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La Cucina di Rosa · The Old Italian Way to Feed a Family

Recipes my mother never measured. Measured at last.

113 recipes from a kitchen in the mountains of Abruzzo, each with the exact measures, the reason under every step, and what to do if it went wrong.

Rosa in her kitchen, smiling, with a cup of coffee on the table
Sit down, tesoro.
How every chapter teaches

It was never you. Nobody showed you.

Every chapter starts with the mistake you were taught, says why it fails, then shows what my mother did instead and why it works. Pick one.

What you were taught

Why it fails

What my mother did

Why it works

Cook to the color, not to the clock.

Look inside

Real pages from the book

This is what opens on your phone while you cook. Big type, one recipe to a page, and the page numbers never change, so when I say "page 36" in a video, it is page 36.

Swipe or scroll sideways →
Page 212, Salmon in a Paper Bag recipe
Page 212. Salmon in a paper bag: measures, numbered steps, and the box for when it goes wrong.
Page 36, salting the pasta water
Page 36. One, ten, one hundred: how much salt really goes in the pasta water, for fine salt and kosher.
Page 89, Sunday Roast Potatoes recipe
Page 89. My mother's Sunday roast potatoes, and the bowl of cold water that replaces the pot.
Page 253, focaccia technique page
Page 253. Focaccia: oil the pan as if you were about to fry, because you are.
Page 10, Rosa's kitchen rules
Page 10. My twenty kitchen rules, each with the page that explains it.
Page 312, a page of recipe cards
Page 312. At the back: every recipe on one card, for the counter.
What's inside

Twenty-six chapters, from the oil to the holiday sweets

  • 1The Oil Comes Firstp. 13
  • 2Garlic, Gentlyp. 23
  • 3Pasta Is Made in the Panp. 33
  • 4The Sunday Saucep. 45
  • 5Meatballsp. 59
  • 6Carbonara and the Roman Fourp. 71
  • 7Water Is No Friend to Potatoesp. 83
  • 8Never Glue Againp. 95
  • 9Rice That Doesn't Stickp. 105
  • 10Risottop. 115
  • 11Eggsp. 127
  • 12Frittatap. 139
  • 13Beansp. 149
  • 14Chickenp. 161
  • 15Never Gray Againp. 175
  • 16Pork Chopsp. 187
  • 17Steakp. 197
  • 18Salmonp. 207
  • 19Shrimpp. 217
  • 20Broccoli and the Greensp. 227
  • 21Onions, Cooked Slowlyp. 239
  • 22Focaccia and Breadp. 249
  • 23The Turkeyp. 263
  • 24Green Beansp. 277
  • 25Christmas Evep. 287
  • 26Holiday Sweetsp. 299

Type it here and I'll tell you the page.

    How it arrives

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    2. The book opens

      Download the PDF right away, on your phone, tablet or computer. The link is also emailed to you.

    3. It stays yours

      Keep it on your phone by the stove, or print the pages you cook from most.

    The cover of La Cucina di Rosa
    La Cucina di Rosa

    The whole kitchen, in one book

    • 332 pages, 113 recipes, US measures with metric
    • The why under every step
    • "If it went wrong" on every recipe, so dinner can be saved
    • Kitchen rules, a temperature chart and a salt chart up front
    • 113 recipe cards and a full index at the back
    $37$59.99Save $22.99
    Buy the bookInstant PDF · one payment

    7-day money-back guarantee. If the book isn't for you, ask for a refund within 7 days. One payment, no subscription. A digital book (PDF); nothing is mailed. Secure checkout by Gumroad.

    Rosa pressing dimples into focaccia dough
    About Rosa

    I never measured anything. Now I have.

    I was born in the mountains of Abruzzo, and everything I know about cooking I learned in my mother's kitchen. She never measured anything. A handful. A little more. Until it looks right. But ask her why, and she always had an answer.

    At nineteen I came to New Jersey, and I raised my family there. In America I found that almost everybody had been taught to cook in a way that works against them. They boiled the potatoes to death. They burned the garlic. They thought they were bad cooks. They were not.

    So I measured what my mother never did, every handful and every "a little more," so you can get it right the first time instead of the fifth.

    Con affetto, Rosa

    Before you buy

    Questions, answered plainly

    Is this a printed book you mail me?

    No. It is a PDF, a file that opens on your phone, tablet or computer. Nothing arrives in the post. You can print any page you like at home; the recipe cards at the back are made for it.

    I'm not a good cook. Is this too hard for me?

    It was written for exactly you. Every recipe has exact measures and numbered steps, the reason under each step, and a box at the bottom for when something goes wrong. It was never you. Nobody showed you.

    Do I need special ingredients?

    No. These are the dishes of a family that fed itself on very little: oil, garlic, tomatoes, beans, pasta, potatoes, eggs. Where an Italian ingredient is hard to find, the recipe says what to use instead.

    Are the measurements American?

    Yes. Cups, spoons and °F first, with grams and °C in parentheses. Every recipe uses fine sea salt, and there is a chart for kosher salt.

    I'm not good with computers.

    You do not need to be. You pay, and the book opens like a photograph would. There is no account and no password.

    Is this a subscription?

    No. One payment, one time. Nothing renews.

    What if it isn't for me?

    Then you get your money back. Ask for a refund within 7 days of buying, and it's returned to you.

    Cover of the free guide, Five Things My Mother Never Wrote Down
    Not ready for the whole book?

    Take five for free

    Five fixes from my mother's kitchen, straight out of the book with their real page numbers, and her Sunday roast potatoes to try them on. Free, as a PDF.

    1. How much salt really goes in the pasta water
    2. Why pasta is finished in the pan, not the pot
    3. Garlic that never turns bitter
    4. The bowl of cold water that saves your potatoes
    5. The numbers: when meat and fish are done

    Patience is the last ingredient.

    Come cook with me

    The pasta water, the bowl of cold water for the potatoes, the garlic that starts in cold oil. Pick three things this week. The book has the other hundred and ten.

    Get the book$37 today, was $59.99

    Watch the videos on Rosa's YouTube channel