Essentials of Classic Italian Cooking

Essentials of Classic Italian Cooking By Marcella Hazan, Alfred A. Knopf, 1992. Hardcover. $35; 688 pages

This tome from beloved cooking authority Marcella Hazan is nominally a compilation of two of her previous books, but it’s actually much more than that. Hazan retested, updated, and in most cases, completely rewrote the recipes so that each is more focused and delicious. Some recipes were deleted, with new ones swapped in. The result stands, 20 years later, as a sort of Mastering the Art of Italian Cooking. If you had to choose only one Italian cookbook for your collection, this is it—the 500-recipe catalog of all foods Italian.

GIVE THIS TO: The cook who stocks her shelves with culinary bibles. —Adam Hickman