Cooking with Nonna: A Year of Italian Holidays: 130 Classic Holiday Recipes from Italian Grandmothers

by Rossella Rago

Adriana Trigiani (Foreword)

Learn to cook traditional Italian food for every holiday of the year with Rossella Rago and her Italian nonna in Cooking with Nonna: A Year of Italian Holidays.

They’re back! Rossella Rago and her adorable Nonna Romana have returned with Cooking with Nonna: A Year of Italian Holidays, a traditional cookbook no Italian kitchen should be without. This Italian cookbook is a culinary treasury, jam-packed with over 125 classic holiday recipes for Italian-food lovers, including classic holiday recipes like Struffoli, Christmas Fish, Manicotti, Cannelloni, Cannoli Cheesecake, and more.

With advice from nonnas all over the country, this unique book covers holiday classics from every region of Italy, from Milan to Sicily, and includes holiday memories from the nonnas themselves. The nonnas also give their personal tips on cooking for a crowd (and it’s always a crowd). And, of course, no new Cooking with Nonna cookbook would be complete without Rossella’s signature dishes and unique voice. 

Rosella and her nonnas will have you enjoying Italian culinary delights around the year. In addition to the major holidays of Christmas, Easter, and Thanksgiving, you will find recipes for New Year’s Eve and Day, the Epiphany, Little Easter, St. Joseph’s Day, Carnevale, All Souls Day, Valentine’s Day, Women’s Day, Mother’s Day, and Saint Rocco’s Feast. To complete you year-round Italian tasting tour, recipes for weddings and other celebrations are included.

Nothing brings family together like delicious food around the holidays, and Cooking with Nonna: A Year of Italian Holidays has everything you need to keep your family full and happy every holiday of the year. Bring the dishes and the memories you grew up with to a whole new generation of Italian Americans!

• ISBN13: 9781631065200
• Publish Date: 8 November 2018
• Publish Status: Out of Print
• Out of Print: 19 April 2023
• Publish Country: US
• Imprint: Race Point Publishing
• Format: Hardcover
• Pages: 264
• Language: English

Reviews

[annieb123]

Originally published on my blog: Nonstop Reader.

Cooking with Nonna: A Year of Italian Holidays is a new volume of Italian holiday recipes from Rosella Rago and her family and friends. This is a follow up book to her general Cooking With Nonna family recipe book (reviewed by me here).

Released 6th Nov 2018 on Quarto's RacePoint imprint, it's 264 pages and available in hardcover and ebook formats.

I loved the warm and inviting writing style along with the photos and personal stories. It's certainly a functional cookbook with lots of authentic recipes made with basic, easily sourced (or made) ingredients. I think where this book shines though is in the personal stories and family photos.

The recipes are arranged around the holiday calendar. It starts with New Year's Eve and moves through the year to Christmas. There is also a chapter full of dishes associated with different Saints' days throughout the year.

Of the over 100 included recipes, there are a number for kitchen ingredients, pickles, and serving suggestions which are worth the cost of the book. We have made several batches of the gardiniera (mixed pickled vegetables) and they're a firm family favorite now.

There are a huge number of sweet cakes, cookies, and candy (including sweets which look like coal, for naughty family members at Christmas).

Wonderful collection of special recipes. The instructions are complete and well-written. The recipes are made with easily sourced ingredients. The finished dishes are well photographed and appealing.

Superlative cookbook.

Five stars.

Disclosure: I received an ARC at no cost from the author/publisher for review purposes.