In her hit Food Network show <i>Everyday Italian</i>, Giada De Laurentiis shows you how to cook delicious, beautiful food in a flash. And here, in her long-awaited first book, she does the same&#8212;helps you put a fabulous dinner on the table tonight, for friends or just for the kids, with a minimum of fuss and a maximum of flavor. She makes it all look easy, because it is. <br><br><i>Everyday Italian</i> is true to its title: the fresh, simple recipes are incredibly quick and accessible, and also utterly mouth-watering&#8212;perfect for everyday cooking. And the book is focused on the real-life considerations of what you actually have in your refrigerator and pantry (no mail-order ingredients here) and what you&#8217;re in the mood for&#8212;whether a simply sauced pasta or a hearty family-friendly roast, these great recipes cover every contingency. So, for example, you&#8217;ll find dishes that you can make solely from pantry ingredients, or those that transform lowly leftovers into exquisite entr&#233;es (including brilliant ideas for leftover pasta), and those that satisfy your yearning to have something sweet baking in the oven. There are 7 ways to make red sauce more interesting, 6 different preparations of the classic cutlet, 5 perfect pestos, 4 creative uses for prosciutto, 3 variations on basic polenta, 2 great steaks, and 1 sublime chocolate tiramis&#249;&#8212;plus 100 other recipes that turn everyday ingredients into speedy but special dinners.<br><br>What&#8217;s more, <i>Everyday Italian</i> is organized according to what type of food you want tonight&#8212;whether a soul-warming stew for Sunday supper, a quick saut&#233; for a weeknight, or a baked pasta for potluck. These categories will help you figure out what to cook in an instant, with such choices as fresh-from-the-pantry appetizers, sauceless pastas, everyday roasts, and stuffed vegetables&#8212;whatever you&#8217;re in the mood for, you&#8217;ll be able to find a simple, delicious recipe for it here. That&#8217;s the beauty of Italian home cooking, and that&#8217;s what Giada De Laurentiis offers here&#8212;the essential recipes to make a great Italian dinner. Tonight.