Italian Express: 150 Fast and Easy Family Favorites

Debbie Feisst is the reference/Internet resources librarian in the
Information Services Division of the Edmonton Public Library.

Emily Richards teaches cooking classes, created recipes for the
bestselling G.I. Diet series of books, and has appeared on the Food
Network’s Canadian Living Cooks. In her first cookbook, she serves up
150 fast Italian meals inspired by a fusion of her grandmother’s
traditional Southern Italian cooking and her mother’s speedier
versions.

The book begins with a useful introduction to basic equipment and
pantry staples, followed by a section of instructions for making pizza
dough, roasted garlic, and homemade pasta sauce. The recipes are divided
into 12 sections: Soup, Salad, Bread and Pizza, Short and Long Pasta,
Eggs and Vegetarian, Risotto and Polenta, Chicken and Game, Pork and
Sausage, Fish and Seafood, and Beef, Lamb, and Veal. Each recipe is
prefaced by a brief introduction—which includes variations, menu
suggestions, and sometimes personal recollections—and followed by a
per-serving nutritional analysis. Selections include Calabrian Cooked
Bread Soup, Layered Caprese Salad with Prosciutto, Smoked Salmon Pasta,
and Lamb with Artichokes. Missing is a section on Italian sweets or
desserts, which may have been omitted because they do not qualify as
“express.”

The instructions are easy to follow and most of the ingredients are
obtainable at your local grocery store. A few recipes call for slightly
more exotic ingredients readily available at a larger centre’s
specialty food shop. Most of the recipes are designed to produce four to
six servings.

This is a well-organized book with recipes that are short on
complicated techniques and long on flavour. There is a well-prepared
index and a generous selection of cook’s tips, but (sadly) only 16
mouth-watering photographs in the entire book. Recommended for public
library collections.