Beyond the Pasta; Recipes, Language and Life with an Italian Family

[NEW for 2014 ~ 10 BONUS recipes, including gluten-free dishes, are included in this newly updated hardcover edition. Same heartfelt, award-winning story; now with ten more reasons to bring your family to the table!] Several years ago, on a break between theatrical gigs in Alabama, Mark traveled to Italy and fell in love with the people, food and culture. Armed with just enough courage, minimal Italian language skills, and a certain proficiency in the kitchen, he enrolled in a full-immersion cooking and language program. He would travel south of Tuscany to Viterbo, Italy and live with an Italian family. His teachers were beyond his wildest dreams-he learned to cook from the grandmother, or Nonna, of the family, who prepared every meal in a bustling, busy household, as women in her family have done for generations. Her daughter, Alessandra, taught him the language with patience and precision. Besides culinary secrets and prepositions, they opened their lives to him, and made him a real part of their extensive family. Though the book contains authentic, delicious family recipes Nonna shared with Mark, Beyond the Pasta delves into food memoir subject matter not found in a typical cookbook. It was the day-to-day shopping with Nonna, exploring the countryside and le gelaterie, where he truly developed his language skills, and a new, more joyful and uniquely Italian way of looking at the world.

Mark Leslie, seen nationally cooking on NBC's "Today" and Hallmark Channel's "Home & Family," loves to cook for anyone with an appetite, vacations in Italy every year, and lives to eat his way through every plate of pasta and cone of gelato placed before him. He leads cooking classes nationwide. His historic home and family-style recipes have been featured in national publications, books, and blogs such as "House Beautiful," "PaulaDeen.com," "Food Republic," "Apartment Therapy," "Field & Stream," and "The Daily Meal."