My rating: 5 of 5 stars

I’m in love!! I love Italian, and I love street food, so I was sure I’d enjoy this book. I wasn’t expecting it to be quite so spectacular!

My local Kroger was running a Taste of Italy promotion, and I found buffalo mozzarella–not something I normally run across in Tennessee! I snagged that and some good prosciutto and headed home to surprise my girls with a great Italian lunch. We made Crescentine, a pan-cooked flat bread that actually calls for it to be split and filled with a soft cheese (buffalo mozzarella is the first suggestion) and cured meat such as prosciutto. Oh, my!! It is absolutely amazing!! To give you an idea how wonderful (and easy!) it is, we made them three days in a row! Well, two days with meat and cheese and the third day I let them fill them with Nutella. I’m sure you can imagine the hit those were! I know we’ll be making these often. It takes about an hour and a half start to finish, but most of that time is the dough rising, so it’s really a pretty quick, easy meal.

I tried my hand at Pannelle (chick pea fritters). My husband and I had them on the streets of Palermo and I really enjoyed them. I’ve tried them once before, and I’m now convinced that there is a knack to pannelle, and I don’t have it. They were a dismal failure, but as I’ve failed at them before, I’m not going to blame the book!

Pizzettes (mini pizzas), on the other hand, were another huge hit. Easy to make, and while the book gives you several options for topping them, you could top them with just about anything.

There are tons more great recipes in this book. I’m looking forward to Castagnole di Ricotta (Sweet Ricotta Balls) soon, and gelato as well. I plan on making the gelato next week as my girls and I do a week long unit study on Italy! My two absolute favorite flavors of gelato that I alternated between on my trips to Sicily were pistachio and bacio which is a chocolate hazelnut. This book has Gelato alla Nocciola e Cioccolato con Pistacchi Salati (Hazelnut, Chocolate and Salted Pistachio Ice Cream) that combines both of my favorites. I can’t wait to try it!

If you love Italian food or street food–and especially if you love Italian street food!–this would be the perfect book for you. The recipes are easy to follow and the food is to die for! This book has easily made it on my favorites/”don’t touch or I’ll break your hand” shelf! Give it a try, I’m sure you’ll love it!

I received a copy of this book from Smith Street Books for my honest review. All thoughts and opinions are my own.