Fabio's Italian Kitchen: Over 100 Delicious Family Recipes
Publisher: Hyperion
Publication Date: April 2013
Featured Recipe: Italian Wedding Soup (Zuppa del Matrimonio)
In his gorgeously illustrated cookbook Fabio’s Italian Kitchen, Fabio Viviani shares the best of Italian home cooking while telling the story of his hardscrabble childhood, his success as a chef in the United States, and the women in his family who inspired him. In more than 150 delicious recipes, Viviani takes us from his family home, where his great-grandmother taught him to make staples like Italian apple cake and homemade ricotta, to the kitchen of a local trattoria, where he honed his craft cooking restaurant favorites like gnocchi and the perfect tiramisu, and then across Italy, where he studied each region’s finest recipes, from Piedmont’s braised ossobuco to Emilia Romagna’s perfect meat sauce. Fabio’s Italian Kitchen is a celebration of food and family that brings to your kitchen all the joy, fun, and flair that Fabio Viviani embodies.
Cooks&Books&Recipes Editors {Dee}, on Fabio’s Italian Kitchen:
Honest-to-gosh, I’d never heard of Fabio Viviani until I picked up this cookbook. How can that be? As noted in the bio above, he’s EVERYWHERE. I suppose the reason is that although I love cookbooks and recipes and chefs and cooking, I actually watch very little food-related TV. So I had no preconceptions when I started flipping through this book. After less than an hour, I was a bona fide Fabio fan. I probably still won’t watch the TV shows, but this cookbook is on my bedside table and will stay there a while longer. Why? I’ll quote Fabio himself: “My food is meant to be made and eaten. That’s it. It’s not meant to impress, it’s meant to feed people.” That’s my kind of cooking. Recipes that I enjoy cooking and that people enjoy eating. Recipes that cover a range of Italian favorites, with none of them (from what I can tell) requiring the knowledge or skills of a professionally trained chef.
The bonus is that Fabio helps us along, for instance by explaining what caramelized actually means (“when you can see color”) rather than giving a certain number of minutes for cooking. He offers notes from his kitchen and recipes for the basics (“Baby Steps”). And how can you not like a chef who devotes a chapter to the tried-and-true recipes of his mother, who didn’t even like to cook? The icing on the cake — or, rather, the chocolate on the tiramisu — consists of Fabio’s stories of his background and experiences. So yes, this one is still on my bedstand so that I can (1) try to prioritize which of the post-it-noted recipes (2/3 of the book) I’ll make next, and (2) finish reading Fabio’s story. “Is good time.”
The Cookbook Basics:
Paperback (7.2 x 9.2 inches); Kindle
304 pages; 150+ recipes; color photos of most recipes
Chapters and Sections: Baby Steps; Appetizers; Soups; Pasta, Gnocchi, & Risotto; Meat; Seafood; Chicken; Salads & Vegetables; Desserts; My Mom’s Bragging Rights; Fundamentals & Breads
Next-to-Try Recipes: Fried Rice Balls; Gnocchi with Sausage and Leeks; Butternut-Squash-Filled Roasted Pork Tenderloin; Grandma’s Canned Tuna; Hen with Sage-Garlic Sauce; Broken Potatoes with Burnt Lemon and Parmesan; Poached Pears with Ricotta and Balsamic Vinegar
In the Press: Salt Lake Tribune; Chicago Tribune; Publishers Weekly
About the author: Fabio Viviani is perhaps best known for his appearance on season 5 of Bravo’s hit reality series Top Chef in 2008, earning the “Fan Favorite” title. Viviani returned to Bravo in 2010 to compete in their Top Chef All Stars edition and a spinoff culinary reality show, Life After Top Chef. A gregarious host and entertaining guest, Viviani has appeared in a number of television cooking segments and is a recurring guest on television shows such as Good Morning America, The Talk, The Chew, Ellen, Good Day LA, and Access Hollywood, and he hosts a regular spot on the QVC channel with various kitchen appliances and products. He is also the host of the award-winning web series Chow Ciao! on Yahoo!, the #1 lifestyle and food show on the internet.
Cookbook Trailer:
Cookbook Giveaway
Thanks to publisher Hyperion, I get to share my (behind-the-times) “discovery” by giving away one copy of Fabio’s Italian Kitchen to a lucky Cooks&Books&Recipes reader. Enter below.
Giveaway Notes:
There are six ways to enter the giveaway, but it’s not necessary to do all six entries. Choose whichever one(s) you like, and you’ll be entered in the giveaway. The winner, to be randomly selected and notified by e-mail, must claim the cookbook within one week. Giveaway ends at midnight (EST) on Friday, June 21.
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Disclosure: Cooks&Books&Recipes receives books for possible review, though we make no promise that all books received will be featured. We highlight only those cookbooks that we feel will interest our readers. For this giveaway, we received a free copy of the book from the publisher. We received no monetary compensation for our review or giveaway.
Sounds like a fun read and a cookbook I can read in bed and plan dinner for the next night :)
We’re big fans of Fabio Viviani at our house since his appearances on Top Chef and other shows. Not only is he personable and likeable but he really knows his stuff. I’d be stoked to win us a copy.
Oooh, I love Fabio!!!
Breenah recently posted……
Not gonna lie, I’ve had a tiny crush on Fabio since his appearance on Top Chef. And his demos on Yahoo are pretty good too! Needless to say, I’d love to win this book!
My husband is Italian and I would love to make a great meal for his birthday.
I, too, am a Top Chef fan who loves Fabio. Such a personable funny dude.
Fabio is one of my Top Chef favorites! I’d love to win this cookbook.
Thanks for the giveaway! I loved fabio when he was on top chef.
Love it and hope to win
Thanks for the giveaway.
Oh, there is nothing like a great Italian meal! Looks like a fantastic cookbook!
I collect cookbooks and I’d love to win this!
Pick me! Pick me! My Birthday is in July and I am unemployed this will be a great gift to myself! :)
As a huge fan of Top Chef, I think I would really like this cookbook!
I love family recipes! That Italian Wedding Soup look yummy!
Fabio was one of my favorite contestants on Top Chef
I would love to learn how to cook Italian meals, they are one of my favorites!
I wish I knew how to cook Italian meals!
Thanks for the giveaway, I like cookbooks!
Thanks for the giveaway.
Sounds great!
I’m always in search of great new cookbooks! I love to try out new recipes :)
I LOVE making Italian food! Thank you for the great giveaway!
(I subscribed to the blog emails via [email protected]).
Love Fabio and would love to win his latest cookbook! Looks wonderful!
This is an awesome giveaway!
Just love cookbooks!
Colleen Gorman recently posted…Italian Wedding Soup (Zuppa del Matrimonio)
Thanks for this opportunity to win!
I have this book on my Amazon wish list! Thanks for this chance to win a copy. It looks like a great book.
Love Fabio, this would be perfect for my cookbook collection!
Loved Fabio on Top Chef
I love Italian food. Would be great to win so I could cook it at home.
I love cookbooks. I find new things in them each time I look through them. I really hope I win this one!
Loved him on TV. Thanks for the chance to win!
Thanks for the giveaway!
love!
mikaela recently posted…Raw vegan pâté & stuffed mushrooms
I would love to win this! Love him! :)
I LOVE Fabio! I would love to win this!
My son is the best cook ever….who would have thought!!!!
He is always coming up with new ideas and this book would inspire him even more.
I would love this book!!
Lori Hart recently posted…Thai Shrimp with Coconut Rice
I watched Fabio on Top Chef. He’s great! Hope I win!
I so much enjoy Fabio, recipes are great
Great giveaway. I love cooking.
always like trying new recipes!
Sounds like a great cookbook. Awesome!
just love Fabio
Giveaways are a great way to find new sites.
thank you
We love Fabio! It be fun to learn his recipes…thanks for the chance!
Sounds like a nice Cookbook to own!
OMG! I totally remember him! It would be so awesome to have a cookbook by him!
Tasha-Ann recently posted…June Love With Food Review
This would be great! I love Cook Books!!
Thanks for the giveaway!
Fabio makes cooking fun and he is so cute and nice to watch with his vino and recipes, love to have a cookbook, and bring out the Italian in me thank you
Whoops delete that last entry for me, I did not know I had enetered before, but Fabio has me overwhelmed…sorry
I’d love to see what culinary delights this one contains!
Storm, the Psychotic Housewife recently posted…Giveaway: Summer Fun With Cracker Jack Snacks
Great giveaway thank you
Thanks for the great giveaway!
Would love this…cooking is one of my passions!!
Looks awesome! Thank you!
Thanks for the great giveaway!
this would save us from eating the same thing over and over again!!
My hubby is Italian so he would love this!!
sounds like a great cookbook!
In the Hammock recently posted…Waiting on Wednesday 235
I would love to win this!
Italian food is my favorite!! What a great book to add to my collection.
Thanks for the giveaway!
Great Cookbook! Thanks for sharing your post!
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