Big Mamma, Italian Recipes in 30 minutes

This is a really lovely book, full of humour, tips, ideas and great pictures of the dishes and of the team.

Created by the Big Mamma group of restaurants, the book covers all chapter of the Italian menu: aperitivo, antipasti, primi, secondi, contorni, pizze, dolci and a number of basics like pesto, fresh pasta and more.

The recipes have original names and are mouth watering, very clearly explained and designed to be made in 30 minutes. As if to challenge the readers to keep within this time, there is always a little add on about what you can do with the spare time. A lot of attention is devoted to the ingredients as the Italians are so careful about the choices they make in this respect. The authors give many tips about how to choose your ingredients and about cooking techniques.

And beyond the recipes, the book also shares many entertaining tips and information about the Italian culture and foods: Italian cheeses, films, how to choose a good parmigiano, wines, seasonal ingredients, Italian songs to round off the evening and many more.

I also liked the Index which offers a list of recipes by chapter of the menu, and by ingredients. This makes it a lot easier to find your way through the book.

A really nice book, full of energy and humour, and many recipes that will find their way onto my plate very soon.