Celebrity chef Valentina Harris makes traditional Italian cooking easy. Over 100 authentic Italian recipes have been simplified for the contemporary kitchen - piquant ragus with fresh pasta, nutty risottos, succulent meat and poultry dishes, aromatic fish and creamy deserts.

Her instructions cover all the techniques necessary to master Italian cooking, from rolling fresh pasta, perfect polenta and non-sticky gnocchi, notes on cleaning and boning fish and how to pick the choicest ingredients.

An engaging raconteur she enriches her recipes with fascinating food facts and anecdotes from her store of childhood memories of the family kitchen in Tuscany. Her recipes are beautifully decorated with charming watercolour illustrations.