I have Essentials on my Kindle (the two books that were combined and updated to make it are on the shelf and I have cooked with them forever) If I recall correctly there were reductions in fat from the original recipes (for better or worse). I am not going to say that Marcella’s recipes are all perfect but I think she leads us through to create real Italian dishes (especially those of her Northern origins) better than just about anyone else. Many dishes are much more lovely than you would expect from the simple ingredient lists and the instructions are impeccable. She is a terrific teacher and I certainly learned a great deal from her when I was beginning with the cuisine. Her books would be my first recommendation to a beginner with the food of italy.
ps to the poster who did not like her (sicilian) eggplant recipe, I think eggplant is a tricky ingredient. Ideally it is salted, drained nd dried, and fried in plenty of oil til golden. Her recipe incorporates the eggplant in a sauce and many of the southern italian recipes add it in at the end so it retains more texture and integrity. Im sorry you did not like her recipe, please give some of the others in the book a chance, you may be pleasantly surprised.
I have the cookbook but usually the recipes are available online; I prefer to cook from a printed recipe.
Her Roasted Chicken with 2 lemons (I use one big one cut into quarters) is excellent. In the beginning it is cooked breast side down. Later I grab paper towels in each hand and turn it right side up (the chicken isn’t too hot yet at the stage). Since I only like white meat, this method keeps it from being dry. It’s great cold, too.
I have this cookbook and even have the out of print books that this book combines - The Classic Italian Cookbook and More Classic Italian Cooking. I’ve only made a few recipes out of it though, including the tomato sauce with butter (very good), the Bolognese sauce (very good and time consuming), and the tomato sauce with anchovy (very good as well but basically a puttanesca sauce without the olives and capers and chilies, these days I would probably just make a puttanesca sauce). Need to try more of the recipes.
