What I love about Gino's books is that they make everything seem so achievable. The recipes are always clear and in my experience pretty reliable. Home baking here is not just cakes & bread & pizza but encompasses pasta dishes too.

There are some fantastic recipes, including a large number of breads, particularly flat breads of various types. Among my favourites are Stromboli (rolled focaccia stuffed with mozzarella & basil), a farmhouse loaf with fennel seeds, pagnotta (a loaf which includes mashed potatoes and rosemary and which is wonderful with a bowl of soup), stuffed cheese buns, sformato di zucca e noci (pumpkin & walnut bread), a great bread & butter pudding made with panettone, apple & marsala pie, hot chocolate pudding with amaretto & chocolate sauce, chocolate & cinnamon cake and really stunning individual chocolate soufflés with a raspberry & amaretto sauce.

There are some good baked savoury dishes although these are mainly the usual baked gnocchi, lasagne & cannelloni but there is an interesting spaghetti tart with pine kernels & rocket. The pizza recipes don't offer anything new but are nonetheless good, reliable & straightforward recipes.

All in all an excellent book with photos that make the mouth water and the feet head to the kitchen.