Francesca's Italian Kitchen

Heartland Italian cooking from a much-loved South Island group of restaurants.Francesca's Italian Kitchen is a popular South Island restaurant serving authentic Italian cuisine. This cookbook presents Francesca's popular pasta, pizza and traditional Italian dishes and desserts adapted for the home kitchen and using local NZ ingredients. Co-owner Francesca Voza says she is continually being asked when she will be releasing a cookbook - so here it is! She has restaurants in Wanaka, Christchurch, Dunedin and Timaru, and they are in the process of expanding further.Former Whare Kea Lodge executive chef James Stapley is Francesca's partner in the business and has been involved in the writing and preparation of the recipes. The book is peppered with photos taken on his and Francesca's annual excursion to the south of Italy, where Francesca's family originally came from.There are approximately 80 recipes spanning pasta, pizza, antipasti, and mains such as lamb shoulder ragu, and roasted pork hock with a cannellini bean salad. There are also fabulous dolci (desserts) and tempting cocktails.There are also gorgeous spreads of photos taken in the Wanaka area.

Francesca Voza was brought up in a family that was involved in hospitality in the north of England and Italy, and started helping out in restaurant kitchens from the age of six. By the time she was in her teens she knew this was what she wanted to do. Another passion - for travel - brought her and her husband to Wanaka, where they quickly decided they wanted to settle. Selling wood-fired pizzas from a trailer at the markets gained her a local following, and this later led to the opening of Francesca's Italian Kitchen.James Stapley was the executive chef at the high-end Whare Kea lodge in Wanaka when he met Francesca. Their shared love of Italian food and visions of the menu they would want to offer at a restaurant led to a successful business partnership. Their menus use the Italian ethos of concentrating on ingredients that are fresh, delicious and in close proximity to the restaurant.

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