Everyday Italian

Copyright © 2005 by Giada De Laurentiis

Photographs copyright © 2005 by Victoria Pearson

Foreword copyright © 2005 by Mario Batali

“Everyday Italian” is a servicemark of Television Food Network, G.P. Used with permission.

All rights reserved.
Published by Clarkson Potter/Publishers,
New York, New York
Member of the Crown Publishing Group,
a division of Random House, Inc.
www.clarksonpotter.com

CLARKSON N. POTTER is a trademark and POTTER and colophon are registered trademarks of Random House, Inc.

Design by Jan Derevjanik

Library of Congress
Cataloging-in-Publication Data
De Laurentiis, Giada.
   Everyday Italian : 125 simple and delicious
recipes / Giada De Laurentiis.
   1. Cookery, Italian. I. Title.
   TX723.D325 2005
   641.5945—dc22      2004008663

eISBN: 978-0-307-88561-6

v3.1

FOR THE TWO MOST IMPORTANT MEN IN MY LIFE:
my brother Dino, who was my best friend and cooking partner, and whose memory will continue to inspire me; and my adorable husband, Todd, who always encourages me to do what I love and never gets tired of Italian food.

You might think that all television chefs are tight friends—that on any given night, you can find us sharing tables in four-star restaurants, indulging in six-course tasting menus with matching wines, hobnobbing with movie stars, and riding around in limousines. Or that maybe there’s some sort of TV-chef club somewhere, where we meet weekly to talk about things like knives and handmade pasta. Or that we’re always traveling around, hanging out in one another’s kitchens, or on each other’s sets, gossiping.

Not true.

I first met Giada De Laurentiis, like most of America did, by seeing her television show,
Everyday Italian.
I love the idea of watching Food Network, but in reality I rarely have time to sit back and enjoy it. Plus I’m a professional high-velocity channel surfer, and it’s tough—really tough—for a show to hold my attention for more than a few seconds before I move on to some golf or MTV Cribs. But I always give Food Network a try. And one day, there was Giada, whom I’d seen doing some promotional stuff, but I’d never watched her show. She was talking about her family and antipasti, and I stuck around to see what she was about.

The first thing I noticed was that everything on the screen was beautiful—both the host and the food, which looked delicious and real and natural. Then I noticed that she really knew what she was talking about. And I realized that despite her movie-star looks, Giada isn’t on television because she’s merely attractive; she’s a real Italian girl who can cook. I was hooked.

A few months later, I found out that Giada and I shared a friend at Food Network, and the three of us decided to make a special together—with me and Giada as cohosts. That’s when I finally met her. It turns out that Giada is smart, Italian-speaking, and family-oriented—the three qualities my grandma hoped I’d find in a girl to marry. (Too late for that.) She’s also a great cook, highly knowledgeable about food, and a huge amount of fun to be around—the three qualities I’d hope to find in a television partner.

And so here’s her first book—like my first, about simple Italian food. Simplicity is bandied about by nearly every cookbook author under the sun, often to dubious effect. But simplicity is truly present here in
Everyday Italian.
Most of the recipes don’t require more than a half-dozen ingredients or a half-page of notes, yet they still seem to cover everything I want to eat, with a determined focus to allow simple flavors to shine and an equally determined effort to get them on the table quickly (instead of spending half a day looking for ingredients, which I often have to do even when I’m cooking out of my own books). The setup of
Everyday Italian
is marvelous and easy to access, so I can find what I’m looking for without having to resort to combing through the index. And the whole book is suffused with Giada’s approachable, friendly personality; not only do I want to cook the recipes in this book, I want to cook them with the author. That’s what I love about a good cookbook.

Giada and I have two very separate and individual styles of Italian cooking. But both stem from a love of the same culture, the same tables, the same exquisite meals in historic spots, the same appreciation for everything that is Italian and part of our nervous system. We have approached this love, this food, this life, this passion—this everything—from opposite sides of the same coin. Her food isn’t there to be made by an angry techno chef, or even someone too hung up on exactly the right thing or the new combination. Giada isn’t out to impress anyone with her expertise on esoteric ingredients or her wildly inventive new flavor combinations. Her cooking is part of the twenty-first-century Italian world citizen—not a throwback to the days of handmade pasta and daylong-simmered stews. But this is still the food of grandmas and aunts and brothers and cousins and sisters and in-laws, the cooking of the real Italy, Giada’s cooking, my cooking, everyone’s cooking … this is truly the cooking of the Italian family. And this book is for everybody who wants to feed that family, every day, with great Italian food.

I want you to have fun with this book. That’s why I love cooking—it’s fun. And Italian cooking is the most fun of all. It’s about passion. It’s about taste and smell and touch. It’s about family and teamwork and togetherness, and of course it’s about delicious food cooked and served at home. The heart of Italian cooking is in the home, and this book makes it easy for you to create fantastic Italian meals in your own kitchen every day of the week, whether it’s a quick lunch or a Sunday dinner.

On the following pages you’ll find some of the recipes I grew up with. I’ve updated them to simplify and streamline the cooking process without sacrificing their authentic flavor. You may have seen some of these dishes on my Food Network show,
Everyday Italian,
but until you make them yourself you won’t know how wonderful they are. You don’t need fancy ingredients or time-consuming techniques, just a quick trip to the supermarket and a few of my personal shortcuts. The food will be fantastic and you’ll have plenty of time to enjoy your friends and family—the real reason for any Italian get-together!

I’m often asked how it happened that I cook on television. I suppose I could say it all began in Rome, where I was born, or Los Angeles, where I grew up … but really it all began in the kitchen. In my family, as in many Italian families, food plays a major role. Meals aren’t just about eating, they are a chance for all of us to enjoy one another’s company. Cooking is a communal affair and everyone takes part, even the kids. As far back as I can remember I’ve had fun in the kitchen, relishing the preparation of a meal as much as I love sitting down to eat it.

I’m carrying on a family tradition. My great-grandparents owned a pasta factory in Naples. My grandpa, Dino De Laurentiis, is now famous as one of Hollywood’s most prolific producers, but as a boy in the 1930s he sold pasta door to door in his hometown of Naples. After he made his fortune in the film business, Nonno (Grandpa) indulged his first love by opening two Italian restaurants called DDL Foodshow here in America, one in New York and one in Beverly Hills. (They closed in the mid-1980s.) He brought over chefs from Naples, and to me they were rock stars. I hung out at the
Beverly Hills restaurant all the time when I was growing up, smelling the food, observing the chefs at work, touching everything, and sneaking a taste whenever I could! Then I’d watch the customers: the wonder on their faces as they were presented with Italian masterpieces … and the smiles after they ate. I was hooked.

By the time I finished high school, I knew food was my future.

I got a college degree (mostly so my parents wouldn’t worry), then bought a plane ticket for Paris. Six days a week I went to culinary school, and on my one day off I wandered through the French markets. I was in heaven.

When my training was over, I came home and went to work. For years I cooked in some of California’s best restaurants, from the Ritz-Carlton to Spago. Finally I struck out on my own with a catering company, GDL Foods. I also began working on magazine shoots as an assistant food stylist (the person who cooks the food that’s being photographed and makes it look as appetizing as possible).

But despite my French training and my years of cooking for the rich and famous, those family dinners still served as my greatest inspiration. One day a magazine I had worked for asked me to do a story about home cooking. I got my family together for one of our traditional meals, the article was published, and before I knew it Food Network came calling.

I’ve been lucky enough to spend my life indulging my passion for food, and now I get to share my enthusiasm on my television show. Just as a true Italian dinner encompasses extended family, the
Everyday Italian
family includes the audience. In this book you’ll find some of the recipes that viewers say they love the most and others that have never been on the show. You can be confident making all these dishes because they’re simple; I believe a great meal does not have to be difficult or complex. The recipes are easy enough that you’ll enjoy making them every day, but so delicious your family will ask for them again and again.

So take this book, gather your family, and have fun!