I love to cook, bake and be in the kitchen. I love to hone in on a recipe and really make it my own. I also love a well-curated cookbook. There’s something about having an entire anthology of recipes that you just KNOW are going to turn out great 99.99% of the time (let’s be real, sometimes the cake falls flat). Sharing my favorite cookbooks and some of the must-try recipes that go with them!
Let’s Eat by Dan Pelosi
This is truly one of my favorite cookbooks I’ve ever purchased. Written by Dan Pelosi, beloved home cook on instagram @grossypelosi,Dan’s cookbook could not be more enjoyable to read from cover to cover. It’s also just so PRACTICAL. Not only that, but this cookbook reads like a love letter to Dan’s family and friends. I think I’ve bought five copies and keep gifting them to people. I got the chance to meet Dan at his book signing in October and it was just a delight.
100/10 recommend.
Recipes I make on repeat: vodka sauce (holy moly it is outstanding), Calabrian chili crisp, broccoli rabe & sausage pasta, pastina, sheet pan chicken w/Brussels
Via Carota by Rita Sodi, Jody Williams and Anna Kovel
Let me count the ways I love this restaurant, the owners, this book. Via Carota is another love letter of a cookbook. Rita Sodi and Jody Willliams own and operate Via Carota (as well as several other institutions in New York) and poured their souls into this cookbook with the help of Anna Kovel.
I never not go to Via Carota when in the city and I am often dreaming of their cacio e pepe, or their Brussels.
I also think they make one of the best, if not THE BEST Aperol spritz in the country.
Their Brussels are featured in the cookbook, as well as their vinaigrette and the insalata verde. Yum. Yum. Yum. Another cookbook that I love because it’s so much more than recipes, but more of seasonal encyclopedia and instructional menu. I’ve learned so much from this cookbook.
Adeena Sussman is another chef I’ve followed forever. She’s a genius in the kitchen and such a joy of a person. I had the opportunity to meet her at a Charleston Wine+Food event a few years ago and she was just LOVELY in person.
I love her marinated lamb chops, her watermelon arak granita and the cinnamon’y smoky eggplant P’tit’m but my most favorite recipe is the chicken wings with black lime and pomegranate!
Cravings by Chrissy Teigen (and Adeena Sussman)
I could write a book on my love of this cookbook. Published in 2016, I cannot tell you how many times I’ve reached for this cookbook. Several family holiday gatherings for a number of years were centered around Chrissy’s mac&cheese recipe in this book. She’s since made a second cookbook, and one by her mother, but nothing will compare to the OG in my opinion.
My ultimate Chrissy recipe is one of her most simple: The Dutch Baby. This has been a Christmas staple with Nunnie & Poppy since the first year I bought Cravings.
I could go on and on (and on) about cookbooks. These four are at the top of my rotation. Do you have any of them? Any recipes I’m missing out on??
