Anna Del Conte is a British writer who is far too little-known here. Her food exemplifies the kind of simple, sophisticated technique that informs so much of great Italian cooking.
Her Italian Kitchen (Sterling, $25) is a compendium of recipes from four books published in Britain in the ’90s. You won’t find elaborate constructions or flashy fusion, just simple ingredients treated with respect.
Take her recipe for baked zucchini, which has already made its way into my regular rotation. On the surface, it’s dead simple: You rub zucchini with mint and garlic and bake it until it browns. The trick here — if you can call it a trick — is that she salts the zucchini before roasting, which pulls moisture and partly “cooks” the squash, giving it a firm, silky texture. Try it and you’ll see what I mean.
— Russ Parsons
Los Angeles Times
