Mario Batali is a madman/hero. Is there nothing he's not good at? Great chef, successful restaurateur, an author, an intellectual, host of a ridiculously informative and much-too-good-for-television TV show, afficianado of fine rock and roll and a man of Falstaffian appetites.
---Anthony Bourdain

Easy to use and simple to read, some of these recipes are from the eight years of Molto Mario TV programs, including Mediterranean Mario, Mario Eats Italy, and the all-new Ciao America with Mario Batali. Batali's distinctive voice provides a historical and cultural perspective with a humorous bent to demystify even elaborate dishes as well as showing ways to shorten or simplify everything from the purchasing of good ingredients to pre-production and countdown schedules of holiday meals. Informative head notes include the provenance of the recipes and the odd historical fact.

Molto Italiano features soups, antipasti (many vegetarian or vegetable based), pasta dishes representing many of the 21 regions of Italy, fish, shellfish, chicken, pork and lamb dishes, each of which can be served as a light meal. With a section on desserts and a foundation of basic formation recipes, this book is the only Italian cookbook needed on the home cook's shelf.