I recently acquired Giorgio Locatelli's large and fabulous book, Made in Italy, when I had a Borders voucher giving me 20% off all cookbooks. Score! You may or may not recall that it was Giorgio's risotto method that finally and completely ended my risotto-phobia and gave me the confidence to make it as a regular meal.

My first recipe from this book was a simple mushroom risotto; called in the book risotto ai porcini or cep risotto. Whatever the name is, it's simple and delicious. Just the usual deal, a risotto with both dried and fresh porcini mushrooms. Not having access to fresh porcini, I used swiss brown in conjunction with the dried.

The book contains many, many beautiful recipes and descriptions of regional Italian cuisine and ingredients, which are even more engaging if you think of them being said in Giorgio's accent. (Watch the Lifestyle Food channel or YouTube if you haven't seen one of his programs before). I hope to be cooking a lot from this wonderful book!