Product Description
Nonna's Italian Kitchen transports you into the heart and soul of an Italian kitchen. Soundly written, well researched and innovative, Bryanna Grogan's ability to blend traditional Italian cuisine with vegetarianism is magical, and she easily imparts both her skills and love of good food to novice and experienced cooks alike.

CUSTOMER REVIEWS (Average Customer Rating: 4.5 based on 22 reviews)

An unsuspecting gem for dairy-free dieters

Bryanna tackles Italian, a traditionally cream and cheese-rich culture, with as much authenticity as possible. Since Italian is a big part of Bryanna's heritage, as she details in this cookbook, she seems to handle each recipe with care and very detailed explanations for those of us who may not be intimately familiar with the makings of each dish.

Those who are vegan or simply egg-free will love her guide and recipes for making fresh pasta (yes, I said fresh egg-free pasta!); those who crave the rich flavors of cheese will delight in the alternative recipes for mascarpone, Parmesan, and ricotta (Bryanna typically provides soy-free, nut-free, and at times gluten-free options for staple recipes such as these); and those like myself will be drawn in by the many comfort food recipes. The countless recipes for cream sauces, risottos, potato dumplings, stuffed pastas, rich casseroles, pastry crèmes (5 recipes for different pastry crèmes alone), and tarts are enough to make me want to hibernate in my kitchen for the winter!

Beyond dairy alternative, vegans will also like the many traditionally meat-filled Italian dishes that Bryanna takes on. Though my family is still omnivorous, I must admit that veal cutlets and Italian meatballs are no match for her animal-free creativity.

Of note, Bryanna writes very detailed instructions, often with many alternative options. This can be a very good thing, but, like many traditional Italian recipes, some of the recipes can be involved, best for a leisurely Sunday afternoon. This by no means covers all of the recipes though. Most of the sauces can be whipped up in minutes, and there is a plethora of pasta, hearty soup, and vegetable dishes that could actually be considered quick and easy. Among these, I was particularly taken by the creamy Bechamel sauce and the Pasta with Spicy Eggplant. Plus many of the recipes, like the potato dumplings (I am dying to try the pumpkin version!) become quite quick to make once you get the hang of it.

If I were to suggest any change for this cookbook, it would be simply be a minor layout issue. Though not a deal breaker by any means, I often mess up recipes when they are in a "run on" format. That is, one recipe may start in the middle of a page, run on to the next page, and immediately be followed by the next recipe, and so on. It could just be my poor eyesight, but I find myself accidentally reading from the wrong recipe when they are in this free flowing format. However, I must give kudos for the well-sized print and the notes for calories, fat, and carbohydrates on each recipe, which many people may find useful.

And just in case you were wondering, there are recipes for pizza, calzones, and tiramisu!
November 16, 2008

VERY GOOD!

RECIPES ARE DELICIOUS, VERY GOOD DESCRIPTIONS AND EASY TO FOLLOW STEPS. FOR THE BEGINNER VEGETARIAN/VEGAN I WOULD RECOMMED "HOW IT ALL VEGAN" THOUGH.
February 27, 2008

A revelation!

This is a book to change the world! It certainly changed mine. I was a longtime vegetarian, but I never thought I could love Italian food without dairy and eggs. How wrong I was! If you want a better diet for your health, the planet, and the animals, here it is!!
October 12, 2007

fair

I thought there would be more unique recipes using more vegetables (ie; Spagettie squash, broccoli rabe, etc) and variety of beans not just substituting dairy for soy cheeses.
May 14, 2007

everyday Italian meals

Has a nice variety of Italian meals, some more involved recipes, but very tasty.
January 09, 2007

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