cover image Naturally Vegetarian: Recipes and Stories from My Italian Family Farm

Naturally Vegetarian: Recipes and Stories from My Italian Family Farm

Valentina Solfrini. Avery, $35 (224p) ISBN 978-1-1019-8359-1

In this thoroughly enjoyable book, Solfrini, a graphic designer and blogger (Hortus Cuisine) who lives on her family’s farm in central Italy, takes the reader through seasonal chapters on vegetarian Italian cooking. Solfrini explains that vegetables are valued in her family and that the pasta- and bread-making techniques covered here have been passed down from her mother and grandmother. Home cooks are prepped with the importance of stocking a pantry of ingredients, keeping on hand basic recipes (including vegetable stock, tomato sauce, vegetarian “Bolognese” sauce, and “quick pizza”), and offered a primer on pasta making. The fall chapter makes use of pumpkin in gnocchi with sage and pumpkin-seed pesto, as well as in a pumpkin orzotto, while pears find their place in the chocolate cake. Cabbage is the focus in the winter section and features in recipes such as cabbage parcels with lentils and onions. Braised artichokes, farrotto with asparagus, and a stinging-nettle soup with cannellini beans are highlights in spring. Stunning full-page photos transport the reader to the Italian countryside, while recipes up the ante on vegetarian and plant-based cooking. (Nov.)