Italian Easy: Recipes from the London River Cafe

“Easy food doesn’t have to mean unsophisticated food.”

Rose Gray and Ruth Rogers, founders of London’s renowned River Cafe, are famous for their innovative approach to traditional Italian fare. In Italian Easy, their fifth cookbook, they reinvent the Italian kitchen for today’s busy home cook, refuting the notion that elegant food requires hours of preparation. These are visually spectacular, remarkably simple recipes for those who love good food but have little time to prepare it.

Displaying the imagination and panache that are Rose and Ruth’s hallmarks, the nearly 200 recipes in Italian Easy are streamlined for efficiency in the kitchen without compromising either quality or taste. Relying on a well-stocked pantry, just a handful of fresh, seasonal ingredients, and even fewer steps, these sublime recipes summon both familiar and surprising Italian flavors. Bruschetta with tender asparagus and shaved Parmesan, tagliatelle with ripe figs and spicy chiles, slow-roasted chicken with fresh nutmeg and prosciutto, and the restaurant’s popular Chocolate Nemesis cake are all as enticing as they are effortless.

This is not Italian food that’s impossible to pronounce or prepare. At once straightforward and sexy, this is Italian Easy—the cookbook that makes it possible for busy people to eat well every night of the week.