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Lidia's Family Table
The best-loved and most-admired of all America’s television cooks today, Lidia Bastianich, now gives us her most generous, instructive, and creative cookbook. The emphasis here is on cooking for the family, and her book is filled with unusually delicious basic recipes for everyday eating Italian-style, as well as imaginative ideas for variations and improvisations.
Here are more than 200 fabulous new dishes that will appeal both to Lidia’s loyal following, who have come to rely on her wonderfully detailed recipes, and to the more adventurous cook ready to experiment.
• She welcomes us to the table with tasty bites from the sea (including home-cured tuna and mackerel), seasonal salads, and vegetable surprises (Egg-Battered Zucchini Roll-Ups, Sweet Onion Gratinate).
• She reveals the secret of simple make-ahead soup bases, delicious on their own and easy to embellish for a scrumptious soup that can make a meal.
• She opens up the wonderful world of pasta, playing with different shapes, mixing and matching, and creating sauces while the pasta boils; she teaches us to make fresh egg pastas, experimenting with healthful ingredients–whole wheat, chestnut, buckwheat, and barley. And she makes us understand the subtle arts of polenta- and risotto-making as never before.
• She shares her love of vegetables, skillet-cooking some to intensify their flavor, layering some with yesterday’s bread for a lasagna-like gratin, blanketing a scallop of meat with sautéed vegetables, and finishing seasonal greens with the perfect little sauce.
• She introduces us to some lesser-known cuts of meats for main courses (shoulders, butts, and tongue) and underused, delicious fish (skate and monkfish), as well as to her family’s favorite recipes for chicken and a beautiful balsamic-glazed roast turkey.
• And she explores with us the many ways fruits and crusts (pie, strudel, cake, and toasted bread) marry and produce delectable homey desserts to end the meal.
Lidia’s warm presence is felt on every page of this book, explaining the whys and wherefores of what she is doing, and the brilliant photographs take us right into her home, showing her rolling out pasta with her grandchildren, bringing in the summer harvest, and sitting around the food-laden family table. As she makes every meal a celebration, she invites us to do the same, giving us confidence and joy in the act of cooking.
Here are more than 200 fabulous new dishes that will appeal both to Lidia’s loyal following, who have come to rely on her wonderfully detailed recipes, and to the more adventurous cook ready to experiment.
• She welcomes us to the table with tasty bites from the sea (including home-cured tuna and mackerel), seasonal salads, and vegetable surprises (Egg-Battered Zucchini Roll-Ups, Sweet Onion Gratinate).
• She reveals the secret of simple make-ahead soup bases, delicious on their own and easy to embellish for a scrumptious soup that can make a meal.
• She opens up the wonderful world of pasta, playing with different shapes, mixing and matching, and creating sauces while the pasta boils; she teaches us to make fresh egg pastas, experimenting with healthful ingredients–whole wheat, chestnut, buckwheat, and barley. And she makes us understand the subtle arts of polenta- and risotto-making as never before.
• She shares her love of vegetables, skillet-cooking some to intensify their flavor, layering some with yesterday’s bread for a lasagna-like gratin, blanketing a scallop of meat with sautéed vegetables, and finishing seasonal greens with the perfect little sauce.
• She introduces us to some lesser-known cuts of meats for main courses (shoulders, butts, and tongue) and underused, delicious fish (skate and monkfish), as well as to her family’s favorite recipes for chicken and a beautiful balsamic-glazed roast turkey.
• And she explores with us the many ways fruits and crusts (pie, strudel, cake, and toasted bread) marry and produce delectable homey desserts to end the meal.
Lidia’s warm presence is felt on every page of this book, explaining the whys and wherefores of what she is doing, and the brilliant photographs take us right into her home, showing her rolling out pasta with her grandchildren, bringing in the summer harvest, and sitting around the food-laden family table. As she makes every meal a celebration, she invites us to do the same, giving us confidence and joy in the act of cooking.
448 pages, Hardcover
First published November 23, 2004
10 people are currently reading
439 people want to read
About the author
Lidia Matticchio Bastianich
35 books172 followersLidia Matticchio Bastianich is an American chef, businesswoman and restaurateur.
Specializing in Italian and Croatian cuisine, she has been a regular contributor to the PBS cooking show lineup since 1998. In 2007, she launched her third TV series, Lidia's Italy. She also owns four Italian restaurants in the U.S. in partnership with her son, the winemaster and restaurateur, Joseph Bastianich: Felidia (founded with her ex-husband, Felice) and Becco in Manhattan; Lidia's Pittsburgh in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania; and Lidia's Kansas City in Kansas City, Missouri.
Specializing in Italian and Croatian cuisine, she has been a regular contributor to the PBS cooking show lineup since 1998. In 2007, she launched her third TV series, Lidia's Italy. She also owns four Italian restaurants in the U.S. in partnership with her son, the winemaster and restaurateur, Joseph Bastianich: Felidia (founded with her ex-husband, Felice) and Becco in Manhattan; Lidia's Pittsburgh in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania; and Lidia's Kansas City in Kansas City, Missouri.
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Displaying 1 - 25 of 25 reviews
March 19, 2009
I have not been to one her restaurants, and the reviews of her restaurant in Pittsburgh are not good. I have seen her show on PBS, and she seems like she is a task master with her crew and family. She also gushes excessively about her grandchildren. Her show teases you about the recipes and doesn’t give details, so you have to buy the book. So why is she my favorite?
As I said previously, I have an ability to look at a recipe and have good idea if my family and friends would like the food. Normally, out of a cookbook you find 2-4 recipes that you would make again. Lidia’s Family Table contains dozens recipes that are so tasty and relatively easy. I have received rave reviews each time I make the Venetian Braised Beef. My family raved so much about it that I had to make it for Christmas dinner. I now make her White Bean Soup base regularly for various soup recipes including the ones in her book. I have made the Arrabiata (spicy tomato), the Orange scented meatballs with long cooking Sugo and the classic Ragu alla Bolognse Ricetta Antica sauce on many Sundays. Any of these make for a classic family Sunday meal. I dare anyone to make these and not come away with complements.
I said before, I judge TV chefs based on the number of their recipes that I can recreate successfully. Lidia is far in the lead. Now only if she looked like Giada.
As I said previously, I have an ability to look at a recipe and have good idea if my family and friends would like the food. Normally, out of a cookbook you find 2-4 recipes that you would make again. Lidia’s Family Table contains dozens recipes that are so tasty and relatively easy. I have received rave reviews each time I make the Venetian Braised Beef. My family raved so much about it that I had to make it for Christmas dinner. I now make her White Bean Soup base regularly for various soup recipes including the ones in her book. I have made the Arrabiata (spicy tomato), the Orange scented meatballs with long cooking Sugo and the classic Ragu alla Bolognse Ricetta Antica sauce on many Sundays. Any of these make for a classic family Sunday meal. I dare anyone to make these and not come away with complements.
I said before, I judge TV chefs based on the number of their recipes that I can recreate successfully. Lidia is far in the lead. Now only if she looked like Giada.
August 7, 2018
Cooking is a real labor of love!
I watch Lidia’s show on PBS whenever I get a chance. I love the way she involves her family in the dinners she creates and I saw this book for a great price on Amazon and just had to get it. I was not disappointed.
Lidia is a great teacher. This is not your normal cookbook with recipes and pictures. This book has all of that but it also has how to do it, why you do it, and what it should taste like when you are done. For example, for her Risotto recipe she takes you through all the steps and explains why you do them and what the results should be if you followed directions. The recipe is a good three pages long.
This book is perfect for the novice cook as well as the experienced cook who may not cook Italian much. I love it and it will be a part of my cooking repartee in the future.
I watch Lidia’s show on PBS whenever I get a chance. I love the way she involves her family in the dinners she creates and I saw this book for a great price on Amazon and just had to get it. I was not disappointed.
Lidia is a great teacher. This is not your normal cookbook with recipes and pictures. This book has all of that but it also has how to do it, why you do it, and what it should taste like when you are done. For example, for her Risotto recipe she takes you through all the steps and explains why you do them and what the results should be if you followed directions. The recipe is a good three pages long.
This book is perfect for the novice cook as well as the experienced cook who may not cook Italian much. I love it and it will be a part of my cooking repartee in the future.
October 6, 2008
This is an excellent cookbook. I only wish I could eat dairy so I could try even more of the recipes in it! I love watching Lidia's cooking show on tpt and have gotten many great ideas out of her show and cookbooks. This is my favorite cookbook - the only one of hers I own and the cookbook in my collection that I use most often. I love that she gives the reader/cook a license to play - the recipes aren't set in stone and she encourages creativity. I love the marinara sauce and simple tomato sauce, they are wonderful! I can no longer tolerate the taste and texture of jarred sauces! Yuk! I also regularly make a recipe from Lidia's Italy and can't wait until that book comes in at the library so I can try out more!
June 7, 2008
quintessential italian cookbook. recipes are authentic and tasty. another plus, she has very specific but not anal-retentive directions that are extremely helpful. charming: sometimes she calls the hot spot on the range "the eye." she's the real deal, i've seen her cook on pbs in all her aproned italian glory. if you like cheese, go find yourself some burrata and lay a slab of it on some bruschetta. you will never be the same.
June 12, 2018
The recipes in the book are excellent and delicious, but they're mostly very time-consuming to make, which is the only reason I didn't give it the full 5 stars. It is a book for a family table - a big table with lots of people, and a cook who can spend all afternoon in the kitchen. The most delicious recipes I think are the meatball ones, and then the lasagna ones. They're all wonderful - just know that these are for the dedicated cook.
May 31, 2008
Cookbooks don't get any better than this. Recipes are from easily attainable ingredients, and instructions are direct. Most importantly, every recipe I've tried, and that's more than half in the book, is wonderful.
June 7, 2022
I have 3 of Lidia’s other cookbooks which I use often. Although I might not use this as often as the others this lady knows not only how to cook, she knows how to put together a quality cookbook. She not only gives clear instructions, it also gives ideas of what to do to change it up to suit different tastes or lack of certain ingredients or bump it up for a fuller meal. I would love to cook and learn from this lady.
November 29, 2017
I was disappointed in this cookbook. I love watching Lidia's cooking show on PBS. But this cookbook was hard to follow and I only found 4 recipes that I would want to try. Will keep watching though :)
June 30, 2021
Plenty of accessible family-style Italian recipes within this gem. I’ve already discovered a few repeat items! The detailed descriptions and photos will help even the most novice cook gain a firm grasp on Italian cooking. Highly recommend.
March 7, 2016
Lidia's warmth and love comes through on every page of this lovely cookbook, with recipes that range from Italian-American classics to unique favorites of her family's. I love the photos she includes of the food and her family - picking tomatoes, making something in the kitchen together, or devouring something delicious at the table. There aren't many celebrity chefs who seem as genuine and devoted to her family and food as Lidia does, and she does it all without a mega ego! I've even been to her restaurant in Kansas City several times, and it has always been absolutely superb. I can't say the same for other celebrity restaurants! In fact, I often avoid them because they are simply over-hyped. Lidia is the real deal!
February 1, 2008
I think I must be Italian waaaay back there somewhere. I loved the photos in this book--families enjoying one another and a table with lots of delicious food. Reminds me of home. Tu ti a tavola a magiare!
January 23, 2010
Being unfamiliar with her, I did not expect to love this book as much as I did. Beautifully designed pages with lots of infomrative directions (similar to Art of French Cooking), but with a simplicity that allows the flavors to shine. Fav recipe is the Torte al Vino - yum!!
July 13, 2016
In Lidia's Family Table Lidia has practically written an autobiography interspersed with a recipeography. She has included so many little personal details from her past that I feel like I really know her and that we'd be great cooking buddies.
March 14, 2008
One of my favorite cookbooks of all time. I think I had this checked out from the library for more than a year. I make her white bean soup about once a week.
May 11, 2008
This is a really good Italian cookbook. We have even made homemade pasta with Lidia's help and Bret running the Kitchenaid! Still need an autograph for this book.
May 31, 2008
cookbooks
November 18, 2008
I love cooking and Lidia's book inspires on many levels. Her approach to food and family makes me smile and want to live in my kitchen, cooking for those I cherish!
August 18, 2008
I don't know why exactly but I've always hated this woman...
November 27, 2008
I could never find one recipe in here that I either really wanted to try or didn't already know how to make.
December 22, 2008
GREAT PORK SHOULDER RECIPE!!!
April 17, 2013
Bought this at Becco in NYC.
May 14, 2017
Lidia's recipes are interesting and look amazing!
March 5, 2016
diverse sampling of italian recipes
December 15, 2007
Simply wonderful!
April 21, 2017
Recipes are very similar to those in her other books, but those books have more to them. Good on its own, but you might not find much to interest you if you have her other cookbooks.
Displaying 1 - 25 of 25 reviews