Gennaro’s Cucina: Hearty Money-Saving Meals from an Italian Kitchen

Focusing on Italian cucina povera, or the cuisine of the poor, celebrated London chef Contaldo (Gennaro’s Limoni) offers up simple but hearty dishes to prepare. Hearkening back to a time when food was never wasted and only seasonal ingredients were used, Contaldo focuses on ingredients that were central to every Italian home while he was growing up in Italy. Over nine chapters, he supplies recipes for rice, polenta, and grains; beans and legumes; bread; potatoes; eggs; pasta; vegetables; meat and fish; and sweet treats. Expanding on the concept of not wasting food, Contaldo also offers suggestions for using up leftovers. Recipes are from all over the Italian peninsula, and each recipe is accompanied by a short paragraph on the background of the dish. Contaldo also discusses how any given recipe may differ from one region of Italy to another and offers suggestions on how to alter a recipe to one’s taste or diet.