients and techniques known as cucina povera, or peasant cooking, that results in the highest expression of what Italian food is all about—transforming simple components into unforgettably delicious and satisfying meals. It’s also a way of cooking that, with some notable exceptions like minestrone, ribollita, and pasta e fagioli, is barely known outside of Italy. Author Giulia Scarpaleggia is all set to change that. She’s a Tuscan home cook, food writer, and cooking teacher who is writing both to elevate the cucina povera of her native country and to honor the ingenuity and resourcefulness of the strong Italian women who came before her. In 100 recipes, beautifully photographed, Cucina Povera shows how to take the humblest of ingredients—beans and lentils; lesser-known cuts of meat; small, bony local fish; vegetables from the garden; rice and pasta; and leftovers—and make magic: Roasted Squash Risotto, Florentine Beef Stew, Chicken Cacciatore, Nettle and Ricotta Gnudi, Summer Borlotti Bean and Corn Soup, Sicilian Watermelon Pudding. And the author’s favorite comfort food, pappa al pomodoro, aka leftover bread and tomato soup. Soul satisfying, super healthy, budget friendly, no waste, easy to make, and as authentic as a piping-hot rice ball from a street vendor in Rome, the cooking of Cucina Povera is exactly how so many of us want to eat today.

A cookbook of recipes that Pamela Sheldon Johns collected and adapted from neighbors, friends, and local food producers while living in Tuscany. "Good food for hard times" - regional Tuscan recipes that take advantage of the fruits of the seasons from her farm community. Some of the recipes include: Gnudi (spinach and ricotta dumplings), Involtini di Maiale (stuffed pork rolls), Fagioli all'uccelletto (stewed beans with tomatoes), and Crostate di Prugne (Prune jam tart).

YouTube® sensation Clara Cannucciari shares her treasured recipes and commonsense wisdom in a heartwarming remembrance of the Great Depression Clara Cannucciari is a 94 year-old internet sensation. Her YouTube® Great Depression Cooking videos have an army of devoted followers. In Clara's Kitchen, she gives readers words of wisdom to buck up America's spirits, recipes to keep the wolf from the door, and tells her story of growing up during the Great Depression with a tight-knit family and a "pull yourself up by your bootstraps" philosophy of living. In between recipes for pasta with peas, eggplant parmesan, chocolate covered biscotti, and other treats Clara gives readers practical advice on cooking nourishing meals for less. Using lessons she learned during the Great Depression, she writes, for instance, about how to conserve electricity when cooking and how you can stretch a pot of pasta with a handful of lentils. She reminisces about her youth and writes with love about her grandchildren and great-grandchildren. Clara's Kitchen takes readers back to a simpler, if not more difficult time, and gives everyone what they need right now: hope for the future and a nice dish of warm pasta from everyone's favorite grandmother, Clara Cannuciari, a woman who knows what's really important in life.

Cucina povera ' there's no adequate translation, though 'humble food' has something of it ' is about the real food of Italy. The cooking techniques are simple, the ingredients seasonal and at their best. Cucina povera, as you'll discover when you try it, means eating with a warm heart ' quite possibly better than you've ever done in your life. As a Roman proverb says: 'Più se spenne e pejo se magna'... The more you spend, the worse you eat.

Italian in its inspiration, American in its outlook, Cucina Fresca brings a vivid new style to the earthy simplicity of Italy's culinary tradition. This is food at its freshest and simple to prepare.

A tavola non si invecchia. At the table (with good friends and family) you do not grow old. In his first two bestselling cookbooks, David Rocco’s Dolce Vita and Made in Italy, celebrity chef and author David Rocco gave readers delicious traditional Italian recipes that any home cook can master. His inspiration, as always: the fresh, simple cooking of the Italian Cucina Povera, or peasant cuisine, that has inspired people around the world. He continues that trend with David Rocco’s Dolce Famiglia. This book is all about family cooking. Dolce Famiglia includes many of David’s family-friendly recipes, running the gamut from essential sauces every home cook should have in their repertoire to snacks, salads, mains and desserts that he makes for his own family. But more than that, the book pays tribute to the people who have inspired him, by telling their stories and sharing their recipes. Dolce Famiglia explores family cooking and heritage foods from across Italy, focusing on the families who have worked as food purveyors over generations. Featuring the richly textured photography and gorgeous design of the previous titles, Dolce Famiglia looks at the stories behind such iconic and delicious Italian exports as parmigiano reggiano, gelato and balsamic vinegar, offering the kind of treasured, always-in-the-family recipes that are such a hallmark of Italian cuisine. As David puts it, “At the end of the day ingredients don’t have hearts and souls. It’s the people and the families who pour their blood, sweat and tears into the making of these iconic products. It’s families who are the gatekeepers to this traditional style of cooking.”

Love eating well but hate paying a lot? Amy McCoy's cookbook, Poor Girl Gourmet (based on her popular blog of the same name), features decadent and delectable recipes for foodies with limited budgets, but sophisticated tastes. In Poor Girl Gourmet, McCoy breaks down the costs for each dish while also offering money-saving strategies, including tips for growing and preserving your own food, as well as ideas for quick and delicious family meals. Each recipe serves at least four people, so it's perfect for families on a budget--because eating well while saving money is something that appeals to all of us. McCoy, knowing that a gourmet meal is enhanced by the proper wine, also reviews more than 25 affordable wine varietals and blends, with pairing suggestions for many of the dishes. And there is a chapter of splurges ($15 to $30 per entree for a family of four) for when you're feeling fancy. Because gourmets, regardless of their budget, appreciate a gorgeous cookbook, Poor Girl Gourmet bucks the pared-down trend in cost-conscious cookbooks, and is illustrated throughout with McCoy's own mouthwatering full-color photography.