Everyone seems to love Italian food, and it’s always nice to have a cookbook containing new dishes that can be made at home. Food writer and blogger Manuela Anelli Mazzocco has written an excellent cookbook with all kinds of delicious Italian dishes, The Complete Italian Cookbook: Essential Regional Cooking of Italy, and for those who love Italian food, it’s one of those books that is perfect for adding to a personal recipe collection.

The cookbook contains 100 recipes, so obviously with the vast amount of Italian recipes out there, the “complete” part of the name is a misnomer. However, the recipes that are contained in this cookbook are for dishes that real people will actually want to make. I savored Pasta all’Amatriciana in Rome, and her recipe is very close to what I ate. She also includes recipes for Roman-Style Veal Scaloppine which is easy and good, and a new favorite, Baked Polenta with Cheese, Mushrooms, and Sausage, to name a few. There is a variety of good recipes in this cookbook, and they include appetizers, salads, soups, side dishes, pasta dishes, main dishes (meats and lots of good seafood mains), as well as pizzas and desserts.

The only thing really missing from this cookbook is photographs. Although there are a few – one for each chapter – one of the aspects of a perfect cookbook is photographs of each dish. That is not the case, even though the recipes are good. The recipes are written in a clear and concise form, and they can be easily followed by beginning and experienced cooks. There are dozens of recipes that will appeal to almost everyone who loves Italian food.

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

I really enjoyed this cookbook. There is a wide variety of recipes written in very simple steps with cooking tips at the end of each. I can attest to the deliciousness of the Pasta e Fagioli soup!

This would be an excellent book for anyone who wants to learn Italian cooking from an Italian. Any Italian recipe you'd expect is included from Bellini cocktails to Tiramisu. The recipes are authentic, yet simple enough for anyone to make. I only wish there were more photos to illustrate the beauty of these dishes.

This is a fantastic Italian cookbook. The book is full of the staples such as bruschetta, minestrone and basic tomato sauce as well as some others that will be my new favorites (Sicilian Rice Balls, yes please!). The book includes prep, inactive and cook times along with ingredient substitutions and troubleshooting tips. It really doesn't get more comprehensive than this.

The book is arranged in the following sections:

Appetizers
Soups and Salads
Risotto and polenta
Sauces and Pasta
Pizza and Bread
Meat and Poultry
Fish and Seafood
Vegetables
Desserts and Drinks

There are plenty of great selections in each chapter but I especially enjoyed the bread section. This book would be even better with more pictures.

Thank you Callisto Media and NetGalley for this ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Italian cooking at its best! From meatballs to lasagna to rice balls! Tips and techniques are plenty in this book and little background about the country makes your appetite spike! That book will be used a lot in my household!

I loved the layout of this cookbook. So easy to use, so many enticing recipes and all are super easy to make or follow. I personally LOVED the Rice Balls. I wish there were more photos because the photos I did see, I wanted to make.

This cookbook is one that you will love if you love Italian food, or even if you don't! There are 100+ recipes that maintain preparation techniques, cooking methods, and using fresh seasonal ingredients for traditional Italian cuisine.
From Cheese and Pepper Pasta, Meatballs in Tomato Sauce and for dessert, Grandma's Cake. There are also some sample menus, that include Hearty Make-Ahead Supper, a Vegetarian Feast, and a traditional Roman Supper. There are also ingredient tips with each recipe and cooking tips, anything you need to know for preparing these time-honored recipes.
I love Italian food, especially pasta and I think that this cookbook will have a treasured place on my cookbook shelves!

Love this book! Lot's of great recipes and I enjoyed reading and learning a bit about Italy. I love that they use fresh and common ingredients and basic methods. I can't wait to start cooking these authentic Italian foods!

I got an advance reader's copy of this book complimentary from NetGallery in exchange for my honest review.

The recipes are detailed and the harder to find Italian ingredients are given substitutions. There were some Italian recipes that I hadn't seen in cookbooks before. I can't wait to try making the Hunter's Chicken Stew and Rosemary Focaccia Bread.

Thanks to Callisto Publishing/Rockford Press for an ARC to read and give my honest opinion.
So this is the second Italian cookbook I’ve been through in a week and it was common.

What did I like? The book starts off with a regional map and the variety of flavors per region in Italy which was unique. I loved the troubleshooting tips that the author gives per recipe and one thing that stood out was the sauce section. From pesto to red and white sauces, love a good sauce recipe!

Would I recommend or buy? Aside from the sauce section, the recipes were pretty basic. I think this author tends to have more recipes with squid, and other fancy seafood recipes. Maybe from the different regions, the recipes may be a collection. I’ve always wanted to make my own carbonara variation and that was also included.

Thoughts for the author? Congratulations on your new release! Thanks so much for a peek, these thoughts are my own.

My gosh the recipes in this book!!! I can’t wait to try them. The book makes them sound easy enough to make. Can’t wait to try!

Rockridge Press likes to call it's books "complete" this or that. It's an exaggeration to call this slim book complete, but it does present a nice overview of cooking styles from regional Italy. It even includes a map, which is a rarity in Rockridge productions.

I like this book and think that it will meet everyone's needs for the foundation dishes we associate with Italian cuisine. I like that many recipes have the Italian name included. Adaptations and Italian-American recipes are titled in English only. For beginners there is a nice little menu suggestion page at the end of the book.

From my reading notes:

* Lasagna is traditional style with béchamel (besciamella) in addition to meat sauce. This isn't my favorite style but it is traditional.

* The trick of frying mussels to pop their shells is much faster than boiling. There are other cooking tips too that help things come together more quickly.

* Fried dough! I love it.

* Sensible suggestions for substitutions if the recommended items aren't available

* Includes suggestions for ways to use leftovers.


This book will not provide new information for anyone who regularly cooks Italian food, but I think that it will be of great use to a novice. It might make a good gift for a newlywed.

Wonderful! This is a great collection of classic Italian recipes. I thought there was a good balance of appetizers, pasta, meat and desserts. While there weren’t a ton of dishes that I wasn’t already familiar with the recipes were delicious. I would recommend this cookbook for anyone who wants authentic Italian dishes presented in an easy to follow and easy to prepare method.