Title:	Cooking with Nonna: Celebrate Food & Family With Over 100 Classic Recipes from Italian Grandmothers
	Author:	Rossella Rago
	Published:	March 15, 2018, Racepoint Publishing
	No. of Pages:	248
	Cover Price:	$30.00 Hardcover, $14.99 Kindle

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It would be fun for everyone to have an Italian grandmother, but unfortunately, many of us don’t. There are dozens of cookbooks out there purporting to be written by Italian grandmothers, and some of these books are pretty good. Cooking with Nonna: Celebrate Food & Family With Over 100 Classic Recipes from Italian Grandmothers is one of those cookbooks, but it seems to be a cut above, featuring recipes for the expected classics, and also recipes that those of us who aren’t Italian probably haven’t heard of. The author, Rossella Rago, is the host of a cooking show, Cooking with Nonna, and she has included many of the recipes from guests on the show as well as those of her own grandmother. One Italian grandmother is good, but lots of Italian grandmothers are even better!

The book covers basics such as different pasta doughs and basic sauces. There are also interesting vignettes on the featured Nonnas, making this a cookbook that is also fun to read. The instructions in the recipes are easy to follow and most of the recipes are also easy to make.

I made the Focaccia Bread, Barese-Style first; it was easy (I mixed the dough in my automatic bread machine) and really good. The traditional Bolognese sauce is great, and so is the Zucchini Pie; every recipe I have tried so far has turned out picture perfect. I have a queue and plan to make Oven-Braised Cod with Scallions and Olives, Flourless Almond Torte, and the Gnocchi with Gorgonzola and Toasted Hazelnuts next. There are dozens of recipes that will appeal to almost everyone. These are not the standard recipes found in every Italian cookbook; rather they are unique and there are plenty to choose from.

While there are very nice photographs, it is a little disappointing that there aren’t photos of every dish. However, that should not stop anyone from buying this excellent cookbook. There are enough to make it interesting, and with digital cameras we can take pictures of our own finished dishes.

Cooks who want to expand their Italian recipe repertoire will benefit from and enjoy this cookbook.

Special thanks to NetGalley for supplying a review copy of this book.