Italian Easy: Recipes from the London River Cafe

by Rose Gray, Ruth Rogers

“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.

Genres: Cookbooks, Cooking, Food, Nonfiction

272 pages, Hardcover

First published June 15, 2004

About the author

Rose Gray was a celebrated British chef and cookery writer, best known for co-founding The River Café in 1987 with Ruth Rogers. The restaurant, which earned a Michelin star in 1998, became a launchpad for a generation of chefs, including Jamie Oliver, Theo Randall, and April Bloomfield. Rose’s influence on the culinary world was immense, with many of her protégés citing her as a key mentor.
Along with Ruth, she authored several cookbooks, including The River Café Cookbook and River Café Green, which have become classics in Italian cuisine. Gray also shared her love for Italian food with a broader audience through the 1998 Channel 4 series The Italian Kitchen.
Her career was not just defined by her cooking, but by her charitable work as well. Gray became a Breast Cancer Ambassador after her own diagnosis and co-founded the Cooks in Schools charity. She spent part of her life in Tuscany, where her passion for authentic Italian food truly flourished.
Rose’s legacy lives on through her cookbooks, the many chefs she mentored, and the River Café, which continues to be a symbol of culinary excellence.

Reviews

[Gillian · Rating 4 out of 5]

The River Cafe original is a wonderful book but you may find that you make dishes from this one more than the other because its recipes are shorter and tend to be simpler. Both books are on my kitchen shelves but this is the one I reach for more often. The section on bruschetta toppings, for example, is inspirational and there are some "wow" desserts. South African cooks be warned that not all ingredients are that readily available though.

[Clare · Rating 4 out of 5]

I've been using this book for dinner parties - constructing entire menus from it. The recipes are not necessarily quick to prepare or cook, but they are simple and involve very few ingredients. The range of flavours is wonderful.

[Lyn · Rating 5 out of 5]

Confession …. I got this in Oxfam book store for £3.49p and bought it for the uplifting cover. It warms my soul. However, it’s a wonderful book with straight forward recipes and …. cue drum roll … short ingredients lists. For example, Creme Fraiche and Rocket with Tagliatelle - 5 ingredients. Or Peaches in Pinot Nero, 4 ingedients. My kind of cookery book.

[Aasinathena · Rating 5 out of 5]

Cool quick recipes <3 !

[Kate · Rating 4 out of 5]

These gals know their stuff--great easy, everyday meals with few ingredients. The desserts are to die for!

[E G Melby · Rating 4 out of 5]

not good to read after eating dinner. you just want to go cook another one! and the desserts! esp. the cakes!!!! got this from the library, but may need to go buy my own copy. yum!