Cooking with Grace

Pilato, longtime potter (some of her pieces are showcased here) and cooking teacher, has produced a veritable primer of Italian cuisine that instructs with keen attention to the craft of cooking and with an artist's appreciation for the good things in life. She begins with a practical list of essential pantry ingredients and basic kitchen equipment, plus a prep guide for mainstays like Romano cheese, chopped garlic and canned tomatoes, followed by ""stepping-stone"" recipes for such staples as marinara and pesto. After the salad section, dried pasta, fresh hand-made pasta and gnocchi are thoroughly explained and sauced, from a simple Pasta with Raw Tomato and Mozzarella Sauce to a more complicated Cannelloni Stuffed with Spinach and (home-made, of course) Ricotta. Pilato is sensitive to modern home cooks' busy schedules and unabashedly promotes her love of using a microwave to prepare her Spinach Sauce. Beyond pasta and sauce, the recipes range from Squash and Potato Stew and Ladder Bread with Olives and Onion to classic Italian meat and seafood preparations such as Osso Bucco (braised veal shanks); Fresh Sausage; Mama Rosa's Roast Chicken with Honey, Oranges, and Lemon; and Cod from the Christmas Eve Tradition. And what could be better to complete an authentic Italian meal than an ethereal Basic Eight-Egg Sponge Cake? Pilato clearly understands food and appetites and has prepared a book that is as inviting to the novice as it is to the advanced home cook. (Apr.)